2007 Tri The Parks, John Tanner State Park Race Report

04/28/2007
Tri the Parks, John Tanner State Park
600 M Swim, 11.2 mi Bike, 3.1 mi Run


Prelude...

As most of you know, I am employed both with Regions Bank and Wolfgang Puck Express in Atlanta. This has caused havoc on my season thus far this year, but you have to place priorities in life. This year triathlon has not been near the top. And again this past weekend, it was close, but not quite there.

I was scheduled for both jobs on Friday, and my boss at Wolfgang had the genius idea to schedule me to come in immediately after I finished my first job. So 8am-11:45pm on Friday, and then home to pack my transition bag, etc... Did not get to bed until about 2am.

4:30am came, and I thought I woke up late. 5 min later I laughed at myself due to freaking out when I woke up. I got ready and called Jackie to make sure she was on time to come and pick me up. Got there at 5:29am (there is a reason that I put that exact time, I told her to be there between 5 and 5:30, so she technically was...). I racked my bike left my extra water bottle on the back of the Jeep (it was still on the street when I got back home), and off we were.

I wanted some snackage and coffee on the way, so first we stopped at Starbucks (closed, not open till 6am on Sat), then the McDonald's in Austell (closed, not open till 6am on Sat). MISERABLE.

Finally we were about 15-20min away from the park via I-20, and we stopped at a McDonald's there. Southern Style Chicken biscuit (forgot the coffee). Back on the Freeway, we passed two construction LED signs that said something about local traffic right, all other traffic left... We ignored it, much to our surmise.

The split then came, we both freaked out (exit 11 was in about a mile or so) and we went left since we were already in the left lane. BIG MISTAKE!!! The left lane went across the median to the other side of the divided freeway, and we were stuck there for the next 12 miles (passed our exit) until we got to Alabama to turn around and come back.

Once we finally got all the way back to our exit (this is why you should ALWAYS leave early for your event if you are traveling the morning of), we got off and headed to the park. There was a line at the gate, and we both looked at each other and said, "WTF???" They were CHARGING athletes for ENTRY!!! Now normally I do not have a problem with paying an entry fee for a park, but that should have been included in our entry fee so that when we got there on race day, all I would have to do is show my number and then drive through. I have no problem with non-race vehicles having to pay. This happened at Emerald Pointe last year and all you had to do was show your race number, and you were in (funny it was the same entry fee too!).

Parked and then took my stuff to transition. YES!!!! I got an end spot on the rack! I love those because you can spread out a bit more. Got labeled, and then went to the bathroom. Jackie and I then went down to the beach where I stretched a bit, and then checked out the water. MMMmmmm 70 degrees. But wait, the air temp was like 54 degrees. I quickly calculated that this would be miserable in T1 and the first five minutes on the bike. Our local USAT ref was there giving us instructions on the course (the bike was an open course this time) and then we were ready to go.


Swim: 600M, 17:01.1

It was miserable. Let me preface by stating if you read the first paragraph in the prelude you can probably assume I have not spent enough time in the pool, and there is NO where around me for open water swimming. (Any of you local bloggers who know about any local open water swims in Atlanta or Georgia in general, please let me know. I would probably go out of my way to do these if I have the time.) I think I need new goggles, or I need to tighten them because after about 200 yards, my right goggle began leaking water. I made it through the first 200 alright, although I was breathing every two strokes rather than three (the cold took the air right out of my lungs.). I turned on my back to fix the problem and when I rolled back over someone kicked about a gallon of water into my lungs. Almost lost all the water plus my McDonald's at that point. I breast stroked at that point for another 150 M until I was somewhat composed again and tried to freestyle the rest. Probably my worst swim ever!!!

T1: 1:54.8

The distance to get from water to my station to the bike exit was kinda long. I was still not feeling right from the swim and the water still in my lungs (had trouble breathing) so I sat down while I put my socks and cleats on. Other than that, not too much to say about T1.

Bike: 11.2 mi, 37:27.0, 17.9mph

I got on the bike and tried to get my breathing under control. There were a few small uphill rollers on the way out, and there were some people that did not want to push hard, so to avoid drafting penalties, I just stayed behind them until we got clear of that area, then I passed them. I did not want to blow my wad in the first mile of the bike. There were no serious elevation changes again until after about 4 miles. I did gear down, but not as much as I normally do. There were a bunch of people who "granny geared" most of the uphill elevation, and I was suprised. From mile 6 to about mile 9, I passed a bunch of people just staying in 1-2 higher gears than what I normally would do. And of course, I used the big ring as much as I could on the rest of the course. The last mile to 1.5 miles, I picked up the pace and was averaging 22-23 mph. As I was coming into T2, there was a guy who was picking up his bike perpendicular to the flow of the bike traffic I almost ran into. Turns out he pulled the perfect endo trying to avoid something/someone as he was attempting to dismount.

T2: 1:13.2

Again, you had to run a good distance to get from bike entry to run exit. I could have been down in the 50's or better, but i was really in an, "I don't care" mood at this point. Needed to have a better positive mental attitude, but did not.

Run: 3.1 mi, 27:24.9, 8:50 min/mi

The first mile or so of the run looped around the lake we swam in at the park and then went off on some driving trails out the back of the park to the road. around 1.75 miles I had a mini bonk going up a hill, and was jogging slow enough that it appeard to be at a speed walk. Luckily there were just as many down hills as there were up hills (that may sound stupid, but if you have done as many point to point road races as I have, then you will know that this situation is not always the case). There was a guy about 100M away from the finish that I came next to, and we looked at each other and gave each other the "look." Then we sprinted. I won. Small victory for me!!!

Finish
16/20 in Age group (M 25-29)
(Company did not have overall times broken down)
1:25:00.9

Post race stuff and thoughts...

This is my first race of the year. Despite all that I have gone through since November, I feel that I did ok. I know that my aerobic and physical indurance has improved, since I know I was not in top form and I was within one minute of my very first race time that I trained for and busted my butt (exhausted) to finish.

I think that Tri the Parks series could do some things different, and I will send an email of constructive criticism to hopefully help them improve future races.

I did get to eat Oreos, oranges, and bluberry bagels post race, they were good.

In the last mile of the run, I had an epiphany, and it will be the topic of my next post, which will be a very big announcement. I am waiting on an email for final confirmation before I say/post anything to my blog.

I began working on the rest of my season as far as training and races go. I did not get too far, but got started and that is what really matters. I am also working on a schedule as well.

GARMIN was awsome! I did not hit the split times right due to how their timing mats were set up really weird, but the end times came up the exact same as my overall time posted by the race officials. And that is what matters. Garmin also loves sprint distance water. But don't expect it to tell you how far you swam since it does not track under water.

Pictures for the race will be coming soon, both from Jackie and from the picture company for the race.

More to come from my announcement later...

Murtha...

My comings, goings, new teams, new gear, and upcoming races...

Hello Again!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! The weather in Georgia is great again, and my training is probably at about 70-80% of being normal again. I will not bore you like previous posts and try to update all of my workouts since my last post on March 26 (not that there has been a workout every day, but there have been enough to make it long and boring).

My first race of the year is this Saturday morning at 8:00am at John Tanner State Park in Carrolton, GA. It is a sprint race and is part of the Tri the Parks Series in GA. There are about 20-21 people in my age group, and I am not planning to try and podium after the year I have had thus far.

The following weekend is the 5 Burrow's Bike Tour in New York. If any of you are going to be in it, please email or post to my blog to let me know. It is a 42 mile bike ride beginning in Manhattan and ending on Staten Island. It will be fun, since we will be riding with her uncle, as well as meeting some more of her family and also probably going to see 1 or 2 of my fraternity brothers whilst I am there. And oh, I have NEVER been to New York before (other than sitting in JFK for three hours).

Then two weeks later it is................ Ironman FLORIDA 70.3. I am really exicted. Again, due to training, I am not expecting anything, although I would like to at least match last year's time, if not beat it by 1-2 minutes. What I am excited about is that it is a real sanctioned Ironman event. So hopefully I will get a small taste of what I am up for in 2008 with a full Ironman (except for the distance part!!!) I completed the Gulf Coast Triathlon last year (which is a great race and copies most of the bike and all of the swim and run for the Ironman FL course every November), and I know what I did wrong there. This year I have had lots of trouble with training and getting my act together, but since I am not trying to break any records, I should be ok.

And.........................Say hello to my new friend, Garmin!!!

Garmin Forerunner 305 to be exact (with speed/cadence sensor on the bike, of course)

I still have not hooked up the bike sensor yet, and I have not installed the computer software, but I THINK that this is the last gadget I will ever need with respect to a HRM or stopwatch, etc.

The only drawback is that I have read a couple of reviews that it does not do too well in water, and Garmin says that you should only wear it in water for no longer than 30-40 minutes (my half iron swim is 45 min). I would think they would have fixed this problem. Splashing water ok, swim, the jury is still out with me.

I also would not trust the calorie burning monitoring unless you are running or riding at slower speeds. When you get up fast enough at long distances it tends to skew it (I dunno, can you possibly burn 4100 calories riding 56 miles averaging 18.5mph for a 27yr old male???)

I would not even consider the calorie thing as a drawback, since that is not why you are purchasing the garmin in the first place, and if you are dedicated enough, you will probably know how many calories you burn per hour anyways.

I could probably write for an hour about all the cool features for the forerunner 305, but I will let you buy one from Amazon.com for really, really cheap (over $100 off) and experience it for yourself.

In other news.....

I am officially on the Javelin (amateur) triathlon team!!! For those of us who cannot be on a real triathlon team (other than my beloved team raceAthlete, you are my favorite!!!)

Above is the 2007 official race outfit. The only thing I had to do other than a small fee is to make sure I wear it at all my 2007 triathlon races. And I really do not have a problem doing so, since almost everything I wear is Sugoi, and I am very comfortable with the brand.

Jackie got a new suit for my birthday for me, and when I get some pictures together I will post them for you. Be looking next week early for some pictures of this weekend's triathlon. I should have results of the race by then as well, but do not look for me to be breaking any records. I should be a bit faster on the swim and the bike, but I am not sure how I am going to do bricking all three sports together with my broken training (am I beginning to sound like a broken record with this year's training, just let me know).

That is about all I have for now, be looking for something early next week, and hopefully after the next 25 days I will be closer to 100% back on track for this year.

Murtha Out....

Congratulations!!! Two Tri-Geeks Unite!!!

I thought you might like this. It happened on Feb 20th, 2007, a day after it was scheduled to happen. Needless to say my Tri-partner in crime was very suprised!!! I had to ask her twice, since she did not believe me the first time. See if you can guess where it is at.... I will give you a hint at the end of the post.

Hint: One of the final scene's from Ocean's Eleven.

Murtha out....

What is interval swimming again...

Got to my second job tonight. Very few nights do I have an attitude (not negative) that says, I really am not in the mood to be here today. We have been very slow for the last two weeks, and I elected that if anyone go home early, it be me. 7:00p came, and the Manager on Duty, said "get outta here!!!" Don't have to tell me twice!

Wait that means I have time to actually workout! Yeah!! (And the peasents rejoiced)

Here is the workout...

03/26/2007
Workout: Interval Swim
Breakdown;
100M Warmup
2x100M Paddles (no legs)
100M Freestyle

Intervals;
10 x 50M Freestyle
01: 00:55.6
02: 00:53.5
03: 00:53.0
04: 00:55.5
05: 00:53.1
06: 00:52.6
07: 00:52.7
08: 00:51.5
09: 00:52.2
10: 00:50.5

100M Arms Only
100M Cool Down

RPE: 4-8


Definately did not leave everything on the table, but as many workouts I am dropping due to jobs and other obligations, the last thing I need to do is pull something. Oh and I lightly sprained my ankle this weekend in the dark going across a street that was two different levels due to paving.

More to come later....

Non-posted workout logs...

Hey Again,

Some workouts that I completed but had not posted. I was on vacation from Feb 18th - Feb 22nd. Other than that I have been a complete slackass. With two jobs it has been really hard to fit in workouts, my life, and sleep. Oh wait, do not forget about eating! I love to do that.

I am kind of worried about my races, so I have decided to change my goals for my first few races of the year so that I am just compelting them, and not trying to break any world records, and break my body instead.

02/13/2007
Workout - Run
Distance: 2.75 miles
Time: 30 minutes
Pace: 10min 54 sec/mile
RPE: 3-4

This was base run just to get some miles under my belt for the day. Nothing too serious, and I did not want to strain anything.


02/15/2007
Workout - Swim
Distance: 1050M
Time: ???
Pace: ???
RPE: 6

This was base swimming for distance purposes. I felt really good when I completed this distance, although my legs just felt a bit wobbly.

02/18/2007
Workout - Run
Distance: ~3 miles
Time: 23:21.60
Pace: 7min 47sec/mile
RPE: 6-7

Running in the hills of Henderson, NV is just great!!! especially on a Sunday morning when no one is up yet, it is very quiet.

03/04/2007 (Sunday)
Workout - Bike
Distance: ~22 miles
Time: ~1hr 30min
Avg Speed: 14.67mph
Max Speed: ???
RPE: 5 with low to mid gears.

Easy Day, was fairly cold and really windy. Took it easy considering the situation. C'mon! The faster I pedaled, the colder it got, how miserable is that. I also forgot to take my bike computer with me, I felt naked without it. Hmmm naked and cold, how miserable?!?!

03/11/2007 (Sunday)
Workout - Bike
Distance: 33.88 miles
Time: 1:56:21.00
Speed: 17.4mph (Average)
SpeedMax: 28.5mph (Max speed, and this was on flat road!!!)
RPE: 6-9

I got pulled one time and pulled two separate people one time each. I think the average of each pull was somewhere around 24mph, and the 2nd pull that I did was somewhere between 22-24mph. How about that Max Speed on the flats!!! I looked down at my computer and was like, "OMG!!!"

I felt really good on this ride and made one important change. I was aero almost the whole time AND I was in the big ring almost the whole ride. I cannot believe how much big of a difference it makes when you are in the big ring for long periods of time. In my defense I will have to say that for the longest time I went on rides that had large hills, so I needed to gear down every time I went up one of these hills. My average speed was low due to the fact it took me a while to get going (I had a long week and it was the Sunday morning of the time change), but when I got going I was easily averaging over 20mph on the way back.

03/12/2007 (Monday)
Workout - Swim Drills
Total Time: 13:43.80
1 x 50M Warmup
2 x 100M Arms (W/ hand paddles)
1 x 400M freestyle: 9:15.40
2 x 100M freestyle: 2:16.00
2:12.40
1 x 50M Cooldown

Nothing really to say here other than I was not at the top of my game that night.

03/13/2007 (Tuesday)
Workout - Run/Bike
Run (WARMUP)
Time: 12:27.10
Distance: 1.??? miles

Bike (Spin Class)
Time: 58:29.40
RPE: 4-8

Class was great. Instructor felt really bad and thought that she was not interesting, but I told her I welcomed the change of riding in a straight line over and over again.

03/19/2007 (Monday)
Workout: Run
Time: 1:00:00.00
Distance: 6.1 mi
RPE: 5-7
(Indoor - Treadmill)

Stretched 5 min prior
Stretched 5 min post workout

03/24/2007 (Saturday)
Workout: Bike - Part of 3 Gap, Dahlonega, GA
Distance: 11.15 mi
Time: 47:58.00
Max Spd: 39.3 mph
Avg Spd: 13.9 mph
RPE: 6-10

3 Gap is 50 miles total, and half of the full 6 Gap which also follows some of the same course. Elevation change of 3 Gap if you finish all of it is almost a mile. Let's just put it this way

Round 1: 3 Gap - 1, Andy - 0

I have honestly not done any serious hills in quiet some time, and while riding on the Silver Comet has helped increase my overall average speed, it has not at all helped my endurance with real world courses (exempting of course Ironman FL in Panama City Beach, that is really flat).

I want to definately try again, but I need to do some hill drills before then.


That is all I have for now.


Murtha out...

Ironman Florida 70.3!!!

Registrations for this year have finally begun!!

I decided that I would get some more motivation over the past weekend by actually signing up for some of my races. I looked at my calendar, looked at my work schedule, days off, etc, and came up with my first couple of races for the year.

I am going to have to update my blog for my 2007 schedule, as well as my time countdown clock.

Here we go

Tri the Parks (Georgia) Series Race #1 - John Tanner State Park, Carollton, GA
April 28th

Ironman Florida 70.3 - Orlando, FL
May 20th

I still have one more race to sign up for in this timeline, and that is the "5 boroughs bike tour" in New York. This is May6th. You might be asking if that is too close to IMFL 70.3? Maybe but it is not a serious race. It is a leisurely 42 mile bike ride through all the 5 boroughs, and it is not supposed to be a race unless you are in the pro race circut. I have never actually been to New York before, so I thought it would be a good experience.

My next leg for the year will be completing the Peachtree Road race (assuming I get signed up for it) on July 4th. I will schedule no races during this time so I get about two months off until my next set of races that will run me from August until the South Carolina Half Ironman in October.

This will set me up for my 2008 season, where I will actually complete an Ironman! I will have to sign up for the event in 2007 due to the popularity of the Ironman North America series. I mean, this is Kentucky's first year, and they sold out fast. IMFL sold out in an hour. I really do not want to wait until late in the year in 2008 (i.e. IMFL) to complete a full Ironman, so I will have to look to other races to complete. Maybe Arizona! I could go hang with the Commodore if he completes it in 2008, and my family would only be a 3 hour drive away from the event, and my grandparents would be in Mesa.

Also, I know I am jumping the gun here, but depending on how far down the top 8-10 slots for my age group in IMFL 70.3 go, there is a slight chance I could qualify for Clearwater (IM 70.3 championships) in October. I am not going to be in the top 10 in my age group, but the other issue is that not everyone that finishes the race before me will want to (or have the money to) go to Clearwater. Last year it got all the way down to 5 hours and 40 minutes in my age group before the last person took the final slot.

If this happens, then obviously I will be sub'ing Clearwater for the South Carolina HIM. We shall see.....

Murtha...

Saturday Workout...

Good Morning...


Yesterday morning my plans got cancelled. While that totally freed up my day to do "whatever" I wanted to do, I have to reschedule it yet again. Now that I am working two jobs (oh yeah, I am also now working at Wolfgang Puck Express cicra Christmas week for some extra money), it is really hard when you have something to do, finally get it scheduled in to your life, and then it gets cancelled.

In lieu of all this, I decided to go for a run. Chattahooche river run in Marietta. It was about 37 degrees out there, so it took most of the run before my hands finally warmed up

01/27/2007
Workout - Run
Distance: 2.25 miles (5K total)
Time: ~19 minutes (+ the other 15 minutes from walking, explained below)
Pace: 8min 26sec/mile
RPE: 4-5

Jackie and one of her friends said that they would be there walking about 6 miles or so. I got there much later, so I ran until I saw them on the backside of the 5K loop, and then I walked with them (it was a pretty good pace walk) until we got back to the cars.

Group of older male runners (prob 50's) drinking beer in the parking lot post run. Must be for that carb recovery....... Oh wait Andy, didn't you just say that you were running in a state park? Isn't drinking there illegal? Why yes it is! But did I care, heck no! I would have asked him for one acutally....

Going to get out there and do something here in a little while. I have not ridden my bike since I have put the aerobars on it (Yes I know! I still owe you guys pictures!! If I can set up a pic account online today, then I will post them). I know it is only 40 degrees out there or something, but I think I can handle putting some "base miles" in (i.e. meaning slow ones so I do not feel any colder).

Went to all3sports yesterday and picked up some more nutrition! For all of you raceAthlete members out there, I hope you will be happy, I am going to try some NuuN!!! I got the citrus flavor.

I also have a little announcement to make, but I will do so in another post. I feel it deserves one.


Murtha...

Wednedsay Workout...

Hello,

They let me go from work early on Wednesday night, so I hurried home, for me that is about 30 minutes, and went to the gym. Did a run on the treadmill and a bit of stretching before the gym closed.

01/24/2007
Workout - Run
Time: 32.29 (5K only)
Distance: 5K then 2min cooldown
Avg Pace: ~10min 28 sec
Avg Speed:5.7 on treadmill (started at 5, moved up to 7.5 by the end of workout.)

RPE: ranged from 4 at the beginning of the workout to 7-7.5 at the end.

Basically the last half mile or so I increased my speed every 15 seconds.


At my new gym location you can see the pool from the cardio area upstairs, and i saw that they had fixed the lane bouy already from the other night. If I see those two kids, I am definately turning them in.

I have some prior obligations to attend to Saturday during the day, so no outside workouts for me, I will have to get to the gym before it closes at eight. I will most likely swim, and then ride during the day on Sunday.

That is about all for now.


Murtha...

New Blogger Everyone!!!

(dee dee d d dee dee dee d d d......that news music thing you used to hear on SNL)

Breaking news!!!

Jackie now has her own blog!!! She will now be able to comment on everyone's (specifically Jessica's blog) blog and have her own posts. The blog is currently under construction by your's truly, and then she will begin posting. If you want the link, or you want to hyperlink it on your page,

krawczyktri.blogspot.com

Gotta love those Polish last names!!!

Isn't there supposed to be a lane bouy there?....Wait! Hey you f'ing kids!!!

Late night (or early morning depending on what type of person you are)...

Had trouble sleeping tonight.

Anyways,

First my workout. Nothing special other than swimming.

01/23/2007
Total Time: Aboout 30 minutes (off and on)
Workout: 100 and 200 M intervals. Mostly freestyle, and tried working on my technique
a bit. Mostly trying to hit the "10 and 2" spots on my entry, and my pull
(which still is not that great, but better than the old windmill moves).


Now onto my post title. So I get to the gym around 8:20p and change. I get out to the pool area and there are two hispanics just hanging out in the first lane, and there are two kids who look to be putting the lane bouy back in place to separate the 2nd and 3rd lane. I then noticed that the pieces that fit on the line to keep the thing bouyant were all over the pool. One of the kids (there were two) was trying to put it back together, and the other kid was sitting on the steps in the first lane trying to get the other guy to leave. Oh, and there was someone in the spa (which is important).

They get out and leave and I start bitching about how people break stuff. I have everything on in the pool and about to take off (thank god for lane lines), when the person from the spa comes over to inform me that the two teenagers that were in the pool attempting to fix the lane bouy (is that what they call it?) were the ones that broke it!!! Supposedly they had been horsing around in the pool, cannonballs, etc... and one of them laid on or landed on the line and broke it at the connection. I later found out from mgmt that it was going to cost $400 to fix. The wire line snapped at the connection. Nice to know that my monthly gym fee is going towards something.

Mgmt did say though that they water aerobics class would love it since that is one less lane bouy that they would have to take out and put back in the pool.

Great! Thanks a whole bunch spa guy..... Don't go tell any of the mgmt or sales team about it, don't yell at them for doing something wrong, just wait and tell me after they leave the building and I get in the pool so none of us can do anything about it.

I told the management about it after I left for the evening, and I told them I would be on the lookout for them if I saw either of them again. By the way this is a well renowned adult gym (LA Fitness), not some fly by night outfit for immature teens to play at. I am sure that their parents are paying for the membership, and will never find out about this (unless I catch them, and I will).

I will have some pictures for you posted tomorrow of my new gear (aerobars and some cool bike socks I could not be without!!!). If anyone has any suggestions on one of these free picture sites, please let me know so that i can get one going.

I have seen flickr as well as the blogger pic site. I also want to do a big overhaul of my blog, to catch up with all the big fish (i.e. banner, pics, opinion polls, etc) to make it more appealing. I think it is just the natural evolution of things. You get started with something and then feel accomplished, and after awhile just doing it is not good enough, you want to do better. Hmmm, that quote might work well in triathlon as well as in life in general.........



Murtha...

Last Weekend of Summer (During Winter!!!)

Hey!!!


Andy got his groove back!!! This is my first official week into the 2007 season (although about 10 weeks late). I don't consider this a big deal though, since as amateur triathletes, we can make our own race schedule. I don't think it is really going to affect my race schedule that much, but we shall see.

Yesterday was beautiful here in Georgia. Flowers are in bloom, it was almost 70 degrees, you would think it was spring time with the Masters around the corner in Augusta. Nope. It was January 13th. I'll take it. I hate riding in cold weather so much, that I acutally do not do it. I then go inside to spinning classes.

Here are my stats for yesterday

Location: SCTrail, Georiga
Time: 1 hr, 17 min 6 sec
Distance: 22.6 miles
Avg Speed: 17.5 mph
Max Speed: 25.4 mph

I had one section where I was pulling about 22mph for at least two miles. It was a very slight downhill, kind of a false flat but going down rather than up. Completely rocked some guy with a carbon Quintanna Roo with Zipp 404's yesterday, but to give him credit, he was probably on a light training ride whilst I was busting my butt.

I don't know if I will be out today or not, since I have plans with my best friend and his wife for the afternoon. I have tomorrow off for MLK Day (I love bank holidays), and I will get out there in the morning, it should be fairly quiet since some people still work on the Holiday.

It's great to finally be back, now I just need to see what all the rest of you are up to. It seems now I look at so many blogs/podcasts, that I am burning at least 10 hours a week looking at them. It is well worth it!


Murtha...

I turned to the Dark (USAT) Side!!!

Ok,

So today I sat down and look at my potential schedule for my 3rd triathlon season, and saw how many races that I wanted to attempt to complete...

It's that $9 fee!!! The previous two years, I have only done just enough races for it to economically not make sense to sign up with the USAT. At this point in time, joining the USAT is only for economic reasons, up until the time that the organization actually has something to contribute, OR, I become a semi-pro/pro athlete where being in the points system to qualify for nationals and/or worlds would be worth it. If you look at my blog, I am planning to do 6 races, and possibly more. That would pay for my entry fee about 1.5 times in saving $9 per race.

Its Official!!! For the first time (and probably not the last) in my now 3rd season of being a triathlete, I am an official member of USA Triathlon. I am granted all the rights and responsibilities that come along with being a member of USAT.

More to follow.....

OK, My posting (and training) has become ridiculous

Hi Everyone,

So after I have told everyone I am back on the posting (and training) bandwagon, I suck it up once again. Last actual day of training was December 23rd, which was around the last time of my posting.

I was going to go and swim tonight, but I really wanted to watch the Orange Bowl, and I am listening to the Tri Geek Dreams Podcast right now (most recent one). After last night's football game, I am all about some football where teams come from nowhere (Louisville, Wake Forest, Boise State).

So here are my stats from December 23rd. I was out with Kevin (GA Tech Cycling team), and it was really, really windy, but our average came out better than expected.

Course: Silver Comet Trail - Georgia
Time: 1:12:25
Distance: 20.86mi
Avg Speed: 17.2 mph
Max Speed: 25.3 mph (this was on flat ground actually, don't ask me how this happened in windy weather, because I do not remember).

Yes, I am the biggest slack ass you guys (and gals) know. I have been thinking, I am going to try working on my training schedule the rest of the week, and then (FINALLY, LAZY BUTT!) start my 2007 season (officially) over the weekend.

I really need to get my schedule and training under control, and then I will be able to better execute when I actually have a plan. (See I am now writing the rest of this a day later).

Alright I am going to bed now, worked both jobs today.

Murtha...

A little inspiration...

Good Morning,


Yes, I have been a slacker this week. Between Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, and whatever else I was doing at the time, it kept me from working out. No, that is not an excuse.

I am going out for a ride with my Georgia Tech cycling buddy today. Weather is nice it is going to be about 65 degrees this afternoon.

I have had a post that I have been wanting to put up on both my sites, due to the fact it is both sports related and a good post in general. For some reason I never got around to doing it. Since it is slow today, I thought it appropriate.


My best friend Matt is a Police officer with the Peachtree City (GA) Police Department. I have known him for about 12 years now, longer than any other friend I have known AND kept in touch with. We have always been there for each other, and inspired each other with lots we have done. When it comes to sports, Matt was very involved with martial arts when he was younger, and is still involved with weightlifting, although not at the same intensity that he used to. Due to the physical problems that have developed from weightlifting, he does not really get involved in sports where there is a lot of running or long term physcial stressors involved (unless their are breaks, timeouts, etc...). I on the other hand, have been doing some sort of physical sport, whether organized or personal, since I was about eight. The triathlon phase of my life (which I hope will now continue until I die) has now been in full swing for almost two years now, and he has seen me and supported my efforts. I always nag him, that he should get involved in running or triathlons, but he always says he could not make it the first mile. Whenever we used to work out at the same gym, I would sometimes get there just a bit earlier so I could run for a longer period of time than him, before we worked out. Recently his wife has gotten involved with running and has now completed a couple of 5K road races that were local ones in Peachtree City.

Weeks ago, I was working on Saturday morning, and I got a phone call on my cell around 10:30a or so. I called Matt back on my work phone and asked him what was going on. Right now he works the night shift, so he usually does not call me in the morning unless it is something semi-important. He called to tell me that he had just completed his first 5K event! He did admit that he walked and ran the event, but that he finished. It also happened to be the weekend when it was 18 degrees outside that Saturday morning. For those of you who have never lived in the SE United States, 18 degrees is damn cold for us. But he completed the event anyways. He said it was a really good experience, and that he would like to repeat so that maybe one day we could both run together in one.

I do not know all of his reasons for completing this event, whether it was solely for health reasons, wanting to do one with his wife, etc..., but I would like to think I had some small part in him completing his first event. Needless to say that I am very proud of him, that he was motivated enough to complete something he did not think he could do, and did anyways.

I will post some more later today with my bike stats for the day, so I am not quite done yet...

NO!!!!! NOT THE BIKE!!!!! OH THE AGONY!!!!

Hello All,

Well Wednesday night I went for another swim, and saw a few of the guys I had met on Monday night there. I kind of kept track this time. I know you guys (and girls) are saying I need a set training schedule, but I really need to get back on the ball before I can "do any tricks." I basically did a warmup, and then a 400M free main set, and then a 8 X 50M free sprint set. I finished up by sitting in the hot tub.

Friday I was going to work out, but I had some community service to complete. Don't ask. Long story. The weather has been nice here in Atlanta, and my community service for the day was to rake leaves at one of the cemetaries in downtown Atlanta. I raked leaves all day long, and I swear I raked at least an acre by myself. It actually got warm enough yesterday that I could have work shorts there (but it was cold in the morning). I burned so many calories doing that, when I finally got home and took a shower I did not want to do anything else. So Friday's workout was 8 hours of raking and bagging leaves. There is your CROSS TRAINING for you!

I am thinking about hitting the pool again today here in a little while. Jackie and I are going to ride the Silver Comet trail tomorrow for some base riding. Oh, and her sister totally hit her bike with the car when coming in from downtown late last night, and I will have to plug CYCLEWORKS big time for this one. Jackie was devastated when she saw what happened, since she was going to ride today. So she took the bike to Cycleworks where she bought it and they fixed the whole thing for FREE! And it was not even the store's fault. They kick ass.

Well I hope everyone is having a productive workout weekend, as the weather here in the SE United States kicks butt this weekend.

Murtha...

Slowly but Steady...

Hi Folks,

I am getting there, I promise you. I really want to update my blog for next year as well, so we will see if I can create some kind of banner and maybe some other cool stuff. If you have any idea how to create all that cool stuff you see on these other blogs, or you went to some website and paid to have it done, just let me know how you did it. Thank you.

I eluded to Saturday's run in my last post. By the way, even though the post says December 2nd, I finally finished it on December 9th. Here is how it panned out.

Distance: ~3 miles (do not have a pedometer or Garmin, and where I live I have not measured it out by car yet)
Time: ~31 minutes
Pace: 10:20/mi

I was really taking it easy, seeing as how the last time I ran was when??? Oh yeah, long time ago.

Monday night I went swimming for the first time since October 8th. Ok, yes you can scold me now. I spent about 30 minutes in the pool, although I was not swimming the enitre time. I am going to the gym in about 15 minutes and I am going to run on the treadmill for a little warmup, and then I am going to spend a bit more time in the pool tonight.

I am going to have a bit of free time, oh wait, no I am not. Well I will FIND some time this weekend to get a full schedule going, with weight training.

If you have not seen my post on raceAthlete.com about weight training, check it out here.

Speaking of raceAthlete.com, I just have been trying to get caught up on everyone's blogs, and I saw the new cycling Jersey for 2007 for team raceAthlete. I definately want to get one.

Oh well, it is off to the gym for me, and hopefully this will finally be the start of my 2007 season!!!

Here we go.......


Murtha...

Here I am!!!

Hi All,

Yes, I am alive. If you look at my last post below, I will have to say I did not get better (finally) until about the 26th-27th. Since this thing was viral, my body had to fight it, and it had a real problem getting rid of this sinus cold or whatever the hell I had. I did OJ, Odwalla Citrus C Monster, Chicken Soup, Sleep, Rest, Not going out, basically everything you are supposed to do. I was able to get out last weekend (two days in a row!) and ride on the Silver Comet Trail. Here are the stats;

11/18/2006
Distance: 20 miles
Time ??? (I really did not care, Jackie and I were taking it easy that day)
Avg Speed ???

11/19/2006
Distance: 36 miles
Time: ~2 hours
Avg Speed: ~18mph

11/26/2006
Distance: 33.29 miles
Time: 1:55:50
Avg Speed: 17.2 mph
Max Speed: 25.8 mph
(There was a hell of a lot of wind this day. Real big pain in the ass. Made have a bit more appreciation for people who have been on the Queen K.)


So I am about four weeks behind (I am finishing this post on 12/09/2006) in my "2007 Triathlon Season." I am not too worried, since I was getting started extra early. I was trying to get "ahead of the game" so I would not have to worry about sickness, proper taper before first race, etc. Well I blew my wad with the sickness deal. I did get a few emails from a couple of you wondering where in the heck I was. I appreciate it.

I am also trying to get a second job to pay down some debt and get some money saved in the bank. I have had a stacked schedule like this in college at one time, but I was not training for triathlons. So I will have to see how this whole thing is going to work out. I think I am going to have to do fewer, but more quality workouts each week. I know from experience that the minute you try to do too much, your body is going to break down and you are going to have problems (i.e. pneumonia, acute sinusitus, etc... basically stuff I have gotten from overdoing it).

I went out running today for about three miles I think (I will have to measure it when I take my bike out next time). It was at the Silver Comet Trail. The temperature was about 49 degrees. I was a bit bundled up, but I ended up leaving most of it in the car, and I was just fine. It is that first few minutes of stretching and getting ready to run that kills me in the cold.

I hope all of you have had a great past 3-4 weeks with the holidays and your off season training. I am going to try and get caught up on some of your older posts, so don't be suprised if you see me commenting on something that you don't remember writing about the previous day.

Going to cut down my Christmas tree tomorrow. Have a great weekend!


Murtha...

I am SICK of being SICK!!!

Hi Everyone,

It is Tuesday night and today I finally went to the doctor's office. You know how us men are, we always wait until it gets pretty bad (or worse) before we will go. I have had an "on again/off again" sinus cold for the last three weeks. Everytime I think it is finally gone, it comes back to haunt me. Well last night Jackie and I were going to work out, but on the way home from work it hit me like a ton of bricks (again) and so we did not go. My nose was running literally like a faucet, and I could not stop sneezing at times. The Doctor (whose last name is Murthy, go figure) told me it is viral, so there is nothing she can do but give me some medicine to "dry me out" and then my body will have to heal itself. If it gets worse (i.e. bacterial), then she will call in a perscription for me so that I do not have to come in at all.

I have not kept up with many of your postings this week (sorry guys) but I will definately try to get back on it. Many of you have had some race reports in the last week or two, or you are beginning to seriously get your 2007 season going with signing up for races and such.

Congratulations to all of you who hit the top ten tri blogger list! I hope I can be on that list someday, but I know to do that, I will have to have a much more interesting tri life, as well as upgrade some of my blog features. Something to strive for, not to focus my everyday life on. You guys have already been so supportive just in visiting and posting to my blog, that I feel a success on some level, so thanks.

Have a good night, I am going to try to go back to bed again. I took a nap after I got home earlier.


Murtha...

Getting back into it...

Good Evening,

I am about to go for a light 30 minute run here in a little bit. I really don't care what my mileage is at this point, I just want to get some pavement under my belt.

I was pretty light on the workouts this week, but I did have box seats at the Thrashers game last night (provided by our local CBS station, very nice!!! Thanks Anne!). They won, of course. Kozlov had the hat trick as well. I even saw my new roommate there, and I hung out with him and his friends for a bit.

My training is going to get some heavy action this weekend. Although I have a party tomorrow night and then a wedding shower (GA v. Auburn game theme!) on Saturday afternoon, I should be able to fit in a morning ride, and then Sunday I am going to get either a run or a swim in (or both for that matter).

One of my fraternity brothers from Georgia Tech is training for the ING Atlanta Marathon on March 25th, 2007. I told him I might be interested in competing in it, but I will have to let him know in another week or so. I do need to get my running mileage up though, and this might be a good way to do it. He was one of those people I spoke of earlier this year who was interesting in starting to compete in triathlons because of watching me compete in them.

I don't have too much else going on for this post. I will try and get to some of your blogs later on tonight. Right now I am going to get out there and "pound the pavement!!!"


Murtha...

Happy New (Training) Year!!!

Hello Everyone,

Well, I am back from my lengthy and lazy hiatus from both the blogging and triathlon world. It was spent mostly working, playing Xbox, gaming, watching lots of football, moving, a few parties and mostly general relaxation. My computer is up and running now, so I will be able to quit bumming off of other people's computers for internet, email, and other such things related to tri-blogging.

I started off my 2007 (Triathlon years rather than calendar years :-) ) on Sunday with an hour and twenty minute bike ride on the Silver Comet Trail. Pretty convenient now that I only live two miles away from it. I will have to say it was pretty cold for someone who lives in GA. I feel I was pretty prepared with respect to the cold, except that I need to get some sort of head warmer to put under my helmet (or not wear one at all). Here are the stats for my ride.

BIKE
Total Time: 1 hr 22 min 26 sec
Distance: 23.63 miles
Avg Speed: 17.2 mph
Max Speed: 23.8 mph

In summary, there was definately an issue with conditioning and some lost endurance from a lack of training (and by lack of training I mean I did not touch the pool, bike, or track for just over 4 weeks). But the headwinds DESTROYED me. I know it was probably nothing compared to Kona, but between it being windy and cold, as well as "headwinds" in general, the return portion of my ride pretty much sucked. There are parts of the course now where I know where I can hit 22-24 mph due to a slight downhill, and I know where there are also false flats that slow me down. If you look at my average above, it was probably 2 mph slower than usual, and on top of that there were a couple of specific instances where I normally go 18-20mph and I was going about 13-14 mph due to the head wind.

My legs are a bit sore today, but that was expected. Jackie on the other hand.....

I told her that 40 miles on Saturday would be too much, and she would not listen.

I told her that her backside would smart for a day or two, and she would not listen.

I told her that she would be walking funny for a day or two, and she would not listen.

Yes, Jackie rode 40 miles, and needless to say she is probably reading this right now and saying, "Andy, you were right..."

By the way, I have a new email address (where I moved to does not have comcast anymore). All you have to do is click on the link on the right for the "mailto" feature that will bring up your browser's preferred email. Or, you can just hover your mouse over the link, and go to gmail, hotmail, etc... and put my email in there to send me stuff.

Have a good day!!!

My infrequent postings...

I hope all of you are enjoying your weekend...

It rained this morning, and that coupled with 55 degree weather with a slight breeze was enough to keep me off of the bike for the day. Oh well. At least I am in my "off season" schedule, even if it is only for 5 weeks.

My postings have been fewer and far between as of late, and this is due to the fact that I am in the process of moving to another part of Atlanta. With respect to my triathlon training, it could not be in a better spot. I will actually have to drive now if I want to find a good bike course that has hills, but now the Silver Comet Trail is about 2 miles away from my house, and LA Fitness is about 1.5 miles away from my house. I could have not planned it better from a training perspective! Only problem now is when next spring/summer comes, I will have to drive far out of my way for my group rides during the week.

I moved alot of the smaller stuff and clothes I did not need this weekend, and I might move a few more things. Now all I have left is the large stuff, and my work clothes, and I am probably going to get a 10' moving van for that next Sunday...

I do not know how many days I might be out of commission, but I am going to call the cable company to try and have them come out ASAP when I get moved in 100% with my computer equipment, so that I can be back up and running within a few days or so.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Murtha...

Back up and running!!!

Well,

My internet is back up and running!!! Actually it was up last night, but I have had lots going on, so I did not get to this until late tonight. It was pretty interesting, I told my boss that I would be totally shut down at home if I did not have internet, and when I did get it working again last night, I just shut my computer off and then went to bed.

I am feeling a bit better, although the cold is still lingering. I will wait until the end of the week, and if it is not gone, I will go to the doctor next week. I will say that i have the upper hand on it at this time, around 70-75%. For those of you who have not heard of Airborne, you should definately get that stuff, especially if you are beginning to feel sick. It was created by a 3rd grade teacher who was tired of getting sick all of the time when her kids were sick. It is all natural and is designed to spike your immune system. So if you are traveling, work with lots of people, it tends to help out as well.

I went and had a small base run yesterday at Chastain Park. The weather was kind of crappy, but once I got one mile under my belt, I could not even feel the cold. I felt pretty good, and felt as if I pushed myself, but attempted to lay off. My time was 23:58. Not too bad for a sick "o" like myself.

I wish that you could have some sort of pseudophedrine IV drip that you could take around with you when you had sinus problems. When I was running (and for about 45 minutes afterwards), my sinuses were clear as a summer day! I could breathe easily and I was not stuffed up. Thank you adreneline (is that how you spell it?)!!! If I had some sort of injection or drip to carry around with me, I would have the same effect. Oh well...

Did not do too much tonight since I am still in the never ending attempt to get stuff packed up for the move. I am going to try and get a whole bunch of stuff moved this weekend. Thursday night Jackie and I are going to the Thrashers game. Atlanta is having their best starting season since there was a NHL team (2001), and they are the best team in the leauge right now (6-4-1). Period. Now watch them suck the rest of the season because I said that.

I wish hockey was during the summer or something, because I like it more than baseball and I hate that it is during football season (or at least overlaps it).

Tomorrow, I am going to put in a light run and workout at the gym. Somewhere in between I have a load of laundry and attempting to fill up 3-4 boxes towards my parital move this weekend.

Going to check out all of your blogs now, I will talk with you later...


Murtha...

Down (but not out) in More Ways than One...

Happy Monday to you all,

Well, I would first like to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone out there who visits, reads, and comments on my website!!! Saturday evening sometime I hit my 1,000 visitor. If you look at the very bottom of my page, there is a counter there since I have begun counting people who would visit my site!!!

I have gotten some very good advice and feedback from you all, as well as comments and cheers for events I have completed. Thank you for supporting me!

Now, onto my post for the day.

My first down, I am sick. I have a head cold. It is that thing where you are clear everywhere but your sinuses, and when you get up and walk around it goes away temporarily. I also hate that one minute my nose will be running, and the next it will be stopped up for no apparent reason. I have taken two Airborne (that stuff is awsome if you have not used it yet), and I am working on some Tylenol Severe Head Congestion. I hope this thing goes away quick. Not that I have anything important going on in the next week or so, but I just hate being sick (who doesn't?). I am going to do a light workout tonight, and that should not affect me one way or the other.

My second down, my internet is on the fritz. Last night I was attempting to direct connect to my friends computer via the internet for a game, and it was not working properly. In doing so, I accidentally set up my wireless to be WEP secured. Well that is good, right? Yes it is, if you have the encryption key to type in (or preloaded if you have the computer do it for you) when you turn on your computer and the network prompts you to enter one in. Oh wait, I did not get the key set up to auto-fill........ Sucks for me. So I was on the phone with tech support (John was his name, sounded British), and they were very helpful. I could not fix it last night though, even though they game me directions. In order to fix it, I need to hard wire the computer into the network, and I do not feel like paying $60 for 100ft of CAT-5 Cable to connect them. So tonight when I get home, I am going to unplug the network from the living room, and reconnect it in my bedroom, since there is a coaxial cable connection in my bedroom. I have a cable long enough that will stretch from one end of the bedroom to the other. Once that is done, I will follow the directions they give me, and then Voila!!! Internet will be fixed.

So for those of you where the weather is already 30 degrees or less, I am going to start playing my "violin" (due to the fact that I live in the South). I really started getting cold down here the last few days. It seems we have 2-3 days of mild weather, followed by 2-3 days of cold weather. Sat morning it got down to around 35-40 degrees for our FALL weather. It warmed up a bit yesterday. Tonight and tomrrow we are going to receive all that rain that Texas and the other gulf coast states got over the weekend.

I have been working out a bit more indoors as of late, but i hate to do so since my gym is always full (lines for cardio and you can never get on the weight machine you want). I guess I will have to go out and purchase some winter training clothing, damn that stuff is expensive.


Murtha...

2006 Emerald Pointe Triathlon Pictures

Heading to the finish...I was sprinting my butt off!
2nd half of the run...
heading out on the run...
Ascending "Mount T1"
Water was warm, now it is damn cold, but no shrinkage...
This hill actually clamied many people coming into T2, I saw 2-3 people fall because they were not in their "granny gear."
Yes I know, I am not completely aero. Let me say that those are a borrowed set of aerobars. Toe warmers were clutch though. Thanks Jackie. Somehow my rear tire blows after I leave T2 while on the run. Still don't know how that happened.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. These are probably the first ones I put up. Tomorrow I will put up the 2006 PTC pictures, because I just realized that I did not do that.


Murtha...

The Often Forgotten Realm of Strength Training...

Hello Everyone,

I should have some pics from the Emerald Pointe Triathlon up tonight. These are pics that my friends wife took while she was at the race.

Now, onto the post. In 1999 I went home to Fayetteville for the summer to work and make some money while I was off from university. While I was there, I got a membership at the new local World Gym location in town. Our schedule was 3 days on, 1 day off, and usually we were doing something active on that one day off. During that summer, I had lost some of the weight I had gained from the "Freshman 15" (for me the freshman 45-50, I was skinny in high school). I also had great muscle definition and I was somewhere around 9-10 percent body fat. Needless to say that I felt much more powerful and faster in the sports I was playing at that time. I actually got my bench press up to 245lbs, and weight that months before was way out of my reach.

Fast forward to today, my second official season as a triathlete. Yeah, weight training has not exactly been a part of my life. I am fighting with my weight (not that I am unhappy with it, I just know it could be lower and I would feel better and be faster), and my body fat is hovering closer to 15-17%. I have seem to hit some plateaus in my training/races, especially on the bike. I have also lost some of the muscle definition that I had in my upper body (my lower body is looking good due to all the running and riding that I am completing).

There are many benefits to weight training in your general life, as well as your triathlon training. If you are a triathlete like myself now, you need not borrow my 1999 training schedule, unless you are a semi-pro/pro and you have the extra hour or two a day to workout on top of your other training.

Some suggestions for those of you who want to implement this in your training and/or have not brought the intensity and frequency of weight training to your workouts that you would like.


1. 3-4 days a week (I would suggest 3) consisting of chest and back, then legs and shoulders next, and then finally bi's and tri's. If you are to bring a 4th day into the mix I would probably suggest legs and shoulders again, since you use them the most during your race. Completing it in this order will give you different muscle groups time to heal before they are worked out again. Some muscle groups are not only their own primary muscle group, but some are secondary to other groups you will workout (i.e. biceps support back workout, triceps support chest workout).

2. Calves and abs can be done at every workout. They tend to repair themselves the fastest after a workout, so you can afford to do them every workout if you wish.

3. There are two different schools of thought when you are doing race specific training. One is lighter weights with more reps for endurance, and then heavy weights with less reps for strength. I tend to try and find a happy medium, but I personally stray to the side of a bit heavier and a few less reps. My line of thinking is that I have the endurance to do the distance, I just want to get stronger and faster. (i.e. trying to ride bigger gears.)

4. Make sure that you implement your workout to "compliment" your triathlon training. I see people in sport specific training ruin themselves on their event day or hard training days by putting a workout too close to that day. Example, do not put legs on Friday before your 100mile group ride Saturday morning. I would suggest; Sunday chest and back, Tuesday legs and shoulders, and Thursday bi's and tri's. You could even get away with Mon, Wed, Fri if you want, as long as you are keeping a few days for legs to recover for your brick/long ride on the weekend.

5. Make sure you find someone who knows what they are doing. If not, then stick to the machines at the gym (Bi's and Tri's would be the only exception). People who do not know what they are doing have more problems with free weights despite their benefits, and will end up not progressing or even injuring themselves if they are not watched.

6. Work on form first, then add weight later. If you are not doing the exercise properly, then not matter how much weight you add, it is not going to help. Acutally in most cases it will be to your detriment, usually via injury. Last night I was at the gym and someone was next to me on the lat pull down machine, and he had WAAAY TOOO MUCH weight and had to pull the thing down like he was on the rowing team. I am sure that he woke up this morning with a really sore/injured lower back.

7. Mix it up! Do not use the same weight machines every workout! Try to implement and rotate at least one different workout into your routine! It will help out a lot!

8. When you start your routine (or starting over again), make sure you are starting out with less sets in the first few workouts and then build up sets. Your muscles can fatigue just like when you first started your triathlon expierence and could not run/bike/or swim a mile. Arm/Chest and back days should have no more than 12-14 sets total. Leg days should have no more than 15-17 sets (more workouts to do on legs) for the first few workouts. You can go up from there.

9. Cardio warmup. I suggest 15-20 minutes, but you can do whatever you want, as long as it is at least 10 minutes.

10. Cooldown/Stretch. I personally do not do cooldowns to often except after leg workouts, but make sure you stretch!!!!! Stretch!!! Should be at a minimum of 10 minutes of your total workout time.

I am not a professional body builder or strength trainer, but I have worked out with two different certified personal trainers (both of whom owned supplement stores), as well as Harold Houge(is that how you spell his last name?), who was a WWC wrestler in the 1980's. Man Harold would tear you up and make you cry during your workout! Learning from these guys, I have never sustained a strength training injury and was very satisified with my results.


I hope you are able to use some of these suggestions to your advantage as I have over my life, and I am going to start taking my own advice and using the suggestions above once again.

Talk to you later,


Murtha...

2006 Emerald Pointe Triathlon Race Report

Happy Columbus Day!!!

Man, I love Federal Holidays! I can really appreciate them considering I had jobs most of my life where they were open everyday, including holidays. I worked nights, weekends, holidays, all the time at one point. So I think I have the right to celebrate today. But now for my race report...

Pictures will be here as soon as I get them from the company as well as friends who took pictures.

STARTING THE MORNING OFF...

So I woke up around 5:15 in the morning. After a late night of watching the Dawgs lose to Tennessee, I could have left when the first half was over and get some sleep if I knew what the second half was going to bring. Jackie spent the night, so we left together around 6:15am to head to Lake Lanier. I had a Espresso Love GU and a Snicker Marathon Bar. More on the Snicker Bar later... I stopped off at McDonalds and picked up some breakfast for her. Got to the parking area of Lake Lanier Islands Beach and Water Park, and found that there was not enough parking for all of us... Good thing we brought her Jeep!!! Went straight to body marking and then proceeded to get my chip and unpack at transition.

PRE - RACE...

After unpacking at transition, I went down to the lake to check out the water temp. It was around 75 degrees. Yeah! But the air temp was around 58 degrees and a slight breeze. Booo! I headed to the back up to the transition to get my cap and goggles and then headed to the bathroom before the start.

DO I KNOW YOU...?

So I am up in transition, and who do I see two bikes down from me, but Josh Nickell, a friend from high school! I have seen him on Facebook online and he had asked me questions about triathlon stuff since he had started training for one, and it turns out that this would be his first event. I thought that was great, and I hoped that he would do well during the race. He ended up finishing in about 1:37:?? not too bad for his first race.

THE SWIM

My age group consisted of about 30 guys and we were the first to go promptly at 8:30am. Swim was 400M, and was point to point. Yeah! No rounding turn bouys and then getting caught up in the tri-swim blender (with me being the fruit). I got in the the water for the start, then the horn went off. I started off in the back as usual to get out of the way. Again I had some problems getting into a three stroke rythm, and I did not do it too often, but I was a bit smoother, and felt a bit faster than the previous two lake swim races. Water temp helped out alot compared to the air temp.

Time 9 min 30 sec

TRANSITION 1

We might as call this section... "Climbing Mount T1." The distance to get inside the "pen" (transition area), was about 200 yards away from the water, and you basically had to run straight up a 25 degree embankment to get up to the top near the pen. Finally got into my area and quickly put on socks and shoes, helmet and glasses. I decided not to go with arm warmers, which in the end was ok. My arms got dry quickly on the bike, so that was a good choice. I would say that my "real" T1 time without the 200 yard uphill summit would have put me at 1:30-1:45. However, everyone had to do this, so that keeps everything relative.

Time 3min 02 sec

BIKE

Damn that was a miserable experience, but I got my mind focused on the ride, and that got rid of the cold weather feeling. Please do not berate me if you are doing triathlons up north right now. I know it is colder up there, but I live in the South, so it is all relative. Because of the cold and the hill summit in T1, it took me 5 minutes to get my legs going!! 5 Minutes!! That is not good at all if you are in a Sprint Triathlon. After that I got my legs going. Lots more hills than Tri-PTC in August. Mile 7-13 was pretty much false flats and downhill with the exception of 2 decent hills. Finished pretty strong but early hills and my first slow 5 minutes kept me averaging 17.1 mph for the entire ride.

Time 45 min 43 sec

TRANSITION 2

There was a no pass zone going in and out of the bike of about 20 yards, and it was really steep. You basically had to be in your granny gear or be Jan Ulrich. After the race when people were still coming in on the bike, I saw multiple people fall coming up that hill, they just lost momentum, and it was worse for the people who were clipped in. The pen was small, although there were 630 competitors and my rack was #2 on the left when I came in from the bike. I was quick on the transition and took a bottle with me so I would not have to negotiate in and out of the water aid areas on the course.

Time 1 min 15 sec

THE RUN

The run course did have elevation changes in both directions, but there were never any major hills or anything. I had a problem getting my legs going. #33 and I had spent the 2nd half of the bike together and got out of T2 about the same time, so we hung together for about the first mile or more and then he pulled off after the water station.

I really needed some water to pour over my head (Gatorade Endurance was in my bottle) and I got caught up in traffic of people trying to get it. I tried to catch up with him, but it was not working. I was trying to save a bit for a stronger finish towards the end. When we made the halfway turn, there was a man right behind me, and I decided since I was in front of him I would swing wide and let him pass since he seemed faster than me. When he got up next to me he started talking about some kind of cheating on the run and I could not understand what he was saying, so I was like "whatever" and let him pass. I don't know what he was talking about, but I know that I was not violating any rules or regulations on the run course, so he can just shove it for all I care.

About 400 yards from the finish I picked it up and finished strong with my small cheerleading squad cheering for me.

Time: 29 min 22 sec

Total Time 1hr 28min 50sec (17th place in age group)

Soooo, what does this mean overall. Well first off, I busted my Ass at the end of August with some really good training ( I thought) and pulled about 1hr 22 min and a half, and here I slacked off the last three weeks and pulled a 1 hr 28 min 50 sec race. Now in a sprint tri, that is a lot of time, but it leads me to believe that I was plateauing late in my season. To be quite honest, this race was like randomly waking up one day without any training and then completing the event, only 6 and a half minutes slower than your fastest time. I should nock off about a minute for that damn hill, but there is nothing I can do about that.

I was happy with my finish. I am happy that I had people there to support me. Thank you Jackie, Melissa, Charlie, and Bharat. Josh, great work on your first Tri! I hope that there are many more races for you to come in your future, you will do great I am sure.

Now I have the next 5 weeks off. I will be doing some strength training and some base work, but other than that, no serious schedule and no serious training. I think I am going to go online and get one of these training programs. I have looked at some, and I think I am going to choose Crucible Fitness's 16 week HIM training program. Please let me know if you have any suggestions in this area. I also want to set some goals for next year, since I am upping the number of races, as well as the variety of distances that I am tackling. After I figure out what those are, I will post them on my blog so that we may see how I progress through the next year.

Well that is about all for now, I will talk with you guys and gals later. I need to finish this Miller Lite on my day off, it is beginning to get warm...


Murtha....

Bolder's Late Show Top 10....

I was reading through the blogs this morning, and I had not looked at Bolder's in about a month. I was reading through and I thought this blog was awsome (and humorous) as well.


Race tomorrow, I am really excited, as I am sure most of you are, when you have a race coming up. I am going to brick it today, and then get a swim in tonight. Race report out on Monday with my bank holiday.

Murtha...

Thanks for the Feedback!!!

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to thank everyone for the feedback!!! I think the great thing is that there are multiple differing opinions and all of them are backed up by experience and knowledge that they have gained throughout their training and racing.

I will just bite the bullet for this race, especially since it is not an A, B, C or even X race for me. I just wanted to do one more before my "season was over." With that in mind, I will just put the quality, expensive wetsuit that I will purchase on my wishlist and get it at a later time.

So my race is on Sunday. And it is even better because I have a three day weekend! How do you ask? Columbus Day. Yes I am one of those "bank people" that all of you loathe so much. Yes we have a holiday almost every month, but the Federal Reserve has to get their days off, so they give them to us as well.

I think I am really going to like this course. I think there are a few small rollers on the bike course, but the rest of the course is flat as a pancake. The run actually takes you around a very small portion of the lake, so there will be a bit of scenery on the run. On this race, I think I am really going to focus on the swim and the run. I seem to have "plateaued" on the bike, and I am not going to sweat trying to go any damn faster for a race that I am not even putting on the priority list. I was clocked an average speed of 20.2 mph in my last race, and it should have been faster if it was not for the .1 mile "No Pass" coasting zone in and out of the bike start/finish area. I understand it is for the saftey of the riders and volunteers, but .2 mile total going in and out, come one! I know that you could cut that down to .1 or even .05 mile and I think it would still be deemed safe for everyone. Even if it was no pass zone, as long as you could go fast until you hit that shortened coasting zone I would be fine with that. However, I am excited that I broke the 20mph average barrier, even if it is only a sprint triathlon.

Anyways back to the swim/run. Have I slacked the last few weeks on my workouts since returning from vacation (where I did work out thank you very much)? Yes. Has it affected my overall performance of late? Maybe just a bit. However, there should be no excuse for how I can bust out a sub 8:00 min 400M split and then I get into a lake or other body of water and swim it in 13-14 minutes... What in the F@(# is going on with that? Seriously....

The run is just getting the leg transition from bike to run earlier in my run. I think I am going to brick today and tomorrow. Since I am not looking for a blockbuster performance on Sunday, I think I can get away from bricking both days before the race, it is just a sprint, and I have taken enough days off lately where my body deserves to be abused a bit.

I have been reading Steven's blog a lot lately. A good post that he wrote the other day talked about progressing on the run and to do so, you have to mix it up. You can read it here. and although I have not really mixed up my runs much yet, I have been varying distances, courses, and intensities. That is a start. I need to find a "public" high school that is not going crazy over security right now so that I can get some early morning or late night track workouts until football season is over, and then I can switch to afternoons. When I look at my times from other races, I know that swimming and running can definately improve. If you compare my transition times from previous years, I have shaved over 2 minutes off of them over all in sprint distance races. I am going to shoot for sub 1hr 20 min, that is just over a 2 min improvement for last race. I just need some kind of goal to shoot for. If I do not beat it, then I am not going to sweat it.

I got really down about the last race, due to the fact all the hard work I put in only netted me 2 minutes better than last year. I am not going to let that affect me this time. I think that some of us set hard goals because we want to improve faster, be better, etc... than what we are actually doing to preform at the time. Not that our preformance is subpar, but that we are expecting more than what our body is producing at the time. A good analogy fits here. Think of your triathlon as a buffet, and how many times, "your eyes are bigger than your stomach."

Oh and yes, I signed up for the raceAthlete registration to be on the team, along with every other tri-blogger out there. I do think that it is a bit unfair that they are limiting by wanting all team members to compete in IMWisconson after it has already sold out, but hey, they made the rules, not me. When I was signing up, I was like, why do they only have 1 IM event on here this upcoming year? Then I read the "fine print" (which was actually 12 point font) and it said that they would like to culminate the teammates experience by having all of them compete in IM Wisconson. I hurriedly went to ironmanlive.com to check and see if the event had sold out. Yup. My heart sank. I submitted my application with the hope that they can look past that and let me sign up for another IM event, such as Florida.

Murtha...

Wetsuit anyone???

Good morning,

Up early today! That is a change. Well I was at all3sports this weekend (for those of you who only order from them online, yes they do have an actual physical location in Atlanta), and I was talking to people about the upcoming race I have this weekend. One of the guys in the store told me that he had sold 9 wetsuits for the event just that day, and that more had bee purchased in previous days.

So my next question was, "Do you know how cold the water has been up there?"

"Around 75 degrees the past couple of days."

"?????"

I have been trying to find a website or phone number to where I can call and find out the daily lake temperature for Lake Lanier for this stupid race, but to no avail have I found anything. So this begs the question, " Should I get a wetsuit, even if a cheap Sports Authority (or whatever sporting goods place in your city) Body Glove wetsuit, or not?"

I swam in the Gulf Coast Triathlon earlier this year, and the ocean temp was 76 degrees. I was fine, I was not cold or anything. Also it is supposed to get into the middle and upper 80's through Thursday, which should warm up the water a bit before the weekend.

Really the only concern I have is bouancy(?) for swimming in the lake. I have no problem swimming in the ocean, and I have no problem swimming in the pool, but for some reason I just cannot get it together in the lake. The last two lake races i have swam have been terrible. In the pool for a sprint race I can average 1:45/lap and the only time I have raced in the ocean was a half - iron distance event, and I swam that 10-15 minutes faster than anticipated.

Oh well. Any suggestions from anyone on lake swimming would be helpful.

Sunday is my last race of the year, and for some strange reason I am ready for it. I think it is due to the fact that I have had a lot going on for the past 6 months, and it will be nice to take off the next 5-6 weeks and just do light workouts. Not that my schedule will be getting any easier, that is not going to happen until March or April, but at least I will have one less thing demanding time from my life for a small period of time.

Signing off for now,

Murtha...

Looking Towards Final Training Weekend...

Hi!

Well I am sure most of you have seen my lack of postings over the past week since I have been back from my vacation. I have had a lot of stuff going on that has gone from first thing in the morning until I go to bed. This of course has not only affected my blogging, but my training, my apartment state (dirty!). Finally yesterday was the first day I was free after work, and I did nothing but go out to dinner. Oh and I did a load of laundry that is still sitting in the dryer this morning. So to answer your questions, yes, I did slack off of my training this past week up until today!

Thank goodness my last triathlon of the season is next weekend. I have so much stuff going on lately, on top of the fact I have to be moved out of my apartment and into a new one by the 31st of the month, that I am looking forward to working out without a training schedule. I am planning on just completing general training after this event next weekend, and then I will pick it back up for next year in the middle of November.

Still working on whether or not I will be at IMFLA this year to see some of you guys work Panama City. The following weekend is also the 70.3 Championship in Clearwater, FL. Pretty busy November for Ironman competitions.

I do not have much else to post at this time, so I will leave it at that. I will check up on everyone else's blog later on today. I know I need to catch up on Wil's blog since she has completed IMWisconson. Jackie showed me a new blog yesterday from Jessica'a blog where some guys did some serious technicial mountain biking! I mean these guys were going up and down vertical walls, as well as dropping off some serious stuff on their bikes. If you want to check it out, you can link to Jessica's page through my links, and then i think his blog is titled "Fat Cyclist" or something like that on her page.

Murtha out...

Keep it up!!!

Yeah, I am an idiot,

So I posted to my blog yesterday, and then I went to edit it, and did not even repost the thing. This was noted to me later on in the day by people who regularly read my blog. Sorry. Yesterday's workout was excellent, with lots of walking throughout the day to boot. My father and I walked for about an hour on Sunday night together, and we walked probably 4 miles or so.

MONDAY
RUN
Time 27:39
Distance (too lazy to figure out, I promise I will do it before I leave tomorrow night)
Pace (cannot calculate until I have distance)

I did lots of walking on the Strip yesterday afternoon, about 3 hours worth. Yes there was stopping in between to window shop, as well as watch some gambling. I am kind of desensitized to gambling now, even though I enjoy it. I sat there yesterday for 15-20 minutes at O'Sheas drinking a dollar draft beer, watching the stickman at the craps table (John) get everyone going at the table. The table was really hot at the time (I would have liked to have gotten on, but there was no room), and it is people like him who make the casino's a lot of money.

I could get used to training on a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly basis out here, except for the three months every summer where it is 110-120 degrees every day, and if you want to workout outside, you have to do so at 3-4 am, and even still it is 85 degrees outside.

Diet out here has been good as well. Lower Carbs (eating only the good ones), and more fiber/protein in my diet. My race is now in just under 20 days. I am not considering this an A,B,C,etc... race, but I just wanted to get one in before the year was over. I do not care where I finish, I just wanted to get out there and participate. Outside of fiscal constraints and timing, etc... I feel I am slighting myself a bit if I don't do more than a couple of races a year, considering that this is a year round sport (depending on where you are in the world) and it seems year after year there are more and more races to choose from.

I am trying to schedule 5-7 races next year. For me, it seems like a big jump, but I feel that I will be better able to cope with training and my pyschological side if I have something cosistently coming up. I think part of the problem with the tri-TPC in August was that it was too far away from my May race, and although I did train in between the events, I felt that I could have had my intensity a bit higher. Volume was another issue and I will definately take that to heart next year. The longer the race distance you are going to complete the more race volume you will need to get in!!!!

Well that is all for now, I have been trying to fix my mother's desktop computer all morning, and it seems that it is an electrical issue, so she will have to take it in and get it fixed. I am going to spend another day down on the Strip, and then I am going to go out with one of my Fraternity brothers tonight who lives not too far from my parent's house. Should be good times.


Murtha...

Training on Vacation!!!

Good Morning everyone.

For the first time since I have been on this blog, I am actually posting in the time zone that this blog runs on, Pacific Standard Time.

Well, I am in the wonderful city of Henderson (Las Vegas), Nevada. I decided to come and visit my parents at the last minute. I have not seen them since June when they came to Atlanta for somone's retirement event. Before that, it was last October when I came out here to visit them.

I am sure some of you are thinking that I am "burning the candle at both ends." But it is not so! I think this place is just like any other city in that once you have been here so many times, the stuff gets old after awhile. I mean, sure there is a new something on the strip everytime I come out here, and when I fly in/out of here at night, I can tell by the street lights that the place is getting bigger and bigger. However, it is the same old Las Vegas that I visited in 2002 after my Dad moved out here. I digress.

Yesterday morning I went out in cool 60 degree weather running, man it was cold. Don't get me wrong that is great running weather, but I have been used to morning running attempts of 75-80 degrees in the morning with humidity. Oh yes and humidity, there is none of that here! My throat was ON FIRE on the way back from my loop run through the neighborhoods. On a positive note, there was a nice breeze, and the sky was clear (no pollution, no way!). It was also errily (is that how you spell it?) quiet out there. I am sure it is a bit busier during the week, but my parents are the young ones in a retirement community, so there are not too many people getting up and going to work if you know what I mean.

RUN
23 min 07 sec
Distance: ??? (I will figure that out today)
Pace: ??? (I will calculate that when I get the distance)

Doing just what I did above with my workout recap makes me want to get a Garmin even worse.

Oh and by the way to correct myself, My parents place is not 5000 above sea level, it is just 2500 feet above sea level, but every little bit helps, doesn't it.

It is almost 7:20 now and I am going to go out and run about 8:00 this morning. We went grocery shopping yesterday, and I got stuff to make smoothies and other yummy goodness.


Please look at my other blog, jamurtha80.blogspot.com, in the next day or two if you are even slightly interested in football. I could get used to watching football on the west coast........

Signing off for now,


Murtha...

New Friends, and things to talk about...

Good day to you all,

Raining in Atlanta, so much for trying to ride the bike. Oh well there will be other days, and there is always the spin room at the gym if I really want to hit it (yeah there is a trainer on the long list of things I want for my habit).

Did not work out on Monday, which is usually my day off. Did not work out on Tuesday either. You ask, "wait don't you have an event coming up in 20-some days???"

Answer: Why yes I do! Do I care? No!

I am going to put a swim in tonight at the gym followed by a workout with Jackie there. She is finally on that bandwagon 100% and that is cool.

I gave my blog address to some team in training people that I usually ride with on Thursday evenings, so I wanted to give a shout out to all of them. I cannot remember all of their names, but there has to be 15-20 of them I have met now over the couple of weeks that I have hung out with them. There is even a British guy named Andy that I hung out with this past week. Really cool guy. I would really like to do a team in training event at least once in my life, and this is the group that I think it will happen with, at one time or another.

I forget if i put this in my previous post, but I am too lazy to look at it right now. I am headed to Vegas to see family Saturday through Wednesday, and I am using it as an opportunity to complete some high altitude training in the pool and on the roads.

I am going to put in some serious miles over the next 4 days so that I can stress my body enough to be (somewhat) prepared for a higher altitude. I have had a blister issue for the past week or two, but that is subsiding. My plantar fascia is still acting up, and I am hoping that I can just make it through the next 4 weeks and then I can pull back until it heals. I have been icing it, as well as streching and resting as much as possible. It will only usually act up 1 (sometimes 2) days a week, and then the rest of the week it is fine.

Well that is all I have for now.


Murtha...

The Week In Review...

Hi Everyone,

Been gone for a week. Not from home, just from the computer. I had a few friends that I sent my link to, email/call me and ask me if there was anything going on, and why I had not posted anything to my blog. Awwwh, Andy someone cares about you.......

Here are the stats for what I did this week. (Note: There was no swimming/running!!! Bad Andy!!! I just did not feel like doing it. No sense of trying to get out there and put up a good training performance when your mind is not wanting to do it...)

Monday
Bike - Silver Comet Trail
Distance: 36 miles
Total Time: 1hr 56min 37 sec
Avg Speed: 18.5 mph

Thursday
Bike - Brookhaven/Mellow Mushroom
Distance: 19.77 miles
Total Time: 1:08:59
Avg Speed: 17.2 mph

Sunday
Bike - Silver Comet Trail
Distance: 40.04 miles
Total Time: 2 hour 6 min 07 sec
Av Speed: 19.0 mph


Not too much to report, which is weird, due to the fact that I have not been on in over a week. I watched lots of football this season, which means I am going to have to complete my workouts in the morning so that I can have my proverbial cake and eat it too.

Oregon is out of the picture for now, I might do that in October or November. Mostly logistical issues, since I wanted to see both sides of the family, and go out to the ranch. Instead, I am going out to Las Vegas to see my parents. I will use it as an opportunity to do some high altitude training. For those of you who live in Boulder, CO, and other such elevated places, you might think, "Las Vegas, that is not high altitude training." Coming from someone who lives in Atlanta, everything is high altitude training. Not taking my bike, since that would be a $400-$600 affair. Heck I could almost buy another basic road bike (or a used one at that) rather than taking my bike out there.

I was happy with my ride on Sunday, I increased my mileage by about 12% from the previous week, and I was still able to increase my average speed .5 mph. I am attempting to get back into my regular schedule this week as much as possible, and then heading to Las Vegas on Saturday night, coming back in first thing on the morning of the 21st.

Unfortunately, that is all I have for now. I will read everyone's blog today and tomorrow, as well as listening to the next installment of "Get your Geek on!" from Iron Wil and the Big Kahuna.

Catch you guys later...

Labor Day Weekend, Lots of physical labor!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their labor day weekend.

I know I am.

Thursday night I went out on the Brookhaven/Mellow Mushroom Ride with the Team in Training folks. Here are the stats

BIKE

Distance: 19.70 miles
Total Time: 1hr 11min 37 sec
Average: 16.5 Mph

It had just rained about half an hour before the ride, so we had to go slower through the silver lake area than before. I met a new guy named Rob, who was out there for his first time, just moved up from Macon and found a new job in the Atlanta area.

Friday night I went to the Chattahooche river to run a 5K nice and easy.

RUN

Distance: 3.1 miles
Total Time: 30 min 15 seconds
Pace: 9:45 min/mile

I purposely ran slow due to the fact that my plantar fasciia is acting up again. I have been trying to rehab and keep training at the same time, but it is really hard. Saturday I worked and then went to Dragon Con, watched some football (Go DAWGS, go Fighting Irish!!!), and went to see the "Wicker Man."

DO NOT GO SEE THE WICKER MAN!!!! IT IS A HORRIBLE MOVIE!!!

If you really need to see it, at least wait until it comes out on Netflix or Blockbuster so it is cheaper for your to rent, and not to pay $9.00 at the movie theater.

Today's ride was pretty good. It was the last day of the borrowed "Aerobars." NOOOOOOO! I was out at the Silver Comet Trail with Jackie today, but we pretty much did our own thing. Here are my stats for the ride.

BIKE

Distance: 36.04 miles
Total Time: 1hr 56 min 19 sec
Speed: 18.5 Mph

Much better than Thursday's ride, but then again, I was on flat ground. At the pace today, that is about a 3hour and 1 min bike ride for a half iron. Was pretty tired when I got done. Downed 2 GU's, bottle of Gatorade Endurance, and a bottle of Water. I tried the Vanilla and Choclate today. Vanilla was awsome, but the choclate had the consistency of someone putting Duncan Hines choclate frosting in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Taste was good, but consistency was horrible!

Tomorrow will be a 20-30 mile ride, but I am taking it easy with Jackie. Probably going to go on the Thursday night route, to show her something new. I need to get a swim in either today or tomorrow so that I will have something going into this week.

I signed up for the Emerald Pointe Triathlon on October 8th this year. It is also a Sprint Distance Triathlon that is located at Lake Lanier Islands Beach and Water Park. The bike and run portions will go out and around parts of Lake Lanier. I should have a small crowd showing up to that one as well, but not as many people methinks.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.


Murtha...

New Month, Hopefully turning new leaf

Hello Everyone,

It's September!!! Maybe it will finally cool down for everyone, it seems to have already done so for Jessica, Jessi, Bolder, Steven, and numerous others in the morning. Oh and don't forget that our workouts are being ruined by less daylight in the morning and evening. I have a feeling that I will need to add a trainer to my Christmas list, since my job is really going to screw with my bike riding in the winter time (too early to be at work to ride in the morning, too late in the afternoon to get home and do a decent distance (15-20 miles max)).

It is still fairly hot down here in Georgia, but the temperature is in the mid-high 80's rather than the mid-high 90's, so I am happy about that.

I am signing up for the Emerald Pointe Triathlon either tonight or tomorrow. I kind of started my training later this week than I would have liked, but I needed to give myself a break for a few days and recharge my batteries. Last night I did the Brookhaven-Mellow Mushroom loop (x2) I will post the details later. Afterwards, instead of heading into Mellow Mushroom, I went to the gym to work out my chest and back a bit. I only did two workouts, three sets each, but it was better than nothing.

I am hoping today to either get some laps in at the pool, or get some running done. I am also going to have to get up ass early tomorrow morning, or I am going to have to find a way to squeeze in my workout tomorrow, since there is football all day long, as well as Dragon Con occuring from today until Monday night. For those of you who don't know, Dragon Con is one of the biggest gaming/sci-fi/fantasy conventions in the world. I have played Magic: The Gathering, and Warhammer off and on for years, and my buddy is going this weekend, I might just stop on by.

Sun/Mon are both going to be riding days for me, I am upping the mileage. 30 miles one day and 30+ miles the next, not sure how much total... I might even make one of them a brick workout depending on how early I get up both mornings.

I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend. Make sure you train hard, party harder (but not enough to mess up your training for the weekend.). I'll see you on the flip side of this 2 1/2 day weekend (for me, I have to work Saturday morning at the bank).

I guess this means I owe all of you two posts now. One to finish this one off, and another that I have procrastinated for two weeks now. I'll get to it this weekend.


Murtha...