97 days and $1835 to go!

This weeks training was uneventful. Monday and Tuesday I was traveling. Home from Las Vegas on Monday and down to Florda on Tuesday. So, I had no time to train at all on those two days. My first run this week was on Wednesday. The three miles went easily after several days rest. A four mile run on Thursday and another three mile run on Friday finished out the weekday training. So far the gradual build-up in the mileage appears to be giving my leg muscles time to acclimate to the running. There is little sign of the leg cramps that plagued me off and on last year. My back also seems to be doing quite well. That's good news for my training.

Yesterday, after three straight days of running, I switched to my bike for a little cross-training. The weather has been perfect this weekend for training. A tem mile ride took me from home to Mentor Beach State Park. I love riding the path near the beach. It's really a beautiful place. When it warms up a little more, I can do some open water swimming there as well. A headwind on the return trip made for slightly slower going, but a really good workout. This morning I finished the week's workout with a five mile run.

Next week, I should be able to stick closely to the scheduled runs. The plan is to step up the distance of the longest run to nine miles. I'm still thinking adding about a possible marathon (the Akron Road Runner Marathon) after the Nation's Triathlon in September. But, I still have a lot of work to do.

104 days and $1835 to go!

I can't tell you what I did over the weekend because I was in Vegas (for business, not pleasure) and we all know that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". :)

In any case, I wasn't able to train at all from saturday through today. I knew that was coming. So, I shifted my schedule to complete the weeks running by friday. It worked out very well and I was able to finish the four scheduled runs, including a 7 miler on friday, with a little yoga thrown in for good measure. Monday, tuesday, and wednesday were each 3 mile days according to the plan. Thursday was a rest day. So, I did a 20 minute yoga routine but no running. On friday, my 7 mile run went very smoothly. My right calf stiffened a little about 4 miles into the run, but it loosened up a little while after that and I finished the run without further incident. I am very happy to report that I am having no problems with my back these days. That's a wonderful feeling!

I will tell about one thing that happened in Vegas. I met a young lady who is an ultra-endurance athlete. My hero! :) She has competed in "double" ironman races. Yes, that would be a 4.8 mile swim, 256 mile bike, and a 52.4 mile run - an over 30 hour effort! She is currently training for the bicycle "Race Across America". All that, and she's smart too!

I'm looking forward to running in Florida this week. It is a relatively easy week with two 3, one 4, and one 5 mile runs.

154 days and $2735 to go!

I haven't been able to do too much training this week but I have been working on my back exercises and I did get in a fun 45 miles around Cincinnati with my brother, Jim, on Saturday.

I have two issues affecting my training that I am still trying to get a handle on. My periodic back problems which seem to interrupt my training at the most inconvenient times and leg cramps. First the back. I went to physical therapy on Monday. I told the therapist that I just wanted to figure out what to do so that I could keep training without worrying about being periodically "side-lined" by back problems. He gave me a series of exercises for my abdominals and lower back muscles and stretches which target my hip muscles. Hopefully, this will do the trick. We'll see.

My dear friend Miranda, who is training for an Iron Man, left some powder in a bag on my desk at work with a label reading "For Louie". This got more than a few chuckles from my colleagues and a quizzical email or two since I was not in Florida this past week. After the Corporate Run I had discussed my leg cramping with Miranda and she helpfully suggested this training and racing preparation (the powder) that she was trying in preparation for her big race. She offered to let me try some of this "magic powder". So, there you have it - a bag of powder appeared on my desk. Thanks, Miranda!

Now to the fun stuff! Whenever I get to Cincinnati to visit my family, I try to get in a bicycle ride with my brother, Jim. He picks great routes around the city and in the surrounding areas. This time, he mapped out a tour of the best overlooks around Cincinnati. It was, of course, a great "hill" workout. Not sure I was fully ready for it since it's been a while since I have ridden hills. But, I worked it out and managed to handle each hill, although I had to shift into "low low" toward the end of the ride. And my butt was definitely dragging going up that last hill. Our first stop was Eden Park on the east side of town where we also checked out an outdoor art exhibit. Our next stop was Mt. Adams where we got a cup of coffee to break the morning chill and enjoyed a beautiful view of the Ohio River. A harrowing ride down a winding road found us in downtown Cincinnati where we visited the huge display of pansies at fountain square and stopped at "Lytle Park" which is named after William Lytle, a Cincinnatian and a Civil War General who was killed that the battle of Chickamauga. He was also a noted poet of his time whose death was mourned in both the North and the South.

We then crossed the River and rode around Ft. Thomas, Kentucky, looking for a view - which we never found. Our most memorable view of the city was from Devou Park (see the photo), which is also on the Kentucky side, but at the other end of the city. Recrossing the river, we rode up to Mt. Echo on the west side of town for our final view of the Ohio River. After lunch at Findlay Market we rode up to Fairview Park, the final overlook on our tour. All in all, a very enjoyable ride on beautiful day!

Taking shelter in Harrison's tomb

Yesterday, I joined my brother and some of his friends on his 100 mile bicycle "Le Tour de Hamilton County". Much of the charm of these long distance rides is in dealing with the unexpected, like getting lost (which we do at least once in every ride) or dodging thunderstorms. The weather around Cincinnati yesterday was characterized as "isolated violent thunderstorms". Ok, sounds interesting. Intrepid bicyclers that we were, we decided to go for it anyway.

Our first downpour hit at around 25 miles and was very quick, just enough to get us thoroughly soaked in time for breakfast. For the next 50 miles or so, the weather was ideal. We thought, mistakenly, that we had pretty much dodged the thunderstorms for the day. Not so...

We were about 80 miles into the ride near North Bend, Ohio, when it hit. The sky darkened quickly and shortly after that the rain began to pour. The tough thing about rain like that, besides the fact that it makes the road rather slippery, is that it reduces visibility for those of us who wear glasses. Anyway, when the lightning started hitting a little too close, we took shelter on the side of the road. As the rain continued to pour, making us ever more cold, wet, and somewhat miserable, we noticed that about 200 yards up the road was the tomb of William Henry Harrison (9th president of the United States). Harrison has the dubious distinction of being the president to have served the shortest term in office - 32 days. He died after contracting pneumonia on his inauguration day. Bummer!

Be that as it may, his tomb now served as an excellent shelter for 3 weary, wet, and cold travellers. Once we were safely inside, I called my daughter to say we were safe and to get an updated weather report to see how much longer we might be delayed. 20-30 minutes later, the sky cleared and we were on our way.


Here are the 3 intrepid travellers after about 103 miles on bicycles. 7 started, 3 finished. All in all, a great day!

Use it or lose it!

It's my new philosophy of living. I am discovering more and more about my physical (and mental) self as I am pulled inexorably deeper into my fitness craze. Several years ago, after I had surgery on my lower back for a badly herniated disc, I thought that my active fitness days were behind me. The surgeon advised me to "take it easy" since I only had half a disc left. Well, I'm happy to report that the disc has regenerated. I know that from a recent X-Ray. And despite the fact that I no longer make "bend-at-the-waist" and touch your toes part of my regular exercise routine, I am certainly flexible enough to do that easily thanks to a regular Yoga regime.

My left knee, which is missing the top third of the knee cap, and which I had scoped some years ago for a torn meniscus, is feeling just fine these days thank you very much! Running and bicycling has proven to be just the thing to keep it limber and pain free. If I don't use it regularly and vigorously it will tend to stiffen up on me. So, "use it or lose it".

"Take it easy, you're getting older"? No sir, not me!

13 days to go and I have collected $5112!

"If God invented marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, triathlon must have taken Him completely by surprise."
P. Z. Pearce

Today, while packing my bike to be shipped to California, I actually heard about a, possibly, crazier event. It is 3 days of triathlons. The first day is a sprint distance triathlon. The second day is two Olympic distance triathlons (32 miles each). One in the morning and one in the afternoon. The third day is a half-ironman triathlon (70 miles). The guy I talked to was planning to race all four. Crazy? You tell me!

Wildflower is just around the corner and, man, has this been an eventful week! It all started friday a week ago when I received a summons in the mail to appear for jury duty this tuesday, 4/22. This is not something you can just ignore. I immediately saw my plans for Wildflower going straight down the drain. I started thinking about a plan "B". I promised to complete a half-ironman for all my wonderful donors and, by golly, I am going to complete a half-ironman - even if it ends up being the Cleveland triathlon in August instead of Wildflower in May. Well, I may still sign up for the Cleveland triathlon but I WILL be going to Wildflower afterall, thanks to an understanding judge.

Early tuesday, while I was waiting for word from the judge about my jury summons, I went for my third 13 mile run while in south Florida. The run went well and I felt like I was recovering nicely so I ran 3 miles the next morning and 5 miles the morning after that, Thursday. Well, the 5 mile run was a little more than my legs were ready for. And my left quad let me know it in no uncertain terms. Seems like bicycling, not running, is the best way for me to recover from a long run. Anyway, the best I could handle on friday was a 3 mile walk.

In the mean time I got word on Wednesday that my oldest daughter had gone into labor with my third grandchild, a boy, Evan Louis. Mother, father, and new son are all doing just fine. She left work at 3PM and Evan was born at 7PM, just 4 hours later!

Yesterday, back home in Mentor, I got together very early in the morning with some of my half-ironman wildflower teammates for a 56 mile bike ride. We were riding in the Cuyahoga valley on a beautiful, warm spring day. The ride included a number of sizeable hills which were good training for the Wildflower course. My left quad, still a little injured from the long run early in the week did not give my much trouble at all but I had to beg off on the run (after the ride) because I was afraid of doing more damage. That's now looking like a very good decision because an easy 12 mile bike this morning has me almost fully recovered from yesterday's long ride and my left quad is feeling pretty good. Although, I do think I detect a touch of tendonitis in the back of my left knee. Better get the ice pack!

As I said, it has been a VERY eventful week.

My third 13 miler

Yesterday, I ran my third 13 miler. It was a cool south florida morning. I was up at 5AM and on the road a little before 5:30. I ran for just a little over 2 hours. It's still a bit of a struggle to complete that distance but the real news is that I am recovering much faster after the run. My quads were not very sore at all after this run. I still have a small knot (trigger point) in my left quad but with the massage it is holding up fine. A few twinges in my right calf are also responding to the massage. I have time before the triathlon for one more 13 miler next week. The following week will consist of very easy training since that is the last week before the event.

Today I did yoga and ran an easy 3 miles. Feelin' good!

My second 13 miler

After my "day off" yesterday, I decided to attempt another 12 to 13 mile run. My previous run went well but left me with about a week long recouperation. After a rather tentative start, I gained confidence as the miles slipped by beneath my feet. I was starting to drag about an hour and a half into the effort but I knew that as long as my muscles held out the effort I put into the latter stages of this long run would pay off. I finished in two hours and 9 minutes with my energy pretty well spent but no serious problems with my muscles. My quads are very sore but I can already feel them starting to recover. The next 3 days will be easy ones for me, alternating running and riding. I hope to shoot for another 60 mile ride on saturday.

27 days to go and I have collected $5082 so far!

"Runners like to train 100 miles per week because it's a round number. But I think 88 is a lot rounder."
Don Kardong

Well, I hit 133 miles for the week - 3 walking, 23 running, 107 bicycling. That's not a round number any way you look at it, but I think it's a good number.

It has been a busy and a fun week on the training front. Monday, I was travelling so I took the day off. No time, really, to run. I have to do my running very early in the morning when I am in Florida. My training week started on tuesday with a 10 mile run in about an hour and a half. The important thing about this is that I am getting much smarter about recovering from these long runs, understanding and compensating for the extra stress they put on my muscles. I no longer dread the effects of a long run on the rest of my training week. With that in mind I ran a modest 3 miles on wednesday to recover, asking a co-worker to punch me in the nose if I ran farther. I didn't, so my nose is still intact. :-)

Thursday was a fun day! We had a large group from my company attending the annual "Corporate Run" in Ft. Lauderdale. Mako set up a tent and had a great spread of food and "munchies" catered. At least a couple dozen people showed up with friends and family. Not wanting to wear myself out for the event, I "walked" 3 miles in the morning just to loosen up. The Corporate Run is a 5K (3.1 mile) run/walk and is heavily attended. I took the opportunity to "tri" out my "triathlon" outfit. Pun definitely intended! It was not my best time, but it was the best I was going to do for this specific event. I finished in 25 minutes, 54 seconds. I was struggling from the opening gun - not really sure why. The fun for me actually started after I finished when I quickly downed some water, grabbed two cups and doubled back on the course to offer water and cheer on my colleagues. I had a great time! The next morning I went for a "leisurely" 1 hour run.

Now for the "real" miles. The time till the triathlon is growing short. It's lss than one month away. I have resolved to experience at least the full distance for the bike and the run. So, yesterday, I decided to try for a 60 mile bike in around 4 hours. I was approaching 45 miles in about 3 hours when a poor split-second decision landed me in a pot-hole. I managed to "jump" the hole with my front tire but for the back tire, there was no avoiding it. The back tire went "spongy" on me almost immediately and I knew my ride was finished. Still, not a bad effort.

I had resolved to try again next weekend, but what the heck! Although I was nursing a very saddle sore posterior, I changed my plans to take advantage of today's excellent weather. I wasn't sure how long I would last, but I held on for the full distance, riding a little slower than the day before. Saturday's ride had sure taken it's toll, but today's ride turned into a good "mental toughness" test for me. I am now recouperating.

Think I'll take the day off tomorrow. Maybe just do some yoga or go for a short
walk. :-)

45 miles in 3 hours

It was supposed to be 60 miles in 4 hours but I had a flat. Beautiful sunny day in the 50s with dry pavement, perfect for my first attempt to conquer the half ironman bicycling distance (56 miles). Alas, it was not to be. Bad judgement and a pothole in the wrong place pinched a small hole in my rear tire. I could tell immediately that the tire had gone "spongy" on me. It had a slow leak that did not leave me with much remaining riding time. It's ok. The ride left me just 11 miles short of the triathlon distance and well within reach of my 60 mile goal. I definitely feel strong enough to complete it on my next attempt.

I should be able to reach that goal by next weekend.

34 days to go and I have collected $5052 so far!

Predawn ride, I pass my neighbor on a run. "Why are you riding a bike?" he asks. "Running gets you in shape faster." It's not about that. It's about how riding makes me feel. The speed. Leaning into gentle curves. Charging up hills. How strong my legs feel. Riding gets me fit. But thats just luck. I don't ride to get fit.
-R. Todd Barker

37 miles. That's about how far I rode today. Took me a little over 2 and a half hours. That works out to about 14 miles an hour. 37 miles is about two-thirds of the 56 miles I will be riding for the triathlon. Yesterday, I rode about 25 miles. I felt strong after both rides, although I did feel a little stronger on yesterday's ride since I had rested the day before. I was planning to go for longer yesterday, I stopped a little early when I could no longer feel my toes. The temperature for most of the week has been in the low 30's so I have not been able to ride for more than an hour and a half on any given day. Today it got into the 40's and I had planned to ride for longer but decided not to push it to the point where my legs got too sore. I will probably shoot for the 56 miles next weekend. Looks like it will continue to warm up. It is, officially, spring afterall!

My legs seem to have fully recovered from the 12-13 miler I ran almost 2 weeks ago. I have been using "the stick" to massage not only my calves but my quads as well. This seems to have done some good.

My strategy continues to be one of gradually building up my mileage for the bike and for the run. I have, maybe, two more swimming workouts I can go to. I think the swim will take care of itself. I will have to prepare myself mainly for the bicycle and running courses. Tomorrow will be a day off since I will be travelling to Florida for the coming week. I am looking forward to "warm weather" runs while I am down there. I will try to add one or two longer runs as well.

Since the triathlon is only about 1 month away, I will also have to prepare for the trip. I got a box for my bicycle which will have to be shipped to California in about 3 weeks. I will also have to shop for a mattress to go with my sleeping bag. That will be an experience, trying to get enough sleep for the triathlon while camping out for the weekend. So much to think about - so little time. :-)

Recovering from my 12-13 miler

The recovery actually went quite well. Yesterday, I rode for about a half hour. The weather was miserable, drizzling and in the upper 30's. I got home soaked through and through and miserably cold. The ride, however, did a nice job of loosening up my quads from the long run the day before. Today, my legs feel very good with only a little residual soreness in the quads. My calves feel great!

12-13 mile run

I started thinking about this yesterday. I wanted to do a run that was long enough to convince myself that I can complete the last leg of my upcoming triathlon. So, I settled on completing two circuits of my 10 kilometer route (12.4 miles). Add the few tenths at the start and finish and I have a run which is closer to 13 than to 12 miles. Good enough.

I woke up around 7 this morning. The temperature was in the low 40s. There was a very light drizzle which persisted throughout the run. It's all about persistence, toughing it out even though the conditions are not ideal. And, they were definitely not ideal! Anyway, I persisted for nearly 2 hours and covered the distance I had set out to complete. My quads (particularly my left) have taken a beating. But, it's training pain I am living with now not injury pain. Big difference! I'll take it easy the next few days - maybe some light bike riding - to give my legs a chance to recover. Building confidence for the race. It's all good!

48 days to go and I have collected $5052 so far!

"If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win."
Carl Lewis

For the next few weeks my training will be aimed at bulding my confidence for the big race. How will I do that? By piling on the miles on the bike and the for run. At this point I think the swimming will take care of itself. I'm confident I can cover that distance in a reasonable period of time. Also, it's the only portion of the course that doesn't have hills. :-)

This has been, for me, a week of testing. Since my recent back and knee problems seem to have abated and since the weather in the north seems to be cooperating, I have resolved to gradually increase my biking and running mileage. The intent is to be able to test myself at least once at the race distance for the bike (56 miles) and for the run (13 miles).

This week while in Florida I went for 4 runs. I alternated "hard day", "easy day" and bumped my maximum distance to about 10 miles. I want to thank my cousin for giving me the information about the muscle "trigger point" discussion and my colleague at Mako for pointing me to the "myofascial release" page. For me, regular massage of my calves and quads has proven to be the final answer to my muscle cramps while running. I look forward to gradually building my distance over the next few weeks. Running is becoming fun for me again!

Yesterday I went for a long bike ride. Right now I feel like I can go forever on the bike. I am really looking forward to the warm spring days that I know are right around the corner. I will build up to a continuous 60 mile ride in preparation for the race. What about the hills? I don't think I will be able to train specifically for those since it is not hilly enough around my house. I am counting on my general fitness to see me through that challenge.

Not forgetting the swim, I participated today in the second last swimming workshop at Oberlin College. For the first time, I used my new "semi-prescription" swim goggles. Amazing! I can see! It will be wonderful to be able to sight the bouy easily in the race. We covered at least 2300 yards (1.3 miles) during the practice. The last drill was a set of 25 yard swims with the coach surprising us by telling us how to swim the 25 yards only 5 seconds before the start. The choices were easy swim, sprint, underwater, and one of several drills. He started us off with an easy swim, then two underwater lengths back-to-back. I made the first one on one breath, but my lungs were screaming as I neared the wall at the opposite end. I didn't even try to to the second underwater swim on one breath, taking a second one at the half-way point.

The next weeks are all about building mileage and the confidence that goes with it. Wish me luck! :-)

Back in the saddle... rackin' up the miles

After a week of warmer weather up north, the foot and a half of snow that fell around my house has half melted away. At least the roads are clear and mostly dry. The temperature today is in the mid thirties but the sun is (mostly) out. It's a good opportunity to get my bike out and see how long I can go. With the triathlon only a month and a half away I am anxious to build my mileage in the bike (56 miles) and the run (13 miles). The swim will have to take care of itself.

When I started riding I was planning to sort of play it by ear and go for either one or two hours and 12 to 25 miles. As I rode, my muscles loosened up and I became more comfortable and felt stronger on the bike. Still, it was a little cold to be out for any length of time. I was able to finish 30 miles in about 2 hours. I returned home still feeling fresh enough to do more miles, but it was really too cold for me to stay out any longer. I'm very happy with the effort and will be building my mileage over the next few weeks. When I got home today I took a long hot shower.

Hitting my stride

With less than two months to go until the big race I need to increase my running mileage to be able to handle the last leg of the triathlon. I am in Florida this week. This is the perfect place to work on the long slow runs. My old nemesis, "calf cramps", seems to be at bay thanks to my daily routine of massaging those muscles. So, here's how it has gone so far this week.

Tuesday morning was my long run "shake down". I covered about 8 miles in just over an hour. My lower left calf stiffened up a bit toward the end of the run but I felt strong the whole way. When I finished and started massaging my left calf, I could feel a small knot in the muscle that was a little tender. I can still feel it today but it is much less tender after several days of massage. Yesterday, I ran and walked for about 30 minutes. "Hard day, easy day" is my strategy so that I don't overdo it and injure myself. Here's the great news. I covered about 10 miles today in around and hour and a half. I felt strong for the whole run and my left calf which was a little stiff initially loosened up during the run and felt very good at the end.

I feel confident that with this strategy and the daily massage I can build up to the 13-15 miles I will need to feel confident about finishing the triathlon in May.

55 days to go and I have collected $5027 so far!

I'm not finished collecting donations but, thanks to your generosity, I have surpassed by minimum commitment of $4900 - the requirement to participate in the Wildflower triathlon. Thanks!

"Where else but in San Francisco would characters such as Sister Boom-Boom, a transvestite who dresses in a miniskirted nun's habit, and a punk rocker named Jello Biafra run for seats on the Board of Supervisors? And where else would 75,000 runners dress like centipedes, gorilla, and six packs of beer to participate in the "moving masquerade ball" otherwise known as the Bay to Breakers Race?"
-JoAnne Davidson, journalist

My oldest daughter emailed me about a 101 year old man training to run the London Marathon on April 13th. I don't know what else to say, but... Amazing! Apparently, if he finishes he will be the oldest person to have completed a marathon. Go man go!

I was able to squeeze in a 12 mile bike on monday before I headed for San Francisco and the weather in Cleveland took a turn for the worst. On tuesday I got to the hotel a little after noon changed into my running duds and headed out towards fisherman's wharf. I'm guessing that the hotel where I stayed is about 3-4 miles from the wharf. The weather in San Francisco was just about ideal all week. A little beyond fisherman's wharf is a public pier that curves around opposite Alcatraz. From the pier is a beautiful view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. I slowed down a bit and took it all in. The other side of the pier was a nice sheltered cove. If I had my wet suit I could have gotten in an nice open water swim or two. I think I need to concentrate on the running, however. That final 13 miles is looming larger and larger in my imagination these days. In a little over an hour I was back at my hotel.

The next two days I got up around 5:30AM and headed out for a 30-45 minute "hill" run. I actually found someone else who was crazy enough to keep me company on these runs. Wouldn't you know it, he's a former Marine. Kinda figures. :-) He and I ran up and down Nob Hill. Nob Hill is a gradual climb for about 4-6 blocks but just when you think you're almost there you hit the last 1 block uphill which is an absolute killer. It's a significantly steeper grade than the previous climb. It provides great practice for just "gutting" it out to get to the top. My legs think they are running but my body is moving at an agonizing crawl. Heading down hill is not much better since your legs take a real pounding on those steep grades.

On friday morning I had to be at the conference by about 7AM so I wasn't planning to run. However, I found myself wide awake at 3:30AM (6:30AM EST). So, I headed out for the hour round trip to fisherman's wharf one more time. On the way I saw a baker taking a 4 foot crocodile out of the oven. It was a loaf of sourdough shaped like a croc. :-) Aahh! The smell of freshly baked bread is well worth waking up for. It was a nice finish to my San Francisco runs.

I left Frisco that evening on the red-eye, wondering when I would make it home. All of Ohio was by then in the middle of a record setting late season blizzard. I expected to get stuck in Charlotte, which was my intermediate stop, on saturday morning. But I did make it at least close to home that day. However, I didn't actually get home until the following day, sunday. After all that, I'm really glad to be home!

I had a pair of prescription swim goggles that I had ordered last week waiting for me when I got home. What a treat. Now I may actually be able to spot the bouys on my open water swims.

I'm off to florida tomorrow where I hope to continue to build up my running mileage.

62 days to go and I have collected $5027 so far!

I'm not finished collecting donations but, thanks to your generosity, I have surpassed by minimum commitment of $4900 - the requirement to participate in the Wildflower triathlon. Thanks!

"Life is an endurance sport!"
Lou Arata

It's true! Whether you're raising children or trying to keep up with grandchildren, building a new career or keeping up with the demands of a more established career, life requires endurance! My addiction to life drives my addiction to my chosen sport.

Speaking of endurance events, the Iditarod started today. What's the Iditarod? It's an 1150 mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.

I struggled a bit to get on the bike this week. I was able to get in a couple of 12 mile rides and a six mile ride but the weather kept me indoors for two days. Looks like milder weather is on the way, though. Spring can't be far off. The good news is, my right knee is back to very nearly 100%. In fact, at the moment I have no real physical complaints. Hope it lasts. :-)

Yesterday, I participated in a spinning workout organized by our Team in Training coach. A spinning workout is an hour long session on a stationary bicycle in which you try desperately to keep up with the coach - in this case, an accomplished "Iron Man" triathlete. I am dripping with sweat - not a dry spot on me - after about 10 minutes. The workout involves continuous pedalling while simulating hills by increasing the resistance. We finished the workout with a rousing chorus of "Macho Man", which was a little strange since over half of the team are women. But, they may have been singing "Nacho Man" - I think I heard that once or twice.

I haven't had much pool time during my training for this event. Maybe an hour and a half each month so far. I'm not really concerned, since the swim is only about a third longer than I faced last year in Pilly (1.2 miles instead of 0.9 miles). The bike and the run are over twoce the distance of the Philly triathlon. I figure, I just want to complete the swim without getting too beat up. You see, in the triathlon swimming is a contact sport. It's pretty much a "free for all" with people swimming into and over you at least at the start and later on as well when the wave that starts 5 minutes behind you catches up. I maxed out my pool time today, however, finishing an hour and a half workout in Oberlin then driving an hour to do an hour Team in Training workout in Macedonia. I think I'll do ok in the swim.

This coming week I'll be in San Francisco. I'll be attending the biggest orthopedic conference in the nation. It will be my company's big chance to debut our products. I am looking forward to running the hills in San Francisco. It's a great city for running and great preparation for the Wildflower course. Oh, and the conference should be pretty cool too. :-)

69 days and $503 to go!

"Number one is just to gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track. And if some kid gets really good at it, that's cool too."
Pat Tyson

I think I'm starting to hit my stride again! I'm definitely regaining my passion for running. I know that injury is all part of this "game" I have chosen for myself, but injury has a way of taking the fun out of it as well.

In florida this week I made a tentative effort to rehabilitate my injured right knee and build back up to a reasonable running distance. Tuesday, wednesday, and thursday saw me gradually build up to a continuous 3-4 mile run. I am definitely seeing some success in getting back to the training necessary to complete the 13 mile final leg of the triathlon I will run in May.

What gives me even more confidence is that yesterday I completed a 5 mile run while I was in Houston for a conference. It was an enjoyable run and to round it out I walked an additional 8 miles (4 each way), between the hotel and the venue for the conference. My quads are a little sore, but that's a "good" pain, signalling only that the muscles are growing stronger.

After I returned home today I donned my cold weather "layers" of clothes and went for a 12 mile ride on my bike. I'll probably give the running a bit of a rest this week since I'm home and work on the bike instead. Gotta find a way to get back in the pool! :-)

90 days and $603 to go!

"Restlessness is discontent - and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man - and I will show you a failure."
Thomas Alva Edison

Restlessness, that's the story of my week. Both the weather and my ailing back were conspiring to keep me from doing much training. The weather, not because of the temperature, but because of the road conditions - too much snow, slush, or ice. I won't ride if I think there is a better than even chance that I will take a spill on the bike. My back is actually rehabilitating rather nicely but I didn't want to push it until all the pain is gone.

Anyway, here's how the week went. Monday was the one nice day this week so I was able to take my new bike for a spin. It rides great! I'm really going to enjoy it. When I went for my second ride on tuesday. I decided to get a new saddle, one that was more like the saddle on my road bike. I spent the next 3 days indoors concentrating on my hourly exercises to help mend my aching back. Yesterday, I went for a short ride to and from the bank just to cash a check. Yes, it still counts as training, light training anyway. Today, I took the new bike out for another 12.5 mile ride. Felt good and the discomfort in my back seems to have gone entirely.

I'll be in Florida this coming week, so it will be a good opportunity to ease back into the running and see if my back has really healed. Looks like I will have to pay regular attention to maintaining the health of the discs in my back. Every time I get a little complacent because I am not feeling any lower back pain I seem to get myself in the same fix - bulging discs.

Well, I have about 3 months to go until the triathlon. The weather should start getting milder. Spring is around the corner. Now the training starts in earnest.