Endurance Camps

I seem unable to get away from multi-sport! After trying to make a comeback from running, I found myself injured often and remembered why I got into multi-sport in the first place! So I'm back swimming, biking and running again and so far, doing it healthy. No plans of racing quite yet....However, I started a new business. Endurance Camps. I plan on changing the way camps are done throughout the US. Follow along at the blog over there!

Also, like us at:

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If you're a coach and have experience running camps, we are looking for you (paid position)! Please submit your resume at endurancecamps@gmail.com

I will continue to update this site occasionally with training and MAYBE a little racing. 

Race Week: Training Log (April 21-27)

It's RACE WEEK! With the job of qualifying for 70.3 World Championships out of the way and IMCDA still two months away, I jumped at the opportunity of racing Wildflower. There's zero pressure to perform well, so what are we going to do? We're going to take risks! Every single 70.3 I've raced has been on a conservative approach - which is smart since I was so new to the sport. With this being my fourth year in triathlon, I think it's time to put on my big boy pants and actually take some risks and race aggressively. There's no doubt that this course can really hurt you if you're too aggressive but I really don't have anything to lose. I'm not tapering or taking this race too seriously. It's all about having fun with team mates and racing harder than I ever have before.

Why risk a blow up when this is my last race heading into the most important race of the season? Well, my confidence is sky high right now. There's no doubt that I'm in the best shape of my life. I've also matured as a triathlete a lot this year and I know what I am capable of. My once hesitant confidence at my chances of qualifying for Kona are now a distant memory. I now believe that as long as I execute come race day at IMCDA, I'll be standing on the podium and collecting my Kona slot. Flanny mentioned that I'm ahead of his expectations with my fitness and I still have two months of solid training to build into the race.

So really, the goal at Wildflower this weekend is to put myself in such a deep/dark place that once I start to suffer at IMCDA, I'll remember the battles that I won at Wildflower.

Here's how last week's training looked like. Work was super busy so I really had to manage my time well and be disciplined on the hour.

Monday: 1 workout

Bike Tempo Session Data HERE:  1:40/ 30 miles / 18.4mph

Flanny’s workout: 1.5-2 hours depending on available time. 2 x 20 minutes @ 70.3 Race Watts on 5 minutes easy. Stay aero as much as possible.

Post workout notes: (in notes) [hr]

Tuesday: 1 workout

Run Track Workout, Data HERE: 1:10 / 8.5 miles

Flanny's Workout:
15 min WU
2 x 2 mile on 2 min rest
(first one I want at 6:30 pace, second one I want at 6:15 pace)
2 x 800 on 1 min rest
(I want both at 6:00 pace.....NO FASTER)
This workout should not be too hard for you.
Easy CD for the remainder of the run.

Post workout notes: (listed in data file). [hr]

Wednesday: 2 workouts

Masters Swim: 90 mins / 4000 yds
500 wup, 4x100 on 1:40, 4x50 on 50
Main set:
5x200 on 3mins
500 pull (buoy/paddles)
5x200 on 3 mins
500 with fins

Post workout notes: I hit all of the 200's between 2:50-55. For not swimming since Friday, this was a really good workout for me - basically 2k at race pace.

Bike Tempo Session DATA HERE: 2hrs / 35 miles / 17.7 mph

Flanny’s workout: 2 hours today with 3 x 20 minutes at your 70.3 race watts on 5 minutes easy riding between efforts.

Post workout notes: (listed in data notes).[hr]

Thursday: 2 workouts

Morning run: 41mins / 4.5 miles / AVG 9:07 pace.

Flanny’s Workout: Easy morning run.

Post workout notes: 5am run's are always hard for me to warm up. Just an easy slow run.

Afternoon run: 1:22 / 10 miles / AVG 8:12 pace.

Flanny’s Workout: Evening Run 1:20 Z2+

Post workout notes: Hit the trails, felt pretty tired after a long day at work but started coming around towards the end. Good double run day, it's been awhile since I've done that.[hr]

Friday: 1 workout

Masters Swim: 90 mins / 4000 yards

700 wup, 10x50 on 50
4x500 @1:35 pace (odds swim, evens paddles)
500 drill (changing every 100)
c/d

Post workout notes: Another early wakeup call as I played golf with some clients for the rest of the day. Starting to love the longer intervals.[hr]

Saturday: 2 workouts

Wetsuit Swim: 31:36 / 2000 yds / AVG 1:34/100 
 
Post workout notes: Was scheduled for a long ride/brick run but woke up to nasty rain and wind so I made a quick call to Flanny and we just swapped Sat/Sun's workouts. I have access to a non-heated pool so I knocked this out and was 3 seconds faster per 100 then I was the week before Oceanside. Good to see some progress.

Tempo Long run, DATA HERE: 1:27 / 11.3 miles / AVG 7:44 pace 

Flanny’s Workout:
30 minutes Z2
30 minutes Z3+
30 Minutes Z2
Relaxed

Post workout notes: (posted in workout notes).6:30's never felt so easy (ok, except in college :)[hr]

Sunday: 2 workouts

Bike ride, DATA HERE. 3:30 / 61 miles / 17.5 mph

Flanny’s workout: Within today's session I want 3 x 30 minutes at Z3 watts with lots of rest between efforts. Stay down and aero for as much of this as possible. We don't need a huge climbing day today so keep it reasonable.

Post workout notes: Notes attached to the power file above.

Brick Run- 20 mins / 2.75 miles/ 7:16 AVG pace. 

Flanny's workout: Easy 20 min run off bike.

Post workout notes: Running is feeling effortless right now.[hr]

Totals (3 swims, 3 rides, 5 runs)
Swim: 10,000 yds /3:32
Bike: 127 miles / 7:09
Run: 37 miles / 5:00
Total hours: 15:41

Hours had to go down a bit this week with it being such a busy week commuting to San Diego 4 out of the 5 days, running a trade show at the convention center for two days and golfing all day Friday. Overall very pleased with the progress and my fitness going into Wildflower.

Wish me luck!!

Here's some more pictures from the weekend, cheers!

[gallery columns="2" ids="2808,2807,2806,2805,2803,2802,2801,2800,2809"]

Training Log (Jan 20-26)

Well week three is in the books and it seemed to come a little easier than last week. We skipped the Tuesday night track session to recover from a big week and bumped up the swim days to four. The goal is to continue to gradually increase swim volume and get to 5 days week totaling around 15-20k. The swim is by far my weakest of the three sports and after taking a whole month off, surprisingly I didn’t lose as much fitness as I thought I would. I contribute that to improving my technique. We do 1-2 technique focused swims (3k) and 2-3 Masters swims (4-5k) a week. Over the past several years, my strong bike and run workouts never correlate to race-day. I attribute that to lack of swim fitness. By the time I get to the bike I am gassed and don’t ride to my potential and that just carries over to the run which often times I’m in survival mode. So needless to say, I need to swim A LOT. It drives me crazy when triathletes dismiss the importance of swimming since it is significantly shorter than biking and running in a race. Imagine running an all out 1.2 mile race when you’re in terrible running shape then getting on the bike to race 56 miles. You wouldn’t ride to your potential. I feel the same way about the swim. I plan on getting to the bike fresh this year and ready to hammer! Here are my workouts for the week: [hr]

Monday: 2 workouts

Masters Swim: 1 hr / 3k
500 wup
6x150 on 2:15
5x
100 on 1:30, 50 on 1 min
500 w/fins unstructured
c/d to 3k

Post workout notes: I was pretty smashed from the weekend so I was excited that we were only doing 3k today. I cruised through the 150’s. Then we did the 100’s/50’s (x5). The goal was to come in more like around the 1:20 range on the 100’s and then just recover for the 50’s. 1:20’s just aren’t there for me yet. I came in right around 1:25 each time and was definitely feeling it towards the end.

Bike: 1:17 / 17.3 miles / 1k climbing / 13.5 mph

Flanny’s workout: All I am looking for is 75-90 minutes of easy Zone 1-2 riding. You’re coming off of a solid week.

Post workout notes: Legs were dead, I just cruised around wine country in my small ring, keeping cadence high, did a little climbing. Active recovery.[hr]

 Tuesday: 1 workout

[caption id="attachment_2589" align="alignright" width="225"] Late trade show. At least I got to hang out with Shawne Merriman![/caption]

Steady State run: 1:15 / 8 miles / 9:30 pace

Flanny’s workout: Zone 2+ for 75 minutes. Dont give it too much gas as I want you to nail the next 2 days work

Post Workout notes: I had a late night trade show that night so I got up at 4:15am and got this in. Flanny asked me what the heck was wrong with me because of the slow pace. There’s something about those 4:30am runs. I just feel old, tired and slow! I kind of run with what I’m given and don’t force it. I was clearly still tired from the week prior but didn’t stress it. Run done![hr]

Wednesday: 2 workouts

Masters Swim: 1:30 / 4k
500 wup, 10x50 on 50
2k Mainset all on 1:30b:
500,400,300,200,100 w/a 100yd recovery in between each one on the 2mins
500 kick
400 on 1:30b Indian Style
100 c/d

[caption id="attachment_2594" align="alignright" width="225"] Masters with 2 of my awesome lane mates Heather and Tom![/caption]

Post workout notes: This was the first time I had done 4k in awhile. I barely made all the sets on the 1:30, especially towards the end. I’m really starting to learn how to focus when things get hard in the water. Before, my form would break down and I would try to force it. Now, I’m treating it like when I start to hurt during a run where I really focus my mind, body and form to get through it. Not surprisingly it works great for swimming too.

Bike Trainer: 1:15 / 24 miles / 19.2mph

Flanny’s workout: 3 x 3 min & 2 x 5 min Z5 VO2
20 minutes Zone 2 Warm Up
4 x 30 sec spin ups (get cadence over 100 rpm) on 30 sec recovery
1 min Easy
3 x 3 minutes Zone 5 on 2 minutes easy
2 x 5 minutes Zone 5 on 3 minutes easy
Zone 2 to finish out the session.

After a 30 min warm up on the trainer I want you to do 6 x 3 min big gear (hard enough to slow your rpm's to 40-50 as long as the knees are not strained) with 1 min of high cadence spinning between (100 rpm+). Ride the remaining time in Z2

Post workout notes: My legs were finally fully recovered and I took advantage of that for this workout. This was probably the most I’ve ever hurt in a trainer session so my legs went from fully recovered to destroyed in just 75 minutes. Again, maximizing the amount of time I have with QUALITY work.[hr]

Thursday: 1 workout

[caption id="attachment_2590" align="alignright" width="300"] Fueling with Amy's GF crunchy quinoa chocolate bars![/caption]

Run: Tempo session - 50 mins / 7 miles / 7:15 pace

Flanny’s Workout: Warm Up 20 minutes Z2 and then give me 20 minutes of high Z3 Tempo (5:50 pace) before bringing it back down for an easy 10 minutes of Cool Down

Post workout notes: I had an early breakfast meeting in the morning for work and the pool doesn’t open until 5am. So I was left with just one workout. After an 11 hour day at work, the last thing I wanted to do was a tempo run. I know most of us reading this go through the same exact scenario. It’s late, you’re tired, hungry and all you want to do is to go home and see your family. I look at this as a short term commitment. I’m not going to be training like this forever. This is my shot, my chance to do something great and I can’t let those excuses get in the way of my dream. So I knocked it out. Didn’t feel great after last night’s trainer session, but I got the work in and as always – I was glad I made that decision.[hr]

Friday: 2 workouts

Swim: Masters - 80 mins / 3500 yds
500 wup, 4x100 on 1:40, 4x50 on 50
Main set (broken 1500 on 1:30b)
2x400
2x200
2x100
2x50

4x200 with fins breathing 3,5,7,9 every 50
8x25 all out with 30 sec recovery
C/d

Post Workout notes: This was a big confidence builder for me. We made the main set all on the 1:30. We were coming in between 1:20-1:25 with about a 5 second recovery. Total time was 22:50 which converts to 23:17 for meters (according to some random calculator website). My PR is 24:19 so I am very pleased with my progress in the short two weeks I’ve been back at it.

SRM Bike Trainer: Optional Easy recovery spin – 1:04 / 16 miles / 15mph

Post workout notes: On Wednesday, the SRM Power meter came in. By Friday, The Bike Shop had it installed and ready to go! I am beyond excited about this. For the past three years I’ve been racing and training all on a guessing game. My bike workouts, although they have been specific – have all been based off of rate of exertion. The SRM takes away that guessing game. It will provide me with the most accurate data on the market and hold me accountable when I’m going to hard or too soft. This is going to be a game changer for me this year and KEY for me racing Ironman.[hr]

Saturday: 2 workouts

SRM Bike: 2:30 / 44.5 miles / 17 mph / 3k climbing

Flanny’s Workout: During this ride I want 3 x 8 minutes of either sustained seated climbing or Big gear low cadence work. These are to be done controlled Z3 and not attacking the hills. This is about Strength.

Post workout notes:  I was excited to go outside and test the Power Meter out. I tried to ride like I normally do without looking at it too much just so Flanny can get an idea of my style of riding – especially with all the hills around here. I have no idea what the numbers mean, but here’s the ride data:

 

For the three hill efforts, my avg watts were: 205, 252 and 213. So yeah, all over the place. Although I did jump on a group for that 2^nd one.

Brick Run: 20 mins / 2.3 miles / 8:50 pace

Flanny’s workout: EZ run off bike, Z2

Post workout notes: First brick run of the year. Let me make a confession. I absolutely HATE brick runs. I don’t know what it is. It’s probably the fact that I’m tired from a long ride and I just want to go home, eat, shower and hang out with the family. BUT. I know they are necessary and I always feel like I accomplished something big after I’m done with it. Whereas, if I were to skip it, I’d feel like I cheated myself for the day.[hr]

Sunday: 2 workouts

Swim/Technique session: 1 hour / 3k

Post workout notes: We only had time for one technique session this week. I knocked it out first thing in the morning as Sunday’s are big family days.

Run - Track session: 80 mins / 10 miles

Flanny’s workout:
20 minutes of Z2 Running
15 minutes @ Half Marathon Goal Pace (5:45 pace)
Easy 5 minutes recovery
Stop Watch and get in 4 x 50 m strides to get some pop in legs
Easy 5 minutes to get back into it
10 minutes @ 5-10 sec per mile faster than half marathon goal pace (5:35 max)
15 minutes cool down



Post workout notes: Same workout as last Sunday. I was absolutely dragging before I started this session. After a 20 minute family nap, I got up with a full belly still from lunch and headed over to the track late in the afternoon to get the work done. Like a lot of us do, as I was warming up – I had my doubts about hitting the pacing and executing this workout. I was just tired and my mind was trying to talk me out of doing it! I just ignored all these thoughts and went forward with it. There’s just something about the track. As soon as I start an interval, I just get “in the zone.” No matter how slow or how poor I feel in the warm up, the pace just seems to kick up with ease. The same thing happens in the pool. I think it’s important to not pay too much attention to how you “feel” during a warm up for a workout or race. Warm ups lie! I ended up running well and felt even better than I did last week and executed right on plan.[hr]

Strength Training for the week: 1 hr. Pushups, and different variations of sit-ups.
I forgot to log this last week too. I started with 25 push-ups and sit-ups and this week I bumped it up to 30 and next week 35…etc until I reach 100/ea. I do this first thing in the morning. I wake up, brush my teeth and hammer these out before I start the day. It really is the only way I’ll ever have time or motivation to do any type of strength work. The goal is to just have a stronger core for Swim, Bike and Run; not necessarily IMPROVING in those three disciplines. And most of all, to try and remove the beer gut!

Totals (4 swims, 4 bikes, 4 runs)
Swim: 13,500 yds /4:50
Bike: 101 miles / 6:14
Run: 27 miles / 3:46
Strength: 1 hr
Total hours: 15:50

I tweeted last week about the idea of how it takes 6-8 months for a coach to get to know you. You abilities, your schedule, your tendencies, how long it takes you to recover, what your strengths/weaknesses are…etc etc. Flanny really has me locked in right now. He knows when I’m tired before I know when I’m tired. I can’t stress enough about how important it is to have “real” coaching and not a pre-written / one size fits all plan. Each of us are unique and won’t react to training stresses the same. I really feel like I am on to something big this year. Even though last year was a break through, I think it’s just begun and I can’t wait for the season to unfold.

It all starts this weekend, Super Bowl Sunday at The Surf City Half Marathon. It’s my first open half in two years. I ran 1:14 then and this weekend I am shooting for a 1:13. It’s my first test in my Kona Journey. Wish me luck!

You can read the LAVA Version HERE

Questions? Comments? I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading.

The Accident...

So those of you that follow me on FG/IG or Twitter saw my post about cutting off my fingertip on Christmas Eve last week. What a way to celebrate the holidays right!? Amy and I were late as usual getting out of the house. I decided to help out by cutting the veggies with our new Mandolin Slicer! The cucumber didn't fit the guard so I decided to just use my hands...literally! That thing cuts so fast. You can't even feel if it's cutting or not because its so sharp. Before I knew it I hit my right ring finger slightly and then hit my middle finger really bad. [This is about to get descriptive so go to next paragraph if things gross you out!] As soon as I cut myself I didn't think it was that bad until I moved over to the sink and saw my fingertip fly off into the sink and down the hole. Blood started really coming out. I stopped the blood immediately by pinching down on below the cut and that's when I saw how bad it really was. My bone was peeping out of my nail. The cut was a diagonal cut so the bottom of my finger is fine. Imagine a clean cut through the nail down to the bone and out.

In the heat of the moment I did not get pictures. Only my lucky wife, kids and neighbor who brought over his medic kit and saved me from bleeding all over the place and saving me a trip to the ER. Why didn't I go to the ER? Well there's not much you can do with a fingertip. There's nothing to stitch, It's too deep of a cut. I decided to kill the pain with Ibuprofen and beer for the rest of the day and keep an eye on it to make sure it stopped bleeding which thankfully it did. The last thing I wanted to do on Christmas Eve was to go wait in line at the ER for them to just do exactly what my neighbor did - stop the bleeding. During those few minutes of staring at my finger while I waited for some help the first thing that came to my mind was no swimming (like the sick triathlete I am). I've been making some big gains in the water recently. 5 days/week I've been in the water putting in 3-5k each time. Flanny has incorporated a lot of specific drills which has really help me be more efficient in the water. And then...I cut my fingertip off...1 month - maybe more away from the pool while I watch my swim fitness float away :(

[caption id="attachment_2530" align="aligncenter" width="224"] The damaged goods..[/caption]

However, I'm not going to let it get me down. I'll take this time to really focus on biking and running and get better that way. I'll start the season a little behind in swim fitness but hopefully ahead in B/R fitness so it doesn't hurt me as bad. In the meantime I'm practicing my pain tolerance for the season. Flashing back to it, after loosing a good amount of blood, my neighbor was patching me and my exposed bone up and my wife instantly felt me get warm and sweaty. I was starting to pass out haha. Unreal. I laid down, took in some water - toughened up and went back for more. Before we knew it we were down seeing family in San Diego, enjoying Christmas while my finger throbbed with my heart while all the good beer made me numb.

This was all a good reminder to be thankful when you are swimming, biking and running because any day a freak accident like this can happen or you can get injured and it can be taken away from you. One of my goals next year is to really appreciate the fact that I get to do this - not HAVE to do this. Sure training seriously can take a lot of the fun away from the sport but I will use this accident as a good reminder that I am lucky I get to do what I do.

Well next week officially kicks of my "Kona Journey" with LAVA magazine. I built this site and have blogged months ago to help build some interest leading up to January. Hopefully it will provide great exposure to my sponsors and inspire those that want to be fast even if you are juggling a full time job and family with kids. I'm a little nervous to show the world all of my workouts - 1. It will be boring 2. I may be too slow and have no business qualifying for Kona haha. Either way, I'm excited to get some feedback and really embrace the training and hard work that lies ahead!

Hope all of you have a great and safe New Years!

[caption id="attachment_2532" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Thanks Adam for patching me up![/caption]



 

Minor Set Back

So I took a week off of blogging to enjoy Thanksgiving with family and friends. There's no doubt it's one of my favorite times of the year. It's just a great way to get all the families together to enjoy some good food, beer and watch the kids run around. I even hit up some local breweries (Societe and Stone) with friends to make the long weekend an even better one.

Flashback a week before Thanksgiving and I was on the track doing 10x400 repeats at 5k pace. I was contemplating whether or not to jump into an ultra competitive "Turkey Trot" a week later and this workout was going to be my answer to that question. I was just getting back into the swing of things running wise and hadn't really done any speed work so a 5k was going to be questionable at best. After cranking out 10 all right in at 1:17 (5:09 pace) with only 40 seconds rest I felt really good and decided to pull the trigger on racing a week later. The goal was to go 16:16 which is what I did 2 years ago on the same course. I felt it was obtainable and was really excited to race until...

Tuesday I was slated for a short little tune up workout on the track. Some 150's and 600's, just to get the legs woken up for some speed! After only a few reps my calf grabbed and I was done and so was my shot at an over 30 5k PR a few days later. Even though it was my calf the injury really lies behind my knee. There's some weird misalignment with some tendons/muscles (excuse my lack of savvy-ness here) that creates issues from the knee all the way down to my heel on that same leg. It's been giving me problems dating all the way back to San Diego International this year. We think it is stemming from a poor bike fit. So this Friday I'm going to see Jim Manton at Ero Sports. He's fit folks you may have heard of: Bradley Wiggins, Heather Jackson and a ton of other pro's not to mention a few of my teammates who said to never use anyone else. So needless to say, I'm excited to spend some time there and get my bike fit done by the best in the business.

There are a bunch of other exciting things in the mix for 2014 - some I can't share quite yet but it's really starting to motivate me during the "off season." My blog will go live at Lava Magazine starting in January which I'm excited about and is already opening some cool opportunities. Although I will be posting all of my workouts, I still want to keep this blog intimate. Not a place to just see numbers but more of an avenue of inspiration (so I hope).

[caption id="attachment_2476" align="alignleft" width="300"] Some cold 4:30am wake up calls with Mike & Sarah![/caption]

For now my life has been all about the pool. Been spending a lot of time there and I feel like I am seeing drastic improvements in my efficiency/form. My swimming "fitness" isn't quite where I want it yet but I'm definitely going faster with less effort which is so SO huge for me. Not only do I have fast lane mates but a lot of them are coaches or have a very successful backgrounds in swimming. So I've just been trying to learn as much as I can and come into 2014 as a different swimmer. I want to be that triathlete that gets on the bike and can hit it hard right away without the swim taking away from the bike or run which it always has done to me in the past. For those of you that have trained with me know that my bike and run times in races don't nearly match what I'm truly capable of. I believe that it all stems from the swim. It's equivalent to doing a 2x1 mile run all out and then trying to do a fast 56 mile ride and 13.1 mile run afterwards. I'm getting into oxygen debt and cramping up just 30 minutes into a long race! I'm hoping to change that next year and race up to my capabilities because I really don't think I've reached my peak or potential yet. Hopefully these consistent 16-20k yds/week with a 12 week drill/technique swim (2 times/week) gives me fresh legs for the bike/run, gets me on top of the podium and ultimately to Kona!

As far as the mustache goes...December 1st came and the mustache left! Movember was a lot of fun. I raised a little money and got a lot of weird looks. It will truly be a month I'll always remember!

[caption id="attachment_2478" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Fun times with Jaime & Irving![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2479" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Me and the wifey[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2481" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cousins on the trampoline[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2480" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Cheers to the holiday season![/caption]

Back to it...

San Diego is as beautiful as ever and I've been back at it for a few weeks and its amazing how balanced your life feels/becomes once you get back to your old routine. For me it's always hard that first week or two and then it's almost like you gain momentum with your motivation after each week. For me the less I swim, the more I hate it. The more I do it, the more it becomes a routine/a part of my life and I actually enjoy it because I'm seeing progress. Where as, if I'm not swimming enough, I feel fat and slow. Same goes with the other two sports.

[caption id="attachment_2462" align="alignleft" width="259"] My beautiful bride hanging out with my mustache.[/caption]

Besides enjoying the nice weather and going to a fun holiday Gala event, my "official" Ironman training has started. That means some early testing in all three sports so I can track my progress which is huge for me. Flanny's philosophy is to incorporate speed/intensity now and volume later - something I completely agree with. Traditional plans call for those long volume base miles and then add intensity as you get closer to the Ironman. Trouble with that is - you're risking injury when you combine volume and intensity at the same time. This way avoids that scenario and definitely fits me better as I am prone to injury.
The other cool thing about doing it this way is I can gear up to rip a fast 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon this winter. So I set myself an early season goal. A couch to 1:13 half marathon plan haha. My (over 30) half marathon PR is 1:14 which I did in 2012. I never ran one this year so my tentative plan is to race the Surf City Half Marathon in early February and try and dip under 1:14 with only Ironman winter training under my belt. We'll see. My early testing this week shows me slow and out of shape. I'm sure the fitness will come back pretty quick but I have a long way to go to hold 5:38 pace for 13.1 miles!

Besides drinking good holiday brews, I've really been putting a lot of time in at the pool. Past few weeks I've been getting in the water 5 days a week and for the first time in a long time adding in some drills I've never done before. When I first started swimming I worked a lot on drills, got comments that I had good form so stopped doing them. Tons of volume later, I really haven't improved a whole lot. So Flanny has me on a custom 12 week program a la "swim camp." He's incorporating drills into certain workouts that really get you in-tune with body awareness and water feel. After only one week, I can honestly say I feel a lot better in the water and even feel faster. I'm excited to see where I'm at in 12 weeks.

I've got the first half of year's race schedule for 2013:

Feb. Surf City Half Marathon
Feb. Palm Springs Century (Sat), Palm Springs 1/2 marathon (Sun)
Mar. Desert International Tri
Mar. Black Dragon/CEC Training Camp
Mar. Ironman Oceanside 70.3
May Wildflower LC or Ironman St. Croix 70.3
June IMCDA
Rest of the year: TBD

There's no doubt this is my favorite time of the year. Especially when you participate in Movemeber! Check out my page here. You also get a little time off to refresh mentally/physically. You get to eat what you want and drink a lot of great holiday beers. You get to see family more than often. You get to set your goals for the next year.
You start dreaming.

[caption id="attachment_2464" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our hotel view[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2466" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Beautiful San Diego[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2465" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Prepping for our night out[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2463" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mustaches are funny.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2458" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Love her![/caption]