Team McAlister

Tuesday’s massive, debilitating cramp is history thanks to some VibraFlex sessions. Those things are amazing! I got on it Wednesday morning for just 3 minutes and was immediately better. I decided that an afternoon session would be good, so I stopped in and did two 3 minute reps. In the afternoon visit I tried different stances, experimenting with the effects. That session produced even more improvement that the morning’s.

I went in again this morning tor two x 3 minutes and improved even more. I plan to stop tomorrow morning for another visit and then hit the road for a run and some cycling. Naturally, I hope to be beyond the cramping, but even if the workout is successful, I plan to get on the VibraFlex after it’s over as a recovery step.

Six minutes into today’s run a H-U-G-E cramp hit my right calf. I couldn’t run. I could barely walk. So, I limped back to the car and got my bike out.

This thing is so bad that I only did about 50 minutes of easy spinning on the flats. Any sort of pumping, digging, accelerating were completely out of the question.

This is frustrating. The last time this happened (same leg), it took several weeks to get over it. I’m going to be much more aggressive this time around in getting massage, Vibraflex, rest, and low-stress activity to knock this out.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The heat index every single day for the couple of weeks has been way up there – 108, 110, 112, etc. That happens when the actual temp is 100 or better, though. But what are you gonna do? Work out indoors? I don’t think so!

I’ve been using a little app on my phone called Couch to 5K to help with the run training. The idea is that it runs you through a 9 week program using 3 runs per week to slowly condition you to the 5K distance in a 30-minute run. I’ve just finished Week 3 and so far so good! Still using the barefoot running style and wearing my Vibram Five Fingers for all running. I hate running, but I’m loving how this is working so far.

And to top it off, I usually cycle for at least 1 hour after the run. The heat is so intense that I’m not riding nearly as much as I should, but this regimen seems to be a good one for me. There are still days when I only run (like yesterday) or only ride (like 2 hours on Friday afternoon). But I’m liking the reward of a ride after the run and cycling seems to help me recover from the run. When I get better at running and start doing bricks for real I’ll reverse the order.

In a sudden flash of sanity, I think we’ve agreed that a 70.3 or Half Ironman is probably more of a realistic goal for us.

I’m also thinking that I should create a new category of athlete. The are normal triathletes. There are triathletes that are Clydesdales – those guys over 200 lbs. I’m thinking maybe a new category the trifathlete – well over 200 lbs and a BMI that’s crazy by real triathlete standards.

Sunday morning was an opportunity to hit a tried and true, well-worn route with my original riding group.  Seems we don’t this sort of thing very often anymore, but the weather was very fine and the planets aligned for a group of about 15 or so to show up.  The route is a simple 13 miles out and back, with a few rollers, a bit of an elevation gain east to west, and wind usually in your face going out.  Of course, that makes the return fun with a generally downward slope (still plenty of rollers) and some tail wind.  This was a staple of my early cycling.  I learned a lot about cycling on this specific route.

It’s really nice to ride a known route with familiar faces (especially after a long-ish break from doing so) because it helps you determine how much progress you’ve made.  It’s been well over a year since I rode this route with or without this bunch of folks.  We start nicely (we always do)…a little warming up in the 14/15mph range for a mile or so…sort of keeping the group together.  But, then, things begin to happen….we stretch out in single file because of traffic….we pick up the pace….and the next thing you know a small race has begun.  One guy (who used to drop me like a bad habit) and I got out front by mile 3 and it was game on from there on out.  We hit the 13 mile turn around point a good 5 minutes ahead of the next small group of guys after averaging about 20 mph.  After a short break, I started up again to see what was going on with the slower riders that were still coming in.

I met them about a mile down the road and opted to just keep going, instead of turning back to the rally point.  I really was just cruising along, waiting for the other guys to catch up with me, but after 3 or 4 miles of that decided to just crank it up.  Those first few return miles were at about a 16 mph average.  The last  or 9 were at a 23 mph average.  The whole ride finished up at about 19 mph.  By far, the best ever for me on that route.

Progress over the years.  That ride used to be a definite 2 hour trip…complete with bonking, soreness, blah blah blah.  Now I can ride to the ride, ride the ride, and ride back from the ride.  Or just do the ride, reasonably fast, and get breakfast at the little cafe next door.  Much better!

Short post to say I’ve been off the bike for a few days to avoid packing massive amounts of pine and oak pollen into my lungs.  A couple of rousing thunderstorms, though have made it possible to don some sort of breathing mask and get in some miles.  Not gonna make a snide remark about air pollution in other parts of the world, but I try to avoid riding if I can see the air.  Today and tomorrow look good though.  Will post more in due course.

Colin told me once that I have to work at being fat.  Well, I don’t have to work at it as hard as I used to.  Maybe sitting around at night chomping the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate chips is a contributing factor?

Anyhow, I went out today to get in a little ride in the beautiful weather.  I was side-tracked by a short trip to Chainwheel for a tire review by Master Mechanic Bill and a small repair.  Launched from LRAC and headed straight to the office because of time – which gave me 8 miles in about 36 minutes, including stop lights, stop signs, railroad tracks, etc. (but it is mostly downhill).  Then, put in a couple of hours at the office and headed back up hill to the club, the car, and the shower.

Today was one of those days with no legs, no lungs, no nothing except a head wind and some crazy traffic – no one dangerous, just lots of it. But I have to say that Cyclemeter was flawless today.  I mean, really.  I’m convinced that iPhone has location issues…but if the iPhone’s GPS is hitting, then Cyclemeter delivers the goods pretty well.  Does this mean that I have to move to Nexus?

Wait!  I can blame it on AT&T!  Why not?  I wish I could blame my dead, aching legs today on them.  Okay, I woke up at 4 AM and didn’t go back to sleep, and now I’m passing out.  Ciao.

Tags: Chainwheel, chocolate chips, cyclemeter, Ghirardelli

In spite of yesterday’s small Cyclemeter meltdown, the ride itself was fine and fun.  The icing on the cake though was hitting the Vibraflex, post-ride.  You have to find a club or gym that has one of these things!  The benefits are exactly (at least for me) as touted on their web site.  The Physical Therapist at our club oversees its use and gives tips about how to maximize its use.  As good as it is, apparently, you can get too much of a good thing with it.  Like any other piece of equipment, it can be misused to your detriment.

Here it is Wednesday and, as bummed out as I was on Monday about MCL pain, today I feel like I can run forever.  Not gonna actually try that, understand.  Just sayin’…

I have a late meeting today, so a ride is out.  I’m gonna try jumping rope today and see how the MCL holds up.  No running today, but look out for the weekend!  :-)

And, lest anyone, including the fine folks at Cyclemeter, think I’m just ranting about the app, my guess is that the app works as well as it can, but the iPhone’s GPS is the limiting factor.  Of course, I’m no engineer – software, hardware, or civil – but based on the way some other location-based apps seem to work, my guess is that iPhone’s GPS model is less robust than is needed.

Tags: cyclemeter, MCL, running, Training, Vibraflex 550

Yesterday’s workout went so well and was so pain free that I was up half the night with an aching knee and could barely walk this morning.  Man, this running thing is bad.  If God had wanted us to run, He wouldn’t have provided us with bicycles.  But as the day wore on, the knee loosened up.

I decided to try a little recovery ride/easy spin just to warm things up and get ready for the Vibraflex.  The link gives you the route and the stats are close enough to accurate not to change them.  Top speed was actually 22.5 mph and overall average speed was 16 mph.  The big thing for today was how beneficial the Vibraflex is.

That machine is something else.  I’m thinking that with tonight’s massage and stretching routine, tomorrow will be a better, that is to say, less lame day.

http://j.mp/cIYxGJ

it’s a start of sorts.  Today, I jumped rope 6×100 on 30 seconds splits, then went out for a run/walk.  http://j.mp/cNzcCR So, that’s the run-only portion.  The walking added about another .75 miles for a total of about 1.6 miles.  Here’s the thing though: it was all PAIN FREE!  That’s right! For the FIRST time since early September, I’ve had a non-cycling workout without any knee pain.

After the run, the medial collateral ligament began to tighten and ache – as expected.  However, I’ve been sitting here with the massage ball working mainly on the vastus medialis muscle in the quadriceps and Mr. MCL is loosening up which makes the pain go away.  Further massage of the vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and the sartorius will complete the recovery.

This is really fine!  :-)

And, I used Cyclemeter on iPhone for the stats today.  Seems to have worked fine.

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, knee pain, massage, Training

Tomorrow I should drag my fat, lazy old man butt out of the sack and hit the Carve ride at 7:00 am or maybe 7:30, if I just want the 30 mile option.  See, there are 2 starting options and two routes so you can go 30, 40, 50, 0r 60 miles on this fun-filled hammer-fest of a ride.  These guys usually don’t race until they’ve been riding for about 2 miles…..and then it’s a balls to the wall, take-no-prisoners sort of deal.  I need the ride and the training and the pace.  And, if not that ride, then what ride?

There’s a BBQ cook-off in the middle of the River Park ride route.  And, I’ve been on that too much lately anyway.  There’s the Tour de Rock Training ride which is about 25 – 30 mile no drop deal at paces for every type of rider.  But it had 70 folks on it last week and begins to look like the actual TdeR event itself.  I want to run, but that can be done on Sunday afternoon when the weather is too nasty to ride.

This is that time of year when real cyclists get out of bed, eat their oatmeal, and get those miles and hours in the saddle working.  Why am I reluctant?  It isn’t like I have to get home and mow the lawn or anything like that.  And the recovery should be do-able because that Vibraflex routine is the best thing ever for getting your muscles back to normal.

Okay, I’m gonna organize my stuff to hit the Carve 7:30 am, 30-miler.  Should be done by 9:30-ish which means that I can go vibrate and then hit the Trek/Gary Fisher test ride event being put on by Chainwheel (after some breakfast, of course!).

Tags: bicycle, Carve, Chainwheel, cycling, running, Tour de Rock, Vibraflex 550

Today’s plan was for a long-ish ride at a pace that would be on the edge for me.  The route is very similar to the last 2 rides – only a little longer.  As always I was testing out myself and my gear.  Cyclemeter was almost dead on with iSport today….go figure.

Here’s the skinny: iSport shows 35.9 miles, avg speed 16.3 mph, top speed 46.7 mph, 2629 calories. Cyclemeter shows 35.78 miles, avg speed 16.16 mph, top speed 47.45 mph, calories 3727.  Close enough for Cyclemeter to get a passing grade today.  Even better, Cyclemeter appears to have mapped the route correctly.

Check out the ride:  http://j.mp/9eF0uO

By the time, I hit the last climb on River Mountain Rd, my legs were toast.  I was hungry.  In short, that was perfect for the next part of the day – shaking on the Vibraflex.  I went straight to LRAC to jump on it for 2x 2 minutes at 26Hz.  Man, that feels good!  Vibraflex seems to be a recovery miracle!  No knee pain!  Better flexibility!  No sore muscles! YAY!

Tags: bicycle, cyclemeter, cycling, injuries, iphone, Vibraflex 550

I wanted to test some stuff today – me, Cyclemeter, and the Vibraflex 550.  I planned a ride that was pretty much the same route as yesterday, only instead of being flat it has 3 major climbs that are right on the path.  The idea being of course that it would test Cyclemeter to see it performed on a similar, but slightly different route while giving me more pop than yesterday’s route.  The climbs come in Mile 2, Mile 11 and Mile 21.

Now, I gave Cyclemeter some pretty good props yesterday and Colin is a fanboy.  I even hit ‘em on Twitter and they gave me a nice response.  I thought today’s route would be simple, but not so.  Not sure why, but it had me climb straight up the side of a hill and then sort of scramble around up top.  And I really just don’t trust the stats yet.  My iSport had me at 1:28 and change.  So did Cyclemeter.  But that’s just a stopwatch function.  Big whoop!  Cyclemeter had the ride at 22.77 miles and iSport at 21.8 miles.  Cyclemeter shows a top speed of 66mph and iSport has it at 45mph (much more likely).  The mph intervals posted on the server map just don’t look right.  Some of them look ok, but others don’t and I can’t explain why.  That 34.5 mph in Mile 2 isn’t possible for me at that point in that ride.

Map accuracy is maybe 80% (very unscientific estimate) on today’s route.  I don’t know enough about any of this to know why it’s inaccurate.  Probably something to do with GPS sensitivity and hillsides, and sunspots, and climate change.

But the ride was fun and felt great, even if it did have 3 relatively nasty climbs in a short time.  That was good though because I then stopped at the LRAC to jump on the Vibraflex 550.  It’s hyped as a sort of super-dee-dooper exercise machine that’s supposed to boost testosterone and HGH while chewing up Cortisol and flushing lactic acid out of your muscles.  I’ve used it a few times in the last couple of weeks and it does help loosen up your muscles.

I wanted to see what it would do for achy, dead, stiff legs after a brisk ride.  I’m told that marathoners and triathletes love it.  So, I did 2x 2-minute sets at 26 Hz, which is what was recommended for me.  I must say that my legs felt super afterwards and I think that thing may become a regular part of my stretching and flexibility routine.  Pretty impressive.

Tomorrow is a day off the bike and back to jumping rope, running, and weight stuff.

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, iphone, triathlon, Vibraflex 550

Today is Kathy’s birthday (no, I’m not telling)….this is a simple, fun, flat ride just to enjoy the sunshine and the fact that sometimes you get to play hooky from the office on a nice Monday.

After my last rant about Cyclemeter letting me down on its initial trial ride, I must say that today, it was perfect.  The link below is instructive for some of Cyclemeter’s capabilities.  Mostly remember that this was on a Monday, people.  That’s right!  While you were at the office, I was on my bike. hehehehe

http://j.mp/bplS5j

Getting old sucks!  And, having creaky, cranky joints sucks!  When you have both, it really sucks!  Back in September when I was in San Francisco hanging out with Colin and Schuyler, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in my right knee started bugging me so badly that I could hardly walk.  I attributed this new-found pain to the also new running shoes and insoles that had been recently custom-fitted and carefully chosen to prevent injury.  Right….

The pain was nearly debilitating at times.  This “injury” had all the concomitant features – swelling, stiffness, loss of movement.  I could cycle about as much as I wanted without too many ill-effects, but running, swimming, walking were all crossed off my list of activities.  By December, when I couldn’t get over it, I plunged into despair and started considering giving up on the triathlon goal to settle for something more in line with what the elderly do, like a Scrabble tournament.

Sometimes though you just stumble into stuff.  Actually, if experience is any sort of guide, I usually just stumble into stuff.  First, I discovered that unclipping from my bike pedal in a certain way aggravated the problem.  Stopped doing that immediately.  Big help!  Second, I got an app for the iPhone called Muscle Trigger Points.  Massage therapists and physical therapists have taught me a thing or two about how body parts are connected and how a tight muscle here causes a pain over there.  A daily part of any and all of my not-really-routine exercise is to stretch and try to work on tight muscles.  That seems to be ultra-important as I age.

Anyway, about two weeks ago as I was going through my nightly stretching/massage program, I hit a spot in the Vastus Medialis (one of the muscles in the quadraceps group) that literally turned off the pain in the MCL.  It was like flipping a switch. No pain.  Zero.  I almost jumped up and took off running right then and there. Well, not really.

Next day – no pain.  So then, added some activities like jumping rope.  No pain – at least until I had jumped so much that lots of other stuff was hurting also.  Started the massage, hit the spot in Vastus Medialis and Bang!  no pain!  So that’s been going for several days now.

I’m now ready to begin the running conditioning process again.  Yay!  We’ll see if this MCL pain is something that can really be conquered.

More in due course….

Tags: iphone, knee pain, massage, MCL, running, triathlon

Not a real update, just wanted to share this post from over at Cycling Tips. Pics so good they’ll make you want to go out and climb all day:

10 Coolest Roads to Ride

I rode to work. I RODE my BIKE to WORK . For some reason, after I used 70% of my iPhone battery to track the ride, Fitnio decided not to record it. But it was right around 45 miles, and took just over three hours. Pretty slow, but I’m happy with it since I haven’t done a real ride (or even been on a bike, really) since the summer. For anyone interested, here’s the link to the route. It says 42.5 miles, but instead of the Foster City route we took a bike path that added about two miles. Aside from being freezing cold until the sun came up, and completely worn out at the end, it was extremely pleasant.

I plan on doing this once a week for a month or two, and then moving up to at least twice weekly.

I am completely exhausted, so that’s all I’m writing.

Tags: bike, cycling, san francisco

Hey, remember last week when I said I was going to update every Sunday? Is anyone surprised that I didn’t stick to that even for just a week? No? Me either.

Anyway, I would have updated if there was anything to update about. The weather here has been horrendous. I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long. When it’s like that, I can’t even make myself walk the block and a half to the gym. Gym clothes are just not suitable for cold, rainy weather.

The good news is we’ve gotten a little break in the rain, and tomorrow I’ll be riding my bike to work! That’s 42.5 miles from San Francisco to Mountain View. I have my Orbea, my Orbea has new pedals, I have a riding buddy, and I’m ready to do this. Wish me luck!

We’re supposed to get more rain over the weekend and next week but I promise I’ll take full advantage of every day that it doesn’t rain, so that I’ll have something to write about here.

But January’s as good a time as any to get this thing rolling again, I suppose. I’ve come up with a few blog-related goals that I hope will make training (and writing about training) a little more interesting, or at least more consistent!

1. I’m going to tweet about all my runs and rides. You guys will know if I’m slacking off. This could get really boring after a while, so we’ll just play it by ear.

2. I’m going to update this blog at least once a week. On Sundays I’ll post a summary of the week and how I’m coming along. Hopefully posting on a weekly schedule will keep this blog on my radar and influence me to post more often.

3. This is pretty hypocritical, at least for now, but I’m going to hassle everyone else to post more often too. Schuyler starts swimming soon, and I don’t know about you guys but I think he needs to write about it on the Internet.

4. More pictures! I got an awesome pocket-sized camera for Christmas and I want to put it to good use.

I don’t have any specific training related goals just yet, but I’ve laid out some vague ones. Once I work out the details I’ll start tracking my progress, but for now I’m just looking forward to riding my bike to Mountain View a couple of times a week!

If you like guitar music, this is a fun, fast-paced 1 hour playlist.  I usually listen to this while on my rollers riding at a cadence of 85-105 and gearing of 50/15-14-13-12.  It affords plenty of opportunities for sprinting as well as lighter, more relaxed spinning.

Deed I Do Chet Atkins & Les Paul  Chester & Lester

I’ll See You In My Dreams Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden  Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Vivaldi: Concerto In G For 2 Mandolins, RV 532 – 1. Allegro Various Artists  Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Limehouse Blues / Mystery Pacific Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden   Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Vivaldi: Trio Sonata In C, RV 82 – 3. Allegro Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Vivaldi: Mandolin Concerto In C, RV 425 – 1. Allegro Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Sheik Of Araby Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis   Great Guitars At The Winery

Vivaldi: L’Estro Armonico, Op. 3 – Concerto #10  In B Minor, RV 580 – 3. Larghetto Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Vivaldi: Lute Concerto In D, RV 93 – 1. Allegro Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

The Talk Of The Town Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis     Great Guitars At The Winery

There’ll Be Some Changes Made Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden   Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Sweet Georgia Brown Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden  Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Air Mail Special Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis   Great Guitars At The Winery

Caravan Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

Caravan (Alternate Version) Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

Avalon Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

Lover Come Back to Me Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden   Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

WOW!  I just realized that it’s been weeks since the last update, although Twitter has been a pretty active place for me.  Some good news on the training front – lots of good sessions – especially hill repeats and pace rides on the rollers.  Those two types of rides plus some on-the-road intervals are building good power.

In addition, there are no injuries and the gimpy MCL in my right knee is nearly recovered enough to start running again….maybe by the first of the year.  No significant damage from over eating at Thanksgiving.  Maybe the early morning, pre-lunch ride helped.

Not much else to add here, except thanks to those of you who are following us, encouraging us, coaching us, advising us, and cheering for us.  I’m dreaming of  organizing a Lance Armstrong Foundation Livestrong event for Arkansas as well as building a team to ride in the Cape Argus event in Cape Town (both in 2011) as precursors to our 2013 IM Tri.

This year, I promised myself that I would be better about riding in cool/cold conditions.  I have lots of gear to make it bearable.  My riding buddy for today has zero cool weather kit, though.  So, we punted on the morning ride.  How cool is it?  50 degrees, 12 mph N wind, 90% humidity.  For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a wind chill of about 35 degrees. In my book, that’s beyond cool (especially at the speeds I ride…..rofl, right).

Anyhow, we will ride and it will be fine.

I noticed that Colin said that running sucks.  I heard confirmation from the Amen Corner on that one!  I’m nursing a very slight MCL strain on the right knee.  Nothing to worry with, really.  It’s an old injury from teen age years.  It does nag from time to time, however, and takes care.  Of course, it only hurts when I stand, walk, or run.  Cycling is no issue at all.  :-)  So, the usual formula of R.I.C.E. helps.

There are now 3 out of the 4 of us sporting VFFs.  If you like going barefooted (and, hey, we’re from Arkansas, so what did you expect?  lol), you ought to try them.  I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the raised eyebrows of casual observers (not to mention the outright laughter of friends and acquaintances), but it’s pretty close.

Excepting the minor MCL issue, my running continues to improve (which I am sure is a result of abandoning running shoes).  Weight loss is coming along nicely.

btw, if you don’t know about ITBS, you need to check it out.  That’s Iliotibial Band Syndrome, and it is the main culprit in LOTS of knee pain.  Read and heed!

Apparently this has become my personal training blog.  I know the other guys are doing stuff, but we’re gonna have to talk about why there aren’t posts.

Today was another Chamber of Commerce day in Little Rock.  Days like this cry for a ride.  So, I gave in and hit the road about 4:30 or so.

 I did a different routine today to spruce things up some.  The neighborhood here has a nice bike lane on the main street and some good little climbs.  I planned out a loop that had good climbs to help build power and rode it completely 4 times with a hilly 3 miles home to finish.  1 hour 23 minutes.  Not sure how many miles, but the climbing was worth it.

It’s been a couple of days since the last post, but I wanted to jot down a few random thoughts.

The weather here has been northern California-like and almost unbelievably fine.  Never an August in Arkansas like this in my life that I can remember.  Temps below 90 F, low humidity, clear skies.  None of that summer haze or those temperature inversions that hit here in late summer.

Eating has become the main focus of my training program.  I’ve experimented enough now to realize how important pre- and post-workout nutrition are.  (Are those 2 things?)

Stretching is super important after any workout.  Period.  Why don’t we pay more attention to it?

It’s very cool when you improve cycling power!  :-)

If your bike shifting feels funky, and making a little adjustment in the back doesn’t fix it, get to the shop!  You may have a frayed cable in your shifter.  Replacing a frayed cable before it breaks off in the shifter can save having to replace the entire shifter. (UGH!)  I was experiencing the symptoms of maladjustment in the back and couldn’t get a good reset at home.  The worn cable that they replaced (just in the nick of time) was the ugly culprit.  Do you have a good mechanic?  Better either have one or be one.  My guys could be the TdF crew for any team out there!  Thanks fellas!

Have I mentioned that running sucks?

that the goal is achievable.  Although there are still countless hours of training ahead, set backs, injuries, plateaus, and lows to be overcome, I am convinced that a complete Ironman length tri is possible.  I pretty regularly complete sprint lengths in training at various intensities.  The running is coming along, even if very slowly.  My cycling is in an improvement zone that amazes me right now.  (I am NOT looking forward to the next plateau in cycling.)  My swimming conditioning is improving steadily, as are the kick and stroke techniques.

This is an interesting evolution for me.  While still not absolutely certain that I’ll ever complete the event, I am beginning to to develop a clear vision of what is possible.  That may be a function of reading extensively about triathlons and triathletes; perhaps, of timing and testing myself during training.  Whatever is helping create the confidence, the fact that the progress is there contributes to the cycle.

Yesterday’s logistics led me into a run with a ride to follow.  As running goes, it was a banner day so far.  I did a bit over 3 miles while following the “run 30 seconds, walk 30 seconds” regimen.  The good news is that the running seemed easier, there was no immediate pain after the run, and even today there was no lingering pain.  WOW!  However, I didn’t manage to get the ride in.  :-(

So, I went out today to get a quick ride before the predicted T-storm moved in.  The ride was good and strong even though I had to stop short of the plan due to heavy lightening.  Kathy came along and insisted that I get in the car.

No swimming since Saturday because of this massive allergy to chlorine (at least I guess that’s what it is).  In spite of taking allergy medicine, I have very itchy, watery eyes, and sneezing etc.  Nothing new; been dealing with it for years, but 2 days out of 7 in the pool (and for no more than about 35 – 40 minutes) seems to be all I can stand.  I need a swimming treadmill!