Iron Week Done

It is finished. 140.6 miles over 6 days. It was grueling, it was awesome. I am certainly going to do it again.

Friday I finished off the swim leg with 50 laps in the pool. I hit it endurance style, just got in and cranked out laps. Finished in 26 minutes, which is considerably shorter than I've ever covered that distance before. It was a fantastic workout.

Friday Night we had dinner at my boss's house. It was fantastic, there was a good crowd and we all had a good time. I did have a few beers, but got control of myself when I remembered what I was doing on saturday. Then Kelley and I went to the late show at Goodnight's Comedy club to see Tom Arnold. He was hilarious! Nobody else can talk about how Roseanne stabbed him in the chest with a meat cleaver when he took her Jennie Craig cookies away. I was rolling around laughing so hard. Such a fun night.

Then Saturday I carbed up and went out for a 20 mile run to finish off Iron Week. This was the only 20 mile run on my training schedule before the Tobacco Road Marathon. The first 10 miles were a breeze. I ran through the NC State campus, came out at the Central Prison, found a greenway trail to run on, and headed up St Mary's to my boss's house where we had dinner the night before. From there I ended up combing my way through downtown Raleigh. The streetlights got annoying after a while so I headed back into the residential area. I ended up hitting Churchill Rd right at mile 15. I had no idea that Churchill was the effing hilliest road in Raleigh. but wow. That ended up being the toughest mile by far. Lots of walking there. Then I ended up getting back onto the same side of Wade Ave that I live on and tooled around my neighborhood until the garmin said 20.00 miles. Actually it said 19.98 miles when I hit my house, so I had to run past the neighbor's house and come back to make it an even 20. Finished in 3:37:48.


I'm worn out. Tired. Need more sleep and food. But Iron Week is complete!

So how did Iron week turn out by the numbers? The swims were monday: 1250 yrds in 30 mins, Wednesday 1900 yrds in 47 minutes and Friday was 1250 yds in 26 minutes. That's a 2.4 mile swim leg of 1:43. The bike looked like: Monday 52 miles in 2:33, Tuesday 15 miles in 45 mins, Wednesday 30 miles in 1:26, and Thursday 15 miles in 42 mins. That's a total of 112 miles in 5:26. For the run, I had a 10k on tuesday in 57:58 and the 20 miler on Saturday in 3:37:48 for a marathon time of 4:34:46. If you add those up and don't count the 6 days of transition time, that makes for an Ironman time of 11:43 if my math is correct.

Now my actual expecation for Ironman Florida next year is 14 hours. But I do think it's possible to come close to a 4:30 marathon time at the Tobacco Road in a few weeks.

And what did I think about the IronWeek as a concept? It is awesome. I didn't miss a beat at work, even took an extra night off to take the wife out for a nice dinner. Still covered 140.6 miles in 6 days. I think if I wanted to make it even more challenging I could do it in 4 days. But even my natural reaction that is "if you want to make it more challenging, do it in 1 day at an Ironman race you freak" but that's for next year. If you swim before work, and run/bike over lunch and after work I think it could be done in 4 days. Split the runs up into 6.2, 5, 5, and 10 mile distances and everything but the 10 miler could be done over a lunch break. 4 swims at 1075 (43 laps) each would cover the swim. And the night workouts would be the longest bike rides. Could be 4 @28 miles each, but a 15 mile ride is all I can squeeze in over lunch. So the last day's ride would have to be over lunch. Still, it's possible.

This should not be my last Iron Week. It was so much fun and so cool just knowing the target was raised. I know there are plenty of tri guys out there that bike 300 miles a week anyway, and plenty of runners that hit 50 miles a week all the time. But this method proved several things to me.

The first thing is that the more you do something the faster you will get. The last 15 mile bike ride was the fastest I've covered that distance ever. I've never gotten below 29 minutes swimming 50 laps, the last swim was only 26 minutes. It's amazing how raising your volume really does create speed.

Raising your weekly training volume to that level also reiterates the need to watch fuel and rest times. Eating enough to cover that kind of distance is a must. Getting enough sleep at night is a must. We tend to gloss over those problems and focus on doing the work. What you do to your body when it's not working for you is just as important.

So does this seem like a challenge that you are up for? I can't wait to do it again.

Iron Thursday

Iron Week is starting to see daylight. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all double days. Today is more like:



That bike leg is wrapped! 15 miles today over lunch went fast. 42:xx fast. That puts me at 112 miles on the bike since monday. Boo freaking YA!

That picture is post house hunting. The dinner was fantastic, then we rode all over Cary looking at houses. We found 2. Now it's 10:30 pm and I'm blogging today. Time for bed.

Tomorrow is 50 laps in the pool to finish the swim distance, then dinner at the boss's house. Kelley will be looking at houses. We have 3 for the realtor to show us. One she likes (that is a block from a Trader Joe's and Gold's Gym), and one that I like (backs up to a greenway and fantastic location). And one on the other side of Cary that we both like. We'll see what happens. Time to eat. Is it too early to start carb loading for saturday's 20 mile run?

Iron Wednesday

Iron Week is rocking on! Monday was long, Tuesday I was tired and hungry. Today I feel like this:


Strong and happy. Today I put a mile in the pool over lunch. 76 laps in the 25 yd pool went by ok in about 47 minutes. I felt horrible when I got started, the first 10 laps or so was just labored. Thought I was too tired to finish. But by lap 30 I was really going strong and feeling good. I finished strong and went back to work focused.

After work I went back to the gym and put 30 miles on the stationary bike. Did the first 15 mile block in 43:38 and the second 15 mile block in 43:16. That's too close to call it a negative split. But it felt effortless. The miles just blew by. I love it when that happens. I did have to take it kind of slow going down the stairs after the ride; legs kind of felt like jello. But hey, that's expected.

I also realized while I was in the pool today that I've just gone past Oly distance. Oly's are a .92 mile swim, 24 miles bike, and 10k run. In the last 24 hours I swam a mile, biked 30, and ran a 10k last night. Bazinga!

Iron Week totals so far: Swim 3100 yds (out of 4224), bike 97 miles (out of 112), and run 6.2 miles (out of 26.2). I'm gettting there.

Tomorrow I finish off the last 15 miles of the bike leg over lunch, and then take Kelley out for a nice dinner. Friday it's time to finish off the last 1250 yrds swimming, then dinner with one of the owners of the company I work for. Saturday it's look at and hopefully buy a house with the realtor, then a 20 mile run in Umstead State Park on the trails. Time to start wrapping it up. Biking 4 days in a row is going to take it's toll on mine arse. But I'm feeling great today and ready to watch some olympics and get some rest.

Iron Tuesday

I'm doing an ironman distance spread across the whole week (link for monday). Here's what I feel like after tuesday:



about to explode. Or is that face just trying to push out a fart? Who knows. Iron week day 2 is in the books.

Got it all in as planed, 15 more miles on the bike in 45:xx. Took it a little slower today, and finished with a scream: Chamois Butt'r take me away! Chafing is not fun. I want to think I know how Ryan feels now, he put 100 miles on his bike today and claimed he had the ass of a Mandrill afterward. I'm not that bad. But 67 miles in 2 days is a fair amount of time in the saddle. What? 30 more bike miles tomorrow? wow.

After work I went back for a 10k run. Covered the 6.2 miles in 57:58 and felt great. Actually, when I was done I was really hungry. But this run was supposed to be a predictor of a potential finish time in the SafeRun 10k in a couple of weeks. I knew that my legs were pretty shredded from all the bike time, so I wanted to see how consistent I could be for that distance at a decent pace. I think the goal of breaking an hour and PR'ing the distance is well in hand. My current 10k pr is 1:06:10 as the run leg of an oly tri. I am really looking forward to this race now. The run burned 1003 calories it said. Afterward I started to notice some nipple chafing. I never think about putting band-aids on if I'm not running at least 7 miles. But with all the bike time too my tech shirts are putting the hurting on. And I have to keep that bare chest sexy for all the swimming still to come.

I did not sleep enough last night. Damn you The Bachelor Women Tell All! And I'm loving the winter olympics. Can't seem to get enough of them. I also have not been eating enough. Nutrition during the workouts has been good, everything feels clean while I'm exercising. But I have got to work on the recovery tonight. Tomorrow is a 1 mile swim and 30 miles on the bike. Then Kelley comes up here on thursday and I told her I would take her out for a nice dinner. And I'm looking forward to that.

Iron Week totals so far: 1250 yds swimming (out of 4224), 67 bike miles (out of 112) and 6.2 miles running (26.2 total). I'm getting there. Exhausted, but I'm getting there.

Iron Monday

Iron Monday is done!! 50 laps in the pool (1250 yards) over lunch. Felt great, easy, nice pace. Took about 30 minutes.

After work it was 52 miles on the stationary bike at the gym. Did the first 20 mile block in 59:xx, the second 20 mile block in 58:xx, and the final 12 miles in 35:xx. That's a pretty consistent pace. It's also the longest single ride I've done in a long time, I think since the 56 mile bike leg at the B2B.


Here's the half dead/half asleep Iron Week Day 1 pic from 10:20 pm on monday. Can I really keep this up for the rest of the week? wow, tough day 1. But I got the longest bike ride out of the way.

It has been decided that thursday kelley is coming to Raleigh to buy us a house. That means I am adjusting my schedule to be able to take thursday and friday nights off to rest up for the 20 mile run saturday. we're going to meet with the realtor, submit the offer, then head to Umstead State park. She's going to do part of the run with me, but she's not trained up to do 20. It will be fun. So thursday's 15 mile lunch ride will finish the bike leg now, and friday's 50 lap lunch swim will finish the swim leg. and saturday's 20 mile run will finish the run leg. I love seeing a plan come together.

Now it's time to go nom nom nom fuel up and rest up for tomorrow's workouts. A 15 mile bike over lunch and 6.2 mile run after work. Maybe i'll squeeze in some yoga before work too.

Iron UP

Everything is looking ok to get our house in greenville sold. Closing is still lined up on schedule. We are still fighting some mortgage stuff and still trying to find the right house to buy. And still haven't figured out how to not be homeless for a few months. Nothing like living in a van down by the river!

Training is going pretty well. I'm still on the fence about the march 21st marathon. Kelley wants me to do it, but I"m pretty sure she just doesn't want me to pester her about another marathon later in the year. I hit the triple today: yoga before work, a 10 mile hilly bike ride over lunch, and 4 miles of speedwork on the treadmill after work. It really felt good to get some treadmill intervals done today. Running hasn't been agreeing with me very well since the tybee race. But tonight I felt fast and fluid.

Yesterday had just one workout, a 1250 yd swim. Supposed to be a mile, but I had to get back to the office for a meeting so I cut it down to only 50 laps in the pool. Tuesday we had a company meeting, followed by a drunken company barhopping. So all I got done was some yoga before work and a 4 mile tempo run over lunch.

Fear not, I hit the trifecta again on monday though. Tripower before work, 1000 yd swim (fast 100 yd intervals) over lunch and a 21 mile bike ride after work that was tempo. very good day (for a monday). Tomorrow's lunch swim should finish off the week nicely.

So why am I finally posting an actual training log up here? What's missing in that messy log? Well for starters I'm missing a long run. I might try and run some while I'm in Greenville this weekend. But monday it begins.

Iron Week. My target is to complete the Ironman distances - 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run - all in one week. Yes I know next year I'm going to do it all in one day. But I won't have to work that day either. This is going to be a fun challenge.

Why next week? It's the only time I have left in the schedule for a 20 mile long run. The marathon is almost here. So I can attack the run game with a 6.2 mile tempo run and a 20 mile long run. Actually, here's the plan:

Monday - 1250 yds (50 laps) swim, 45 mile bike
Tuesday - 15 mile bike, 6.2 mile run
Wednesday - 1 mile swim (76 laps 1760 yrds), 20 mile bike
Thursday - 15 mile bike, 17 mile bike
Friday - 1250 yds (50 laps) swim
Saturday - 20 mile run

The first workout is over lunch each day. Friday night one of my company's owners has invited us to his house for dinner (I hope there's carbs!) - and he did Ironman CdA a few years ago. So he knows. Since Kelley is coming to raleigh for the weekend I will be doing the long run here on saturday, not thursday night like I normally do.

So that gives me 4400 yards in the pool, and ironman distance is 4224 yards. covered. Normally I only do 1000 yards monday and friday, so what's an extra 10 laps right? 112 miles is exactly 112 freaking miles on the bike. I might extend the monday night and tues/thur lunch rides by a few miles each so I won't have to go back thursday night for the last 17 miles. And the 10k run on tuesday and 20 mile run on saturday will finish off the marathon distance. That's a full week people. A very full week. It's going to take a lot of good food and good fuel to get it all done. I bet there won't be much sleep trouble though.

So I'm going to take what I just called a full busy week's worth of workouts and try to do that all in one day next year??? I think taking 2010 as an Ironman Prep Year was the right call.


I'm not sure what's more surprising.... that someone actually listened to my drivel advice or that it actually worked. Tyly is actually blaming me for trying her first 5 mile run yesterday. She did it - setting a personal distance record and beat her time goal. She's also getting married in a month and building a house, and I'm enjoying stalking her (if you haven't seen her blog yet it's pretty neat). She deserves a thumbs up pic! I's proud of ya girl!

Now after Ironman week..... I'm going to try and post every day next week to track the progress. Anybody else feel like taking an Iron Week this year? I'm really getting excited about the concept. Have a great weekend!

G B O

I've seen so many good, bad, and ugly posts in the last week or so that I thought I would throw my hat into that ring as well.

The Good
Our house in Greenville is under contract! Took four months, and we're selling for $30k less than the original asking price but that sucker is done. We finally get to be a family again. This is certainly good. They want to close March 19th, which is only about 5 weeks away.

The Bad
Thanks to my current situation at work we can't close the purchase of another home until May 15 according to my lender. So we will, officially, be homeless for a couple of months. That means right now I have to figure out what to do with people and stuff. I am totally open to suggestions here homies. Got any ideas?

For the stuff, I'm leaning towards getting a large self-storage unit in Raleigh. We can't afford to hire the moving company now, so I think we will have to move ourselves (which I swore I would never do again) into the storage unit. I will let the movers come in and take the larger furniture pieces into their warehouse. I'm just not going to haul armoires around like I did when I was 25. no thanks.

For the people, we're going to have to crash with family for a week at a time. My folks said they would put us up, I know we'll be ok with kelley's dad for about a week, and kelley's mom has an apartment they aren't using right now. I know the kids are going to get all kinds of disoriented and homesick, and we won't have a home to take them back to. This is going to be the toughest part.

The closing is March 19th. They take possession at closing, so we have to be moved out March 18th at the latest. Guess what happens March 21st? The Tobacco Road marathon. So much for an easy, stress free week before the race. Moving is an appropriate taper activity, right?

I think this means my marathon chances this year are screwed. I might be able to find a summertime marathon, or something in april. But this one is in my hometown, flat, and fast. Hence, exactly what I'm looking for. This has thrown my training for a loop. I've lost the motivation for my early morning workouts (tri-power and yoga), and the evening workouts are getting harder mentally. Lunchtime swim/bike stuff is still awesome, I'm going to put a mile in the pool today. I know that the house is more important than the marathon. But when I settled in for an 18 mile run yesterday and only made it 3 miles, I know it's because I am worried about house stuff. Also Kelley came into town yesterday so I knew she was waiting for me.

Still, I'm just off my game mentally. My left foot, knee, and (to some degree) hip are getting new pains when I'm running. It just doesn't feel as fluid as it should (or did 2 weeks ago). This weekend I'm going to head out to Furman to run around the lake some, we'll see how far I feel like going. I'm not going to write off the marathon completely until the house plans are finalized. But you guys know what the last 5 weeks of marathon training are like. When those long runs start to get really long you don't feel like moving furniture afterwards. I've got to get my head on straight for everything to be more effective.

That looks like a lot of bad, and only a little bit of good, but I swear the good is really good and the bad I can handle.

2 pm update: I put 80 laps in the 25 yd pool over lunch, which is just over a mile. 76 laps is a mile, according to a piece of paper tacked up to the wall in there. Now I am really hungry.

The Ugly
I've notice a growing and disturbing trend in the men's locker room recently. Men who are seriously overweight have been walking around naked with impunity. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad these guys are in the gym working on their fitness. And if you've been reading this for a while you know I have no problem with naked men and the sanctity of the locker room.

Apparently Swollen Sack Syndrome is sweeping its way across North Carolina, maybe even the nation. This is a serious problem which must be addressed; I've never seen anything like it. These sacks are so engorged that there is only about half an inch of pecker sticking out the top. It looks like an apple with a really thick stem. Please, in the name of health, check your husbands, boyfriends, and male co-workers sacks out to be sure they are not inflicted. We must stop SSS before it becomes a national crisis. So be kind to your favorite sack, treat it right and it will be spared from this new epidemic. So your mission this weekend, if you choose to accept it, is to drain a sack by any means necessary. Enjoy.

Duel in the Dunes Report

To the victor go the spoils. Final score Snail 1:54:38, CJ 2:08:48. The boy beat me by 1 min/mile and he freaking earned it. The Snail ran a fantastic race, truly. Here's how it all went down.

I picked up Michael friday afternoon in Charleston and we made it down to Tybee about 9 pm. Packet pickup ended at 7, so the Snail was kind enough to pick up the packet for me. Morgan made it into town about midnight. I crashed not long after he got there, but could not sleep much at all. I was really getting the nerves worked up about breaking 2 hours.

Race morning the alarm clock never went off. I had it set for 6:20, and at 6:48 I finally rolled over. Snail was leaving savannah at 7 am, so I had to rush. Ate breakfast, got dressed, and I was ready to go when he swung by. He was with some friends (Ryan and Cubbie, two regular training partners mentioned on his blog), and they gave me a ride to the start.


Here's the starting line, I took a picture of how many people were behind me. They said they sold out both races, it was the biggest turnout ever. 1500 people each in the half marathon and the 5k. The 5k started 30 minutes before the half, and they shared the same finish line. So we got to cheer on the 5k winners before starting our race.


I took this shot of myself in the starting corral. Notice the guys behind me, they really look like they don't want to be in this shot.

We took off and I started the Garmin when I crossed the starting line.

Mile 1: 7:56 oops, i'm going to pay for that later. Still, a fast mile! yay! And I'm really beating the snail good here.
Mile 2: 9:03 that's more like it. Maintain. Snail passed me and I never saw him again. He also said he started out too fast.

This mile is also when we ran past the house. Both of my brothers were still asleep. I stopped long enough to throw my gloves and phone into my car, and I got some strange looks from the other runners. It was cold, really windy (18 mph winds) and raining some but I did not want the gloves.

Mile 3: 9:20 starting to pay for that first mile, but I'm still ok.
Mile 4 & 5: 9:25/mile pace. Started walking here as needed, but for very short time periods.
Mile 6: 9:39 omg

When I hit the halfway point, it was looking like this:


WTH? The southbound lanes had both lanes open for traffic, and the left northbound lane was open for us to run in. So 2 lanes of traffic on our left, and one lane of traffic on the right? That sounded weird. It was weird.

See how confused it made me? Still, I'm burning through miles here. When I was walking long enough to take this shot, guess who decided to join in the smack talk? Cubbie! Here she was telling me before the race about how bad her times were on this course, and how I really need to make Thomas look bad just to drive the point home. Then she passed me and called me a girl or something!!?!?!

Of course, the laugh ended up being on me. I put the camera down, picked the pace back up and caught her just long enough to return the smack talk. Something about how "I wasn't afraid to make her look bad too". Then I faced forward again and ran over a big orange traffic cone! I tried to jump over it in surprise, knocked it down, and kept on going. I could barely hear her saying how bad I looked over the crowd laughter as I sped up just to pass people who had not seen me run into a damn traffic cone. Geez, I swear. This is what I get for having friends in a race. baaahahahahahaha.....

Still, I hit 6.8 miles on the garmin at only 58 minutes and change. Sub 2 hours is still well within my grasp. It's time to really start pushing myself now. This is when the rubber (orange traffic cone as it were) meets the road.

Miles 7 & 8: 9:35 / mile. Really starting to feel that fast first mile in here.
Mile 9: 10:03 oh boy, over 10 min pace now. That's not going to cut it.
Mile 10: 10:33

This is when I really felt the burn from that first fast mile. My legs... it felt like I was running on fire hydrants. Thick, stiff, and heavy. Every movement was a struggle. I started walking a lot more than I wanted to in here. When I was running, I was under a 9:10 pace. If I could not maintain that pace then I needed to walk more to catch my breath, drink more gatorade, take another gel, whatever it was going to take for me to be able to run at pace.

The garmin said I hit 10 miles at 1:35, and I knew at that point that I did not have a 25 minute final 5k left in me. That's when my mind left the game. I was totally checked out. I walked slower than normal, even kicked a few things off of the street. It started raining harder. I had mentally defeated myself and physically I was letting the mind drag me down. It was not pretty.

So the sub 2 hour goal was blown and I was feeling pretty down about it.

Mile 11: 10:50 yea, that down about it.
Mile 12: 10:43 still not feeling any better. The course turned here and the wind and rain really picked up too. 18+ mph headwind as we came around this one corner of the island. ouch.
Mile 13.1 10:44

At first I didn't even think I had a PR left on the table from how dead my legs were. That kicked the mental-downers up another notch. I did get a bit of a second wind from this one self-proclaimed slow girl. she'd pull up beside me and just smile, and I knew I had been walking long enough. go, go, go, go, go!! I did actually get a second wind in the last half mile or so when I re-did the math and realized I could still PR. I pushed it as hard as I could going into the end, and there was the snail cheering me on at the finish line. He's a class act, I tell ya. And I was really looking forward to getting a picture of him crossing the finish line. Oh well, maybe next time.


Thomas and I after crossing the finish line.


Cubbie finished about a minute before I did and put up a 15 minute PR! She really smoked it out there. The guy in black on the left is Ryan, he also met his goal time of 1:28

So after the race we all went out to lunch and had a ball. I got to hang with the snail, his wife, ryan, cubbie, and ryan's tri coach. It was a really fun group that I look forward to spending more time with.


The house from the beach. Proof that we actually went down there is always needed. It was pretty cold and very very windy.


Michael taking a picture of me taking a picture of him

Of course Morgan had to be practicing his Karate Kid moves on the stumps.

Left tybee sunday morning about 11:30 and made it back to Raleigh about 6 pm. Today my legs are incredibly sore. So my favorite way to work out the soreness is 20 miles on the stationary bike after work tonight. It's been a wild ride, and it's not over yet.

Overall I loved this race. I got to hang with good friends, put up a 5 minute PR, visit with my brothers, and do something I now love on the streets I used to vacation on. The social and sentimental values of this race made it just as special as the PR. We can't always let the goal times take the fun out of it. So this was one for the ages.

Final Score

Final score Snail 1:54:xx, CJ 2:08:48. still a 5 minute pr but I didn't break 2 hours. full race report coming tonight with great pics.

The week that was and is

So the snow left me in Raleigh all weekend. It ended up being ok. I really missed getting to play with my kids in the snow. We only get snow once a year at most, so when it's gone we won't see it again until next winter. This part of NC even gets less snow than Greenville SC does. but that's ok.

I loaned my bike trainer to a friend whose wife was rehabbing her knee. She's feeling better now, so he brought the trainer back with this as a thank you:



A huge cheesecake. Chocolate, with a chocolate chip cookie dough crust. wow. She is a stay at home mom that operates a dessert catering company on the side. When you combine cheesecake and snow, I was glad to get Roberta up on the trainer finally:



Yes, that's Jenny still in the background. She hasn't made her way back to SC yet. I did an hour on Roberta/trainer last night. It felt good to get used to the new saddle, and the handlebar and aerobar positions without having to think about anything besides just keep freaking pedalling.

I took this yesterday too:



This is what I wore to work. Yes I'm being converted to an NC State wolfpack fan. Heck, I live 5 blocks from campus now. Just being here (and 10 miles from Duke and UNC) will turn you into a college basketball fan. I'm getting caught hook line and sinker. Plus (and I know you can barely see this) it's my new favorite pair of jeans. The Banana Republic size 34's I picked up the other day. The new size is great, and they still fit even after the cheesecake.

This should also show you just how much I miss my favorite photographer. This little camera sucks, and you go from pictures of my cute kids playing joyfully to a slightly thinner me staring into a dirty mirror. and cheesecake. did I mention it was fantastic cheesecake?

Kelley and the girls are coming up here tomorrow, and I can't wait!! Kelley's getting ready for the Krispy Kreme challenge. I am so ready for this house to sell it's really getting old. It's been 4 months of living apart now. I don't like it, not one bit. It's gotten old. But it looks like the market is coming back, so hopefully it won't be much longer. Not only am I ready to get Kelley and the kids up here with me, I'm just plain ready to get them out of South Carolina. May I present this:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/123068/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-thank-you-south-carolina-andre-bauer

One of these days I'll figure out how to embed online videos in here. Jon Stewart, thank you.

January Totals:

Swim: 11,280 yrds = 6.4 miles, 9 swims
Bike: 92 miles, 5 rides
Run: 79.8 miles, 8 runs, 1 half marathon
TriPower: 9 workouts, 135 minutes (15 minutes each)
Yoga: 8 workouts, 240 minutes (30 min each)

That's 39 workouts total in a month with 31 days. I think I'm going to be ok. I know it's not exactly the entire 14 workouts a week in my plan. But I'm strategically choosing to skip some when I just don't feel like it. And 80 miles of running might be a new high for me. 9 swims? 9 swims???!!?!? Can you tell how much I'm loving the pool? That is awesome.

I skipped the swim on monday so I could leave work early. We thought the roads were going to freeze over so the company closed up early enough for everyone to get home before dark. Today I got in the Tri Power before work, and hit a hard 5 mile tempo run after work. I skipped the bike to have lunch with some bad influences from the office. Bratwurst and multiple beers at an Irish pub made for a fantastic afternoon. Of course, the post-work run was full of heartburn. But that's allright.

This weekend I'm going out snail hunting. Really I just want to break his will to live. Crush his soul in ways that would make Glaven proud. It's the "Duel in the Dunes", the Critz Tybee half marathon that I will use to pummel the Georgia Snail. You can still register if you want to come on down to Tybee Island GA. I explained my connection to Tybee in a post last year, but it's a place that is dear to my heart. The race route goes right past our house! I have been looking forward to running this half since I first got back into running in 2008. I'm also looking forward to finally getting to hang out some with Thomas, all trash talking aside. My brother(s) are coming down with me (Michael and/or Morgan - he's still on the fence). So we've got plenty of room.

Goal 1: Break 2 hours
Goal 2: Cross that finish line before the Snail
Goal 3: Enjoy the beach in February

I'm not going to sugar coat it.... the snail has been training hard. I think I've got a sub-2 hour half in my legs but I can't go all Ali on him and guarantee anything. I'm going to put in a 1 mile swim tomorrow at lunch, and another shortish run thursday over lunch before tapering. Saturday I should be fresh and ready to race. I'll have the little camera for plenty of pics, and Kelley will have the big camera for pics from the KK challenge. That should be a funny one.

So that's the week that was and is. I'll be putting plenty of stuff on facebook while i'm down there but might wait until I have the pics from kelley's run before writing the race report. And after I make it back to Raleigh on Sunday night we've been invited to a Super Bowl party with Calyx and Donna! I'm really excited about that. It's a 6 hour drive each way from raleigh to tybee, so who knows how I'll feel when I get back, but I really want to go. Have a great weekend!