Sun Downer

I descended down the 154 this afternoon after riding up painted cave. I was following a couple of cyclists and the winds were absolutely howling. In one section the wind funnels into a narrow pass and the women ahead of me is blown off her bike onto the shoulder of the road. I slowed down and stopped. Fortunately she was a little bloody but not seriously hurt. The wind was blowing so hard at that point I could bearly stand over my bike. A truck stopped behind us and offered to drive us down. We took him up on his offer. I live to ride another day!
AM: Masters Swim- Fast 50's today. I did as many as I could fly until I cracked.
Off to the gym for some core then I embarked on my death defying bike ride.

Down at the Beach

AM: Got up early and ran around 8 miles down by the beach. Was going to ride this evening but felt a little pooped.

Summer Time!

What a great evening in SB.
AM- Morning Masters- main set: 2x100, 2x150, 2x100, 2x50, twice thru.
Lunchtime- Quick trip to the gym for some core work.
PM Track- 2000m, 1000m, 400m twice thru

A rather routine day

I can't believe June is almost over. Its been a hectic month.
Lunchtime- Easy run, around 5.5 miles
PM- easy spin, 1:20
My legs are still a bit sore from Sunday's race

Monday

My time for yesterday's triathlon was 2:19 and change. Good for 3rd place.
AM Masters- another long main set. 600, 2x300, 3x200
PM - kicked back a bit and watched some old episodes of 24.

Breath of Life

Today I packed up my gear and headed down to Ventura for the Breath of Life Triathlon. Its great having a race so close to home. I didn't stick around for the results so I don't know how i fared, but I know I was right behind Jon Clark. Jon was a bit ahead of me and I was slowly running him down but ran out of real estate. After the race I jogged for 45 min. Then it was off to work for the afternoon trying to catch up with things. I was a nice day, other than that work thing.

Pre Race Day

Rest day today for tomorrows Breath of Life Triathlon in Ventura. Olympic distance. I am looking forward to the distraction.

Don't hold your breath

AM Masters- We did this crazy breath control set- breathing 3,5,7,9. 12x100. I got a little dizzy!
PM- Hour run and strides

Climbing again

A great evening for a ride- up painted cave, rode for about 2 hours

Wednesday Track

Mike is having me cut back my intensity this week. Todays track workout- 2 mile, 4x800
AM masters- I can't remember!

Blue Shoes

These are my new cycling shoes. They are 2 oz lighter than my old Carnacs. Hmmm, lets see, 2oz, 80 revolutions per minute over a 6 hour ironman bike ride.... thats 3,600 lbs saved! Boy I should fly on that run!
Todays workout-
Lunchtime- 40 min run
PM- 70 min bike

Another Monday

AM Masters- main set- 200,400,600,2x300,2x200,2x100
I was pretty beat from this weekend but getting in the water felt pretty good.

Sunday Run

I took this picture yesterday in honor of my friend Mike T.. Mike and I took several bike adventures from SB to San Diego. That was probably the last time I was in Santa Monica.
Today's workout- Run 2h15m. 4 mile tempo run which pretty much ruined me for the rest of the run.

Long Ride Home

Sadly, my mom passed away today. 27 days after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A nurse friend said, “Pancreatic cancer, quick and painful”. Mom never complained once. During her last days she says, “I’ve had a good life, don’t worry about me”. Mom was 79 years old. She walked 3 miles a day. Born in a small plantation town on the island of Kauai, she pulled weeds in the fields for 50 cents a day. In elementary school, mom won an island spelling bee. Her prize was a loaf of bread. She met dad at Washington University. Mom said she was attracted to him because he was tall. Dad was 5’8”. After raising myself and my sister, she returned to school and earned her doctorate in education. “I didn’t want to be the low man on the family’s academic totem pole”. She pursued her hobby of quilting with such vigor, she would sometimes forget to eat. Mom sang Christmas carols with reckless abandon. Good bye mom.

Today I rode from Downey to SB. 150miles. It was a long ride home.

Graduation Time

AM masters: This was a particularly hard set. I just did what I could do. 4x100, 200, 4x100, 200,4x100, 200.
Lunchtime: at the gym for some core work.
PM: Off to Duncan Thomas' house to celebrate his daughter, Devin's graduation from high school. Duncan was bemoaning his recent propensity for night cramps.

Tuesday Track

Tonight on the track- 2x2miles. on 14min, then on 13:45

Monday

AM Masters: 400m, 2x200m, 400m, 4x100m, 400m. I pulled the entire set trying not to fall too far behind.

Another Brick in the Wall

Drove over the hill to Santa Ynez for my bike and run. 100 mile bike, 2:10 run. It was overcast all day and not much wind. Pretty much ideal conditions. My biking seems a bit weak. I was getting a little tired at the end of the ride. My run felt fairly good however. Go figure.

Saturday Run

90 minute run today. Tomorrow planning a big brick.

Friday in LA

Morning Masters in SB: A good mix of fast and moderate swimming. Off to LA.

Thursday

2 hour ride thru Carp, tried to keep a good pace. Caught the tail end of the Tri Club Meeting

Back on track

AM masters- 4x50m, 200m, 4x50m, 2x100, twice thru
Lunchtime-at the gym for some core
PM- At the track- 3x800, 1 mile, 2x8oo, 1mile

Tuesday

Easy bike 90 minutes after a busy day a work.

Long Monday

AM Masters was a doosey. 800m, 2x400m, 4x200m
PM: Rest!

Whats up

I don't know whats up with my running. I ran 2 1/2 hours today. I was suposed to include a 5 mile tempo at 7:15 pace. After the 2nd mile I realized it wasn't happening so I shut my watch off and just jogged the rest of my run.

Quick ride and a massage

Rode 2 1/2 today, nothing special. Treated myself to a massage. That was nice!

Back in the Swim

For the first time in a week, back in the water!
Masters main set- 2x50, 2x100, 4x50, 4x100, twice thru.
off to the gym then a short bike spin.

Lost Again!

I know its hard to believe how someone could get lost biking down a bike path along a LA cement river, but I managed to do it. I woke up early for a ride down the San Gabriel river bikepath towards Long Beach. After about an hour I turned around and started hammering back home. Well, I inadvertently took a bike path tributary when the river forked. It was about 20 minutes before I realized I was on a different path. I back tracked a bit and made it back home. All those cement rivers look the same!! Cook will be happy I continue to live up to my "Magellan" nickname!