Not So Fast

Last night was my first outdoor distance sprint workout. All be it it was only a one mile sprint, 2 x 800s and 4 x 400. I was hoping to be able to go around 5:40 at a fast pace for the mile. Unfortunately I ran a 5:54 and nearly needed an ambulance when it was over. The good news is I'm not sore this morning and felt like my form was pretty on for the practice.

It was great to get outside though and I felt good overall. I remember last year we were blessed with an incredible March and April and I had been running and biking for almost a month at this same time last year. It will take me a couple of weeks to get my road legs under me.

I was hoping to go sub 36 min this weekend, happy with sub 37 and disappointed with a 38. I'm now thinking that a sub 38 may be more realistic and be satisfied with a 38-39. I started getting back into it about a month later than normal and it's showing more than I thought on the track. Most importantly is remembering two things. This is tune up race for Minnetonka Half and most of all to have fun.

Open 10k

This Saturday will be my first open 10K since 2005. I'm hoping to set a new PR which shouldn't be a problem since it is 40:12 set nearly six years ago. Since then I've gone from being a good recreational runner to being a competitive amateur triathlete. But don't count your chickens till they hatch. I've been working on form this off season and this will be a good test to see how that has improved my efficiency.

In reality my PR is 36:55 set at the Young Life Olympic distance triathlon 2 years ago. I'm hoping to go sub 36 but that maybe tough to do this early in the season to go along with an off season that included the birth of our first baby and recovery from IM Wisconsin. I got started a little later than normal when it comes to ramping up the training due to those factors. New PR or not I'm looking forward to having some fun and getting out on the road (path) again.

A brother of one of my soldiers, who is a soldier himself, went to Iraq in a different unit and whom I knew at college will be there as well. I'm looking forward to catching up with him after the race and seeing how things are going on his end. Nate is a beast and while he may not have blazing speed because he used to be more of a weight lifter he is still fast and is in serious shape. This year he is doing his first marathon and using this for a tune up race.

My mom will be at the race as usual and we'll see if the wife and new baby make it. I think weather will dictate that more than anything. It maybe a little early in the season to have a baby out there. Regardless the goal is to tune up for Minnetonka Half marathon and keep from getting injured.

A Whole Different Kinda Season

Well there have been quite a few changes since last fall. The first thing I changed was went back to the off season routine I had before my great 2009 season. Getting back to the basics of weight lifting and concentrating on form. I also joined the Richfield Masters Swim Team and have seen great changes in my swimming. Now I have someone watching my stroke on a daily basis who can critique it and help me with the form drills that will most benefit my needs. They also give me a different routine every workout so that I don't get stuck in the monotonous routines. Thank god because I was really starting to get discouraged and don't have the funds to pay for a personnel training session every few weeks.

As for my bike training I had the best worst thing ever happen. Unknowingly my resistance cable on my bike was stuck on a level that was much harder than I thought I was on. In fact I'm pretty sure the week or two before I realized it I was stuck on level ten. I normally work out on level one and two. I was wondering why I was only able to be on my smallest three gears. I though I was just in bad shape after taking a couple of months off because of my knee. When I got the trainer back I noticed that I had developed some serious power. I'm now working out on levels 3-5 and it feels like it use to on one and two. Will this mean more speed on the road? We'll see.

Another big addition to this years training arsenal is a HR monitor Kelly got me for Christmas. I've never used one before and, to be honest, never wanted to. I felt like I knew my body best and that a HR monitor would actually hold me back. What I have noticed is exactly that. It holds me back from doing too much. It let's me know when I've had enough or when I can push harder. Most importantly it tells me how my body is reacting to either a single training session or training as a whole. So far I have really been impressed and will continue to use it.

Most importantly was the addition of our daughter in December. We named her Avery and she has taught me so much already. I can't tell you how much I LOVE being a dad. Coming home from work is ten times more exciting than before and holding her in the morning when she is first waking up, stretching and being cute is my favorite part of the day.

When she was first born my wife and I had no idea what to expect on many levels. People talk about how hard it is and how much patients it takes. I must admit we have found a pretty good routine and it's fell into place quite well. This was made a lot easier by Kelly not having any Med School rotations from December 3rd through Feb 4th. During that time Kelly did the brunt of the work while I did what I could to help her when I could. For the first couple of weeks Kelly did all the feeding at night. We decided that was not working well so we decided to have her take the first feeding and I would wake up at 4:30, feed Avery, put her back to bed and then get in my morning training session. This worked beautifully and allowed Kelly to get a good stretch of sleep while allowing me to get in my work out. This continued until about a week ago when Avery decided that she did not want daddy to feed her at night anymore and started sleeping from 8pm to 5-6am. AWESOME! While I loved feeding her having her sleep through the night is a huge step and for her to do it this early is a great sign.

What's in store for this season? More short course racing and a lot of flexibility. Right now I'm starting the season with a 10k in April and the Minnetonka Half Marathon on May 1st. Then Gear West and Apple Duathlons in May. After that Minnetonka, Waconia, Graniteman, Heart of Lakes, Turtleman Duathlon and St. Paul Olympic. I'm thinking of doing one or two races in Sept and going to finish up the season again at the Mankato Marathon with my buddy Tyler and hopefully a few other old fraternity brothers.

I'm not expecting much this year but hoping for a lot. When I started getting back into it again in February I was thinking that it would take a while to get back in shape. The good news is that getting back in shape is coming along faster than expected. The only setback is my weight is still in the upper 180s and need to get that down to the upper 170s. Normally that happens more in April-June with the increase in temp and training but I usually start seeing a little drop at this point. So far...notta. I guess that comes with age and children. Or so I hear.
While fatherhood has been great it takes a team to make parenting easy. Kelly has been fantastic and very supportive of my training and working. We have worked out a very good plan for training and racing this season but it is always a work in progress.