Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Night and Day

It’s amazing a how things can change in just a few hours. Last night I had a lot better workout then I did in the morning. I was still a little tired and the legs weren’t moving quite as well as they have, but they moving at a good pace that I was happy with. After the spin class I was just going to pack it up and leave, but I forced myself to stick around and lift. I took the week off from light last week so I knew I needed to get back on that horse. The fitness center was busy, but I managed to get through my routine without too much waiting.

I have Team in Training duties tonight so it might up being a rest day, but we will see. Perhaps I will be able to get a run in afterwards or maybe just some pilates and flexibility stuff. I just wish I was better about not missing those types of things during the week. You focus so much on all your other workouts that you missing the small ones, which at times can be the most important. I guess its all about getting into a good routine. Something I’m still working at.

One day down and four more to go, have a good one...

Monday, January 30, 2006

Lingering a bit

I think the aftereffects of the good times on Saturday night were still lingering a bit this morning. Maybe that’s just my reasoning for the bad swim that I had this morning. Things just weren’t clicking in the pool, which happens from time to time. Hopefully things will go a little getter tonight at my spin class. Most likely it’s just that I was a little under nourished since I didn’t eat a whole lot yesterday. Tends to happen when you are not use to drinking as much as I did on Saturday night. I’m turning into such a lightweight in my old age. :)

Incase you missed it; on Friday Iron Will and the Big Kahuna had their 2nd podcast. I thought it was another good podcast and you should check it out. The bloopers at the end were hilarious. Plus there was the added bonus that fellow Minnesotan Chris from over at chivalry.net was featured. Trimama, another Twin Cities tri-blogger, had a great post/story for when our busy lives seem to take over. Go check out today’s post to get a little perspective on that we try to cram into one day.

With my birthday coming and going I've received numerous cards from friends and family. I always really appreciate getting cards in the mail, but not I have these cards just lying around. So the question that I pose, to those who stop by this blog from time to time, is how long do you hold on to the cards you get in the mail?

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Tact on another

Well I meant to make a small post yesterday concerning yesterday’s major event, but I was a wee bit busy. The reasoning being that yesterday was my birthday. That’s right add another one to the score board. So like any triathlete on their birthday I headed to the pool for a long swim. I actually had one of my better swims in a while. The main set was 1500 doing a ladder from 50 to 250 and back down. After my swim it was errands and doing things around the apartment before the evening festivities began.

Since my birthday and one my buddies are only a couple days apart we usually lump them together and do one event. This year we got the word out early and were expected a good-sized crew to head to the Uptown area of Minneapolis. We ended up with about 25 people in total, which was awesome. It’s rare to that have that large of group out at the bars. We started and spent most of the night at a restaurant/bar called Figlios. I was doing quite well drinking long islands and screw drivers, two of my favorite drinks. I spent most of the night bouncing between people talking, with a drink in my hand and a smile on my face having a good time. I guess it was inevitable the shots did come out later. At least my friends were gracious with the amount and types of shots they ordered. Luckily the days of 3 wiseman and prairie fires have come and gone. I mean who really is a fan of tequila and Tabasco sauce?

By the end of the night I had drank more than my share, but was still walking in pretty straight lines. We made it back to my buddies place around 2:30 and they proceeded to cap off the night playing guitar hero for the play station. I was content with just watching for a bit before snatching up the spare bed and calling it a night. All in all it was a great time. Everyone was enjoying themselves. There was no drama or people getting out of hand. Just a good night out on the town with a great group of people. Not a bad way to spend a birthday if you ask me…

Friday, January 27, 2006

Time to Relax

Today is a rest day and I’m looking forward to finishing off the work day and just relaxing. Last night I went for a nice 8 mile run around the lakes in Minneapolis. For those unfamiliar with the twin cities, Minneapolis is coined the City of Lakes. There are a number of lakes connected together by bike and running paths, which makes finding running routes very easy. With the weather being way above normal the paths were very busy last night. There were several larger groups (4+) out running around the lakes. So the run last night was a good way to top off the last six days of training.

With the day off from training I think it’s gonna be a pretty chilled night. Hopefully I’ll get a decent night of sleep, because I came no where close to that last night. I was up doing work until 12:30 or so. I figured sleep should be no problem after a long day. Man was I wrong. I remember looking at the clock at 2:30 and again at 3:30. I only ended up with a few hours of sleep before I had to get up for work. So I’m going to try and get a good nights rest tonight. Plus there is a good chance that tomorrow night could get pretty crazy. So being rested might be a good idea. You’ll have to check back tomorrow for more details on that. Can you take the suspense? Sorry, my little try at humor. :)


Hopefully your Friday is going well. Only few more hours of work and then the weekend can being. Have a good weekend…

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Tension Goes Up

This is something you hear a lot during a spin class. You are either accelerating or upping the tension on the bike throughout the different drills. The good and bad part of a spin class is that it is truly your own workout. It’s up to you to push yourself throughout the entire workout. The instructors are always there to motivate and lead you through the drills, but you are in control of the tension of the bike and your pace. Last night I really concentrated on the tensions I was using. Wanting to get the most out of the workout I really upped the tension through most of the workout and especially when we were doing drills to simulate hills. The legs were a little rubbery after I was done with the class. Even though I was exhausted I left good knowing that I had really pushed myself throughout the workout.

Anyone who has trained seriously for any type of race knows that ache and pains are part of the game. We whine and complain that this or that hurts. That these muscles are tight or those joints are sore. I myself have done a fair amount of complaining over the years, but last night was the first time that I can remember complaining about stairs. After putting a load in the wash last night I walked into my living room and proceeded to tell Shadoweyes simply that “stairs are stupid.” That was it, but I had to laugh at myself a second later for actually complaining about stairs. I guess it just reinforced the fact that I had a good workout and for some reason I found the whole complaint quite humorous.

Oh and incase anyone was wondering, not that you really are, but doing a core workout at 6:00 AM really chaps my ass. Maybe it was because I was half awake while Mari Winsor was telling me what part of the workout is her favorite. Oh well one core workout in the books and many more to come.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Girl Scout Cookies are the Devil

For the last week or so the order forms for Girl Scout cookies have been in our lunch room. There are always a few co-workers who bring in the forms to help their daughters out during the annual event. Unfortunately these forms have been staring at me every time I walk into the lunch room. Not that I have a huge sweet tooth, but a Thin Mint from time to time sounds pretty good to me. It just couldn’t come at a worse time as I’m trying to get back into my training and eating as I should. The other side is that I’d like to support my co-worker’s kids. (Though it would be better if more money went to the kids, I heard their return isn’t that great) So I have a dilemma. I’m sure I’ll end up getting a box or two, but I’ll be happy when the forms are gone. So maybe the cookies themselves aren’t the devil it’s just those damn order forms. :)

So the question is what foods do you have to fight when you are training/racing? What are those items that test and sometimes beat your willpower?

"You are all pathetic and weak"

One of the many memorable quotes from Animal House, but it came to mind the other day as I was doing a bit of core after my spin class. I’ve been neglecting my core and I know this is not a good way to start the training season. The worst part is that I know the benefits of a strong core. So tomorrow I get my act in gear. (It would have been this morning but I overslept.) The plan will be to do the winsor pilates ab routine that I have. If anyone is looking for a good ab workout where you can just follow along I highly recommend it. The idea will be to do the pilates workout a couple times a week and then a normal crunch/stability ball routine on the other days.

Last night’s swim went better then Monday’s. Given I’ve felt better in the pool, but it was just nice to get in a longer workout and just swim. Not having to worry about drills and all that jazz. I went to a different pool last night and it paid off because it wasn’t busy at all. This was an added bonus. Tonight I’m gonna hit up another spin class and get the legs pumping. Hopefully I’ll have time to lift afterwards since I been able to make it to the weight room yet this week. Hmmm…Not much else to report this morning.

Have a good hump day everyone. I’ll catch you on the flip side…

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Energy Drain

My first big double workout of the year pretty much wiped the floor with me. The first workout of the day was at the pool for a drill workout. Do I need to remind you all how much I love drills? :) I think my lack of enthusiasm got the best of me. It was a pretty lack-luster performance and nothing seemed to click. I know bad workouts happen from time to time, but it still sucks. I hate having the feeling that I'm not making any progress or even worse that I'm going backwards. This is compounded by the fact that the swim is my worst event and I'm hoping to make some good gains in the swim this year. So I will head back to the pool tonight and give it another shot. And I’ll keep going back again and again and again!

The second workout of the day was a spin class in the evening. There were no spin classes last week so I was looking forward to the class. Things felt pretty good for at least the first half of the class. As we came about to the 3/4 mark things started to slip a bit. My left calf was starting to tighten/cramp a bit and I could feel the energy starting to drain out of me. I fought it off as long as I could, but my pace started to slack at the end. I guess this wasn't too surprising considering my endurance it's what up to par yet. Though having to slow down, even if it is the right thing to do is always a little frustrating.

Like I said above it’s off to the pool tonight after work. Oh the joy it will be. Have a good one...

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Weekend in Review

It was a fairly busy weekend on both the training and social side of things. Friday night started with going to see the Chronicles of Narnia. I thought they did a pretty good job with this flick. Given its been years since I’d read the book, but from what I can remember they seemed to stay pretty close to the story line. It was an entertaining and enjoyable movie all around. Though more violent then I thought so maybe not one for the very young children. After the movie I met a few buddies in downtown Minneapolis. It had been awhile since I’d been downtown so it was nice to just chill out at a couple bars for the remainder of the evening.

The remainder of the weekend was full of odds and ends. Saturday started with breakfast with some friends and then I headed to the pool to grind out some laps. I swim went fairly well with the main set being a ladder from 50 to 200 and then back down for 1000. I even managed to get in a few flip-turns while I was cooling down. It’s gonna take awhile but I’ll get it down one of these days. Or at least look like I kind of know what I’m doing. Saturday night my roommate and I headed to the Barn to watch the Minnesota men’s basketball team play Michigan. It was fun to watch the game live, but not that impressive of a game overall. Neither team is really great and Michigan ended up winning by a good margin. Which I’m sure made Mouse happy. :)

Sunday brought more fun things like grocery shopping and laundry. After it was clear the Steelers were going to win I headed out for my run. It was a bit windy today so the wind-chill was down in the single digits, but I managed a nice 7 mile run. Again I had to remind myself to go slow which wasn’t helped by the dropping temps. All in all it was a good run and I was able to keep things at a nice “base” pace.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day in the training department. The thought is to make Mondays a hard training day with a swim in the morning and then a spin class at night. I'm not sure how the body is going to react to this, but it should be interesting. I hope you all had a good weekend and that the beginning of another week isn't too harsh on the system...

Friday, January 20, 2006

Get Your Geek On!


The Tri-Geek Kahuna and Iron Wil have put up their first weekly podcast. These two power houses in the tri-blog land have combined their talents to deliver a weekly podcast to talk about triathlons and all the goes along with the sport. Head over to Wil’s site and have a listen or just click on the above image. If you like what you heard leave a comment and let them know that I sent you. :)

Legs like cement

All the stress that I put my legs through on Wednesday came to the forefront last night. With temps in the mid 20's I decided to go for another run last night after work. I knew that my legs would not be happy with course of action, but it's not like they had a choice. Usually when my legs are sore or stiff they will at least loosen up after a mile or so. Apparently they felt like being stubborn because it wasn't until I was over halfway through my run that they started to feel a little bit lighter. Once they did loosen up I had to keep my pace in check to make sure I wasn't going too fast. This was not helped when a couple people who were running on the other side of the street were running faster then I was. My immediate instinct was to pick up my pace to see if I could keep up with them. I had to remind myself that I'm only a few weeks into my training and that this is not the time for any speed work. Building a base is very important, but it is sometime a struggle when all you want to do is go faster and faster.

Last night I got the good news that my friend Kim (not the one from Vegas) has decided to join up with TNT to do her first triathlon. This is good new on a couple of levels. The first is that she is going to train for a triathlon. Something I encourage everyone to do. Secondly that she decided to support and raise money for the LLS. Being an alum it's very exciting when people you know decide to join the team!

I'm planning on taking the day off from training. I figure it's best to let the body heal up a bit after the pounding it took the over the last two days. Hopefully this will allow me to get is a couple really good workouts over the weekend. A friend of mine and I are going to go catch a movie after work. I can't even tell you the last movie I saw in a theater.

Hopefully your Friday will breeze on by and then we can all get on with our weekend plans. Take care....

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Sore but still smiling

In my last post I alluded to getting in a hard workout last night and that's exactly what I did. Things started off in the pool, which was very crowded again. I was focusing on drills which can be a pretty big bore but I stuck it out and put in some good yardage. I was hoping to work on flip turns but there were just too many people around to be flailing around like a nubie for my taste. Someday I'll get the hang of the flip turn. It's all part of the trials of becoming a real swimmer and someday a shark like Wil.

With my arms and shoulders a bit tight and sore I left the pool and headed to the fitness center to lift. The fitness center was busy as well, but I managed to get through my exercises without having to wait to long. I did my best to keep my resting time to a minimum. The goal was to keep things as aerobic as possible. I finished off my routine in about an hour and then capped off the night with some stretching and flexibility exercises. Needless to say I felt pretty spent after I finally finished. At the same time it’s always a boost to wrap up a good long hard workout.

I'm not that surprised that I'm a little sore and stiff this morning after last night's workout. TriSaraTops made a good point yesterday when she noted that there is some enjoyment from being sore after a workout and I would have to agree. The aches and pains that come with training just prove that you are moving forward. That you are not just standing still and that you continue to push and test your limits. Above all it's just evidence that you are an active person and that you have taken it upon yourself to get to the gym or pool. That you will get up and go for that run even though it's easier to sleep in. Mainly that you care about your health and that you are willing to make the effort to see that you live a long and healthy life. So my hat is off to everyone who has taken it upon themselves to get out there and abide by an active and healthy lifestyle…

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Cold Clear Night

Last night after work I helped out at a Team in Training info meeting. I'm returning this year as a mentor for one of the triathlon teams. I think it will be a lot of fun to help out those who are new to the sport. Plus there is that added bonus of helping out an organization that I have personal ties to their mission.

It was my plan to go for a run after the meeting, but wasn't sure what the temps were like. Good old weather.com had the temp at a brisk 17 F with the wind-chill at only 3 above. Being a big fan of winter running, and maybe a bit crazy, I layered up and headed out for 4.5 mile run. It actually turned out to be very pleasant out and my run went pretty well. It felt good to cruise along on the hard packed snow and just run. It has been a couple of weeks since I'd been on a run and it felt great.

I was hoping to get in a 20 minute pilates workout this morning before work. Though thanks to my brains unwillingness to shut off last night I needed the extra time simply for sleep. I hate when it does that! Tonight I'll hit the pool hard and possibly the weight room to get back on track after my long weekend.

Well I suppose it's time to get some work done. Have a good one...

Monday, January 16, 2006

Such a good weekend

Well my weekend hiatus in Vegas has come and gone. My friend Chris and I flew in Friday afternoon. He hit up a buffet for dinner before Chris’ friend Kim arrived from Cali. You just can’t go to Vegas and not go to at least one buffet. Once we were all there and cleaned up for a night on the town we headed over to New York-New York. Our main destination for the night was The Bar at Time Square. The feature at this bar is the dueling pianos. The entire night the musician had the packed crowd singing and dancing along to requested songs. Plus their comedic antics and improv were hilarious. The best of course is when they would pit the men vs. the women for which songs would be played by who would put up the most money for a particular song. I think the men always one. :) Certainly a place to check out next time you are in Vegas. We did make a small stop at Coyote Ugly, but the place was pretty dead and not much action to speak of. So we decided that we would leave the dancing til Saturday and call it a night around 2:30 AM.

After a late night we took things pretty easy for the first part of Saturday. Chris had a poker tourney at the Bellagio so he had to be up a moving before Kim and I did. Kim and I got a late breakfast before walking the strip a bit. This was Kim’s first time to Vegas so I showed her around a bit before I headed to the poker table myself. I played at the MGM Grand for a few hours with little luck. The cards just weren’t coming. :( So I headed back to our hotel to meet up with the others. With us all dressed to impress we headed over to Mon Ami Gabi which is located in the Paris Las Vegas hotel. They serve very good French cusine, I know big surprise there, but I highly recommend it. So with dinner taken care of we headed over to the Light nightclub located at the Bellagio. The idea was to find a place to shake our grove thing and this was the perfect place. Chris had picked up a couple of VIP tickets so we didn’t have to wait in line like everyone else. We felt like such bit shots. :) For the next few hours were dance are asses off. Chris had mentioned that Kim was a good dancer and it was the truth. We tried to keep up but she left us in the dust. After draining our energy supplies out on the dance floor we headed back in the early hours of the morning.

Sunday brought another tourney for Chris so Kim and I got another late breakfast before she had to head out. After Kim left I headed to the Wynn to grind it out on the poker table. The poker gods must have had a change of heart because it turned out to be a very successful poker session. Chris met me down at the Wynn after his tourney were he was doing real well before a bad beat knocked him out. After a long session on the tables we picked up some food at one of the restaurants. I was seriously needing some food since I hadn’t eaten in about 10 hours and had been grinding in out of the tables for over 6. After a late meal we headed back to the hotel to call it an early evening at midnight. We figured we’d take it easy on the last night before leaving Monday morning.

So there is a long rambling about what happened over the course my weekend in Vegas. Sorry if it wasn’t quite as juicy as some of you were hoping. It just was a great trip and I had an absolute blast. Plenty of poker, a few drinks, some dancing, a couple really good meals, and great company made for a great long weekend. So tomorrow it’s back to reality with work and all that jazz. Though it was nice to take a little break from the training routine, it will feel good to be back on it. Hope you all had a good weekend…

Friday, January 13, 2006

Sin City or Bust

In a couple of hours I'll be heading to the airport for my weekend in Vegas. It should be a full weekend jammed pack with a lot of poker, some boozin, visiting some clubs, and maybe a bit of sleep. I was glad I took the whole day off today instead of working a half day. This allowed me to get a nice swim in this morning and do a few last minute odds and ends in prep for the weekend. It was a nice change to have to the pool pretty much open with only a couple of people there. Not too surprising, but I'll take it any time.

I didn't know ironing a few shirts would become such a thing to comment on. hehe I do agree with Mouse and Little Miss Runner Pants that things might not be ship shape when my clothes come out of my suitcase. I'd just rather do a little touch up work when I get there then have to spend the time doing it all at the hotel.

Well I know blog land wont be the same while I'm way. :) I'll do my best to party it up in Sin City and hopefully will have plenty to write about when I get back. So have a good weekend and train hard if that's your plan. I'll be back on the grind next week. Take care...

P.S. Feel free to ignore whatever Shadoweyes may say on this blog. You can never trust a roommate. :)

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Where are they coming from?

Once again I entered the pool last night to find it jammed packed with people. grrr I mean where are all these people coming from? My only guess is that people are still on their New Year resolution kicks. Not that resolutions are a bad thing and its great to see people taking an active role in thier fitness and health, but they are seriously cramping my style. As I've noted before I'm not the greatest swimmer and it takes me a bit to get into a rhythm. This of course is more difficult when there are a lot of people and they are continually coming and going. Maybe I just need to suck it up and deal, but for whatever reason these crowds are still bothering me. Blah...

On another front I'm a little more then 24 hours I'll be getting out of the Twin Cities for a full out bash of a weekend down in Vegas. Last night I ran a few errands in prep for the weekend. I picked up a charger and case for my iPod Nano. Which by the way it about one of human kinds greatest inventions. :) This is my first iPod and it's been on about 24/7 since I got it. I highly recommend you picking one up if you can.

After my spin class tonight I'll be getting my things together, ironing my clothes and packing up my suitcase for the weekend. I'm so amped for this weekend. I just need to get through these last 8 hours of work and then its show time.

Have a good one…

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Better then expected

I joined in on a spin class last night after work. This was my 3rd spin class over the last two weeks. I always knew spin classes were a good workout, but I was surprised at how much fun they actually have been. I think the energy of the instructors really ups the fun factor. Given they make it hard but the workouts are never a complete drag. Maybe it is all the whooping and hollering the instructors get the class doing when they ask how things are going. An added bonus is that the classes have been free the first part of the month. Given that special is over this weekend, but it is always nice to try something out for free to see how you like it. After the class the instructor led us through a little core workout. Needless to say my core is not where it needs to be. I'll start my core workouts next week and work them into my routine.

Hmmm...Kind of a boring post this morning, sorry…Really it’s just the calm before the storm that will be this weekend in Vegas!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

A sea of people

I'm not sure what the deal was but both the pool and fitness center that I go to were totally packed. I'm not sure if it was because it was the first "real" Monday since the New Year or if people are still hanging on to those New Year resolutions. Mouse ran into a similar situation this weekend, but I was dealing with adults rather than children. I don't know if it was the crowds or just the fact that it was a long day, but my workout was less then stellar. Since I'm not the greatest swimmer in the world it makes it even more difficult when the pool lanes are overflowing with 3 to 4 people in a lane. Not having the patience to deal with the crowd I cut my swim short and headed to the fitness center to lift. As I've already stated it too was packed. I did get through my routine, but it took a lot longer with than normal. Not exactly the way I was planning on starting the week.

Another battle that took place was with my diet. For whatever reason I was hungry all day. grrrr Maybe it was the workouts over the weekend, but I couldn't seem to satisfy my stomach. Lucky I had a number of snacks at work, but it just seemed like a ate a ton throughout the day. Not that its totally a bad thing to eat a lot if you are burning it, but the hunger hasn't been that fierce since I started back.

Speaking of snacks I thought I would pose another questions to the masses that visit this site. :) What are you favorite snacks and we'll go with the fairly healthy ones that you eat when you are training. Last year it was yogurt and pretzels for me. I always have a bag of pretzels at work and at home. When I'm home I usually grab a handful of pretzels and a spoonful of peanut butter. And like Miss Little Runner Pants my choice of peanut butter is Jif. So what are your snacks of choice?

For those who have found this site and you wanted to be added to the HUGE list on my sidebar just drop me a comment. Take care...

Sunday, January 08, 2006

The wheel goes round

Besides doing some of the other normal Sunday chores like grocery shopping and laundry I did get to a spin class this afternoon. Today it was a different instructor with a different program. Overall it was another great workout. This instructor did a lot of more out of the saddle routines, which always put the legs to the test. With just a few minutes left in the class we had time for one more set. She left it up to us and then someone suggested stairs. So up and down 4 flights of stairs several times to finish off the workout. Not a bad way to spend an hour on a Sunday afternoon.

With getting back onto my training routine there is also the diet that goes along with it. Since I've taken time off from serious training since the end of October its no surprise that I've gained more than a few pounds. So I've started back on my training diet and I'm really trying to watch what I eat. Sometimes changing the diet around is harder then the training itself. I even went so far today as I buy all the ingredients to make my own trail mix for snacks. Hmmm maybe I have issues? :)

So the question that I pose to the few people who have found my blog is what do you give up when you get serious about your training or close to a race? There are always those individual foods that we all crave and would love to have but we fight hard to control those urges. What comes to mind for me at the moment is bagels w/ cream cheese. When I'm running late in the morning nothing sounds better to me then a blueberry bagel from Einstein Bros. Bagels. So what do you all deprive yourself of, or at least to a certain extent?

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Back on the grind

My one day off came and went yesterday. All to quickly for my taste, but the body seemed to really appreciate the day off. Today I was back at the pool and had an ok workout. Swimming has never been my forte and it will always be my weakest event. Hence why I try and spend as much time as possible in the pool. After the pool I did a circuit in the weight room. All in all it was a good day as far as training went. It might have been a weee bit getter if I hadn't drank as much as I did last night. :)

Poker was a blast as usual last night. Thing kicked off around 8:30 PM and we didn't stop until about 2:00 AM. My chip stack was like a roller coaster last night. I'd be up big, then down big and back and fourth. I ended up about 20 bucks, which I was happy with. Twas a good time hanging out with the fellas while having a drink or two. They want to go out tonight as well, but I'll have to wait and see what the vibe is. I might have to tone it down a bit tonight with another spin class scheduled for tomorrow.

It's always a juggling act when it comes to training and the social life. I do my best to keep them in balance, but every once in a while one side wins out more than the other...

Friday, January 06, 2006

A break in the action

Well after 4 days of workouts it's time for a rest day. I've beat myself up pretty good over the last few days so it will be nice to have a day off. Hopefully some of the soreness that I've been dealing with will take a hike before my swim on Saturday. I just would be nice to be able to lift my arms up over my head without wincing in pain. (maybe I'm just a wuss...hehe)

With no workout planned tonight, I'm having the fellas over to play some cards. Most likely a drink or two will be consumed. It will be nice just to kick back and relax tonight. It would be an added bonus if I could actually win a bit tonight. I need to sharpen up by game before I head to Vegas next weekend and go mix it up with the pros.

Well I guess that's about it. Now all I have to do is get these 8 hours of work over with and then I'm home free...

Thursday, January 05, 2006

First Two Weeks

The first two weeks back are always a pain in the arse. Though I'm sure that goes for trying anything new or getting back into any routine. The worse part is that you know the pain and aches are coming yet it seems to always come as a surprise. Somehow we end up faking ourselves out that we will be just fine. That our off-season training will get us through the first couple weeks of harder training without too many bumps in the road. Then there is always the enviable U-turn as we are smacked with reality. The reality that this training is difficult and that the body isn't quite ready for all that we are asking of it.

With my own two weeks of hell on move I headed to the pool last night after work. My upper body was already sore, but I kept trying to tell myself that a swim would just loosen things up. What a joke that was. I did manage an ok workout mostly consisting of drills. Though it was only a 1000M total it is always a mental boost to push through a workout when you aren't feeling your best. After my swim I did a flexibility and stretching routine. I'm trying my hardest to instill some of these good habits early. To often flexibility and stretching just get missed as the season moves along.

So as I sit here typing away I'm soooooo grateful that I have a computer job. Last nights workout has left my upper body very very sore. I'd be in some serious trouble if I had a job that required a lot of physical activity today.

Lastly just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Little Miss Runner Pants this KC girl rocks and she just signed up for her second marathon.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

A bit sore

The start of the New Year kicked off the beginning on my base training as I prepare for my races this year. Last night I sat in on spin class. Needless to say it's been awhile since I've been on a bike. The class also included some core exercises as well as push-ups and wall squats. The very cute instructor really pushed us hard throughout the class. It was great to finish such a hard workout. Today I'm dealing with the after effects of the class. My upper body is not very happy, stupid push-ups, but my lower body is doing ok. I'll credit that to the running and swimming that I've been doing during the off-season.

So the first hard workout of 2006 is in the bag. Only a few hundred more to go...

Monday, January 02, 2006

Well here goes...

Its official, I’ve jumped on the blog bandwagon. I guess we’ll see if I have anything interesting to write about. Stay tuned...