Yesterday marked the second big training Sunday as the ramp up takes hold. 2500 yard swim, followed by 42 mile bike, finished with a 9 mile run on the coast.  I felt pretty comfortable and was surprised at how loose I felt on the run.  I had expected that it would have been the worst…

Big confidence booster today!  For the first time I surpassed 4500 yards in the pool and it was under the cut-off time for Ironman Santa Rosa.  A big step in making deposits in the confidence bank. The bike is coming along well, now the swim distance is materializing, a little more confidence in my run…

More new territory! 3500 yard swim. Climbing towards first Ironman finish in Santa Rosa.

Crossed over into new territory today. Longest swim ever at 2,800 yards. Check out the palm trees in the background and how windy it was. I had to move the lounge chairs near where I was swimming because I heard them scraping along the concrete towards me from the wind. Didn’t want to get taken…

Coach Julie has schooled me in the fact that I need to get used to running directly after cycling training.  I know this is rookie triathlon stuff, but this blog is about the journey of an old guy trying to figure it all out.  The more I do it, the less weird it feels and…

Coach Julie finished the Ironman Santa Rosa training schedule a few weeks ago and loaded it into my new Training Peaks account.  Each week I am experiencing new insights into suffering towards the goal of becoming an Ironman. Today I experienced a new challenge called Hill Repeats.  A joyous journey up and down a half…

At 70.3 Ironman Austin, I had a less than pleasurable run.  After speaking with my coach Julie, she suggested I first get a physical assessment completed and then we could build a strength training program to fortify what needed to be fortified for the marathon. As a triathlon novice, it was no surprise that many…

With Ironman Santa Rosa on the horizon, it was time to be a big boy, get a real tri bike, and do it right.  Step #1, check out who sponsors Triclub San Diego and see if it makes sense to buy something from them.  Step #2, get a real fitting so that my 112 miles…

I have made it this far and there has been way too much progress achieved to lose it all.  Officially this morning, I signed up for Santa Rosa Ironman on May 12th in the wine country of Sonoma County, California. Kind of the perfect Ironman for me.  Lake swim, ride through the vineyards, run along…

With the help of many generous friends, we were able to raise $1,320 for Challenged Athletes Foundation. This funding will be used to help people with physical challenges pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and athletics. It will help them afford the cost of equipment such as sports wheelchairs, handcycles, mono skis and sports…

I returned from Austin five days ago.  Due to other responsibilities, I had yet to fully unpack physically or mentally.  This morning, I strolled out to the garage to complete a ritual done after each race dating back to when I started getting back in shape in 2010.  The process of placing the race credentials…

3:30am.  My wife has a quasi-military term that she calls the times of the day I rise to do these types of events…0-Dark-Early.  3:30am is even early for me.  I wasn’t really sleeping much anyway, so why not get the show on the road? Yesterday, at the check-in, one of the Ironman officials suggested that…

Ironman is a gear nightmare.  Gear for the swim.  Gear for the bike.  Gear for the run.  Gear to wear before you start in the morning.  Gear to wear after you are done.  Bike races and running races were never this mind bending.  You show up in your stuff and you run in a running…

Today I left for Austin for a week in the Live Music City!  It will be a week as I am also attending the National Restaurant Association Innovation Summit leading up to the race.  Plus, while I am in town there will be restaurant scouting as usual. One thing for sure, you need a lot…

This week I picked up a new client that requires me to be on-site at their office during regular business hours.  That means I will have to train like a regular employed person as opposed to sneaking it in during the day whenever I want.  A definite buzz kill on the fun meter, but one…

With exactly 4 weeks to go before my half Ironman in Austin, I tried out another self guided triathlon today.  It is time to seriously make sure I am in the zone as there is very little time to make adjustments for an endurance sport such as this. The two goals for the day were…

Today was the best day yet on my return to running.  My legs are still weak and seem to be confused on what to do and why we are doing it.  For the past few weeks I have felt like a toddler learning how to walk.  My legs have been all over the place and…

Since the running has been back in the mix, I have noticed a thinning taking place.  I have not weighed myself in quite a while to confirm my suspicion though.  After my afternoon run today, I stepped on the scale to be pleasantly surprised by the results. I have not seen a 7 in the…

Mark Allen is famous for winning the world championship Ironman in Hawaii six times.  As legend tells it, he became interested after watching it on ABC Wild World of Sports in the 80’s.  He started to train for the Ironman distance all on his own to see if he could get his mind wrapped around…

It had to finally happen someday.  Today, I purchased the classic sleeveless tri-top!  If you have never packed yourself into one of these, it is certainly motivating.  Generally, there is nothing flattering about them.  Any excess anything on your body now is amplified.  Any tan lines you have acquired through training with any type of…

It was over 100 degrees today so I decided to get my swim in while the big, hot, fireball in the sky went to sleep.  There is always something calming about a night time swim.  Usually, there is nobody at the pool and a warm evening makes it even more relaxing. Both of my 1000…

It has been a long road back from the foot injury in March.  Additionally, I have been going through major struggles with my new shoe orthotics which are intended to alieviate future foot irritations and injuries.  Unfortunately, I am now in my sixth adjustment of those orthotics that have been actually making my feet hurt…

This weekend was Labor Day which means sales on gear.  I had yet to purchase any triathlon clothing so the retail offers that flew past my emails and facebook ads were appealing to say the least. One in particular spoke loudest from the Pearl Izumi outlet store in San Clemente.  25% off all marked prices…

My wife always remembers a famous saying for athletes of my caliber racing in events like this.  We are “Racing Towards Mediocrity.”  There is no way we are going to win.  We are simply trying to do something previously we have never done before.  Thus, this entry is all about calculating if I can simply…