Sunday October 30th - Good Day - Double workout

The morning started off not as strongly as I had hoped. With the time change, it looked like a good chance for me to get back into the training. I woke up fine but got "side tracked" and next thing I know its 7:30am. That's when swimming starts. I still feel week but figure why not just get in the water for an hour. I arrive at the pool and enter the water at 8. Swimming feels like crap. I don't really properly warm up and I can still feel the weakness from my cold. I really have nothing to give in the water. But instead of being down about it, I looked at it instead that at least I am in the water doing something. I do a 500 warm up and then about 6 X 200s with the people in the next lane (I don't feel like really being a part of the team workout this morning). I pulled one of the 200s and swam it in 2:10. Some say that isn't too bad, but for me its not that impressive for how much it hurt. With a few weeks of solid swimming my time would be closer to 2:02. But once again, I'm in the water and that's all that counts. We finish off with a fun relay swim with for me was 2 X50s sprint. Eh.

So tonight I matched my farthest run. 4 miles. Ya I know that it's not that far, but hey for me it is! I have only ran 4 miles on one other occasion, and that was the CSULB backwards triathlon 18 months ago. With me getting over the cold, I kept an open perspective on my performance. Since Drew and I ran together, it was much easier to control the dogs. One per person. I always have Max and he's turning into more of a lookyloo dog and I have to keep him in check. Mile 1 put us at 10:20 with a slight delay as Drew had to tie his shoes. I know this measurement is off, so instead I figure I will see what our time is at the 1/2 way mark and then compare it to the run on the way back. At mile 2 we clocked in at 21:22. This confirms that the first mile is a tad short, but also that the 2 mile mark total is probably accurate. That puts us at 10:20, then 11:02. Wrong, but lets just look at it at 21:22 (averaging 10:41). As we began our run back, I notice Drew picking it up. This is where I have to choose to either continue running at my own pace or pick it up with him. I decide to just increase a tad and see what happens. At this time he's pushing it more so I let him go. I am inexperienced at running so I'm humble enough to know I'm not going to be the best at this. I tell myself my goal here is to just keep on training, go with what feels good and finish every mile I set out to run. Drew keeps this pace for about a 1/4 mile. He didn't get too far ahead of me, but I'd say he began to average closer to 9 minute mile pace. After a 1/4 mile I gradually catch up to him. He tells me he just wanted to push it for a little bit because the pace felt a little slow for him. I told him that in the future to feel free to run away if he needs to. So we hit mile 3 at 31:50. This of course is off since the markers aren't accurate but due to experience lets me know that we are going at a much stronger pace and are going to have a good back half. I see the finish of mile 4 approaching and check the clock. I think to myself, "If I pick it up just a tad, I can finish my back 1/2 in under 20 minutes", therefore averaging under 10 min miles. Instead I choose to keep my pace. We hit our finish at 41:28. Not too shabby though. First 2 miles : 21:22. Second 2 miles : 20:08. I'm sure about 10 to 15 seconds of that negative splitting was the effect due to Drew's 1/4 mile increase in speed. Either way, my goal for each run, no matter of distance, will be to negative split. Even on marathon day, the goal will be to have a better back half. Is that possible? We will see!

Side note : Sunday, January 8th is our scheduled 13 mile run. Drew found the O.C. Marathon on that exact date and they offer a 1/2 marathon as well. Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect! Its $55. We already missed the cheaper price, so we can wait until last minute to register. But for the LA Marathon, early registration is only $75 but will only be available until November 1st. Hold and I will do it RIGHT NOW!.... I have finished. I am locked in. YEA! GO ME!

Closing statement: No turning back now! :-) Everything is going well now. Hopefully I will now begin to see my body transform and become healthier and more appealing (ya I know can it really get anymore appealing) :-)

Weight - 184

Friday/Saturday 10/28-29 still sick

OK.. this cold is a doozy. Now I am stuck coughing non stop. Everytime I feel like I am almost done, I start hacking away again. Saturday morning I went to swim practice but just couldn't stop coughing, so I turned back and didn't even get in the water.

Hopefully Sunday will be better as I plan on swimming and running.

Peace out!

Thursday, October 27

So I'm still feeling a bit under the weather but have decided that I will at least swim or run or do both. I set my alarm for 5:30 AM to go running, but that wasn't in the cards. Therefore I will do my 3 mile run after work.

Got home after work and was ready to run. Grabbed the pups and headed out for my run. With the dogs being locked up while the contractors are here, I knew at least one of them would poop on the run. Sure enough it was Josie. The good thing was that it was at the beginning of the run. Of course it slowed me down for about a minute or two. As I started off on my run again, I decided to ditch the dog poop. I placed it on some rocks along the bike trail and decided that I would just pick it back up on my return. Of course it was in a baggie!! So off I went. It felt good to exercise again as I began to feel my lungs drain. I didn't want to push it too hard though as I was still sick. This was to be another 3 mile run and aside from doing the Sunday jog for 34 minutes, I have not run that far before. Well I take that back...I think I ran 4 miles in my one and only triathlon...BUT STILL! As I ran down the path I passed a few homeless people and approved a lovely police car with two officers. Hmmmm........ Nice eye candy but nothing really going on. Of course they were blocking the entire path with the car so me and the two dogs had to maneuver around them. But this led to Josie looking back every few seconds to see what was going on. That of course made me do the same to check and see if they were on my tail. ANYWAY!.... I hit the 1/2 mark (1. 5 miles) around 17 minutes. With the minute or two delay that put me right around 11 minute mile pace. That's ok. At this point I am beginning to wonder if 10 minute mile marathon pace will happen, but I think its way too soon to think. The run back was much more smooth and solid. I finished the run back (1.5 miles) in about 14 or 15 minutes I think. Either way my last mile was under 10 minutes. It felt very controlled. I think that with some more training it will be easier and easier. Off to the pool.

So the swim didn't go as well as the run. Still being sick, I figured I would at least get in 2000 meters (hey its more than a mile!) of swimming. Here is what we did:

500 warm-up = 500 meters
8 X 50s (skull building to swim) = 400 meters
Main set:
400 pull
4 X 100s swim
2 X 200s swim
Do this 2 times through.
(actually skipped the 200s) so = 1600 meters

Total workout = 2500 meters (1.55 miles)

I was weak in the water. As always my pulling felt great though. Both 400s that I swam controlled, I swam 5:20s. My 100s without paddles and buoy were about 1:22s. They hurt so much. I think it was a mixture of the lack of swimming and recovering from being sick. Either way what's done is done.

No real statement for the day except my phlegm is a lovely color!! And yes, I remembered to pick up the poop.

Monday October 24th SICK TODAY!

I'm sick today. I got sick sometime last night right before a few friends and I went to dinner after my boyfriend's piano recital. It just got worse and worse. All I did today was sleep and watch tv. I feel like a fat slob. With the contractors here, the house is even more a mess.

At least today is my day off from running so that won't interfere with my training. Although I really wanted to leave work on time and hit the pool before I coached swimming tonight. Oh well. I am currently writing the team a workout so I am off. I also need to shower since I haven't showered in 32 hours. YUCK.

Weight - 186

Sunday, October 23rd.... better!

So today has started off much better than yesterday! I woke up first thing and knew that my job was to run 3 miles today. Since my mom lives next to the middle school and high school, I figured I might be able to run on the track.. But unfortunately, it was locked. So as I continued to run I decided to run around a parking lot which resembled a large track. So since I figured it would be safe to run for about 33/34 minutes, I would run until 17 minutes and then turn around and do the same thing back home. Unfortunately since I am down in SD, I wasn't able to make it to swim practice. Oh well at least I got my run in. (OK I really can't get too into this blog since my nephews are climbing all over me and wanting me to play.. I'm going crazzyyyyy ARGGHHH!). LOL.

Saturday October 22 BAD BAD BAD!!

OK I was a very bad boy on Saturday. Not only did I not do any exercise, I ate like crap!! I went down to San Diego to spend the weekend with my mother and my twin nephews. They had a t-ball game at 10 and then after that, the four of us went to another park and played tackle football, swung on the swings, etc. After that, we went and had pizza. Ugh.. too much pizza! Once we got back to my mother's home, we hung out a bit and then I took a nap. I awoke to them making Halloween cookies and decorating them. Great! More junk food. So of course I ate more crap that night. Oh well! I fear weighing myself so I won't. I also brought my swim stuff down, but as I figured, I didn't have time. Let's hope Sunday goes better!

Thursday, October 20

Today was a very busy day. I woke up running, then went to work, came home and took the dogs for a walk during lunch, went back to work, then had a coaches meeting followed by swim practice and now here I am. Feeling good now but I think I might go to bed soon. Here is how my athletic world felt today:

6:08 a.m. run. This was once again 2 miles. Drew decided to sleep in so it was just me again. Since the dogs were only 1/2 awake, I was able to get in a more consistent run. Also, the river path was opened up again which made it smoother. After doing some quick stretches (I think as my mileage increases I need to take stretching more serious), I was off running with the pooches. As always, the first quarter mile or so is the most painful as I get into my running mode. Some part of the trail is measured incorrectly so my pacing is somewhat off. As I looked at the 1/2 mile mark time, I wasn't impressed. As I approached the mile mark (where I turn around), I saw that my time was 11:10. Not too good. But still I wasn't going to pick it up because its all about pacing and being comfortable. The more I ran, the better I felt and my speed picked up without anymore effort. I finished my 2 mile run with my 2nd mile in 10:30. Total time 21:40. Good second mile. Since this is still officially my first week, I'm not complaining at all. Plus its such a nice way to start off the day. I feel like doing it more, but I know I should just stick with the program. Time for work.

Swimming was decent tonight. Just like in running, my swimming felt a little rusty after warm up. But it did feel better than Tuesday. I think the combined running/swimming are helping each other. Did a kick ass 200 free fast pulling on the main set, going 2:22. This was LCM. LCM means a 50 meter pool (olympic size), for anyone reading this who doesn't know. Here was my workout:

600 warm-up = 600 meters

8 X 50s (25 slow/25 medium/25 fast/25 slow/25 med/etc.... totaling 8X50s) = 400 meters

Main Set
200, 2 X 100s, 4 X 50s Do this set 3 times PULLED THIS = 1800 meters

Set #1 - easy 200, med 100s, fast 50s = fast 50s averaged 33
Set #2 - med 200, fast 100s, easy 50s = fast 100s went 1:11, 1:12
Set #3 - fast 200, easy 100s, me 50s = fast 200 = went 2:22

400 social kick = 400 meters

200 cool down = 200 meters

Total workout = 3400 meters

Very happy with the 2:22 200 meter free pulling. Considering I haven't been having that consistent of training, this is a good sign. I think my mental state is good and I feel better in and out of the water.

Weight - 185

Closing thoughts:
Today was a good day. Although I may not have lost any weight, I am beginning to feel more fit. I can actually feel my belly getting ready to say good bye!! :-)

Tuesday October 18th

And we're off! Originally my run was scheduled for 6AM but the rain decided to get in my way. Therefore I chose to sleep an extra hour and run after work before swimming.

Day 2 of running - 2 miles again. It was a bit awkward running with both dogs. They were very hyper and all over the place due to them being locked up in the kitchen due to contractors working on the bathroom. And to top if off, the gate was locked to run along the LA river. So I ran parallel on the residential street for a 1/2 mile until I could join the path. What a 1/2 mile. Dogs barking/running/peeing/etc. Felt more like a mile. Once I got to the path, of course Josie wanted to poop. Another delay. Finally we were ready to continue and as I dodged glass and homeless people I reached my 1 mile mark. Since it was probably more, I didn't really care about the time and with all the delays. But from what my watch was saying I don't think I am even running 10 minute miles yet. I think I am a tad above. But that's ok since the main thing is that I ran. Now its time to get ready for the pool. Be back!

Ok well my brain won over my body tonight in the pool. After about 35 minutes in the pool I so didn't want to be there. I started making excuses for me to leave the pool. I had already run tonight, I had done enough exercise, my shoulder, my arm, my hip. All which were valid but really not good enough. Then I said to myself, "Brian, how do you expect to complete a marathon if you can't even finish a workout when it begins to hurt?" Well that was all I needed. I felt like crap in the pool since I haven't been swimming consistently, but by the end I did a decent 300 IM. Here's the workout:

600 warm up = 600 meters
200 free - 100 IM kick - 200 back - 100 IM kick = 600 meters
100 free - 300 IM - 200 free - 300 IM - 100 free = 1000 meters (repeat) = 2000 meters
300 IM is to be 50 fly-50 free-50 back-50 free-50 breast-50 free.
200 cool down = 200 meters
Total workout = 3400 meters

Final 300 IM I did a 4:20. I was going about 4:45s on the other 3. 4:20 was decent but I swam in controlled and strong which is what I wanted to do.

Weight this morning - 186. Goal - low 160s.

I also want to close each blog with how I feel at the end of the day. Here is my first one:

I feel motivated and already in better shape. Its silly, but in my mind, its true.

Sunday 10/16/05 Let the Journeys begin!!

OK. So here I am again. A little over a year later with my new journey(s) just beginning in my athletic world. But now instead of just one journey I have added a 2nd one that in some ways surpasses my other current one.

Journey #1 - Gay Games 2006 in Chicago. Currently the dates are set up for July 16th through July 21st. If the competition stays like IGLA has for the past 3 years, then I have very good chances of winning some events. Of course Gay Games may bring out faster swimmers than IGLA. But I will just go in knowing that I have trained as hard as I could and the rest is out of my hands. But that means I need to train consistenly and not slack off. :-)

Journey #2 - Los Angeles Marathon XXI. This is set for March 19th 2006. 5 months away. OK so this is a huge one. Unlike Journey #1 where I want to win, this journey's goal is just finish! I have 5 months to prepare for these 26.2 miles and truthfully, I will have a bigger smile on my face finishing this one than any results from Gay Games. Drew and I have set up weekly run schedules on how far to run but I also need to read the rest of the book to make sure I am doing anything else that is recommended like nutrition/rest/etc. I currently have no goal time for the race except to finish, but maybe running 10 minute miles is reasonable. I will be able to tell more as the training continues.

Started today with a 2 mile run and finished well. Didn't push anything and felt in the end that I can continue. That is a good sign that increasing the mileage a little won't effect me too much. We will see. Running with the dogs to start off with, but will probably drop them off once we reach the 5 or 6 mile mark.

Need to read more about diet because I think I need to adjust it as well.