September 13th - Thank You LC Olympia Triathlon Team

I would like to thank the members of the LC Olympia Triathlon Team in Wiesbaden, Germany. The entire team welcomed me starting the first day that I showed up for the first swim practice. If anyone is looking to join a Triathlon team in Germany, this is the one to join. Not only are the members friendly and helpful, but they are earger to help you become a better Triathete.

The team is also very well organized and have regularly schedule group training sessions on their website.

LC Olympia Wiesbaden

I would especially like to thank Victor Bonin for helping me love the hills. He spent weekends coaching and helping me get through them. For this is I will be forever grateful.

Best of luck to Shasha in Hawaii.

Thanks Everyone

September 13th - Getting back in the Groove

It's been a while since my last update to my blog. After the Wiesbaden 70.3, I haven't been training as much as I should have however, I did do a Sprint Triathlon one week after the70.3. To my surprise, I did very well in both races.

The 70.3 was my first half and I did (in my mind) a very smart race. I went out easy on the swim (33 minutes) - rather conservative so that I would not be to tired on the bike. The bike course was very hilly. There was a 10% grade on one of the many hills. My time on the bike was 3 hours and 48 minutes. I ran fairly well for the first 8 miles but the last 5 miles were tough but I made it with a 2:14. Total time for the race was 6.42.

One week later I flew home and participated in the Island Lake Sprint (Michigan). I was a little apprehensive for a number of reasons, could I recover after the half a week earlier, would I have jet lag and I had my 17 year old road bike to use. As it turned out, the Sprint was my best time ever with a total time of 1:14. I finished the half mile swim in 12:26, the 11.6 mile bike in 35.?? and the 5K run in 24.??.

Well, I have been jogging and swimming lately. I'm getting ready for the Detroit half-Marathon in October and I'm going to be shooting for the Disney Marathon in January.

July 27th

Well, it's my last full workout week before the Wiesbaden Half-Ironman. I have to have a good week this week and get in as much as possible to build my confidence heading into the final week.

My workout schedule for next week is shown below.

Sunday - Bike 40 miles and Run 4 miles

I had a good bike ride today and felt good on the hills. It's amazing what a little rest and some food will do for you. My speed was a little better on the hill to Hausen. I don't think I dropped lower than 6 MPH on the climb. Normally, I'm in the 5's most of the way.

Monday - Run 4.5 miles and Swim 3,000 Meters

Tuesday - Run 8 miles

Wednesday - Run 4 miles and swim 3,000 meters

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Bike 50-60 miles

Saturday - Bike 50-60 miles

Week of July 20th

Having a family vacation in Europe. What fun. Workouts will decrease, especially on the swims and bike.

My workout schedule for next week is shown below.

Sunday - Run 12 miles

At this point in the trip, we are spending all day walking, so much, that we aren't resting of eating as often as we should be. We certainly aren't drinking enough water. Today, we stayed in Graz, Italy after spending the day in Vienna. Vienna was beautiful. The architecture of the old historical buildings was simply beautiful. I don't think we could have taken enough pictures.

Monday - Run 4.5 miles.

From Graz, we drove to Venice, Italy. WOW, I knew there were canals, but I didn't think that Venice would be so beautiful. The kids and Joanne loved it. We stayed in San Marco. To get to San Marco, we had to load our luggage on a fiery and take the boat to the island. It's truly amazing that everything, and I mean, everything, is done by or on a boat there. All the resurfacing of the buildings is done with boats and platforms, and the godola drivers navigate the godolas with precision.

Rest in Venice, also, no place to run.

Tuesday - Bike ride - approximately 40 miles.

Drove to Milan, Italy, to spend the night prior to heading to Zurich, Switzerland. Ran about 3 miles in Milan (what a dump). This was the city that I could not wait to leave. It was dirty and the the people (in cars) were like NASCAR drivers with horns. All I can say is, I've never seen such lack of discipline in driving. It seemed like there were no lanes, and people srove whereever they wanted. Like I said, I could not wait to leave.

The drive to Zurich was utterly amazing, the Alps we big and beautiful and all I could think of was how lucky the people were who lived in the small villages inthe hills of the Alps.

Wednesday - Bike 60 miles and swim 2,800 meters

Biked 60 miles. I felt tired and and my legs were tired. It much be fun all the walking and driving on vacation (time of rest). We must be walking 8-10 miles a day without food and water. My wife and daughter can go all day without eating and drinking. My son and I can't.

I also, swam 2,800 meters later in the day in Wiesbaden. I felt very good.

Thursday - Bike 40 miles.

Rest - Drive to Paris

Friday - Run 4-6 miles.

Ran ten miles in Paris. This was a great run. I had a chance to run under the Effiel Tower, by the Arc de Triumph and a few other monuments. Then we walked 10 miles throughout the day.

Saturday - Run 4-6 miles

Drive back to Wiesbaden

Week of July 14th

Having a family vacation in Europe. What fun. Workouts will decrease, especially on the swims and bike.

My workout schedule for next week is shown below.

Sunday - Rest.

Th kids arrived in Germany and we spend the day together.

Monday - Run 4.5 miles.

I ran 4.5 miles on Monday. My time was a little off but I was still happy with what I did. I was still a little sore from my 66 mile ride in the hills on Saturday.

Tuesday - Bike ride - approximately 40 miles.

I rode 40 miles today on mostly flat, but I did do two of my favorite hills and worked them pretty good. I am still sore from Saturday's ride of 68 miles on the hills.

Wednesday - Run 4-5 miles

Rest Day - On account that we started our vacation and we drove to Sturtgart, Germany for the day and saw the Polar Bear (buddy-bear.com) exhibit. This was very cool. There were polar bear statues (one from each country) painted to best represent the county. From there we drove another three hours to Munich, Germany.

Thursday - Run 4 miles.

In Munich, I ran ten miles in the cold rain but it felt good. In Munich we did a lot of shopping and visited the Hard Rock Cafe as well as did some sight seeing. We also to the train to Dachal Concentration camp and took a tour of the camp. It's amazing that we humans are capable of inflicting the amount of pain and hatred on others and at the same time, as human, we are able to take on so much stress, pressure and pain and then rebound from it. I'll keep that in mind during the 70.3 in Wiesbaden on August 10th.

Friday - Run 4-6 miles.

Ran 4 miles easy in Munich throught the shopping area and the new city hall. It's really cool that my runs enable me to see so many historic sights some of which date back prior to the US being discovered.

Saturday - Run 4-6 miles

Rest

Week of July 6th

I had a relatively bad start to week due to a lot of work related activities and therefore, I didn't get to workout much. However, I closed the week relatively in good shape. I continue to hit the hills on both the runs and bike. I do need to work harder on the hills.

My workout schedule for next week is shown below.

Sunday - Rest.

Joanne arrived in Germany so I took the day off and spent it with her.

Monday - Swim 3,000 meters and Run 6 miles.

I ran 9.5 miles on Monday. I felt really good and overall the first 7.5 - 8.0 miles went very well. I felt a little tight on the last mile or so.

Tuesday - Run 6-8 miles

I ran 4.5 miles today and I pushed it on the hills and stretched it on the downhills. I had my best mile splits today with the lowest spilt at 7.45 minutes.

Wednesday - Swim 3,000 and Run 5 miles

I had to skip today due to work.

Thursday - Run 4 miles.

Friday - 3,000 meter swim

Saturday - Bike 70 miles

Week of June 29th

I had a week of highs and lows. I did not get a chance to workout as much as I would have liked to due to work requirements but I plan to hit better this week. The new cassette works great on the hills. Last Saturday I stayed with the 23 cog on the hills to prove that I could do them, but Sunday was a difernt story. I was up late and the 70 miles took a lot out of me.

My workout schedule for next week is shown below.

Sunday - Bike 40 miles on the hills.

I did very well even though my legs were gone fort he first 20 miles from Saturdays workout and too much wine the night before.

Monday - Swim 3,000 meters

Skipped due to work.

Tuesday - Run 6-8 miles

Skipped due to work.

Wednesday - Swim 2,500 - 3,000 and Run 5 miles

Skipped due to work.

Thursday - Run 4 miles.

I ran a combination of hills, flats and downhills for 6 miles. My legs felt very tight at the end. I didn't warm or down and I think that I need to.

Friday - 3,000 meter swim and a 3 mile run

I swam 3,000 meters and felt really good. I think it is because I was accidently coming out of a tapper. I also rean 5.5 miles afterwards.

Saturday - Bike 70 miles

I actually did a brick today. I rode 45 miles in the moutains between the villages and I felt better on the hills. After the bike, I ran 5.5 miles.

Week of June 22nd - Wiesbaden - Germany

I had a second stong week of workouts this past week and I am working to put in another strong week. The hills are getting a lot easier now. I am moving through hills that at one time would have made me either stop or fight through it with pain. One thing that I am really looking forward to is getting a new cassette on my bike. I currently have a 12-23 cogset and I will be getting a 12-27 cogset. This should allow me to move through the 70.3 a little easier.



Here is a view from Saturday's bike ride.









My workout schedule for next week is shown below.

Sunday - Bike 48 miles


A picture of the vineyards just outside a small village called Hausen.



I took it easy today and only biked 48 of the 60 that I had planned. I did a 62 mile ride yesterday and then did the 6 mile run and therefore, I felt a little tight today.

Monday - Swim 3,000 meters

Tuesday - Run 6-8 miles

Wednesday - Swim 2,500 - 3,000 and Run 5 miles

Ran 8.5 miles.

Thursday - Run 4 miles.

None, work.

Friday - 3,000 meter swim and a 3 mile run

No swim nor run. Work is starting to slow me down.

Saturday - Bike 60 - 70 miles

I biked 71 miles today although it was an ugly ride. About half way into the ride it started to rain while I was in the hills so I rode down to Lorch to get to the nearest town (about 10 miles way). I then got a flat abuot halfway between Lorch and Rudesheim. I did however, conquer two of my nemisist hills without stopping. I getting better.