It sure was a beautiful morning for a swim and we swam a bit further this time. Of course, our Friday open water swims are just a vehicle to the real joy -- coffee at Essential Bakery with the crew. Jeff joined us today for the first time and seemed to enjoy the entire experience.

2200 Open Water Swim @ 00:45:00

I managed to finally make it back to the weight room after a few weeks off. I was not as weak as I thought I would be and even took the opportunity to increase some of my weights. However, my Biceps turned into little macaroni noodles during my rest...

Weight Training

CORE
Back 3 x 15 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Legs Up Captain's Chair
3 x 15 Crunch on Machine @ 25 lb
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (3 front, 2 side)

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 2 x 12 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 1 x 15, 1 x 12 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 12 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 10 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
Concentration Curl 1 x 10, 1 x 8 @ 20 dumbbells
2 x 10 Curl @ 30 barbell

TRICEPS
2 x 12 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 12 Assisted Dip @ 110

Had a last minute meeting cancellation so I was able to get in run during lunch. It felt good and I worked to keep my turnover quick and light. HR was quite high but I was comfortable -- although working. I think it was the heat that drove it up.

5.5 Mile Run @ 00:51:16
151a, 193m

Had a really nice commute in on the Hindenburg. I sure do love that bike! When I was on Mercer Island, I heard a scuffling to my right and then felt something brush my feet -- and felt a simultaneous thump thump. I looked back and a squirrel had run under my bike but I did not squish it as I saw it continue to run (although its tail looked a little dented) across the road.

I hope it is all right. I would have felt terrible :(

17 Mile Ride @ 01:15:00
123a, 158m

This morning, I entered chilly Lake Washington rather reluctantly with some other swimmers on my team. But I had a nice solo swim. I was planning to just swim a shorter distance and get out early, but I was feeling good and it was a beautiful morning so I did the usual distance to the tennis court fence.

1.5 ish Mile Open Water Swim @ 00:45:00

Did not manage to get in a weight training session today but I did ride to our session with our financing guy in Wedgwood to sign the next 30 years away...

14 Mile Ride @ 00:56:34
122a, 160m

Our New Home

The perfect ending to yesterday's race was a call from High Heermans, our amazing and wonderful realtor who phoned to let us know that we beat 5 other offers and got the condo we wanted -- at our price, with the space we needed -- in the neighborhood (Maple Leaf) we currently live in and love! We swung by his office on our way back from Victoria and signed the first round of papers.

whoop whoop!!!

I raced the New Balance Half Ironman today as a zen experiment. No HR monitor -- no watch. I was going to race it completely by feel and have fun. Julie raced a half iron that way (lost her watch in the swim) and qualified for Hawaii so I figured that I might be able to have some similar success...not exactly....





I am disappointed in my results -- I felt good throughout the entire race and was certain that my bike was much better than it was. The bike did not kick my ass like it had last year and I felt strong throughout -- even was having fun during it. But I was not in my aerobars much (had just put them on earlier in the week) and that may have made the 7 minute difference in my bike leg.

Here is my race report -- I will post pictures later today as they are right now in Ruth's camera. Until I saw my results, I was quite happy with my race and had a good time without getting my ass kicked. I guess I could have had a bit more of an ass kicking...

Pre-Race
I registered the day before and got my bike checked out. We were planning to ride a bit but it started to rain as we were standing in line and we retreated back to the hotel room. When the sun came back out, we took our bikes for a leisurely amble along the Goose Trail and then went out for a nice dinner.

Woke up before the 4:30 AM alarm went off and got a sweet parking spot. Racked my bike in a good spot and got chipped and body marked in plenty of time.




















Swim
The swim went well -- all the women started together and I focused on sighting. I swam the last half off it with someone whose pace was comparable to mine and came out of the swim feeling good.














T1
Nice fast transition. Nothing got tangled in my bike and it felt smooth.

Bike
I just really enjoyed the bike ride. I was a bit more social than I usually am and chatted with a guy near the beginning about his awesome spiderman jersey. I got dropped by the men over and over and then more and more women. There were a couple of times when I accelerated to drop some women who I had to leapfrog with. Of course the converse happened too :)

What I liked best about the bike was that I did not feel any sense of despair at any point. Last year when I raced it, I just dreaded some of the hills (we do the same loop 3 times) and every time I hit them this year, I just thought "bring it" and my legs never felt tired or weak. Only got one "good job" from some idiot dude at the end.














At the end of the bike was when people really started to accelerate. Jeff, I thought about what you said about "smelling the barn" as all these guys zoomed by me the last mile and giggled.

T2
I thought this transition went smoothly too but it was markedly slower than last year. The only thing I can think is that I put on my race belt in transition instead of while running out. I did put on my hat while running out though...














Run
While I was on my bike, I kept telling myself, "soon, I get to run around that beautiful lake -- twice!". I started the run feeling really good and looking forward to it. The first few km, I tried to keep pace with a woman who was running strong but I finally forced myself to drop back because I could not get my breathing in check. I also did not race with my usual hydration pack -- instead opted to use their stops and that worked well. At km 5, I noticed that there was a nice downhill and I told myself that the next time I see that marking, I would only have 5km to go AND it was a downhill gift.

Near the end of my first loop, I felt this hand on my left butt cheek. Now we are not talking a pat here -- we are talking a pat, grab, squeeze repeat combination. I was startled and wondered what Ruth was doing. With the hand still firmly attached to my unpleasantly sweaty backside, the guy who did it came along beside me and said -- while removing his hand "oops, you are not who I thought you were..." I replied, "no, I certainly am not". He then said, "oh well, guess the boost did not hurt" and he was right. So apparently I am not only a body double for someone but also an ass double. It cracked me up and was a nice distraction.

Coming through the first loop, Ruth yelled ":54 -- negative split it". Now that was my goal but the idea seemed quite preposterous at the moment. A guy I was leapfrogging with heard her and said "easy for her to say" and we laughed about it. But I really did try to negative split it but was unsuccessful. At the very end, a chick surged ahead of me with that evil R (for relay) on her barely sweaty calf. I developed a true dislike for those well rested Relay participants during the run.

So I finished feeling like I raced well and strong. I wish I had raced faster but as my coach reminded me, it was not a priority race and I have been focusing on distance, not half ironman speed. I am working to get over my disappointment about my bike and overall time.

There are lots of pictures of me actually smiling -- something I did not do last year :)

Tapering SUCKS. I just sat on my ASS all day eating WAY too much food today. Thank goodness I had a long strenuous day moving my index finger in a 1.5 inch perimeter on my touchpad as that most certainly justified the ENTIRE box of Annie's Mac and Cheese I inhaled...bleah.

Last night, I actually slept well for the first time and opted to skip swim practice and sleep in since I was actually in a sleeping groove...

After Ruth got home from HER solo century ride, I rode with her to the Capital Hill because she had an appointment there. I rode from there to Seward Park and got in my aerobars for the first time this season.

17 Mile Bike Ride @ 01:17:00
117a, 163m

Tapering rocks! I did a short interval run workout today 4 x 1/4 miles around the Greenlake Track.

4.5 Mile Interval Run @ 00:44:11

WU @ 18:29
155a, 194m

Interval 1 @ 01:40
153a, 167m

Interval 2 @ 01:41
155a, 169m

Interval 3 @ 01:35
158a, 178m

Interval 4 @ 01:36
155a, 175m

CD @ 13:24
142a, 175m, 150e

Today was another busy day. We started out the morning with a lake swim and I then worked from home to be available for the 2:00 inspection. Unfortunately, the inspector told us that the siding is Louisiana Pacific -- subject to many lawsuits...so off we go on the roller coaster again...

1.5 Mile Open Water Swim @ 00:45:00

I had a good grounding talk with my coach today and got back some badly needed focus. Did a tempo ride on the rollers this evening and felt so strong throughout. I averaged 18.5 mph during the tempo portion.

Tempo Ride @ 00:45:00

10 Minute WU
109a, 121m

30 Minute Tempo Pace
139a, 148m, 148e

5 Minute CD
123a, 148m

Didn't sleep well on Sunday night and took it easy during swim practice.

2250 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00

The afternoon got a bit crazy. I left early to look at a condo that just came up for sale in our neighborhood (gasp and even affordable) and after we toured it, went for a run down and around Greenlake. Right after my run, we were at our realtor's until 9:3o writing up an offer. I did not have a HR monitor so I do not have that information.

6 Mile Run @ 00:54:00

I have a 13 mile run on my training schedule but frankly, I just do not want to do it today. I am feeling stressed and burned out between work projects, house hunting and life in general...

But the sun is coming out so maybe I will rally...or not...
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Today we rode from Eatonville to Paradise to get in an 80+ long ride that included a mountain pass. I was super nervous going into it because I was concerned that I would not be able to make it but Ruth's enthusiasm carried me through -- and up. Frankly I kicked that mountain's ass!

Once we got to the top though, it started to rain and we had a wet, cold and very miserable descent. By the time we hit Longmire, Ruth had a meltdown because she could not get warm. With dry socks, and bit of a rest, we finished the ride and the sun even came out for us. It was a very very long day...
89 Mile Ride @ 06:20:00

We were supposed to swim open water this morning but the bad water report combined with rumors of a sewage leak sent us directly to the pool where we had a good workout.

2500 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00

Commuted to work and back on the Hindenburg. Rode over Juanita in the AM. Ruth scooped me in the CD after work because we looked at a (crappy) condo there...

35 Mile Bike Commute @ 2:30:00
117a, 154m

Ran the Mercer Slough this morning. Picked up the pace a bit and finished strong.

5.5 Mile Run @ 0:52:39
147a, 166m

Today's swim workout was Ruth's favorite. 10 x 200. Long and boring...but good for us, I know.

2500 Swim Practice @ 00:50:00

Then rode the Hindenburg to work -- and have been slammed here ever since. If I can get out at a reasonable hour, we have a hill repeat workout planned.

12 Mile Bike to Work @ 00:43:00
129a, 161m

Ended up having to work late so I only got in one hill repeat up Madrona.
17 Mile Bike From Work @ 01:10:00
123a, 225m

Got in the average yardage in swim practice and then weight trained after work.

Swim Practice 2500 @ 00:55:00
__________________________

Weight Training

CORE
Back 3 x 15 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Legs Up Captain's Chair
3 x 15 Crunch on Machine @ 25 lb
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (3 front, 2 side)

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 2 x 16 @ 8 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 1 x 15, 1 x 12 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 15 @ 75 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 15 @ 75 machine

BICEPS
Concentration Curl 2 x 15 @ 20 dumbbells
Curl @ 25 barbell

TRICEPS
2 x 12 triceps kickback
2 x 12 Assisted Dip @ 110

Ruth's parents were here for the weekend again before returning to Georgia and she raced the Issaquah Triathlon on Saturday (6th out of 60+ in her division, top 10% overall...whoop whoop). We had a good time with them at the race and then spent the afternoon looking at a couple of houses so I ended up taking yesterday as a rest day.

This morning I got in a 12 mile run around Lake Union and then 1.5 times around the outside gravel area of Greenlake. I felt quite strong and kept an overall 9:30 pace.
__________________________________________________

Hopefully next week I will get back on track with my workouts. No more visitors for a while.

Got in a swim/run bike this morning starting with the first (short) open water swim of the season at Madison Beach. From there, I hopped on the Hindenburg and biked to work.

1/4 Mile Swim @ 00:15:00
13-14 Mile Bike @ 01:00:00

Swimming does not seem to be in the stars for me today...Ruth woke me up at 5:42 and we realized I had set the alarm for 5:30 PM, not AM. So we rushed to swim practice and made it on time -- WITH my bag this time.

Got in a good distance workout even though I had to split the lane with someone because David was being a butt princess...

2650 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00

Busy day but managed to squeeze in a spin class. The instructor (Gina -- noting the name so I know what I am getting into should I have to take that class again) started late and was rather un-inspirational . Who teaches spin instructors that yelling "come on" over and over again is an acceptable motivational technique?

So I continued working through her CD to get in a full 45 minute workout on the bike.

12 Mile Bike @ 00:45:00
138a, 154m