IM Date: 7/20/09 - Week 11 (Race Week)

Week 11 and the times continues to fly by. Last week was a decent week for training but a bad one for injuries. On Monday of last week I hurt my left arm, something in my elbow pretty badly and basically my arm went tingly and very weak. Come to find out the ligaments in my arm were stressed and pulled out of joint, rendering one of the muscles all but useless. After seeing Dr. Nash twice I have some strength back in it. I was able to swim 30 minutes by the end of the week, which was a huge improvement. Hopefully by later this week I can resume swimming like usual.

This week is more of the same, even more combination days of training. A couple of "highlights" this week will be running the torchlight run with Jodee and Andrew as well as doing the Chisago Lakes Triathlon as a relay team with Andrew on Sunday. I'll be swimming and running and he'll be handling the bike leg (20 miles) for us. Jodee will be doing the half Iron Man distance that day. Should be fun.

Let's all hope for quick healing!!!

IM Date: 7/13/09 - Week 10

Here we are...week 10 and the start of the second-half of the training program. Just like I thought, the time is flying by and Madison is getting closer and closer. This past weekend was the LifeTime Fitness triathlon in Minneapolis and it was a good event. Jodee and I both basically used it as a training day, but our times were better than last year and overall things went smoothly. It was the first event I've done using my wet suit and what a difference it makes. It's a totally different feeling swimming in a wet suit. The new bike was great too. I had a little trouble with nutrition this race, trying a new flavor of something I hadn't used before which gave me some stomach issues going into the run. But luckily they subsided after about a mile and I was able to have a decent run.

Andrew also had a race this past weekend–the LIfetime Fitness Kids Triathlon. He did very well finishing 2nd in his division and 3rd overall in the junior category. His strongest leg was not surprisingly the bike where he finished 1st in his division with a pace of 18.2 mph. As always...Jodee and I are very, very proud of him for competing.

As far as training goes this week, it's more of the same...nothing out of the ordinary. We are getting into more combination days where instead of just doing 2 hours on the bike, we do 90 minutes on the bike and a 30 minute run. These are good to help get the muscles used to transitioning from one activity to another. The biggest thing I need to do this week is get back on track with lifting. It has suffered as the other things (swimming, biking, running) have increased in training time.

More to come...

IM Date: 7/7/09 - Week 9 (Race Week)

Wow...week 9 of 18 and lots going on. This past weekend we ran the annual "Firecracker Runs" in Excelsior, MN and I ran with Andrew for his first 10k race. It was awesome and he did great. The picture in this post is he and I as we came into the park at the end of the race. On Sunday Jodee and I loaded up the bikes and drove to Hinkley, MN (about 80 miles north) and jumped on a trail and got in a great 75 mile training ride. It was a nice trail and a beautiful day.

This week is another long week and includes the LifeTime Fitness Triathlon. We are both doing the Olympic distance (.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike and a 10k run). We are both basically using it as a training day and hopefully I will finally get to use my wet suit for the first time. It's always a great event and very well run.

Other than that it's more of the same, lots of biking, running and swimming. By Sunday we'll be half-way through the program and September 13th will be here before we know it.

More soon...