It is once again Monday and I have another (short) update. I have once again had my biggest week of training of the year. I had about 21.5 hours of training this past week and may have even more this week (doubtful with the annual Bluegrass 10k on Saturday). I put in almost 170 miles on the bike which is a pretty solid week of riding for me, along with almost 50 miles of running. I opted out of the local triathlon which was yesterday to focus on my training. I knew I would at least rest a day or so going into the race, and I needed a solid week of training so I chose not to race. Congrats to my fellow coworkers Kevin Ryan and Allison Stewart for their big W's and my brother for finishing 2nd only to Kevin.
However, I did enjoy my first weekend in Lexington since May 16th. I had 5 straight weekends on the road so it was nice to be able and not travel this past weekend. I got my workout over with early Saturday morning, had breakfast at Panera with Casey, and relaxed most of the afternoon by watching some track and field and the World Cup. Sunday I ran my longest run of the year, went for an easy spin with Casey, and watched more soccer and track. I took an active recovery day today and am hitting it hard once again tomorrow.
Off to bed.
Tony
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Summertime
Since my last race, I have had a great week of recovery and a great week of training. Last week I hit my yearly high for hours of training in 1 week, and the week before I was at the lake for 4 days getting in plenty of rest after Kansas 70.3.
I got in a few easy bouts of exercise the days after Kansas, then went to Lake Barkley on Wednesday of that week. I was there until Sunday. I got in plenty of boating time which including waterskiing and tubing behind the boat, along with some pool time. I was able to finish "The Blindside" book which was a great read. I have seen the movie twice, but the book had a little more background information about the whole story behind the left tackle in the NFL and also a little more background about the people involved in the story. Anyways, I played a little golf, and our family had a surprise party celebrating my great aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary.
I got back to work on Monday and I had a very solid week of training last week. I got in a great longer ride with my brother on Saturday even though it rained on us for most of the ride. And we got in our long run yesterday before it got blazing hot. It was still really humid and made for a not-so-comfortable run but we got in the miles. I finished the week with over 20 hours of training which was the first time this year I've hit that mark.
After the run, we had a great father's day in Corbin by eating a great lunch after church, then hanging out by the pool with the family.
Now I'm taking advantage of my recovery day by sleeping in this morning and get a little work done at the shop right now. I might end up at the pool and get in a little swim later today.
Until next time.
Tony
I got in a few easy bouts of exercise the days after Kansas, then went to Lake Barkley on Wednesday of that week. I was there until Sunday. I got in plenty of boating time which including waterskiing and tubing behind the boat, along with some pool time. I was able to finish "The Blindside" book which was a great read. I have seen the movie twice, but the book had a little more background information about the whole story behind the left tackle in the NFL and also a little more background about the people involved in the story. Anyways, I played a little golf, and our family had a surprise party celebrating my great aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary.
I got back to work on Monday and I had a very solid week of training last week. I got in a great longer ride with my brother on Saturday even though it rained on us for most of the ride. And we got in our long run yesterday before it got blazing hot. It was still really humid and made for a not-so-comfortable run but we got in the miles. I finished the week with over 20 hours of training which was the first time this year I've hit that mark.
After the run, we had a great father's day in Corbin by eating a great lunch after church, then hanging out by the pool with the family.
Now I'm taking advantage of my recovery day by sleeping in this morning and get a little work done at the shop right now. I might end up at the pool and get in a little swim later today.
Until next time.
Tony
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Kansas 70.3 RR
I am finally settled back in Lexington and will be leaving once again tomorrow. The annual family reunion is this weekend at "Land between the Lakes" in Western Kentucky and I'm really looking forward to it. We stay at the Lodge on the lake and just hang out all weekend including: golf, skiing, sitting by the pool, ping pong, and eating lots of home baked sweets.
Anyways, I got back from Lawrence Kansas where I competed in my first 70.3 of the year. I did feel a little out of shape on the bike, but I finally ran well off of the bike which is unusual for me. I usually go too hard on the bike and then fall apart on the run. With the help of my coach, Beth Atnip, I finally nailed my nutrition plan on the bike, which I feel is a big reason that I ran so well. I have always taken in enough calories (or at least I think I did) but I never thought about how many electrolytes I was consuming. Thanks to the help of my Powerbar gels, EFS, and Salt Stick, I had plenty of electrolytes for this race.
We left Lexington on Friday and just drove the whole way. It was a long day in the car, but traveling with Eric, Kevin, and my bro, it made the trip seem not as far. We had some good pizza Friday night and then crashed. Saturday we woke up and had some breakfast before we headed to the race site to get in a little shake out workout. Saturday warmed up to almost 95 degrees and was sunny all day. It made for a hot workout, but we knew it was supposed to cool off for race day. I went to the pro meeting at 4, headed back to the hotel to chill, then grabbed some dinner before we went to bed. The pro meeting was kind of funny. I've never raced against Chris Lieto so I have never seen the following that he has. There were 4 - 5 guys from K-Swiss that were considered "handlers" that just hung out at the pro meeting and were there obviously for Chris (and maybe Andrew Yoder). I didn't realize that triathletes had "groupies." Maybe one day I can have some, haha.
Well, race day came and I was ready to roll. I stayed calm and collected before the race and didn't get over anxious before the race like I did several times last year. I put on my Kiwami "Torpedo" and got in the water for the race start. The swim started without much fighting and I started on Potts' feet. Needless to say, that didn't last very long. And I found out that I need to work on my ability to swim straight. I probably swam an extra 50 - 100 meters extra thanks to my horrible sighting skills. I ended up between packs and swimming by myself for the whole swim. I was 6th out of the water, but was a few minutes behind the leaders which wasn't where I wanted to be. I took off on the bike and just didn't feel great. I was kind of going fast, but not like I did last year. I got passed by 2 guys around mile 10, and then didn't see anyone for another 20 miles (except at turn arounds). It's hard to keep pushing when you are by yourself the whole time. That is one of the biggest differences between being a professional and an amateur. When I was a fast amateur, I got reinforcement when I would pass people (and I usually passed a lot of people considering my age group went last). Now, not passing anyone until the 35 mile mark, that's not very reinforcing. But I did pass one guy. Around mile 45 I was ready to get off of the bike and start the run. I made it back to transition in 7th position, had a decent T2, and took off in my new Brooks Green Silence shoes (which I love BTW).
The guy I passed on the bike came flying by me just 1/4 mile into the run. I didn't even try and keep up hoping that he would fall apart towards the end of the run (he didn't). I just put my head down and really focused on being controlled. I didn't look at my watch until the 2 mile mark which I went through at 11 minutes flat. I thought it was a little fast, but it didn't feel fast. I kept that pace for the next 6 miles and went through the 8 miles mark around 44:30 or so. I did slow down a little towards the end but I never went through the pain that I have gone through in the past which was a nice change. I guess all of those running miles that I put in over the winter finally paid off. I ended up running a 1:14:06 which is a huge PR for a run split in a 70.3. Again, I feel that my nutritional plan and the lower temperatures helped me finish the race like I did. I ended up finishing as the 7th pro (8th overall since 1 amateur beat me, but he had a wetsuit, so...) and was relatively happy with my race. I dropped 1.5 minutes from last year's race and I wasn't that sore afterwards. My brother and Kevin both finished in the top 4 in their AG and got spots to the World Championship in Clearwater. Beth also had a great race finishing the the top 10 amateurs overall.
We were extremely happy with our races and we hit the road back to Lexington. Thanks to the Miller's for letting us crash in Chesterfield Sunday night before finishing the trip on Monday.
Off to the Lake for some R&R, then hitting it hard for a good month or so before I race again. Next up is the Markey Race for Cancer here in Lexington.
T-Bird.
Anyways, I got back from Lawrence Kansas where I competed in my first 70.3 of the year. I did feel a little out of shape on the bike, but I finally ran well off of the bike which is unusual for me. I usually go too hard on the bike and then fall apart on the run. With the help of my coach, Beth Atnip, I finally nailed my nutrition plan on the bike, which I feel is a big reason that I ran so well. I have always taken in enough calories (or at least I think I did) but I never thought about how many electrolytes I was consuming. Thanks to the help of my Powerbar gels, EFS, and Salt Stick, I had plenty of electrolytes for this race.
We left Lexington on Friday and just drove the whole way. It was a long day in the car, but traveling with Eric, Kevin, and my bro, it made the trip seem not as far. We had some good pizza Friday night and then crashed. Saturday we woke up and had some breakfast before we headed to the race site to get in a little shake out workout. Saturday warmed up to almost 95 degrees and was sunny all day. It made for a hot workout, but we knew it was supposed to cool off for race day. I went to the pro meeting at 4, headed back to the hotel to chill, then grabbed some dinner before we went to bed. The pro meeting was kind of funny. I've never raced against Chris Lieto so I have never seen the following that he has. There were 4 - 5 guys from K-Swiss that were considered "handlers" that just hung out at the pro meeting and were there obviously for Chris (and maybe Andrew Yoder). I didn't realize that triathletes had "groupies." Maybe one day I can have some, haha.
Well, race day came and I was ready to roll. I stayed calm and collected before the race and didn't get over anxious before the race like I did several times last year. I put on my Kiwami "Torpedo" and got in the water for the race start. The swim started without much fighting and I started on Potts' feet. Needless to say, that didn't last very long. And I found out that I need to work on my ability to swim straight. I probably swam an extra 50 - 100 meters extra thanks to my horrible sighting skills. I ended up between packs and swimming by myself for the whole swim. I was 6th out of the water, but was a few minutes behind the leaders which wasn't where I wanted to be. I took off on the bike and just didn't feel great. I was kind of going fast, but not like I did last year. I got passed by 2 guys around mile 10, and then didn't see anyone for another 20 miles (except at turn arounds). It's hard to keep pushing when you are by yourself the whole time. That is one of the biggest differences between being a professional and an amateur. When I was a fast amateur, I got reinforcement when I would pass people (and I usually passed a lot of people considering my age group went last). Now, not passing anyone until the 35 mile mark, that's not very reinforcing. But I did pass one guy. Around mile 45 I was ready to get off of the bike and start the run. I made it back to transition in 7th position, had a decent T2, and took off in my new Brooks Green Silence shoes (which I love BTW).
The guy I passed on the bike came flying by me just 1/4 mile into the run. I didn't even try and keep up hoping that he would fall apart towards the end of the run (he didn't). I just put my head down and really focused on being controlled. I didn't look at my watch until the 2 mile mark which I went through at 11 minutes flat. I thought it was a little fast, but it didn't feel fast. I kept that pace for the next 6 miles and went through the 8 miles mark around 44:30 or so. I did slow down a little towards the end but I never went through the pain that I have gone through in the past which was a nice change. I guess all of those running miles that I put in over the winter finally paid off. I ended up running a 1:14:06 which is a huge PR for a run split in a 70.3. Again, I feel that my nutritional plan and the lower temperatures helped me finish the race like I did. I ended up finishing as the 7th pro (8th overall since 1 amateur beat me, but he had a wetsuit, so...) and was relatively happy with my race. I dropped 1.5 minutes from last year's race and I wasn't that sore afterwards. My brother and Kevin both finished in the top 4 in their AG and got spots to the World Championship in Clearwater. Beth also had a great race finishing the the top 10 amateurs overall.
We were extremely happy with our races and we hit the road back to Lexington. Thanks to the Miller's for letting us crash in Chesterfield Sunday night before finishing the trip on Monday.
Off to the Lake for some R&R, then hitting it hard for a good month or so before I race again. Next up is the Markey Race for Cancer here in Lexington.
T-Bird.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
My Short Work Week
Well, last weekend I flew to St. Louis to visit Casey. I flew out at 8 am and arrived at 8:05 (with time change) which is always nice. I went for a little run and hung out by the pool for the rest of the day. It was a nice and relaxing weekend with my girlfriend and her family. Saturday I got to swim with her old club team which was a change of pace. That area has a bunch of outdoor swimming pools. I swam with the club team Saturday morning in a 50m outdoor pool and then with the Master's team on Sunday morning at a different outdoor 50m pool. I love swimming outdoors, especially when it's a long course pool. I squeezed in a few runs in the sweltering heat that weekend and managed to not miss a day of training on my Memorial Day weekend. I got in 2 workouts Sunday morning before we left for the river (first time for me). Casey's family has a boat on the river and we took it out. I have never been on a boat on the river. I grew up on the lake and always travel to the Lake for our annual family reunion but I've never been on a river. The water was a little rough and we had to dodge a few more logs and sticks, but otherwise it was a good time. Friday night and Sunday night we ate some amazing home cooked/grilled food and Saturday night we visited "The Hill" and had some really good Italian food. We drove back on Monday (Casey had to return to Lexington for school on Tuesday). St. Louis isn't as far as I had originally thought, but it was a short drive either.
I worked Tuesday thru Thursday and got in some solid taper workouts before I hit the road again yesterday. We left Lexington before 9 am and arrived in Lawrence, Kansas last night around 6 pm. It was a long drive, but we borrowed a full size van so we could fit 4 people with 4 bikes and all of the luggage. It worked great. I may have consumed enough calories yesterday on the trip to feed a normal American for 3 - 4 days, ha. Something about being bored in the car and snacking just goes together.
I had an amazing Hawaiian chicago style pizza at "Old Chicago" last night and we hit the sack soon afterwards. I woke up this morning feeling good and rested. It is 75 degrees right now and overcast. They are expecting record highs today here in Lawrence, but its only a high of 80 tomorrow and overcast. That will be a nice change of racing weather when compared to Memphis.
Well off to get in a little workout and then race tomorrow. Will have the race report up sometime in the 2 days following the race, ha.
Tony
I worked Tuesday thru Thursday and got in some solid taper workouts before I hit the road again yesterday. We left Lexington before 9 am and arrived in Lawrence, Kansas last night around 6 pm. It was a long drive, but we borrowed a full size van so we could fit 4 people with 4 bikes and all of the luggage. It worked great. I may have consumed enough calories yesterday on the trip to feed a normal American for 3 - 4 days, ha. Something about being bored in the car and snacking just goes together.
I had an amazing Hawaiian chicago style pizza at "Old Chicago" last night and we hit the sack soon afterwards. I woke up this morning feeling good and rested. It is 75 degrees right now and overcast. They are expecting record highs today here in Lawrence, but its only a high of 80 tomorrow and overcast. That will be a nice change of racing weather when compared to Memphis.
Well off to get in a little workout and then race tomorrow. Will have the race report up sometime in the 2 days following the race, ha.
Tony
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