Great Video Photo Book of Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon 2010

I ran across this on youtube today and thought I'd share!!  For those of us racing in June, this clip will get us excited for what lies ahead!!  Anyone start their training yet?

Race Start Simulation

Past Week in a Nut Shell!

I think today I hit my best pool swim time ever. 25 min, 18 seconds....whoohoooo!!!

Now, must get crank'n on the bike. Biking is my week link. I think if I lived along PCF in Southern California, it would be a little bit easier to get on the bike and head out for a ride. 52 degrees, rain and wind just don't do it for me.

I'll be doing my first plunge into lake this weekend.

The run is progressing pretty good. I did a 14 mile on Friday......kicked my butt, but everything felt great.

Did a yoga class last night....the body was needing a good stretch.

That's the past week in a nutshell. Stay tuned.......32 days and counting.

So excited to be doing this race w/ friends this year. They're all doing great w/ their training too. Steve had his first tri ever over the weekend and was a rock star! Marc is ripp'n it up in Idaho....people here him go by but they don't see him because he's so fast. Chris has already had multiple swims in Lake Washington and did his first mile swim over the weekend. And James, he's Ironman so he can doesn't need to train until the week before. Great job dudes!

We Did It!!

We achieved the goal......$2,530 as of Mon, June 2nd!!! Many, many thanks to those of you who contributed and donated to LAF. I'm honestly at loss for words of your generosity and your donations have definitely fueled the fire for me to swim/bike/run harder on Sunday.

Last Big Training Brick

On Saturday I had my last big training brick. 2 miles in Lake Washington (with my friend Dave and Jeff.....thanks you two for dealing w/ the cold and going along for the ride), 20 mile bike and realizing 2/3 of the way into it my brake pad was rubbing against my front tire. I couldn't figure out why I was more exhausted than normal on the bike. Actually, was great to have 2x the workout as bike is not my strength. And then I did a 2 mile run just to get used to that weird sensation in the legs going from bike to run. My feet were honestly frozen through the swim and bike, but started warming up w/ the run.

The swim felt really good and that's the big of the three that I'm obviously thet most concerned about.

Now it's just tapering down from now until race day. Whoohoooo!!!!

Training Winding Down

9 Days Left!! Yesterday I put in a non-stop 1.5 mile and it felt pretty good. I did it in 38 minutes, so if the Bay had the same conditions as the pool, I'd have 22 minutes to spare before the one hour cut off. Unfortunately, I'll have a few more obstacles, but I think the 22 minutes will be plenty of time to get me to shore under the cutoff.

This morning I did my Capital Hill loop (about 6 miles) and the loop is certainly getting easier each time I do it.

And then this eve my master's swim group had us working on core work for freestyle and I fine-tuned mine a bit more which felt great.

Workout for this Saturday is a 2 - 2.5 mile swim in Lake Washington followed by a one hour bike and 8 mile run. Then post Saturday, it's definitely tapering way down til race days.

That's that low-down, latest and greatest.

More Race Support.....Whooohoooo!!!

In addition to my pops, I now have my sister Shauna, Aunt Gloria, Uncle Gene and maybe even my cousin Kristen coming up to eat clam chowder bread bowls and cheer my on. Whooohhooooooo!!! I'm never had an audience like this for an out of town race and am totally excited to have them there. I'm sure their support will give me an extra boost...crank'n the adrelanlin a bit more, which will definitely be welcomed for all three legs of the race.

So mucho thanks you four for coming out for the race. It will be a good time. I'll probably be a bit nervy leading up to the race but it will definitely make it easier having you all there.

Training this Week

Great swim yesterday (24:45 minute mile) and great run on Tues (5 miles @ 7:14 min/mile average) and will be hitting the bike post work today with a buddy.

I also did my master's swim on Monday night and had the coach watch me and he provided me with a couple more tips (1) breathing and 2)hand position post entering the water) which did make a difference, so that was great.

Now this weekend, I need to try to get a first time 1.5 mile swim in the lake followed by the full bike or full run.

My buddy Dave also invited me to a 2.5 mile swim on Sat, May 31st around Seward Park. I think that might be the perfect long swim before the race.

50 Minutes in the Lake

Whoohooooo . . . . . still can't believe it, but I was able to swim in the lake for 50 minutes this morning and after about 15 minutes of getting used to the cold and fungus amungus floating about, I was actually able to enjoy it. I kept waiting for my body to go in shock w/ the cold, but this is the first time it didn't do it. And to make it even better, as I was getting out of the water I was chatt'n w/ a diver going into the water and I asked him if he knew the temp and he said he checked less than a week ago and it was 49 degrees. That's at leat five degrees cooler than Alcatraz, so hearing that was a huge boost for me. No wonder why I froze my cahones off last week when I did a plunge w/o my wet suit.

Post swim I did a nice 6 mile loop from Madison Beach to Capital Hill and there is a huge hill I was constantly climbing for the first three miles.

So, in a nutshell, great training day and feeling like I truly might be able to do this Alcatraz swim. Whoohooooo!!!

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon

Just found another youtube clip on the race. A great overview from start to finish, especially with the swim. Check it on out.

First Non-Stop Mile and a Half

Yesterday was my first mile and a half swim non-stop. I did it at the pool before work and it went pretty well. I did it in about 43 minutes. We have to complete the swim in one hour, so I'll be pushing it as the Bay elements will definitely add more minutes to that 43. If I can get down to 40 minutes before race day, I'll be pretty happy with that.

I honestly think my new suggested 'Alcatraz' swim goggles drag me down a bit because they're so huge. The brand is Aqua Seal and they have the 180 degree view and since they take up a larger portion on the face, it will keep a bit more of my face warmer.

I ran last eve and that went pretty well. Got the heart beat up to 134 beats per minute towards the end.

I'm working on a prosthetic shark fin to attach to the back of my swim cap. I'm sure all the other swimmers would get quite a chuckle out of that. Hahaha . . . . kidding . . . now that would be a terrible joke.

One Month from Today!

Oh my word....we're down to a month now. Via this blog's countdown it's saying 30 Days, 17 Hours, 45 Minutes.

Can't believe I'll be jumping off of that boat into the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay in one month. The adrenaline is already starting to pump.

Sorry for the neglect on the blog. An out of town conference since Sunday will do that. I'll be better with the next 30 days.

45 Days!

Man, seemed like it was 100 days out just a few days ago. Now it's only 45....the countdown is on. Bringing the bike in for a tune-up today and hoping to have a great workout weekend (aside from a little paintball action on Saturday).

Yesterday's Training

I haven't provided a summary of a day's training in a while, so here's a quick snap on yesterday.

I had a great weight workout in the a.m. People tell me I really don't need to be lifting weights right now, but that's something I'm a bit stubborn with and manage to keep going. Strength wise, I think it has really helped out my swim out quite a bit.

I then swam at lunch and did about 2,000 yards (about a mile and a quarter) and everything felt great. Everyone must be learning to swim right now, because I had another flounder in my lane and had to dodge him most of the swim. I've been learning to breathe on both sides (every third stroke) and this was the first swim where it kind of clicked in and I didn't have to constantly focus on when to breathe. Before I was breathing every fourth stroke and for longer swims like Alcatraz, it's suggested to breathe every two to three strokes for more oxygen supply. Being able to breathe on my right will also help me out if there happens to be quite a few waves on race day and the suggested side is the right. At the training clinic, we had to breathe on the left due to waves and thank goodness that was my breathing side, either wise it would have been an extra stress having to do it on the right. Now I'm all balanced. :)

Post work Walter and I headed down to the lake for an easy 5 miles. That too felt great. The knee tendonitis and planters fasciitis are doing much, much better. I think taking most of last week off provided the body with some healing action. I also think this magic acai juice might be helping things out too. I'm still amazed at my constant energy level after I take 2 oz of the juice. Also want to report that Walter's picking up his pace too and has shed a few of those winter pounds, so he's a happy pooch.

3 More Crew Members!!

Whooohoooooo......I have 3 more crew members for the race! I'm on a little Vegas Vacae right now and this is too hard to type from the phone so I'll introduce the crew members when I get back and maybe even place their mugs if they'll let me. :)

And a Few More Snaps

Snaps from Swim at Training Clinic

My good buddy Steve Noble took some awesome snaps of the swim. Noble, thanks for hanging out for two hours in the blistery wind and taking such great snaps. Clicking on image will show you a larger version.

Sea Lions, Tigers and Bears.....Oh My

I forgot to mention that over the weekend I had my first 'creature encounter during my swim' dream . . . . . and it wasn't too bad of an experience. It was a sea lion (about 6x bigger than the one in this picture) and it went underneath the swimmer in from of me and threw them up in the air about 20 feet . . . . . then I woke up. :) So no sharks, no jaws movie soundtrack . . . . . just a friendly, large sea lion. :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

I hope you're wearing your green. Yesterday I ran the annual St. Patty's race in Seattle and below are a few snaps from it. Lots of fun.....over 17K people, and the sun even peaked out for the race.

Belly Dancing Spin Class

Over the weekend I was chatt'n w/ my buddy Jame's about my training and he asked how the bike part was going and if I had taken my bike out yet for a ride. Well.....the answer is no and I keep thinking I have plenty of time but in less than three weeks I'll be riding the bike course at the training camp so I best be getting my butt in gear. Biking in the cold and rain isn't my favorite thing to do but it's time to buckle up. So with that said, I avoided the bike (outside) this weekend and decided to do two spinning classes back to back.

In the first class, it was about 10 minutes into the class and no instructor. The guy next to me says 'Carol (the spin instructor) is a friend of mine and she's at Whistler right now and she couldn't fine a substitute teacher'. Great....I finally get motivated to work on the bike portion and no instructor. The dude on the other side of me said 'I have my wife's belly dancing cd in the car that we could spin to'. The gal next to him says 'hell no' and I say "it's definitely better than no music at all', so he runs out, comes back w/ the cd and the next hour we were spinning to ching, ching, ching...belly dancing ching. About mid way through a gal hops off her bike and starts doing a ching, ching, ching next to her bike for a couple of minutes and says she knows how to belly dance. It definitely wasn't your typical spin class.

I then stayed on the bike through the next class (where the instructor did show up), so it was a great workout for me, even though I wasn't on the actual bike outside. Maybe next weekend. :)