Back to the routine

With family in town and the new baby, I've not been on schedule with my training. To restart the schedule I ran for 5 miles yesterday morning and went on an 11 mile bike ride last night. Running times were ok but I definitely lost some time on the bike. I haven't been on the bike in two weeks so that's not suprising.

A new baby!

Well, we have a new baby. Finley Kathryn was born yesterday and she's doing great. My training routine, however, is probably going to suffer. I can't see myself getting out on a regular basis and leaving both kids with Amy. I might need to invest in a jogging stroller to take Aidan or Finley with me. Of course, that won't work for swimming or biking.

I did get out for short 3 mile runs yesterday and today, which felt good.

New music

Added a couple songs to the list today. "Bad" by U2 seems to be another good opening song as it builds throughout. "Wild Women Don't Get the Blues" by Lyle Lovett has a good tempo for running.

Did 4.2 miles again today but didn't seem to have the same energy. Brought my 2.8 mile time down by 5 seconds. Overall, ran for 35 minutes. Need to bring that up to 45 by the end of the week.

The Mariner's diet

Had a great training day powered by a newly discovered nutritional secret.

Went 600 meters in the pool in the afternoon (which was about where I was before I got sick) and then attended the Mariners/White Sox game with my wife, son and dad. Dad's in town from Michigan helping out and waiting for the arrival of child #2.

At the game, I enjoyed a jumbo dog, kettle corn and a large Mountain Dew. When we got home I decided to go for a run to "catch up" on my missed training sessions. I went 4.2 miles and felt incredible the whole way.

I've got to remember this for race day!

Back on the horse

I've been out of commission for a couple days as I've been responding to questions from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) about accusations of steroid use (Thanks, Tad).

Actually, I've been sick so I took a couple days to recover. I ran 3.5 miles last night and rode 11 miles tonight.

I got a nice $100 donation from The Gilt Edge Society. Thanks to Steven Barrett for stepping up!

Good people

Ed Irwin joined the donor list today. Ed and Darby Boyles (aka Darby Hansen from an earlier post - sorry Darby! I knew you when...) are real estate and mortgage brokers at Integra Real Estate and helped Amy and I buy and finance our first (and only). They've been there for a couple refinances too! Needless to say, they are great individuals and I highly recommend them to Seattle friends and family looking for a home. Thanks Integra team!

Swam about 650 yards today. I'm over two-thirds of the way to the total swim distances which is encouraging with over 6 weeks to go. Hoping to get to 900 yards in the next two weeks so I can start working on improving my times.

Low energy day

Went for a light run today. Just didn't have any energy or motivation to do more.

My sister Liz joined the donor list today. Thanks sis!

A steroid scandal

On the night Barry Bonds breaks the home run record, a steroid scandal erupts in Camp McMurtrie. An anonymous reader, who may or may not be Tad Keppler, has asked what steroids I am on.

My official response is that I've never tested positive for steroids and, even if I did, it was only because I wanted kids to understand the dangers by providing a real life example.

New donors today include my Mom and Dad and my Mother-in-Law. Nice to have the support of my family in these trying times. Just hope my Mom doesn't cry when the results come back positive.

Donations up to $13 a minute and $140 in straight up gifts.

In unrelated news, I swam for 500 meters and biked for 5 miles.

Tech nerd

Did some strength training last night and discovered I'm a complete weakling.

Also, I'm posting this entry from my phone to see if I can update the blog when I'm mobile. That way I (or more likely my wife) can provide live updates from the course on the day of the event.

Why?

Because I'm a tech dork (which also explains why I'm a weakling!)

Another dual sport session

Did 400 yds in the pool and 11 miles on the bike. Lowered my bike time by a minute to 45:11. Improved every interval except the return. My left thigh tightened up on the ride in which cost me about a minute.

Projected Finish:
Swim: 30 minutes
Bike: 40 minutes (with a road bike)
Run: 23 minutes
Total: 1:33

Contacting Make a Wish

I contacted the Northwest chapter of Make a Wish today to see if they had a t-shirt with their logo to wear during training and the event to show my commitment. We'll see how they respond.

Cut 54 seconds off my 2.8 mile run time today to finish at 22:43 with all the gain coming in the first two-thirds of the run. Could have pushed it in the last third but I was saving some for the rest of the training run.

New goggles

Bought new speedo goggles today. Took them for a training session and they made a big difference. I felt much more comfortable in the water when I could see. My technique continues to improve. Breathing was better and I felt like I was more efficient with my stroke.

Still need to build some stamina and muscle strength but I'm confident I can get there with more training sessions.

Went for a run after swimming and my legs felt pretty heavy. Transitioning from each discipline will be interesting.

Darby Hansen joins the Donor list. Thanks, Darby.

Pushing it uphill

Really rode hard on the bike tonight and made some good gains. Lowered my time to 46:16. Key learning was to push it uphill by getting out of the saddle and pedaling hard for at least half the uphill distance. Made gains in every split time. Can't wait to see what time savings I can gain with a shift to a road bike.

Scotty Held from my Detroit crew joined the Donor List today with a nice pledge.