The Garden

Scarlett loves her Straberries!

With the weather giving us plenty of sun and rain - our garden has been thriving this year. Last year we got hit with a lot of bugs and since we vow to have an organic garden - it didn't produce much. This year we planted tons of greens, onions, artichoke, brussel sprouts (amongst others) to go along with our herb garden and fruit trees (lemon, peach, 2 orange, grape vine, strawberries and a kumquat tree). Our peach tree is literally covered with 100's of fruit. Can't wait. One of the things we were most excited about owning a home and a little bit of land was to have the ability to grow your own fruits, veggies and herbs. There is nothing cooler than picking out veggies for a salad, seasoning your pasta with your own herbs with a fresh lemon from your tree in your beer and then have BBQ Caramelized peaches for desert from your own tree. Not only does it taste better straight from the vine, but it's cheaper, more convenient and better for you! Oh yea, the kids love picking and eating too!

A few pics from the garden:

4 Veggie Beds

2 Grape vines....other one is tiny

Herb Garden Bed

Loaded Peach tree

Now..to the training front...This past week has gone great. After great sessions in the pool both Monday & Tuesday morning, Tuesday night called for mile repeats with the San Diego Track Club. We did 6X1 mile repeats with a 400 jog/float (7 min pace). I hadn't done mile repeats in a long time so I just figured I'd shoot for 5:35-40 (which I think is about my ballpark 1/2 marathon pace currently). I set off and usually I'll have a few of the guys come with me, not today though --I think some of the guys raced so they were just chillin...so I did them all solo, here were my splits:

5:34

5:37

5:32

5:39

5:37

5:22

For an average of 5:33. I was pleased as my Heart Rate was in control and never felt like lactic acid was building. Based off of how I felt and years of experience I think I'm in 1:13 1/2 marathon shape which is about 5 minutes faster than I was in January. I've seen big gains lately since I'm in the "build phase" of my training and it's getting me excited to race next month.

Saturday was another break through workout, this time in the swim. I've kind of felt that my swimming has just stayed stagnate over the past few months with not many gains. I've tried my hardest to find a masters program that fits into my schedule and even WITH my time management skills....just impossible...for now. I did a warm up and then did 2 sets of 4X100 w/40 sec rest. Normally I average around 1:45, but today I convinced myself to push it a bit and see what I can do. Here's my splits:

1:35, 1:32, 1:33, 1:33

(1 minute rest)

1:32, 1:28, 1:29, 1:25

Now I know that's not a huge set or anything but it's a faster average than I've ever swam (1:31)-including my last one which is my fastest 100 to date. After that I put in some long/easy 500's and called it a day. I felt strong and confident for the first time coming out of the pool and can't wait to re-deem myself next month in my first road Olympic TRI.

That night was the first Temecula Valley Tri Club meeting at The Bike Shop. They are just getting things started on a club and it was pretty cool to be apart of the first kick off meeting. We just did a mellow 15 mile ride and then a 5k run off of the bike. Afterwards they just talked about where they want to go with the club and I'm pretty excited to be able to train with some people locally and have some support at the races. I also got a chance to take another look at the Blue Triad SP...Nice bike....The Bike Shop is bringing in the Cannondale Slice 5 also for me to check out. Once they're here, I'm going to get fit to both, see which one is more comfortable and finally get my first "real" bike. So excited. I told Amy that this rates as the most exciting purchase I have ever made for myself (excluding the engagement ring of course..haha). This includes when I convinced my mom when I was a kid to buy the Super Nintendo with my life's savings (thanks mom!)...one would think a kid would have buyers remorse after a week on that thing, but not so much for me...I wore that thing out.  Then fast forward to my twenties when I bought my first nice car, an Audi TT which I had a lot of fun with...but I have to say this blows those away. It's not so much about getting something that is materialistic like the other things listed, it's about expanding my fitness. I put so much time and effort into my training and getting something that can help alleviate my IT pain and get me faster in races excites me. Just the fact I'll be able to get back on my bike consistently again pumps me up --I've been off of it quite a bit since the Temecula Challenge.

So help me decide, which one do you guys like?



2011 Blue Triad SP in Black



2011 Cannondale Slice 5 in White