Countdown

Weeks until Desert Tri: 4 1/2

Weeks until IMCA 70.3: 7 1/2



It's amazing how fast this "off season" has gone by. The weeks seem to fly by when you literally have every hour accounted for day in and day out. The only time I have to sit back and think about everything is during my long training sessions. I know everybody is busy (although I don't consider you busy if you devote 2+ hrs to television each day) - but juggling a family, a busy career and devoting 14-20 hrs/week is NO JOKE. The thing is, I wouldn't have it any other way. The coolest thing about endurance sports is; it can be considered a hobby AND exercise. I've heard the term "Lifestyle sport" which is so true because everything revolves around it. Your diet, your bedtime/wake up time, your vacations, your free time?, and even your clothing...oh yea and sometimes even your sanity! I am so blessed to have a wife that supports what I do and even she has been bit by the workout bug. She easily puts in 7-10 hrs/week herself of running, spin class, circuit training, Pilate's, Mombo ---or whatever the hell the name of that crazy dance class is, she's a machine! It's kind of a serious addiction around here and even the kids are catching on. They get pumped up to go on bike rides or runs in the jogging stroller or bike trailer. They even have nightly "races" where they race each other up and down the hall and then get a medal for finishing. Can't tell yet who's gonna be the next triathlete, but I know my daughter Scarlett has that eye of the tiger look going on at the start line. Check out this video we took after she ran up and down the hall, tired out her brother and kept pressing on for like a 1/2 hour (ignore my silly dad voice -she always wants me to be the starting guy voice from Cars the movie), she is hilarious:



People wonder how I fit in all of the training, especially on the weekends and really its not me - it's my wife that makes it possible. Some days I'm gone for 6 hours! But we get creative and sometime like last weekend after my 4 hour ride / suffer fest up Mt. Palomar I came home and they rode alongside me on my run. Or when I hit up Masters on Monday nights, they'll come and Amy will workout at the gym. It's all about incorporating them into this lifestyle and Amy is 100% on board and knows my goals/dreams and I couldn't do it without her. This weekend is her birthday and even though I'll probably be dragging on our date Saturday night, she'll understand - and I love her for that. Happy Birthday!

As far as training goes, I have been on fire. And I'm not talking about like I'm in peak form or anything. When I started with James there was this HUGE gap on my fitness level vs. my potential - I just wasn't putting in the work last year. He has still kept me in check with intensity and to knock off a 1:14 1/2 marathon without even getting into the hard stuff yet gets me pretty excited as this season is about to kick off. Not to mention my bike fitness has jumped leaps and bounds just within the last 4 weeks - and again, nothing intense, just a TON of climbing, check out my monster brick from Sunday:



The Ride



The Brick run

 Riding from Temecula, up Palomar, then back home up Pala under 4 hours is no joke. My previous best was 4:15. I also had a personal best up Palomar which was 1:12 --I was trying to keep the mph in double digits the whole way up and came up a bit short with 9.4mph. As soon as I got back I jumped right into a 10k hilly (about 500ft of climbing) run. I couldn't believe how effortless the run felt. The last 30 mins on the bike were pretty rough and I was a little concerned how I would feel on the run, but after the first mile of getting my running legs under me, I felt like I could just play with the pacing. So I did. It was very easy to switch gears and this big day gave me confidence that I'll be able to run really well off of the bike in Oceanside. As far as the swimming goes - I finally feel like I have made a major leap this past month. Part of that was joining a Masters group at the YMCA and fixing a few flaws in my form that the coaches saw. I'm getting in the pool 4-6 times a week and the work is starting to pay off.

Oh yea, I changed up my Race Schedule a bit by taking out the San Diego ITU race and I signed up for Wildflower Long Course this past weekend. From what I hear it's a very difficult hilly course, so it should play to my advantage. I'm not specifically training for the short course stuff, so I figured getting in another 70.3 will help get me what I'm lacking...Experience! Pumped to join other "Watties" and race hard up there in May.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday to my son, thanks to Amy for the awesome collage

My recovery drinks, including Dogfish Head "Oak-Aged" Imperial IPA 10%
...does the body good