35 Days Away!! Start Taking Cold Showers!! Another Personal Best!!

Can't believe we're so close to the race.  For all of you doing the race, trust your training has been going well.  At this point prior to race, the die hards are now suggest'n that we start sleeping with the windows open and turning the hot water off for the last minute or two of our showers to get us used to the cold temp of the San Francisco Bay.  I must admit, I will do the windows open for a few nights and do play a bit w/ the cold water in the shower, but nothing too extreme.  I think it does help to condition the body.  In Seattle, some of us will (or already have) start jumping into the lake or Sound.

I broke my personal best in the 1/4 mile swim this week.  6:52!!!  It amazes me, as I haven't been spending my typical amount of time in the pool.  I'm day 59 into P90X and as I'm mentioned before, I'm certain this program is what's making me break these records.  The core is solid beyond belief.  Diet has been stellar.

I''ve been doing P90X with a buddy of mine (who is also doing Escape for the first time ever....actually first triathlon ever) and he just got his body fat measured on Thursday and it went from 18% in Sept '09 to 7%.  Talk about an incredible transformation.  A huge congrats to him!

Keep up the great training you all and keep sending me notes if you have any questions along the way.

Cheers, Perry
sjogren@gmail.com

Rock'n the Run and Swim! Swear P90X is the Source! Broke Personal Bests AGAIN!

Honestly can't believe how amazing the training has gone.  I look at my times and scratch my head as I've broken my running course record again (on Sunday, specs below...24:39).  This was on Sunday.  I shaved off another 50 seconds.  LOVE IT!  Specs below, you might say that's nothing spectacular for a 3 mile course, but I'm having to conquer 4 steep hills over the course of the run. 

Track 001

Perry has created a track with MotionX-GPS on the iPhone

Date:Mar 14, 2010 12:11 pm

Distance:3.03 miles

Elapsed Time:24:39.4

Avg. Speed:7.4 mph

Max. Speed:11.2 mph

Avg. Pace:08' 08" per mile

Map link expires:Apr 13, 2010 2:26 PM PDT

And this morning I cranked out a 2 mile swim and pushed for speed on two of the half miles.  1/4 mile was at 7:29 and then 7:19, 1/2 mile was at 15:15 and then 14:40.  Average laps for the 1/2 mile at 15:15 and 14:40 are 51 and 49 second laps.  Prior to today's swim, my lap pool personal best for the 1/2 mile was 15:30 and that was right before a race where I had been swimming quite a bit.  CRAZY!!


I'm day 47 into P90X and I swear this is the source for me breaking these records.  My core feels so incredibly strong, and P90X is the only thing I can attribute this too.  I should be swimming, running and biking at least 3x/week and I've been averaging at the most 2x/week for each, so P90X is helping w/ the training beyond belief. If I weren't doing this program, I am certain I would not be breaking these records.  And the really cool thing is that my body is shedding the fat (was at 21% at start of P90X on Jan 29, 2010...goal is 10% for Day 90, Apr 28th) and doing a pretty cool transformation.  I had a really nice gut going on Day 1....post Holiday as well as many years of just something I couldn't shed off. SORRY to go off on this...it just amazes me though.


If you want more specs on the program, shoot me an email and I'll give you more specs on how I'm implementing P90X w/ the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon training. It's important to coordinate your tri training w/ the very specific P90X days as you don't want to hurt the P90X 'muscle confusion' which is trademark for the program. My email is sjogren@gmail.com  


For those of you doing the race, I hope the training is going well for you. Share your stories w/ me if you like.  45 DAYS AND WE'LL BE JUMPING OFF THAT BOAT NEXT TO THAT ISLAND CALLED ALCATRAZ. WOOOHOOO!!!

P90X is Rock'n the Core Strength

Alright guy/gals, I have to journal this because it's a bit crazy.  Two weeks ago I rolled my foot, broke a blood vessel and had some soft tissue torn (I put a pic of the beautiful foot at the end of this post....I know...nice eh!!).  It looks much worse than it feels.....I thank God it wasn't fractured or a worse soft tissue tear, as that would have put me out for months. So I had to lay off the running for two weeks.  Well this past Friday was two weeks to the day of the injury and I decided to give my regular running course a shot. Here's the incredible news.....I beat my all time course record by 23 seconds (25 minutes, 30 seconds).  And the record before this was set two weeks prior and get this....that run was the first time I had run the course since my triathlon last year.  Now that is absolutely crazy!!  I've been doing my normal running (2-3 x/week - 4-6 miles each run), but there was not one ounce of hard core training for the May 2nd race. I was thinking I would maybe get around 29-30 minutes on that run two weeks ago and instead I got 25:53!!! CRAZY!!!!

Now the only thing that I can attribute to this too, and am certain of it, is that I started doing a workout program called P90X on January 29th. The great thing is that I was able to continue w/ my P90X workouts during those two weeks w/ minor edits to the program when alot of weight was involved w/ the left foot. If you're not familiar w/ P90X, it is Tony Horton's 90 day home fitness challenge, that involves 12 intense DVD's that are designed to workout each and every part of your body. It does not require a lot of fitness equipment, just dumbells, exercise bands and a chin-up bar.  I had always heard that the program produces amazing results if you stick to it.  I am only 37 days into it and look at the incredible results it has produced w/ my running.....truly amazing!!  When I broke my record two weeks ago, I was only 23 days into the P90X program.  This is no joke folks.....P90X works!! I have some great "before" and "now" pics too, which amaze me as well.  I'll write more later on this program and provide some links as well.  If you have questions in the mean time, email me at sjogren@gmail.com

P90X ROCKS THE CORE!! :)

NOTE: P90X did not cause this injury.
I'm way too embarrassed to tell y'all what
really happened. :) No, not a drunk stupor
either...it happened in the house. :)

Gilsenan Endurance Sport Promotions Presents: Escape Academy

If any of you are looking for an Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon training camp before May 2nd, I just ran across the article below in Competitor Triathlon.  What's cool, is that if you failed to get a slot in the lottery, you will be given a slot by competing this camp. I did a camp my first year and it was just a one day camp, but it eased my mind completely in regards to the swim.   Check it on out. 
_____________________________________________________________________________


A fun filled and concentrated weekend triathlon clinic in San Francisco, Ca.

The sole purpose of this clinic is to prepare the athlete for the IMG Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, May 2nd 2010.

Escape Academy athletes will receive training tips, seminars, sponsor samples and suggestions on all aspects of this great race from travel to training and everything in between.

Athletes will complete all three legs of the world famous IMG Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon course in a safe group workout setting.

By completing the Escape Academy, athletes will qualify and are eligible to enter The IMG Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon May 2, 2010.

$400.00 race entry fee is an additional fee to the Escape Academy fee.

March 20th & 21st 2010

Escape Academy primary meeting place is:

Sports Basement Presidio

610 Old Mason Street

San Francisco, Ca 94129

Sat 3-20-10

7:30am

Swim from Alcatraz into the St Francis Yacht Club

12noon

Run the 8 mile EFAT run course including the ‘Sand Ladder’

Sun 3-21-10

9am

Bike the entire 20 mile EFAT bike course

Various lectures from our coaching staff will fill in around the 3 group workouts.

Academy Fee: $500.00 per person prepaid

Contact: Eric Gilsenan 916-705-9748 or eegilsenan@aol.com

The ‘Escape Academy’ is produced by veteran triathletes who have competed and completed the IMG Escape from Alcatraz. Triathlon.

Here is our coaching team:

Eric Gilsenan- Eric is a 21 year veteran of this race, competing, completing and working this triathlon every year since 1989.

“This was my first triathlon ever, I love this race, it changed my life, it is an all time multisport classic.

I want to pass the sport of triathlon on and share it with the world. I believe you cannot keep ‘IT’ if you don’t give ‘IT’ away. Escape Academy is a great way for me to give back to a sport that has given me so much. As a coach I love to see all people challenge themselves, step up, set a goal, compete, have fun and workout with us, come on out, this is health care!”

Brent Allen- A veteran athlete and USAT coach of this event, we are glad to have the original Head Coach of the Escape Clinics back with us

*USAT Expert Level Triathlon Coach and one of the first USAT certified coaches in the United States (certified since 2000 started coaching in 1997).

*Created and Directed Escape from Alcatraz training camps and Alcatraz swim clinics for the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon from 2002-2006. Also directed/managed many aspects of the actual event.

*Has competed in all types of endurance sports since 1994 including: all distances of triathlon (including Ironman), ultra-running events-cycling, mountain bike triathlons (Xterra etc.), adventure racing, ocean rescue, paddle (stand up / prone)and swim.

Terri Schneider – We are thrilled to have her aboard the Academy staff. Terri has been a focused and intelligent competitor all her life, her DNA is chock full of true grit, class and a huge bucket of determination.

As a professional triathlete she won this race back in 1990 and was 4th here in 1994.

Terri’s list of accolades as an athlete, a fitness professional and as a race director are so substantial we recommend you check out her website www.terrischneider.net

Gina Kehr-To have Gina on our Escape Academy team is awesome, she has raced professionally here at Alcatraz many times.

Gina’s finishing results here lately have been 8th place last year as well as 9th in 2007, she is a great Mom of 2 great kids, a wife of a Redwood City firefighter, business woman in commercial real estate, pro triathlete who is a 2 time top 10 Ironman World Champion .

Check out www.ginakehr.com

Source: CompetitorTriathlon.com

58 Days and it's the great leap off of that huge boat parked right next to Alcatraz.

I can't believe the race is less than two months away.  Holy smokes....exciting! Trust everyone's training is going well. Time to kick it up a notch in all categories.  Everything's going great in my arena.  Minor set back w/ my foot sprain, but it's on the mend.  Swim is crank'n.  Spin class is crank'n (yes....I know...I need to get on the actual bike outside now).  I'll try running again tomorrow.  I've had to lay off of it for the past week.

The most exciting part of this training is the P90X program I am doing.  It has strengthened my core beyond belief, which is helping me tremendously in all three sports, not to mention the kind of transformation that's taking place w/ my body.  I can give you the specs if email me at sjogren@gmail.com. I'll be putting up a site shortly for that program, which will have all of the great info.

This week I'll be making my bike rental arrangements.  Bay City Bike is a great group to rent from.  I also am keeping an eye out for a good air fare and will nab that in a the next week or two.

Also excited about the road crew that's coming out to support me and my family/friends doing the race.  Pretty darn cool to have cheer leaders in the crowd.

Be well and happy training!!