Week One - Retro

OK, So here it begins...formally anyway...my Road to Coeur d'Alene, my Ironman dream.

After a pretty full season in 2007 and a nagging hip injury, that is slowly returning to normal, it's on.

A steady regimen of acupuncture, massage, yoga and stretching; in addition to a well-constructed plan by none other than Craig Howie, of the Howie Endurance Project will hopefully get me there in one piece...healthy and strong.

The "A" race for me in the first half of 2008 ...Ironman Couer d'Alene. Depending on what the hip feels, like the possibility for an olympic distance prior to June is a strong possibility...need to get as much "hay in the barn" as I can, most likely Deuces Wild in AZ.

In addition, the plan will be to do the Old Town half marathon in Fort Collins, and as many "stroke n' strides" in as I can. Since the rez won't be open "legally" until Memorial Day, I anticipate a fair amount of bootleg open water swims will be necessary.

Post CDA, the race schedule continues with the Boulder Peak and the 5430 Long Course...and last on the "A" list one of two marathons...either Denver or Chicago. Since I have done Chicago and the starting line for Denver is precisely 17 miles to the south, the argument in favor of doing Denver is certainly a strong one...BUT, Chicago is such a great race....we will see.

Since I couldn't get my shit together quick enough to put this blog together for Week 1, this week will be a retroactive synopsis of what the week looked like.

Weekly totals

• Swim - 3500 yds


• Bike - 60 miles


• Run 11 miles

Breakdown

Monday - 12 mile ride/5 mile run (trainer and treadmill) It is freakin' cold and snowy...go figure it's winter...I so cannot wait to ride outside. One of my projects over the next few weeks will be to get the Dean converted over to a semi-aero postition for winter riding. Stay tuned. Hip felt OK.

Tuesday - Yoga/1200 tempo swim. Christ all mighty the damn HRM that I just dropped $200 on is so overcomplicated...I can't figure it out. Barometric pressure? Altitude? Who cares? I thought I did...now I know that I was wrong...anybody need a Polar AXN 300? At any rate, keeping my HR in the mid 120's, feeling OK in the pool. Mostly drills and strength work. By the way, and I will try to keep this to a minimum, I LOVE hot yoga...if you haven't tried it and think yoga is for pussy, fags or women...shut the hell up and do it...if it doesn't kick your ass, you are either a.) lying or 2.) a true bad-ass.

Wednesday - 16 mile tempo ride - this only worked out to be 12 miles (had to fly out of town for work), on the trainer again, held 18.3 mph. Felt good.

Thursday - 5.5 mile endurance run - treadmill, 6.5 mph pace, avg. HR about 145. Hip felt a bit stiff at first but once i settled in, it was all good. Need new sneaks, toying with switching from the Nimbus, maybe back to the Adidas...decisions, decisions.

Friday - 1600 endurance swim...ok I really need a HRM that I can figure out. Steady Z3 workout.

Saturday - 700 swim (bagged)/36 mile endurance ride/0.5 mile run-off-ride - to hell with the swim...I felt like sleeping in after the Xavier Rudd concert, and if you've ever been to the PDRC Waterpark-slash-Lazy River on the weekend you'd know that navigating around the hundreds of pool peeing, nose picking, obnoxious brats is almost as tough as a swim start. NOT in the mood. Rode and watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Mariano, on the P2C for the first time in a long while, and discovered that I really need to raise my seat a good inch and a half...ahhh, much better. The best thing about riding on the trainer is you can really catch up on your TV, movies, Oprah....whatever! Froze my ass off on the whopping 0.5 mile run...windy, about 6 degrees, but sunny.

Sunday - Ended the week with Hot Yoga...best way to start a Sunday...sweat like a lil' pig. Did I already say I love yoga. Kristina, Luna and some friends went for a great hike near Eldorado Canyon, weather really shaped up for a nice ride...I'll save it for next weekend hopefully. Until next post...