NEw Equipment

How is training going? Very good on the bike and in the pool.

I received my new cycling jersey today from cbsstore.com, The Amazing Race jersey I ordered last week.

These are the ones the contestants were all wearing on the opening show of this season when they were riding thru the wine areas of California. I said then I WANT ONE AND I'LL GET IT AS SOON AS THEY COME UP FOR SALE. 

Well, I got it and LOVE it. Except I ordered a medium and need a large. I barely need a large but its a little tight in the arms and shoulders so I've got to send it back for a return. Sigh. I love the shirt.

Its got a zipper all the way down the front and its soft techy material, items I like a lot.

Right now its all packaged up and ready to go back to the post office.

In other news, I swam last night but wasn't feeling very good. I had worked 10 hours starting at 6:45 but had been up since 5am and by 6:30pm when I got into the pool I was just beat. Lasted 1 terrible hour & then left. Got 16 laps in, only 16.

There was a slow old lady, just beginning to learn to swim, taking up the whole lane. She didn't understand staying on one side of the lane and allowing people to pass you. Frustrating.

Good news: I signed up for another half marathon, the Amica Seattle Half marathon on November 25th. Sunday after Thanksgiving.

More good news: I'm in the lead for 1st place for the West Side mtn Bike Series this year, on April 29th if I don't have to work Lan and I will go race again and I'll win another medal and swag. it will be my first swag. IF I don't have to work.

Daffodil 60 Mile Ride

How is training going? Pretty good.

Today Lan, me & Linda went out to Orting to ride in the Daffodil Ride. This is the 37th year and my 3rd time. I did the very first one and two years ago Lan & I did 40 miles.

Today is actually my longest ride ever.

Whats wrong with this picture?

OH SHIT, my bike fell. No injuries, luckily.

When we did the 40 miles it was a different route and we did it in exactly 4 hours. Today is the same one I originally did and today we did it in 5 hours 30 minutes. Lan and I could have done it a LOT faster with out Linda because for the first 40 miles she wouldn't get out of her fucking granny gear no matter if we were going up hill or down hill. So we had to keep waiting for her sorry ass at every corner.

Then when we got to Cemetery Hill, just a couple miles from the end, that stupid bitch went down the hill in front of me then a fucked up Subaru driver got behind her and they were only going 26 MPH. I had to fucking slam on my brakes, sit up and wait for them to get out of the way. I was fucking pissed off. Stupid bitches.

Linda is NEVER going to finish the bike leg of CDA if she doesn't get off the god damn brakes. And I had been thinking maybe I'd ride with her since shes always been faster up hills than me on the bike but shes not any longer. She only beat me up 2 hills. If she catches me on the marathon then we can finish together but I'm not going to slow my bike for her.

Yes, I did enjoy myself and I didn't let Linda know I was pissed off at her. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect temperatures, I was with Lan and I got a lot of miles in.

Will I ride with Linda again? Yes but not for a while and then only on easy rides. I'm not going to waste a good training ride waiting for her again.

Feeling Accomplished

How is training going? Very well.

Today was boot camp followed by Torrey's strength/spin class. At noon I had a massage, at 2pm I loaded up my trusty Ford Ranger, went over to pick up Linda & took a load of composted manure out to Bremerton, which I sold for $35. When I went back to Linda's to drop her off we stopped at her friends house and filled my truck with firewood which I brought home and threw out of the bed of the truck onto the pile of firewood I took out of the big Dodge the other day. In a while I'm going to Masters swimming at the Bremerton YMCA.
Today is a good workout day.  I feel like I got not only planned exercises done but also some good Cross training.

LSD

How is training going? Good.

Yesterday lan and I were able to get in 57 miles on the bikes.

Rode from home, went out past Belfair and back on NorthShore Road. Its a pretty ride along the lower Hoods Canal, mostly flat with just a few hills.

It took us 4 hours 5 minutes but we still didn't keep our pace above 14 MPH.

  Not good, I need to be able to go an average of 14MPH during Ironman or I wont make it.

But we did ride up Mullenix at the end of the ride and I did that in 6 minutes so I was glad.

In horse news:
Wifi is white and black again, need to get good photos of her showing her beautiful color and conformation. Well, honestly her conformation isnt great but its good enough, since she was a total accident. But I love her.

Price of hay has increased dramatically and Im not happy about that, not at all. Last time it was $489 and now its $555, delivered its going to be $589. Time to increase boarding fees.

Jealousy

How is training going? As well as can be expected.

Jealousy sucks.

Yesterday Lan and I were able to get in only 1 hour of riding, instead of the 4 we had planned on. Because I had to be at work at 2pm, it was decided that we would ride in West Seattle, around the Alki area. It was a great workout for a few reasons:
1. WIND
  Headwinds and cross winds blowing off the water that would change at unexpected times.
2. DOGS
  There were a lot of people walking their dogs but they were so unpredictable and took up most of the pathway.
3. PEOPLE
  The people in Seattle are a bunch of stupid idiots. Did YOUR Drivers Ed instructor teach you to check your mirrors on a busy street before you open your car door? Well, none of the teachers in Seattle teach it because I had at least 3 doors opened right in front of me.
4. CRAPPY STREETS
  The roads were horrible. Cracks, lines, pot holes, sewer lines. They were incredibly bumpy and uncomfortable.

GOOD POINTS OF THE RIDE:
We got to ride up 1 hill, it was about 1/4 mile long and pretty steep. of course Lan got to the top first and came back for me but he did say that hes not having to go back as far as he used to go to find me on hills.
The stress of riding in the city is unusual for me so it was good to experience it. I've ridden there before but on my mtn bike a very long time ago, when I didn't know to pay attention to all these things.

So back to the topic of the day... jealousy.

Linda and Steve had all day to ride so they got in 51.5 miles. They rode around Port Orchard, out to Cenex, into Olalla, out to Southworth and back home. I wish I had done that ride instead of our short one. But after looking at his online Garmin info I see that their/his top steed was only 37 MPH and they were pretty proud of the hills they rode up when I've been doing those same ones for years & I haven't had to walk up any of them either, ever. They did have good time, 4.5 hours for the entire distance.

Yes, Im being bitchy but I dont care, this is MY blog.

Why do I do this?

How is training going? Big Sigh.

I am SO tired lately and I haven't even been working out. That might be why I'm tired. But I'm too tired to get out and get exercise. So I called a new doctor, one in my area, and I'm going to go in for this cold/allergies/sinus infection BS that's going on and try to get it cleared up. That might help with my swimming and nausea in the water.

And I've set up an appointment for a physical in 4-6 weeks, perfect timing for the Ironman. I've got to be healthy for it, huh?

We beat her

How is training going? GREAT.

Last Friday Linda and I did our practice Half Ironman so that we could see if we were even close to how well trained Barbara is. Barbara did Galveston Half Ironman on Sunday, she finished in 7 hours 44 minutes. Linda and I did ours in a pool, on spin bikes and walking on the road/running on a treadmill and we completed ours in 9 hours. But we took hour long breaks at transition.

WE BEAT HER.

 We have both been stressing out over it since Barb is a dentist who has Ryan as a personal trainer (yes, my old Ryan.) Linda does most of her workouts at Olympic Gym in Port Orchard and you know all about mine. Barb does hers at Olympic too but shes got all sorts of advantages, like shes rich, she picks her own work days, she can pay for the best.

But obviously Linda and I are doing OK since our time was better than hers. Yes, we had rest periods, yes, we were at 'home', yes, we had cool/cold weather and she was in the heat. But we beat her.  Barb made the choice to go to Galveston. Linda and I made the choice to see if we could at least finish a half and now we know we can.

Plus, neither of us had any problems afterward, only a bit of soreness that day & the next, not major soreness at all. Today we both feel great. I haven't had a workout since then but I'm going to boot camp, spin & core tomorrow. I'm now excited to move on and step it up some more.