Three Workouts Worth Mentioning

NUMBER ONE: BIKE

I did my first real "harder effort" bike ride last weekend. I headed out for my "normal 16 mile loop," but I added on some fun stuff. I hit some hills along the Big Rivers Trail, and then I biked along the Mississippi to THEE Ohio Hill. I told myself I was going to go UP Ohio, DOWN Smith, and UP Ramsey Hill! I hadn't ridden up Ohio or Ramsey by themselves yet this year, so heck... why not ride both about a mile apart on the same ride! :)

Ohio looks likes this:

(This map is from an older post about doing intervals - it's NOT what I did last weekend.
But just note the elevation chart!)

So I got up Ohio, went down Smith, got up Ramsey, and finished at home with over 26 miles and an 18.1 mph average. (It was 19.1 before I started the 2 hills...)


NUMBER TWO: SWIM

Yes, I actually hit the pool! I've been avoiding it because (1) I don't care for swimming, and (2) I felt like kicking was aggravating my sore foot (I'll talk more about this in the near future). But I went for a quick swim about 2 weeks ago, and it felt OK. So I thought I'd push a pace a bit more on this swim and (1) see if my foot still hurt and (2) see how much "swim fitness" I'd lost because of my 2400 yards of swimming so far in 2012. Seriously. And I only had a total of 6800 yards since MID-AUGUST of last year! That's over 7 months, people! Crap.

I ended up doing 1500 yards at a tempo pace, and here were my 100 yard splits:

1:29, 1:36, 2:30 (150), 0:51 (50), 1:40, 1:40, 1:38, 1:39, 1:39, 1:38, 1:38, 1:38, 1:36, 1:36, 1:34

24:27 total
1:37.80 average / 100 yards

That was NOT as bad as I thought it was going to be! I mean, the swim workout HURT, but I was thinking I'd be swimming 1:45s! I was happy with that! Time to try to hit the pool a little more often!


NUMBER THREE: RUN

On Thursday night, I picked up Henry from daycare, we played a bit and had a snack, and then we hit the River Road Trail for 2 x 2 mile intervals! I'd never ran any sort of intervals with him (just some 800 "pick-ups" a few days before a race), but I figured since he raced with me last weekend, he'd be OK on these intervals. We did a warm-up mile, and then we ran our first 2 mile in this:

(0.5 mile, 0.5 mile = 1 mile)

2:51, 3:00 = 5:51
2:54, 2:51 = 5:45

11:36 two mile total

That was hard and fast, and I didn't know if I could do another interval like that. I was happy with the effort I was putting into that workout!

When I slowed up quick at the end of that interval, Henry looked up at me and laughed:

He loved the speed!

I walked around with him for 3 minutes, and then I tried to hit the final 2 mile interval hard. Part way into that interval, Henry passed out! (Just like he did part way into last weekend's race!) Here's what I ran for the second interval:

2:48, 2:58 = 5:46
2:57, 2:54 = 5:51

11:37 two mile total

Nice! I only gave up 1 second overall! And when I finished that one, I snapped another photo of Henry:

I caught my breath for a few minutes and then logged another easy 6+ miles with Henry as a cool-down (all as he slept). I've logged over 100 miles running with Henry in 2012 already!!

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Friday Funny 303: I Love Cycling!

I'm not one to really share random Facebook pages that I think are funny, but I stumbled across a good one this week. It's called I Love Cycling, and here are some pretty funny photos that they've recently posted on their wall:

The dangers of rural riding!


Whoa.


Good idea... in theory.


Bike route. Yeah. Sure.






Yes! I'd love to get wet try this!




Ummm... you might be there a while.


Nice set-up!

This reminds me... April is when 30 Day of Biking takes place. It was a local initiative that took off a few years ago. I loosely took part 2 years ago, and it was a good jump-start for me - it got me on my bike a lot early in the season. Check out their website and follow them on twitter.

Happy weekend!!

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Friday Funny 302: The Shorts Have a Name

I've posted about my new pink plaid shorts for 3 Fridays in a row now. First to show you what I had ordered. Second to ask you to vote on your favorite name for them. And now to GIVE you that name.

The poll is now closed. The two front-runners were always "Pinky and the Brain" and "Groundskeeper Willy." Frankly, I liked the slight double entendre that both of them had to offer.

After 187 votes were cast, the winner by a hair is Xenia suggestion of "Pinky and the Brain"

So there you have it. Look for the "Pinky and the Brain" shorts to make their public (and quite possibly humiliating) debut in the next few months.

If you stopped by for something more funny than that, you should see this linked video. It features cutie (and Triathlete Mag "swimsuit issue" model) Lesley Paterson in a video called "Sh*t Triathletes DON'T Say." Hit up that link. It's pretty funny. And pretty true.

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Friday Funny 301: Wear This While Running

File under "W" for "WWHHHAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!?!

(From Dailymail)

Soon going for a run won't just help your fitness levels, it’ll give your phone a boost too thanks to an ingenious new inventionthat uses the air from your lungs to charge it.

The clever piece of kit, dubbed the AIRE mask, harnesses the wind power created by breathing and converts it into electricity to run anything from your iPod to your mobile.

The electronic mask contains tiny wind turbines and the energy created is transferred through a cable to your electronic device. [....]

So.... just a few comments:

#1: I'm for "going green" and all, but there's a line. I don't know that I want to look a little like the Predator while going green.

#2: Wouldn't that chafe the hell out of your face while you were running?

#3:The device is sooooo poorly Photoshopped on those models. (It's OK on the guy, but pretty bad on the woman.) Come on, people at AIRE.

#4: Keds?!? Do you remember Keds? Is she running in Keds? WTF?!?


What else? What am I missing? Add your commentary in the comments below...

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My Feet = Gross

I've been meaning to post this for the last 10 days. But I've always had too much food in my stomach to deal with it, so I've put it off.

At the hot Human Race 8K 10 days ago, my right foot got pretty beat up. I remember commenting to Henry's sitter once I picked him up that I hadn't taken off my running shoes yet because "it ain't gonna be purdy."

When I finally took off my shoes that night, I found this:

There are a lot of callouses in that photo, but in case you can't see the 2 nasty blisters I'm talking about, let me highlight them for you:

The one on the bottom of my foot was your basic run-of-the-mill blister. No biggie. But the one under my big toe was squishy, sore, nasty, and gross. Here I am playing with it to show you how gooey it was:

THREE THINGS REGARDING THAT PHOTO:

1. It was really squishy. I really wanted to pop it, but my wife convinced me to "let it run it's course."

2. Dear Lord. My toe hairs are long enough to braid. Maybe I can donate them to Locks of Love.

3. Yes, that's my wife standing in the background as I'm taking photos of my nasty feet. We have an "understanding." God bless her.

A few quick links (completely unrelated to the carnage above):

- If you haven't voted with your favorite name for my new pink shorts, click here and cast your vote! You have until the end of the day.

- There's a free "Triathlon 101" clinic this weekend in the Metro (and there are more coming up in surrounding communities as well). Click here to learn more. LOTS of giveaways and swag as this event too! Tell your friends who are interested in trying a tri!

- USA Track and Field MN just announced their "Ultimate Runner" series for 2012. Click here to learn about the races in this series (all distances and all surfaces too).

- If you're a local, "like" my "St. Paul Triathlon Examiner" Facebook page to get up-to-date tri-related stories on Facebook (they just appear on your FB "home page" along with your other friends' posts).

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A Few Recent Henry Pics

Henry had his "well child" 9 month check-up 2 weeks ago. Here are 4 pics from the doctor's office:

With Momma


"Whoa... I see people down there!..."


"HEY PEOPLE! LOOK AT ME! I'M NAKED!!"


With Daddy

Henry and I played in the little hammock in our backyard after the Human Race 8K about 10 days ago:

Here's Henry "dressed up" for St. Patrick's Day:

Well, he's 1/8 Irish, so that still counts... right? ;)

Momma snapped a photo of Henry and I hanging out one morning before she headed to work:

Before the race this past weekend, we had Henry's 5th swim lesson. Here he is with Momma before hitting the pool:

Finally, after Henry and I raced the Lake Johanna 4 Mile on Saturday, we all played at the park for nearly an hour before heading home. It was Henry's first time in a swing. He LOVED it!!

Swinging with Daddy!


After sliding with Momma!


LOVE. THIS. PHOTO. SO. MUCH.


Down the slide with his tongue out!


STANDING in his crib for the first time later that afternoon!
He's learned to pull himself up!! CRAP!!

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Official Lake Johanna 4 Mile Photos

Local photographer Wayne Kryduba was out at the Lake Johanna 4 Mile on Saturday, and he put up a great slideshow of photos. Here are some that help tell Henry's story:

Just before the start. Try to spot me and the stroller...




Just after the start, with Nordica on my tail.


The leaders at mile 1. (The guy on the right is currently in first
in the MDRA Grand Prix, and there's no way I'll catch him!)


3rd - 6th at mile 1, with Henry and I back there in 7th and 8th!


I don't know her, but that's a blurry Pharmie in the pink back there!

Wayne didn't get a photo of me finishing, but Tom's friend caught Henry and I just feet from the finish:

We amuse old people.


Look in the background...
that's Henry and I heading back to the porta potties.


I don't know these people, but I'm sure we'd get along.


Pharmie heading to the finish!


Cicely and Nordica on the shore of Lake Johanna post-race.
When Henry woke up from his "race nap," he flirted with these ladies.


Awesome photo of race-buddy Chris!


Wayne's photo of my wife getting a photo of Henry and I.

I forgot to mention a fun comment in my race report: Nordica was talking with us after the race, and she said she had just overheard someone else talking about the race. Some guy was telling his friend "Yeah, I saw this guy pull up by me before the start of the race with a stroller, and I thought 'What's that guy doing up here?' But then he PASSED me during the race!" Ha! I love that! (Of course.)

If you missed Henry's first race report, scroll down to yesterday's post (or click here) to read his recap!

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