High quality.... maybe not.

Well here are some cell phone picture of a few of my training rides and runs, I also have my wetsuit picture that I was debating on putting on the web but since my sister already did that, it will find itself on my blog as well. Warning to all sisters/friends out there it is a good idea to check with an individual before plastering their shrink wrapped wetsuited body on the internet. That is all for now.

Here is a picture of one of my bike routes I always seem to get wind but it sure is a pretty ride.

 This is a shot of another bike trial the opposite direction Alki beach looking out to the Olympic mountains.

 This is the same place but looking toward down town Seattle.  A Cell phone does not give it justice but it is a pretty cool view from over there.

 This picture is to show that I have finally stepped it up and got a safe riding jacket I have been riding in all black (people/parents and friends don't like that so much).  Not any more hunter's orange here I come.

 Here is a picture of my beloved wetsuit.  It was a bit of a struggle to get in it the first time but felt great.  You will have to excuse the closet on the right, joys of 430sq ft living space.

 This is a picture from hwy 99 nice little sunset action.

 This is the Elliott bay trail by my house.

Hope you liked the pictures I know blogs are more fun with picture so I am sorry for the delay and will try and keep them coming.  I am off to beautiful Denver CO. I may have a few picture to post from that vacation if I remember to take a few shots.  Happy Training
-RR-

Last week of phase 1

My training is broken up in to 4 phases.  So You have different goals for each.  Phase 1 has been building and its purpose is to get used to the program and working out kinks in the schedule.  I have one week left of this which may be a bit more difficult with a trip to Denver built into it.  I have done research and there is a 24 hour fitness close to my sister's place so that is great news.  The only thing I will struggle with will be biking outside this may be a week of spin bike action.  I am very excited because my Mom will be there and she will be be able to watch me swim, for free (free, works well with the budget).  Things have been going well less adjustment needed this week but still things get shuffled a bit.

Biking:
Biking has been a hard thing to get going I am looking for a route that does not have as much stop and go action in the beginning. I have to go out and find a trail I can ride for a couple 3 hours at a time and get my bike computer (this is the next thing on the list) up and running.  Like actuality buy one which will be happening with my next pay check.

Swimming:
I have found I really like swimming it is a challenge but relaxing at the same time I think because it is so quiet and it is just you and your swim.  It is very nice and I feel like I can do it even with some aches and pains so I never really worry about injuring myself more from doing it which is also wonderful.

Running:
I have been concerned with my hip issue and so I got a message and took my long run off this week and gave my hip some rest I hit a couple of 30 min runs and they felt great so I'm hoping that is how things stay.  I am learning to listen to my body and not push it to the point of no return (something I learned about in my last adventure).

I am still excited about this whole goal and have been getting better about what I am eating/drinking (no alcohol for this girl but brownies are fine),  how much I am resting and what other activities I am in like slow pitch softball.... I used to play "real"  softball so when I showed up to my games I used to just walk on the field and go for it. That is no longer in the plans I am the old guy that runs before the game and stretches so I do not hurt myself for training.  That is my biggest fear, hurting myself doing something stupid.  Not much else to report on.
-RR_

Work out of Death Test!!

I have an update on the "workout of death"... I can now just call it a workout thank goodness.  This time I powered through our 55 minutes of hell and felt great.  By great I mean all my muscles in my whole body were burning/aching in the I am getting stronger and I love it way.  Last time I attempted this work out my training had not begun yet and I was not as in shape as I thought.  I had no core and I could barely move for three days after it.  This time I could tell all my practice in the past three weeks has been worth it.  It is the only time in my life where I feel like 45 seconds is an eternity, and it can cause words I didn't even know existed come out of my mouth ( I my need to call Mr. Webster about those there are some good ones).  My core is in a whole new place and I can walk today and my abs are not sore like can't laugh they are sore like I know they exist.  I may have over done it a bit yesterday because I hit the pool before this workout and my arm were jelly by the time it was over but I cannot wait to go back.  My training has been trucking along and Still has me interested so that is good, I feel like I have caught the bug and will be doing triathlons for a very long time to come.  Off to hit a 1 hour run.... woohoo I am so excited.  Running is still the hardest thing for me to get mentally excited about because I still hate it, but it is never as bad as I think it is going to be so here is to a quick 60min run.
-RR-

Week 2 done with ajustments.

Well I have not had as much time to blog as I would like because I sleep workout and work.  I don't have the web at home ( who could afford that when you have to buy something every week for this triathlon deal) so posts are done at Starbucks/My office (cough cough).  Week 2 had adjustment due to an unexpected day off and a race I already had planned on my day off so I rearranged some things and did a few more double days to get the miles in.  I went to the store yesterday and bought some essentials for helping me get my training into more of a routine.  I now have a white board on my fridge with the weeks AM and PM workouts so I know what days I need to be in bed early and what days I can stay up past Jeopardy ( it airs at 7:30pm local time) for some big kid TV.  I also have a workout planner I carry with me so I know when I can squeeze in friend time and other things like grocery shopping and cleaning the house.  Now that I am all set on the organization I am feeling like I can really kick things into high gear.  Today Started my new AM/PM schedule and I woke up with ease at 4:45am this morning to get my swim in.  I was only able to do this because I was asleep by 10:30 last night.  Now with the most time consuming part of my workout done I'll be able to be snoozing again tonight by 10:00pm hopefully.  In turn I will be able to keep up this Blog a little better as well.
Happy Training
-RR-
P.S. I got my wetsuit in the mail on friday but more on that later:)

Week one in the books

A little more than I thought to say the least.  My training schedule says that I would only be working out for about 8 hours a week.... but I am slower then the average bear so it been a little more for me.  And even if you are only working out for 1.5 hours it still consume WAY more time than that.  I head to the gym about 9pm and will leave around 11:45pm-12:15am. between changing getting ready and transitioning into the pool. then Warming up there, and getting to the workout it just takes time.  In other news I have a wet suit coming at me hot, as an early birthday present from my mom.  So I only have a few more things to check off the list and I will be all set to go.  My social life has slowed on the week nights for sure but the weekend I cram as much friend time as possible. Now for week 2 adventures.
-RR-

No time for error

I rushed home and put on my biking gear picked up my packages.  What packages, thanks for asking.  I got a new digital scale in the mail and also got a training diary.  So once those were stashed away in my apartment I hit the road.  It was a cold ride, I did not feel it but in my toes. when I got home and my external body temp was bringing the temperate in my house ( I use the term house loosely) down at least 10 degrees my body was so cold.  During this ride I realized that I need as brighter bike light and shoe booties or covers whatever the bikers call em.  I was good for a while but by the end my toes were numb..ish it was about 44 degrees out and then sun was down so I am not being a total wienie.  My bike light is fine for people and cars to see me but I could not really see the road or terrain to well when I was on the bike path with no lights.  I guess I will be shopping this weekend.  Now it was time to get some food in my belly and get ready for the second workout of the day my run.  BY the time I was all geared up and ready the treadmill at my apartment was occupied... boo to that. So a change in the plan occurred I went up stair and did a workout of death for my second workout and am pushing my run to the next day because there is only on workout scheduled.  I did my core, and lunges and arms and cardio jumping exercise and called it good.  I can already tell a difference in my core strength just from a week ago but I guess that will happen when you start working on it more :).  10 more days and I am going to get my test with that workout again. Hoping to not pass out.
Today I will be doing my 30 mins run and a short..ish swim work out. Sounds fun right.  until next time.
-RR-

Day one recap

Well I cheated on my first workout I was supposed to run for 40 mins and well I did 30 mins instead. I then continued into the pool where I had 2200 to knockout which I did, But I now see just in one day, how important planning is.... Yes mom I am admitting that planning is a necessity.  I have very busy Mondays and so I thought that I could workout at night like 10pm well let me tell you that is not a good plan.  I did not get home until 12:30am.  My big plan was to get my bike in this morning before work, but with the midnight 30 home arrival time last night/this morning it was just not conducive for my ride. I knew that sleeping would be more beneficial to my body then cranking out a ride on about 5 hours of sleep.  So now I am in a time crunch after work to get home and on by bike before the sun goes down at 6:08pm.  I am sure I will manage. Armed with some new knowledge from the past 24 hours. I already have some changes planned for my workout and sleep schedule next week. Go to bed early to get up early and split the double days to morning and afternoon workouts.  This will be much better than having to do both workouts back to back.  Continuing on the planning portion of things I have a triathlon workout schedule/Journal arriving in the mail today to track workouts and nutrition over the course of my training.  This will be very helpful with progress, accountability, and nutrition affects on my workout, without having to just remember how things worked or didn't work.  Heck if I learn this much every workout this would be GREAT!!  I will check in again soon.  Happy training.
-RR-

And away we go....

Day number one of training starts today with a 40min run and a long swim that will cover over 2200m.  It is official I am now training for a half ironman and I will tell you that I am soo excited and very nervous at the same time.  I recently did a workout with a friend and their personal training and I will tell you what, my core and my fitness level are not where I want them to be at all.  I have been so concerned with my pre-training and being able to do activities for a long amount of time that I have neglected other things I must work on.  An example of this being ask me to run for 45 mins or an hour I'll say yeah I can do that no problem (ish beside the whole I hate running thing).  Ask me to do 3 wind sprints and I will pass out right in front of you.  Or ask me to do bicycle crunches and in the following days I'll find it hard to get in and out of bed and curse my friend for making me laugh my abs are so sore.  So I have learned a lesson that I wish I had learned about 4 weeks ago but you know better late then never.  I need to work on core strength and interval training BAD.. So I have a goal to have my core stronger in 2 weeks and I will test this by trying my hand at the work out of death again in 2 weeks to see how I compare to my last effort.   If you are wondering how my last effort went, well I started the workout at 6pm and ended it at 6:25pm because I felt like I was going to fall right over due to fainting.  I am now armed with core and strength routine to help with my over all fitness and to help me kick butt on my next workout of death test. 
My prep in other areas has been going well and I am ready to do the damn thing.  I have changed my diet up  cutting out alcohol and watching my protein and crab intake, and making sure to eat after workouts.  I have a standard shake in the am to start my day off right, and I can feel a difference in my energry so the only thing left to do is a one day a time workout attidude.  So here I go wish me luck with my goal of compleating a 70.3.  I just want to finish it and I'm hoping i do not have to walk any of the run besides aid staions.  The calm before the storm has begun and I know I am not even sure what I am in for but I am ready to do it...  "The more we sweat in practice the less we bleed in battle." - unknown
NO WHITE FLAGS!!!!
-RR-