Week #9

Still not feeling great this week, but slightly better than last week. Head cold is gone and all that remains is a cough and some congestion. I was able to make it to swim practice. I didn't push myself like I normally do. My goal was to just get back in the pool and work on technique. I was afraid that if I pushed hard that I would fade quickly or relapse.

I made the Tuesday night group run. We moved locations and used a new course. I liked the course and some of it is familiar from other runs we've done in the past. It started raining a bit, but it wasn't too bad. About halfway through it started pouring. I wanted to get the run over with and picked up the pace. I didn't get lost, but had to stop and regroup to find the way back. My lack of running over the last couple weeks made my calves sore the next couple of days. I hadn't gotten that sore since I first started training for my half marathon 2 years ago. I decided to take the rest of the week to recover. I've been getting healthier, but not as fast as I would have liked.

Date	Day	Activity
02/27/12	Monday	Swim - 2600 Yards
02/28/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
02/29/12	Wednesday	Rest
03/01/12	Thursday	Rest
03/02/12	Friday	Rest
03/03/12	Saturday	Rest
03/04/12	Sunday	Rest

Week #8

This week completely sucked. I got back from Mexico and had a photo shoot on Wednesday. I was already feeling the effects of a head cold and a sore throat. I decided to get rest and not do any workouts. I thought that maybe I'd been doing too much lately and this was my body telling me to slow down.

I was disappointed be I wanted to race the Charles Harris 10k on Saturday. I've done this race for the last 3 years. It's a fast course since it's primarily downhill most of the way. Oh well. The body needs rest right? At least I'm not putting on any weight this week while I did no physical activity. I actually lost 2 pounds. I'm hoping it's not muscle that I lost. I've made some improvement over the winter and I don't want to loose any of it.

Date	Day	Activity
02/20/12	Monday	Rest
02/21/12	Tuesday	Rest
02/22/12	Wednesday	Rest
02/23/12	Thursday	Rest
02/24/12	Friday	Rest
02/25/12	Saturday	Rest
02/26/12	Sunday	Rest

Week #7

Not much of a training week. It's been difficult to get in as much training as I used to. Having started a new job recently, I'm still trying to figure out a schedule that will provide me with some time for training.

This week I had to get ready for my trip to Mexico. I had to pick up rental gear for the wedding I was shooting in Mexico and pack what I needed for the trip. I traveled on Friday, so no training on that day. Luckily I was able to get up early on Saturday & Sunday to get a run in.

I ventured out on my own on Saturday and mapped out a 6 mile course. We were staying at an all inclusive resort off the main highway in what may have been a natural preserve. I was told that gators were known for being on the road. As I ran I made sure to scan the sides of the road just to make sure I wasn't going to be food for some reptile.  Sunday was a group run. We gather 6 of our friends for a run. Neither day was what I would call a good run. Even though we started at 7:30 in the morning, it was already hot and humid. We got a little shade going out, but it was all gone on the way back. This winter has been mild in Atlanta, but I am not conditioned to be running in the heat & humidity and I felt it on both days.

Date	Day	Activity
02/13/12	Monday	Rest
02/14/12	Tuesday	Rest
02/15/12	Wednesday	Rest
02/16/12	Thursday	Rest
02/17/12	Friday	Rest
02/18/12	Saturday	Run - 6 Miles
02/19/12	Sunday	Run - 6 Miles

The wedding was great and I had a really good time. I wish I had stayed a couple extra days to soak in the  sun and even get a swim in. The food was pretty good and there was plenty of it. I was good and made sure I had plenty of fruit & veggies and I never over indulged. I was able to maintain my weight when it could have been easy to put on a few pounds with all the free food and booze.

Week #6

Training this week has been nonexistent compared to other weeks. I started a new job and it's taking up all of my time as I get up to speed. There's going to have to be some compromise in my training and adjusting my training schedule in order to get the kind of training I was doing. I have to admit it's a bit frustrating going from training 5-7 days a week to 3 days. Luckily my diet has remained relatively healthy and unchanged. I've begun to drop some weight and that's probably due to the fact that I'm standing during most of the day and I'm packing a light lunch with some healthy snacks. So at least I'm not backsliding to a unhealthy lifestyle.

Date	Day	Activity
02/06/12	Monday	Swim - 2600 yards
02/07/12	Tuesday	Rest
02/08/12	Wednesday	Bike - Spin Swim - 1000 meters
02/09/12	Thursday	Rest
02/10/12	Friday	Rest
02/11/12	Saturday	Rest
02/12/12	Sunday	Rest

I'll have to get into my daily nutrition in another post. I've recently discovered a new salad dressing that I started making that makes my salads more tasty.

Week #5

I didn't get my normal workout this week. I started a new job and it cut into my training time and I was also out of town for most of the week and had to take some time off for travel and packing. Oh well, sometimes life gets in the way. Fortunately, I was able to get in several great runs while I was down in Florida visiting my folks.

I did my first track workout in a very long time. With the success of my 5k, I'm happy to see my speed pick up during these intervals. I was also happy with my tempo run. I did 2 sets of 3 mile repeats with each mile getting progressively faster. Felt great, but I really tired out my legs for my long run. I had a relatively good pace for the 11 mile run, but I felt tired and actually got a blister on one of my toes. I really wanted to run 13, but cut it short because I was tired and it was the first time since Augusta that I had run in 80º weather.

Date	Day	Activity
01/30/12	Monday	Swim - 2600 yards
01/31/12	Tuesday	Rest
02/01/12	Wednesday	Rest
02/02/12	Thursday	Track - 5x400 Intervals
02/03/12	Friday	Run - 7.5 Miles Tempo
02/04/12	Saturday	Run - 11 Miles
02/05/12	Sunday	Rest

Week #4

This was a great week and I broke a barrier I didn't even plan on breaking. After the Hogpen 18k hill climb, I started the week easy. Tuesday's run started out as a recovery run, but I couldn't take it easy. I've been pushing hard on Tuesday nights so I picked up the pace half way through the run. Despite my effort, I still couldn't run at my normal pace. My legs had not fully recovered from last Saturday's race. I needed to work out my legs and try to get some strength back into them. I really worked them on the leg press and felt sore through Friday and even a little bit Saturday. I took it a bit easy on Thursday & Friday hoping to give my legs a rest for Saturday's 5k.

Date	Day	Activity
01/23/12	Monday	Swim - 2200 yards
01/24/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 miles
01/25/12	Wednesday	Swim - 1000 meters Cycle - Spin Lower Body Strength
01/26/12	Thursday	Rest
01/27/12	Friday	Upper body Strength Core Strength
01/28/12	Saturday	Race - Polar Bear 5k
01/29/12	Sunday	Rest

The 5k ended up being the highlight of the whole week and I'm still grinning ear to ear thinking about it. It's been several years since I've raced a 5k and back then, I probably ran between 27-28 minutes. I was hoping to push myself and get my time down to 25 minutes. I finished in 20:35! 5th in my age group and 42 seconds behind 3rd place. I was so close to a podium. I'm not disappointed, I'm ecstatic about my performance. I had no idea I could run at a 6:40 /mile pace.  I think I'll go more into the detail in a race report and I still need to write up a report for Hogpen. It may take another week to get those up.

Week #3

Decent workout this week considering that city pools were closed on Monday for MLK day and I was resting up or Saturday's race.

I'm glad I managed to get some weights in on Tuesday with a treadmill run and swim. I wanted to swim some more on Wednesday, but the water temp was on the cold side on Tuesday and I heard varying accounts of the heater being broken to being shut down due to the MLK holiday.

Turns out Saturday's race was an 18k and not 17. This was my first year doing this race and they had moved the start location and that added an additional mile. Had it been a 17k, I would have beaten my race goal. Overall I'm happy with my performance, despite walking a significant portion between mile 7 & 10. I'll save details for the race report.

Date	Day	Activity
01/16/12	Monday	Rest - Holiday (Pool Closed)
01/17/12	Tuesday	Run - 3 miles treadmill Weights - Lower Body & Core Swim - 1000 meters
01/18/12	Wednesday	Cycle - Spin Weights - Upper Boddy
01/19/12	Thursday	Rest
01/20/12	Friday	Rest
01/21/12	Saturday	Race - Hogpen Hill Climb 1718k !
01/22/12	Sunday	Rest

Week #2

Looks like I'm back into the full swing of training. Didn't realize until I logged all my workouts this week that I didn't take a day off. So that makes me feel pretty good. Great way to start off the year and not feel rundown or tired. With that said, I've been pushing some of my runs and I notice that when I do, my right calf muscle gets tight. I'm not sure why, but I'm a little concerned that if I keep this up, that it could turn into an injury.

Date	Day	Activity
01/09/12	Monday	Swim - 2200 yards
01/10/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
01/11/12	Wednesday	Cycle - Spin Weights Swim - 800 meters
01/12/12	Thursday	Hill Repeats - 8x
01/13/12	Friday	Strength Training - Core & Upper body
01/14/12	Saturday	Run - 12 Miles
01/15/12	Sunday	Bike - 30 Miles

BTW, I'm still not sure about the job situation. I accepted the job about a month ago and I still don't have a contract in hand. At this point it's kind of a 50/50 situation and a bit nerve racking with the uncertainty. So I've been looking at alternative plans and the training is helping me deal with the stress and keeping my mind off of things. Anyway, Hogpen Hill Climb is next week and that's where my focus needs to be. I haven't really been nervous about a race in a long time, but this one does. We're also planning on riding Hogpen the next day and it's one of the toughest climbs in GA. Needless to say, I'm going to get in one hell of a workout next weekend.

Week #1 - 2012

Start of the new year, start of a new training season. This year is going to be different as I've accepted a new job that will have me out of the country for most of the year. I have no idea how or what my training will be like. As of right now, I have accepted the fact that I will not be doing any triathlons in 2012. I'm actually a bit bummed about this. Our group is already discussing 2012 races, training plans and goals and I feel left out. So while I'm still in town, I'll be training for races as they come up before my departure.

I was successful in maintaining my off season weight during Thanksgiving & Christmas. Who knew that New Year's would prove to be the challenge to my weight. I put on an additional 4 pounds during that time period. I guess it's no surprise with the eating out and alcohol while I was away, I'd put on a little extra weight. So now it's time to get that under control again.

Here's this past weeks workout:

Date	Day	Activity
01/02/12	Monday	Rest
01/03/12	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
01/04/12	Wednesday	Swim- 800 Meters Cycle - Spin Weights -
01/05/12	Thursday	Hill Repeats
01/06/12	Friday	Rest
01/07/12	Saturday	Run - 13 Miles
01/08/12	Sunday	Rest

I've been able to drop 2 pounds during this week. Feels like it should be more. I did eat out 3 nights this week. I always find it more difficult to lose weight when I eat out than when I eat at home.

My next race is Hogpen Hill Climb 17k. It's a straight uphill run and from what I've heard quite challenging. I'm told to expect my finish time to coincide with my half marathon time. Two weeks away, so I've got some hill training to do before then.

During the break, I also took a Good Form Running clinic from Big Peach Running Co. I'll do a separate and more in-depth post from what I learned. I can tell you that there has been some improvement in speed as a result.