Days 110 - 113: Like Waiting for Christmas

I know. I've been slacking on the blog posts. And once again, no the baby isn't here yet. My training is still coming along but the anticipation for this little one is really starting to wear on me. I think I've had restless sleeps for the past week or so and this is supposed to be the time where I get the most sleep!

I was really trying to come up with a scenario that describes what the anticipation of having a first child has been for me. I've come to the conclusion its a lot like the first Christmas's you remember as a kid.

You hear about this magical day but you're still a kid so you don't really grasp the time so you shrug it off and say to yourself it'll come when it comes. This is how I kind of felt when we heard about our due date. We were super excited but at the same time realized it was a long ways away.

Then things start to happen around you. You notice toy shops promoting Christmas and decorations coming out of the attic. You feel the excitement start to build up inside of you. For me this was the kind of emotions I was going through when I first really started to feel our baby kick in my wife's belly.

Finally, the tree is up and your presents are wrapped. This is where you just go berserk as a kid. You're constantly eying your presents. Even picking them up to shake to see if you can got some kind of sense of the joy that is contained inside. As the days go bye the crazy excitement continues. It even keeps you up a little longer each night as you stay in bed. This has been the past two weeks for me.

Its crazy. I was pretty calm and collected. When people asked, I would always say "he'll come when he's ready and we're just happy to have him." Somewhere along the line the crazy man switch got turned on in my head. No more! Starting tonight I will try and resemble my once non crazed self. That is until the little guy comes. Can't wait!

4/27/11 6:00AM

Team Swim

This swim happened so many days ago I can barely remember how it felt. This is what early parenthood must feel like. I remember that it went well. I felt strong and I'm pretty sure I left the workout with a positive feeling.

4/28/11 6:00AM

Team Run

We did a 30 minute race pace or slightly harder run. It went OK for me. I think I squeezed in close to 4 miles. I did have some tightening in my calves. I talked with our coaches about this and they think its because I've been focusing on my foot landing rather than lifting my legs during my run. I worked on that for the last mile and I felt the sensation more in my hamstrings than my calves. It makes sense that this would be more efficient as its the larger muscle group. I did 6 for the day total.

4/28/11 7:15PM

Strength Class

This was just as tough as last Thursdays class. Squats, pushups, box jumps, step ups, and more craziness. I'm loving this class. Think my body is starting to wear down. I'd say it'll adapt but by the time it gets close the little man will be here.

4/29/11 6:30AM

River Swim

This went better than my last swim in the river. We still had a pretty good current which was challenging physically and mentally. I just don't like the sensation of being pushed off course but I know I'll get used to it again. Because of my discomfort I stuck with just swimming half way across and back. My sighting went really well though. By my next river swim I should be fully used to it again.

4/30/11 7:00AM

Long Ride

I wanted to stay close so I didn't bike too far with the main group. I think I ended up getting about 20 miles in but that's okay with me. Just liked that I made the ride more enjoyable and relaxing than anything else.

Brick Run

This was just like the bike. I was trying to pull the most joy out of it as possible. Loved the weather. Got a little over 2 miles in and hit some pretty good paces in the process.

Conquer Your Fear of Going Fast

To be victorious in the race against the clock, one must push through mental and physical barriers.

Fantastic piece at USAT on overcoming your mental limitations to reach higher speeds.

Day 109: It Feels a Little Different

6:00AM

Bike/Run Time Trial

I'm not sure what it is but racing hard feels kind of different. I was thinking it may be because I'm just coming off that knee injury but I think its more a feeling of control.

Last year when I raced sprint triathlons and short runs it felt like I was just dying. I would cramp up so badly. I remember one race my coach just told me to calm down my breathing and I think this has been the key difference. I've done a lot of yoga that has allowed me to focus on how my breathing affects my muscle recovery. The body is a really an amazing thing once you take the time to notice and learn to control its inner workings.

The time trial itself went well. I'm guilty of doing quite a bit of drafting but I did finish the bike and run feeling like I had nothing left to give. I'm also happy with the current speed I'm maintaining off the bike. Now I seem to be only loosing about 20-30 seconds off my usual run pace rather than the 1-2 minutes I was loosing last year. I just need to keep on working at it to get comfortable with getting the legs turning after a hard bike.

7:15PM

Strength Class

I'm really digging these classes. Its a shame that I'm just getting back into them before the little bugger arrives but that's life. Just got to be like water and flow with it.

Days 104-108: Getting it All In

Nope, the baby isn't here yet. Yep, the exercise streak is still going. I've been busy the past several days. I've also realized that hardly anyone reads this blog on the weekends. With that being considered I've decided to start condensing several days of training into one post just for brevity.

4/21/11 6:00AM

Run Time Trial

I was pretty scared of this run going in. I had no idea what kind of pacing I could hold so I feared that I could potentially blow up mid way through it and just have to walk.

I ended up starting very conservative and tried to chip off time with each loop. In the end I did the 2 miles in 12:41. I'm pretty happy with those results. Still just glad to be out there running again. I know what my body is capable of so that time will come down eventually.

4/21/11 7:30PM

Strength Class

We've got a new strength trainer at EF (we'll miss you Rusty). She. Is. a. Beast. I think her saying was "Tough...not mean. Mean...not cruel!"

The workout was grueling in a good way. It definitely settled any thoughts I had about trying to replace my strength training with crossfit. I ended up being sore a good four days afterwards. Got to get this in in order to get faster/stronger.

4/22/11 4:30PM

Technique Swim

The day just passed me buy. I had to literally sneak this swim in. I had to go to EF since the pool at the Y was full. I just worked on my bilateral breathing. Tried to take it somewhat easy as it had been a pretty hectic week.

4/23/11 4:00PM

Long Bike

We had some pregnancy videos that we had been meaning to watch so I just got on the trainer. I ended up doing about an hour ride with 30 minutes of zone 4 intensity in the middle. Great ride. My legs felt strong.

Brick Run

Did about a 2 mile run right off the trainer. It was a gorgeous day outside so I just tried to put the fatigue in the back of my mind and just focus on enjoying the day. So glad that I can run again.

4/24/11 8:00AM

Long Run

10 miler. I couldn't believe that I ran this far! It was at least 3 miles further than my longest run this year. Marco, a buddy from EF, had to do 20 miles so another friend and I joined him for the second half. The run felt great. The last 4 were tiring but again its just wonderful to be out running.

4/24/11 3:30PM

Mountain Bike

I went downtown to hit the Forest Hill trails with some Mountain Bike friends. I have a long way to go. I think I might of sweated more during this short ride than my 10 miler earlier in the day. The sheer terror kept me on the edge the entire time. I did have a lot of fun but I do realize I have a ways to go before I'll feel comfortable on those kind of trails.

4/25/11 3:00PM

Enjoyable swim

It was our "rest day" so I just did a nice easy swim. I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible. I did a lot of flip turns and even practiced doing flip turns for snake swims. I know having these kind of positive moments with the swim will only make me stronger in the long run.

Day 103: Visualizing Victory

6:00AM

Team Swim

As you can tell from my last several posts about my swim things haven't been going the way I would have liked. Things could have gone south really fast for today's swim as well as it seemed like one of our toughest swims of the year.

Once I saw what the workout was going to be yesterday I did have a couple of bouts of fear. Instead of letting that negative energy overtake me though I decided to visualize what it would be like to be successful at the workout. I tried to imagine every time my mind would falter and what I would do to overcome it. Instead of focusing on the workout as an opportunity to get stronger physically I viewed it as an opportunity to get stronger mentally. This mental preparation helped out a lot.

During the swim there were moments where I wanted to just stop in the middle of the pool but instead I told myself "small victories will make you mentally stronger." I used that as my own personal mantra for the day. The workout was still tough (think we did about 1500 yards at max effort) but I do feel like I left victorious. Got to finds those little wins whenever you can.

Day 102: Keep Pushing it Harder

Its so awesome training with other people and coaches. There are a lot of social benefits but also competitive ones that make you want to push yourself harder to keep up. Last year I was a front of the pack kind of guy but no more. Everyone on our team has gotten stronger and I've got to continue to push myself to improve. Triathlons are also increasing in popularity so we've got quite a number of speedies on the team for me to chase. I've found that this year has been more of a mental battle than last. Love the challenge though!

6:00AM

Team Intensity Bike

This was similar to last week's workout. We practiced race scenarios such as surging ahead of a bike pack and then holding onto the lead. Its pretty challenging. It was crazy to think that these are the kind of things professional cyclists maintain when they're in an actual race.

Love that this is coached also. I always think I'm hitting my maximum effort but then I'll hear Coach Tyler saying "go up another gear!" It takes a toll on my legs but I know its making me stronger.

Brick

I've made a mental commitment with myself to come off the bike harder and faster. Last year when racing I would loose so much off my usual run pace when coming off the bike. It could have been mental but it also was probably that I wasn't training hard enough for my bricks. I was pretty spent by the end of the run but like I said its all making me stronger.

Weekly Review 3.1 - Open to Suggestions

Time to complete: 43 minutes

That's more like it. Now the key is to actually get some things done that I've had on my list for the last several months.

I guess one issue with me is that the idea of working in context doesn't necessarily apply to me. I work from home. So I always have the option of deciding between doing home stuff, computer stuff, phone stuff, or reading stuff. So what usually happens is that 1) I get overwhelmed and not really know what to focus my energy on or 2) just focus everything on one context and not get things done in other areas. Any GTDers out there who have suggestions on how I can separate these things out to more effectively get things done?

Training Streak: Day 101

6:00PM

Core workout/Stretching

Had a good session of doing some ab and core exercises. We also did some pretty intense stretching. I often have mixed feelings about this workout because I'm not sure if I'd rather do this than Yoga. But today I tried to bring to the workout the concept that I feel is most essential to me personally regarding Yoga: the ability to breathe and relax. We'll see tomorrow morning how effective this will be.

Weekly Review 3.0

I have been doing these for the last several weeks, I just didn't take the time to post them. Plus they kind of didn't count since they were not on the day I had designated in my personal rule.

That's the way life goes though right? You get unhinged from your routine and you must pick and choose the things you can and can't do. But if you've built a good habit, you eventually get back to it. That's the main indicator that you've built a strong habit.

• March 30. Time to Complete: 39 minutes
• April 7. Time to Complete: 1 hour 25 minutes
• April 12. Time to Complete: 1 hour 40 minutes

As you can see my times have degraded. Things that I've learned to improve this process are to stay on top of clearing not only your inbox but also making sure you reward yourself by checking off your lists as well. For me personally, if I'm consistent with these things then I can have a really short weekly review.

Day 100: Looking Back

Wow! 100 straight days of exercise. Trying to remember why I started this streak in the first place I looked back at some old posts and realized it boiled down to just trying to be more consistent.

Since starting this streak I now regularly make it to all of my coached workouts. I even managed to do this despite suffering a pretty significant injury. But this isn't the only area where I've gained more control over my life.

• I read the Bible and work on my spirituality daily. This is a more recent development. I try to start every day with this so that it can help me put the day into perspective.
• I floss daily. This may not be a biggie to some people but I think I went through all my years of college without seeing the dentist. To say that my oral hygiene was lacking would be an understatement.
• My GTD system has improved. I've made drastic improvements to the way I get things done. This is due to the fact that I do my weekly review consistently.
• I read more often. I used to love to read in High School. Over the years with TV that habit kind of just died. I now carry a book with me just about anytime I go out.
• I cook more often. My pregnant wife loves this one. I used to cook a lot during college but somehow also got out of that habit. Admittedly this has stopped the last several weeks but its mostly because we've been doing a lot of other things to prepare for the little man.

I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this streak going, especially when my wife goes into labor and we bring the little guy home. As most of you who answered the poll suggested, its no problem, I can just start over again. I'm happy with the progressed I've made and look forward to continuing to grow personally.

7:00PM

Solo Run

My goal was to do at least a 6 mile run but it had been a long weekend and I was feeling kind of lazy. I decided that I also wanted to push the pace more to see if I was back to my old speed. This ended up being a mistake.

By mile 3 my calves were tightening up and decided to wrap things up to fight another day. I'm just thankful that I got to go out and run.

As a tip to new runners (this currently applies to me as well), its better to go slower when you're increasing either the distance you run or the amount of time you spend on your feet. The speed will come naturally once you establish a good base of mileage. Then you can start throwing things in to help increase speed such as hill work or speed work. Just be consistent and listen to your body (again, just telling myself this).

Day 99: Breaking in the Trainer

8:00AM

Home Trainer Ride

With the baby's imminent arrival I decided to get a bike trainer. I don't think I'll be able to get away for many workouts so I'm going to have to be selective for what I can do at the house versus at the gym.

The ride was pretty challenging. It was the first time I really put this trainer to the test. I wasn't hitting the gears I typically hit. I attributed this to either the lack of coolness in our apartment or the lack of team environment to motivate me.

In the end I realized I had the back wound way too tight. You could actually see particles of my rear tire that had worn off due to the friction. Looks like I'll be in the market for new tires soon too!

Day 98: Wetsuits - Another Creative Way to Burn Calories

6:45AM

Pool Swim

Bummer. The water at the river was way too high and the current was crazy fast. We were standing out there just watching debris breeze by in the water. That would be a creative open water swim practice, how to dodge debris.

I wanted to get some sort of swim in so I just headed to the Y. I didn't do any structured work out I just did some random stuff to feel like I got some kind of exercise.

I've really been out of the swim lately. I've been trying to analyze what is different this year than last. I'm thinking its probably higher expectations. Last year, I was so new to swimming that all I could think about is my improvement. This year all I've been focusing on is getting through a workout. So for my last lap all I wanted to do is try to experience the joy of swimming and take in what I've accomplished. I need to start making sure I end every swim workout like this for my mental sanity.

Getting In and Out of My Wetsuit

I've forgotten how much of a workout getting in my wetsuit can be. I wanted to do this today because it took me about 10 minutes to get out of it last week which is quite unacceptable for a T1 time.

These things are tight. I think it takes me at least 20 minutes to get it on right. Its a workout in itself! I wonder how many calories I burn doing it? How long does it take everyone else to get into theirs?

Getting out of it was straightforward today. I think it took about 20 seconds. What I did was wear the suit for about 30 minutes to let it stretch out a bit. I also used a trick from last year which consisted of applying body glide to the areas that the suit gets stuck when removing. For me this means putting body glide on my wrists, forearms, and calves. I also put it on outside of the suit in the same areas to minimize any kind of friction when removing the suit.

Whew! What a workout.

Day 97: Keeping Up with the Youngins

All kinds of shape, sizes, and ages train with us at Endorphin Fitness. They do personal and adult coaching but what they have national recognition for is their development of elite youth triathletes.

These kids are often around half my age or less and boy are they fast in every aspect of the sport. That's why I consider it a moral victory when I keep up with one of them in our workouts. Granted this week is still a rest and recovery week but like I said, its a moral victory.

6:00PM

Team Run

I was a little late getting to practice so I had to quickly do my warmup. By the time I was done the rest of the team was already doing their race prep run. I asked Michael what we were ding and he explained to do a 250 meter run at race pace and then a 150 meter run easy for about 6 to 8 sets. I asked him what pace to hit and he suggested my typical run pace for an international distance race. Then he threw in "just run with Robbie".

Now Robbie is one of the Elite youth. I could kind of keep up with him last year but I think he's hit puberty full throttle. Plus I'm just coming off my injury but those are all excuses. Regardless I kept up with him for 4 out of the 6 sets. The last one he got about a couple strides ahead of me, I think he's got that killer instinct going where he knows how to break someone mentally on the run. Also, I was running at a way faster click than international distance race pace. I was probably running at my sprint distance pace.

I'm pretty happy with myself though. I know I'm still not back running wise to wear I was 6 months ago but these little steps and hard work will get me there. Who knows maybe I'll even be able to catch one of these youth in a race. In the meantime I'll keep on taking these moral victories.

Training Streak: Day 96

6:00AM

Team Swim

This was just another swim. We threw in some sighting practice and fast starts to simulate racing in the open water. I need to get used to the sighting/breathing rhythm again. Whenever something affects my breathing rhythm with my swim I tend to fall apart. Its just going to take more practice.

Day 95: Practice Like You Race

6:00AM

Team Intensity/Technique Bike

This week is a rest and recovery week for our training since a lot of people are racing this weekend. For bike class we did a shorter workout but we tried to simulate the different phases of racing (ie - the start, hills, preparing for the finish).

I didn't have my heart rate monitor going because I broke my garmin at the race on Sunday. Even though it sucks, I still think this is a good thing as it allows me to really focus on the feeling rather than being dependent on what my watch is telling me. Its kind of crazy, the two triathlons where my Garmin was acting up I actually placed in my Age Group so maybe I should just not use the thing at all.

I felt good on the bike overall. There were some moments of fatigue from the weekend but I wanted to really focus on what I feel haven't worked on enough this past several months, transitioning to the run.

Brick Run

Because I've been injured I haven't been able to run off the bike the way I've liked. In fact this might have always been a weak point as I only remember one race where I came off the bike really strong. So I've decided to commit myself to coming off the bike hard like it was a race and then settling down.

I got my shoes on really quick and ran out the door. We were just doing about a lap of 100 yards so that our coach could yell out the kind of zones we should hit. I actually felt really strong. The first several laps I was settling into my pace but at the end I was really starting to hit a groove. If I want to perform well this is an area that I have to continue to focus on.

Training Streak: Day 94

8:00PM

Yoga

It was a stressful day. The wife and I actually did a Yoga session via Netflix. It felt great. By the end of the session I felt totally relaxed. I need to be sure to do these sessions at least once a week.

Day 93: Inaugural Chasing Chics Triathlon

Race day! Today I did the first Chasing Chics Triathlon. It was a sprint triathlon so the swim was 300 meters, the bike was 13 miles, and the run was 3.1 miles.

For the pool swim I was about 40 seconds off my seeded time which was surprising because I don't think I passed anyone or got passed. Maybe the person behind me was just drafting off of me the entire time.

It was a bit chilly outside so the bike was nippy. I got to try my new aero helmet or as Ate Joy likes to term it, "sperm head". This is the area where I was most improved. I think I averaged a little over 24 mph on the bike. All that winter training paid off!

The run was hard. My legs still aren't quite used to coming off the bike or even running fast in general. It took me about a couple of miles to get them turning the way I wanted to. I had some moments of weakness where I wanted to just walk but I'm glad I ended up finishing the race.

Overall I did great. It was just fantastic to be out there. I placed 3rd in my new age group (30-34) and 26th overall. It was only a field of about 100 guys but placing is placing. It gets me kind of excited to think about how well I do once I get my full run fitness back. I'll get there eventually.

Training Streak: Day 92

3:00PM

Practicing Transitions

I'm racing tomorrow so I didn't want to do too much. I got on my bike and just practiced my transitions. These require practice because I like to do them similar to the way shown in the following video.



After getting that practice in, I put my bike on my brand new trainer and just got a light workout in. I feel great! We'll see how the race goes tomorrow.

Day 91: Paralyzing Fear

Yesterday we took some teammates from EF rock climbing. One of our teammates had a fear of heights that was so bad it was amazing just to get her out there.

We got her on the wall several times and with each climb she got higher and higher. We couldn't quite get her to the top though. The main thing that stood in the way were moments of fear. She would get be smoothly climbing up the wall then hit an area where she didn't know what to do next and just then just start to freeze due to fear and panic. I tried to sympathize with her but I could not really understand how she felt until this morning.

6:30AM

Team Open Water Swim

The water was freezing. I think it was somewhere in the 50s. I was late getting there so I didn't really take the time to look at the currents. Big mistake.

The rest of the team were doing laps around several buoys. I started swimming in the direction of the first buoy but started to get distracted by the cold water on my face as well as trying to sight for the first time in several months. Next thing I knew I was swimming directly towards my teammates.

I lifted my head up and started to tread water to figure out what I was going to do next. Suddenly I found myself drifting away from the group. A part of the current took a hold of me. Mentally I felt fine and don't recall panicking. But I did request that one of the coaches in a boat come get me.

Once I got back to shore we still had quite a bit of time left so I wanted to continue to swim. I swam a lap and had to fight the current to get back. Then as I prepared for another lap I found myself just standing there thinking about the current. I was frozen. Fear had begun to sink in my mind.

I was eventually able to get several more laps in but I was a little bothered how the fear had taken a hold of me and prevented me from swimming more. I know my swim fitness is strong so it wasn't a physical limitation. It was all mental.

I think fear is important. It warns us when we're about to do something reckless or dangerous to our well being. When it becomes a problem is when it prevents us from doing stuff that we know we can do. It becomes mental battle. I'm not sure what the best method to fight fear is but I've always subscribed to just getting out there and trying again. I'll let you guys know how next week's swim goes.

Day 90: Pacing Life

I've come to realize that pacing isn't just applicable to running and swimming. You've got to pace yourself in your daily life. You work too fast and you'll start to get diminished returns. You'll overlook important details and eventually get burned out. Work too slow and you'll find yourself susceptible to laziness. The important part is to find the right pace for you. Even in life, smooth is fast and efficient.

6:00AM

Team Intensity Run

Today I did my first threshold workout. I ran about four miles total with the middle two being miles at threshold pace. I'm pretty happy with my results. I was able to hit around 6:25 on both of those miles. That's just several seconds slower than my pre injury threshold pace.

I did notice my legs were fatiguing and tightening up. I also don't think my running technique is as efficient as it used to be. That's something I'm going to have to keep an eye on as I work my run base back.

Day 89: Quick Poll

As some of you know my wife is pregnant with our first child. In fact she could pop any day now. Obviously this will affect my Exercise/Training Streak. I'm pretty torn as to how I'm going to handle the streak so I decided to create a poll to see what everyone suggests. You can find it on the right sidebar of my page. It'll stay open until next Wednesday. I'm eager to see what you guys think!

6:00AM

Team Intensity/Technique Swim

This swim went a lot better relative to my past several swims. The main set consisted of 6 x 200s at Olympic distance race pace with very little rest in between. For the most part I held on. I had a couple of stops at the wall to either pass someone or let someone pass me.

I know my swim is getting stronger but its still a drain on me mentally. I guess that's why its my weakest of the three sports. For the next winter I'm thinking about taking a break from biking and running and just focus purely on swimming. Its so technique driven that I think I need to lay a better base down.

Day 88: The Streak is Still Going

The streak is still going on. I just had too many activities over the weekend (10K, Birthday, VCU game) to keep up with posting. Somethings got to give right? I retro blogged most of my workouts. You can find them here, here, here, and here. One cool thing is that people are actually starting to ask about this streak. I ran into an old running buddy at the race and he asked me all about it. People are reading!

6:00AM

Team Intensity Bike

I wouldn't say this was our hardest workout but it was challenging. It involved building from zone 3 to 5 while spending x amount of time in each zone. We did two sets of this. I felt really strong at the end until Coach Tyler told me to kick it up two gears. I think that might of been the longest last 30 seconds of a bike ever!

Brick

By the end of the Bike my legs were dead. They were also still worn from football. Looks like I have to work on those fast twitching muscles. I gingerly got off the bike and leaned against the wall as I put my run shoes on. I can honestly say it was probably my slowest transitions.

The first mile was tough. I threw in some striders but I found myself trying to catch people in the process. I decided to take the pace down just a little since I didn't want to risk pulling a hamstring.

After the workout I did stretching, a massage roll, and an ice bath. I'm still walking gingerly around the house. Hopefully I'll recover soon.

Anton Krupicka: On Being Real

Anton manages to concisely describe while he does trail runs. Excellent read. Any description or quote wouldn't do it justice. Check it out! NOTE: For Facebook and Twitter people that got here, just click on the post title to get to the article.

[Source: Running Times Magazine]

Day 87: Stretching Again

6:00PM

Group Yoga/Stretching

I know it has to do a little with playing football yesterday but I lost a little bit of my flexibility. I've also been guilty of not stretching too hard after exercises last week. I need to get back into though. Race season is upon us and if I don't keep up with stretching the potential for injury and body fatigue go up.

Day 86: A Little Flag Football

I was supposed to get a ride in today but I was still recovering from the VCU game and my birthday party. I kept on putting it off for the rest of the day until I heard from my buddy about their football game in a flag football league. They needed an extra person so I figured that would count as enough exercise.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared because I didn't want to risk injuring myself again. But hey, taking a break from your usual routine is okay just as long as you're smart about it.

What I found out is that football is not my thing anymore. I think I had as many interceptions resulting from me fumbling and tipping balls as actually caught passes. Had fun though, it was just like old times being out there with the guys and playing some ball. Time to go back into retirement though.

Day 85: 2011 Monument 10K

Hooray! I finally get to participate in an event that I payed for. I had to miss the Richmond half and Shamrock half due to injuries. I didn't race my fastest but it was great just to be out there.

Race Nutrition

Race day for me started the night before. Last year I took nutrition for granted since I was just coming off doing a marathon. Several members from the team went to PF Chang's. I had the chicken noodle soup with extra noodles plus some white rice on the side. Had to carb load! I'm really happy with this meal as I didn't feel any stomach issues during the run.

Henry

When I got to the race we all met at the Cathedral for pictures. We went early because we wanted to cheer on one of our younger athletes in the Kid's Run. Henry is a 10 year old kid whose been working hard to finish his first mile race. What make's Henry unique is that he has cerebral palsy. Rusty described the disease as a "group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that causes physical disability in human development. With CP, your muscles become spastic and can tighten up for no apparent reason, making physical movement VERY difficult." In Henry's case he equated that running a mile would seem like running an ultramarathon for traditional runners.

I wanted to go out and support this young man for a couple of reasons. For one was because he gave a wonderful impromptu speech at our annual banquet. I'd try to describe it but I wouldn't do justice to his delivery. The second is a bit selfish, I just wanted to feel a little inspired prior to the race. I think that often we take some of the basic things we do daily for granted. I can't recall every mile that I've ran but I bet you Henry can. For these kind of reasons, you'll sometimes just see me smile or yell during a workout just to appreciate the experience.

The 10K

The run went really well. I paced a teammate and she ended up getting a PR. I was surprised at how my body responded. I had some hesitation as I was scared my legs weren't ready for that many miles at that speed but I felt strong. I'd even say that I probably had a couple of more miles in me at the end of the race.

I just love doing this event. For one it was my first endurance event in my adulthood so I figured I'd do it annually no matter what. Its also fun for the sheer amount of people. I think there were something around 41,000 people registered. That's nuts! There's a ton of support and fun games like the costume contest. Costumes were a little toned down this year and I think its probably because everyone was more worried about the game later in the day.

Once again, I'm just glad I got to go out there and experience it. This run got me really amped and I can't wait for my first race next weekend.

Training Streak: Day 84

2:00PM

Technique/Intensity Swim

This swim wasn't too bad. The workout called for a lot but I shortened it because of tomorrow's race. I'm not sure if I'm back to my swim form from last year. These pool workouts are starting to drain me a little bit. I'm looking forward to open water swimming. We usually do these with the sunrise so its great to just be out there and enjoy nature. I know. I'm becoming a granola.