Running Free

Moving Forward

2011-03-21T15:08:00.000-04:00

Needless to say, this last month has been crazy, busy, and a little stressful. Kateand I have been busy moving into a new house , yes I said house! It's big, purple and sparsely furnished. We've got a lot more room and much quieter neighbors! I would have wrote sooner but our internet has only recently been hooked up. Training has been very good, the longer training hours are starting to pick up. I've really been enjoying my time with KAR doing longer runs and finding that my comfortable pace is what my race pace was last year. I'm chomping at the bit for a new race season. My first race will be the Martian Half Marathon. I'm shooting for 1:22:59. Which puts me at 6:20/avg pace. If I miss that I'll take 1:25:59 for a corral A start at the Chicago Marathon. One of the biggest improvements I've seen is in my swim times, I can give many thanks to Andrew Vidor who has pushed me to some new limits. I've come to find that My community and the people that surround me are more and more important. I've said it time and again that I'd give up any job or money for my friends.

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

I'm thankful for my community, friends, work, and places I have come and gone too.

Ice and Pain

2011-02-21T14:22:00.000-05:00

While the ice has yet to clean up here in the Midwest, 85,000 people in Kalamazoo are without power, heat and Consumers is thinking 3+ days. I've extended a hand out to anyone who needs it. We've got an extra bed and hot showers. If you're reading this and dislocated from your house because of the storm, please don't hesitate to get a hold of Kate or I.

As for the pain, it's gone. I struggled last week with some minor foot pain. I had that realization that 1 injury could put me under so early in the season. It's February and I am starting to feel the effects that winter is taking on my body. My hips, glutes and calfs were all jacked up after running on Ice, Snow and whatever that sludge is that forms at 33 degrees! I know Tom, Joe and quite a few of my other running buddies were feeling the same pain. Time heals all things good, and bad. I've gotta shout out to Scott VanLoo on being one heck of a tough guy. Putting in all that mileage, tough as nails baby!

Sunday's Epic Brick
This weeks workouts were mostly for Aerobic capacity and boy were they long. Come Sunday the daunting task of 30+ mi on a stationary trainer was not on the top of my list. Not to mention the 45 min run that was to follow. I said to myself "you could take a rest day and make it up tomorrow". We all know how well that strategy works, I didn't want to start a pattern of slacking either. I got on the bike and the first 50 minutes of warm ups and drills flew by thanks to Mythbusters on NetFlix. I switched over to No Reservations for something a little more sarcastic. My work out was one that really pushed my legs to a new level of burn 11.2mi @ 75%,8.6@75%,5.6mi@75%, 2.8mi @75%. Add on the 6 miles of Warm Ups and 31 miles was gone hey that 25% of an IM. The most epic part of that brick was definitely the run. It said to hold an Aerobic pace and stay "comfortable" for 45 minutes. Sometimes I have to chuckle, any of my marathon running friends would know that comfortable at 18mi in a marathon is completely relative. My definition of comfortable for this run simply meant that I didn't want to have to walk. I got the legs moving outside and I felt good. Did I mention that I felt like I was in Rocky, I had the music going, Rain sleety crap flying every way. I had that thought Dan once told me on those days when you just don't want to workout "these are thee days that make us better athletes, anyone weaker then us would have stayed home and been comfortable today". That was definitely going through my head, heading down a big hill I pushed the pace and put on the cruise, I left the Garmin at home simply looking to turn around at 22:30 and head home. I got to 3.1 miles at 22:00 and called it good. I was impressed with myself the short math told me roughly 7:30's for that first 5k, not bad! Let's see what happens on the way back. The way back was definitely a different story, I could feel my body start to break down a little, I wasn't falling apart but degrading. I was covered in icy sleety snow and car splash and I was starting to get cold. I knew I had to keep this pace, this is when the weather decided to play a fun game of let's soak the runner! The cars enjoy this game too, I couldn't help but laugh every time a car drove by, I felt like that scene in Forrest Gump, during Vietnam he's wading through water up to his chest and he's talking about it raining "it was raining left and right all day and night, it was raining up...." you get the idea.... I made it home soaked and very cold but, I felt accomplished.. ah!

Hopefully this ice storm will pass soon, what a pain in the butt!

Until next time,

Another Sunday Night

2011-02-13T22:47:00.000-05:00

I've come to realize that until August or even early September that my life will not be the same. I've gotten used to the long runs every Saturday and now it's time to get used to the Sunday long rides. Tonight's ride wasn't anything that should have pushed my lactic limit, 15:00 warm up 2x10k @75% , 4x5k@84% . Needless to say by the time I hit that 2nd 5k I was depleted. I'd eaten a powerbar, banana and nutella ( I took a stretch break), and 1 whole water bottle. I was in shambles. I maintain that it was good for me though. I really pushed new limits tonight, not just pain tolerance to maintain speed but, I broke threw a few mental barriers. I was surprised how much my legs could take. I was putting my heart rate into the 160's by the end. Trying to scrap any ounce of energy I had left. I tried to throw my cadence up to hold 20mph for those last few minutes. I was really in a world of hurt. That 16 miles Saturday really whooped my butt. I got off the trainer and my legs stammered like sewing machines. I threw down the yoga mat and turned on the P90X ab ripper video. I gave that what little my body had left and hit the showers! I tell you what, that shower was worth every last second of pain.

I've come to find that Sunday isn't my recovery day from a long run, it's another day that I have to push myself in another way. My last day of the week to put in 100% and leave nothing left. While I may not enjoy the trainer (or my nieghbors, gosh these guys really are noisy tonight, good thing it's raining out :-D). What I do enjoy is that I get to be home, around Kate, the dog and the other 2 furry friends. Once the weather warms up, my rides will head outside and I'll miss the time I spent inside this winter. That's why I have no remorse about my potential position with NALCO. I feel that now is my time to give Triathlon 100% and really see what I can do with my body and see where I can push it, I want to break through the walls I've encountered and become stronger with people, relationships, with my grasp on life. Training can be done in groups, or it can be done alone but in the end it's only you against the clock and the clock won't slow pace because your legs hurt, or if you didn't train for the heat, or if it's not perfect day for racing. The clock wins 100% of the time, so train to turn back that clock every single day.

Moving away from training and into life. A few of you who are close to Kate and I know that we have somee bad Neighbors. That's putting it nicely tonight is a great example, Matt (homeboy) is having a birthday (wee have one every year too, and it's not a huge deal buy some #$%#ing balloons and a cake grow up dude...) thrown by his friends and girlfriend Marni (Home girl) if you knows these two because you frequent The Grotto, I pity you, you sad sad soul. Moving on, they have been partying since 4am Sunday morning. We've really enjoyed the loud sex too (we all like eto have fun but, is it necessary to literally yell "F@#k me, that's it!) I think not.... this is how I've chosen to tell all of you that we are moving :-D. We told out Landlord tonight that we'll be out the 15th of March. We'll be moving here: PURPLE HOUSE!!!!

Anyways... it's way past my bed timee and I gotta get up early to make Kate some delicious gluten free blue berry pancakes for Valentine's Day.

Kate and I

Until next time,

Andrew

Letter to the Editor

2011-02-12T13:42:00.000-05:00

In all my years as a young runner, I've never seen such an outcry from the local public towards the running community. After running 16 miles this Saturday morning I've come to find that they we're all to blame in this situation. Yes, sometimes we (runners) need to run in the roads because the sidewalks are just too bad. It doesn't help that when we do run in the road drivers swerve towards us as to say "get off the road". I'll say it all summer long on my bike too, same rules same road. We have the right of way and if you don't like it, hang up your phone and get in the other lane. If it was an old man in his scooter riding in the street, would you swerve to hit him? I'm not asking to have the roads shut down or even that you stop driving in 2 lanes. We're just asking for common courtesy. Please clean your sidewalks so people can use them, and please don't try to run us over. I'm an avid runner who loves what I do I'm just asking for civility among men.

-Andrew

After running this week in Portage, I've found that people are just as inconsiderate as we think they are. Their is absolutely no respect, not to mention a plowed path for pedestrian traffic, the outer lying roads still have inches of snow and clear patches of sidewalk are so intermittent that we were forced to run in the roads. Sure we got splashed but, the worst part is is that we all had close calls today. No one wants to see a friend go down on a patch of ice or hit by a car. The people I saw today gave no respect and no ride of when we were going against traffic. If I'm going to get hit, I wanna see their eyes, and see it coming. The rural roads were poorly plowed and snowy to say it mildly. The thing I find most unappealing is that KAR gets the bad wrap for this. Last I knew it takes a village to put this together and when the weathers fine, we get nothing but waves smiles and hello's. If it comes to having someone switch lanes for a few 100ft while we go by is all too much to ask apparently.I'm appalled to see what our community has come too, where is the love?

I didn't mean to write 2 letters but I felt passionate enough to write 2 of them tell me what you think, voice your opinion.

Venom in the Underbrush

2011-02-11T09:03:00.000-05:00

This has been a busy 4 days. I've been busted up and broken, put back together, and finally arrived at Friday morning. Monday began with some serious PTTD, Tendinitis, or maybe some wicked soreness. I took Monday and Tuesday off, trying to prevent myself from having a worsening condition. As anyone that is at the training level I am, it's VERY hard to stop what you love doing. I think I have found a balance thought, which for me is good. I didn't push myself. I didn't over do it and hurt myself. I know that seems to sound like an unnecessary celebration but I think we've all gone a few more miles that we didn't need too and pushed our selves too much and paid the price in a longer recovery or a missed race. The let down of 1 or 2 days off is worth the price of having to get surgery or having to go to PT.

Hood to Coast

What an epic movie. I chuckled a little at the beginning as it was a recording of the"live" premiere from 2 months ago. I have to say I had a great friend to hang with. Makes me really appreciate staying in Kalamazoo. I truly can't say how much I appreciate having a home and a community. I work at a place that I see people everyday that do so many great things for our community. It's the local businesses and peopl that make me stay here! I'm getting away from the point. Hood to Coast was AWESOME. It showcased 3 groups, and not to give away any of this movie, but soem were old, young, trained and very very untrained! It's definitely on my list of races I need to do before I die. My Bucket list of races you could say.

I'm going to start here, today and define what these goals and races are.

Performance Goals: (by the time I die)
Marathon: 2:45
1/2 Marathon: 1:15
50K: 3:30
112mi bike: 5 hours
56mi bike: 2:25
1.2mi swim 24:00
2.4mi swim 1:00

Races/Goals:
San Francisco
Race in the Carribean
Tour de Palms Century
Ride Across MI
DelMak
RagRai
Ride around Lake Superior
Transverse the United States by Bike before 50
Summit Pikes Peak 3 ways: (Bike, Hike, Run)
Ride to the top of Pilot Mountain
Ride the Dragon Tail in Tennessee
Earn a DWD vest
Goofy Challenge
Back to Back weekend marathons
Swim 5 miles consistently (lake not pool)
Hood to Coast
Finish 10+ IM's before 30

I consider this a short list. It's what I could come up with off the top of my head. Comment to give me more ideas.

As of today I'm changing the name of my blog, it was once "The Sound of Truth" which has since lost it's meaning to me, and it was simply a song name of a song that I no longer identify with. It might change a few times over the next few weeks. I really want to avoid it becoming "Andrew's Training Blog" :barf: How bland!

Until next time,

A long winter

2011-02-07T09:16:00.000-05:00

Some of my followers have asked for another post. I'll admit I've been really bad about doing weekly updates on Sunday's before bed. These last couple of weeks have shown me that I'm a lot stronger then I thought. The jump from Half Iron training to Long Distance training is huge but the gap is completely surmountable. The pool isn't kicking my butt as much as I thought. I did some reading over these last couple weeks and I've found that I need to push my 100's to 1:18. I'm pushing it to get to 1:23's right now. I've got 6+ months to make some gains and get my average down to 1:23 for that 2.4 mile swim in August.

Warning: Sponsorship speak ahead!
In all seriousness, I've been using Fluid after my hard bikes. Let me give you an idea of what a "hard" workout is these days.

BIKE 2:15

WARM UP

20:00 Gearing Pyramid, as follows:

2:00 in easiest gear (hold 90 rpm), 3:00 in next hardest gear, 4:00 in next,

then 5:00, and finally 6:00 @85-90rpm

DRILLS

3 x 3:00 ILT w/30 sec recovery spinning in between

- each ILT interval should be 6 x (20 sec one leg / 10 sec transition)

INTERMEDIATE SET

Alternate fast spinning (110+ rpm) with easy pedaling (90 rpm or less) as follows:

15 sec fast/15 sec easy; 30 sec fast/30 easy; 45 fast/45 easy

1:00 easy spin before starting the main set

(You should be at the 40:00 mark or so by now)

MAIN SET -- BIG TARGET!

Stick with mileage, unless you go way over the target time; if you do, then adjust the target mileage down such that you can finish the interval in the recommended amount of time.

2 x (33:00 / 11.2mi / 18km) @75% w/2:00 recovery, between 60-70%

finish with 1 x (15:00 / 5mi / 8km)

- Record your time & average HR for each, as well as your average power output (if you have a CompuTrainer) for future analysis. You might want to have a pen & paper handy before you start this!

COOL DOWN

10:00 easy spinning, bringing your HR back down under 60% before stopping.

I did this work out yesterday morning before work, I definitely needed some Fluid before hitting the store for 8 hours. The First TT was a little slow (19.7mph/avg). The second I really pushed my legs to a new level of uncomfortable. I averaged 21.9mph and did the TT in 30:43 with a cadence of 88. It wasn't easy but I'm glad I found out what I can do. Fluid helped me recover and have normal legs by the time I got out of the shower. The motto "recover today, perform tomorrow" is 100% valid in my book.

Today I'm entering week 10 of training. It's hard to look outside and not get a little discouraged. That snow seems like it might never go away. Not that I've skipped workouts or cut anything short because of the cold. If I would have it would have been this month. Check this out: A balmy 7 degree/-5 windchill run.

7 degrees/-5 windchill. BRR

12 degrees/-6 wind chill. 13 miles. Huge Ice Chunks!

I hope you guys have enjoyed a laugh at my expense!

This is true Michigan running. I've really enjoyed my weekly runs with Joe and Timis, I'm looking forward to summer for some serious speed improvements. I did a pretty gnarly 10 mile run with a 7:11 avg. Take a look at it here 10 miler!

The last thing I have to say is a big thank you to Falkee Triathlon for being an awesome sponsor! I'll be getting more products and info soon! I'll do my best to keep all of you informed. More pictures soon!

Until next time,

Andrew

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-16T08:49:00.000-05:00

This week has been a really good week for me, I've had a lot of good work outs and I finally haven't been feeling them so much. I think this week I'm going to keep bringin' the heat and see if I can push things a little bit to see if I can squeak out some more mph on the bike, seconds in the pool and minutes on the run.

Saturday Run
This run for the week was definitely not my fastest but, it was definitely the toughest route I've had in a while. It was made even more difficult by the inch of salt/snow/sand mixture we ran on. It made 7:00/mile feel like 8:30-9:00 miles! It was good to get back to my group and run with Tom, Joe and the rest of the guys.If you wanan check out our romp through the Northside go here.

Friday
Friday was my first official day off from training in nearly 3 weeks of consistent working out, I definitely needed the break! I've really come to feel the stress piling up in my body. I'll be really pumped to push my body these next couple of weeks and really slam these next key workouts. I'm still exploring my body's limits. I know that nothing can push them more then me and more then an Ironman can. I've got to work on my mental toughness as well as my body's toughness.

Sponsors!I've decided to make an order with my first sponsor. I decided FLUID would be a great choice considering I've really got to be 100% for every workout. I made the order Friday, and it should be even more exciting once I receive everything by Wednesday. If any of my Gazelleians read this, we're having a taste test Saturday morning after the Kalamazoo Area Runners Run. It's a product I'm really excited to hopefully bring to the market in Kalamazoo. If you'd like to know more about what you'll be trying, go here: FLUID.
I have been given permission by FLUID to share my discount and product with those that are interested. If you'd like to order some product contact me through the e-mail listed on my account.

Sunday
Another chilly day here in Kalamazoo, a bone chillin 9 degrees. I'm going to go do the P90x ab ripper and then get ready for 8 hours of work with my favorite people at work! I'm going to come home and ride my beauty for 1:45 and see if I can beat last weeks 11.2m time trial.

Until next time,

-A

Tuesday

2011-01-11T20:52:00.000-05:00

Today was a pretty easy day. The plan only called for 1:15 on the bike. I was feeling a little more ambitious and I did :45 minutes of the work out on the trainer. It was a high output cardio workout which was a nice change from the grueling lactic threshold and endurance I have been doing. This required 100 - 110+ rpm for most of ride. I followed that up with Katie's spin class, she made a new cd for class but, I wasn't feeling the vibe. I counted it as a 1:30 ride.

Looking forward to dinner with my mom and kate tomorrow for sushi. I am still finalizing my race schedule. Thinking of trying to get into Chicago this year! Maybe it's time to go big or go home right? I'm excited for the Grand Rapids Half Ironman.

I'm getting up at the crack of dawn to fit in my work out. This is me signing off for the night. Looking forward to an hour swim and :40 run, I might extend it to an hour if I can.

Sleep well,

Andrew

Week 6 of training

2011-01-10T18:31:00.000-05:00

Finishing Week 5

This was the first week where I was truly tired come Sunday. I had a really good midweek 11 mile run with the Fieldstone Crew and a great swim with Andrew Vidor in the pool Friday. I ran with KAR on Saturday for a very chilly 11 miler. The week was capped with a 2:15 minute bike ride. I picked up a Cateye V3 from Dan Herzberg and it really helped get my training in control. Most of my training is Heart Rate based and my old speedo didn't have cadence or Heart Rate which is exactly what I needed!

Start of Week 6

Great way to start off the week with 2200 yds. in the pool. It went something like this:
100 kick , 200 pull - Warm up.
400 - 5:03
2x200 3:06, 3:04
4x100 1:38, 1:37, 1:36, 1:34
8x50 45-39 and 46-38

300 cool down pull

Needless to say, I'm beat.

Sponsors
Thanks to Falkee Triathlon, I am now a sponsored athlete! I am very very excited! Scroll to the bottom of the page to see who they are, unfortunately they are not linked I will post the links below!

www.LiveFluid.com Recovery Drink (Gluten Free, WOO!) http://www.Oxygen4Energy.com/ryanfalkenrath Oxygen supplementation http://kinesys.com/ Sport Sunscreen www.e-rudy.com Rudy Project Sunglasses and Helmets www.xterrawetsuits.com Wet suits www.tkmuscletherapy.com Massage http://greasemonkeywipes.3dcartstores.com/?AffId=29 Clean up after bike maintenance! www.monkpak.com Arm Wallet http://www.smartmount.net/ Race Tag Mount www.the-regimen.com Work out Tracker
I'll be posting more and more as these products come to my door. I'll keep you all informed.

Talk soon,

Andrew

Change isn't always a bad thing

2010-12-19T21:22:00.000-05:00

A few of you may know, I had an offer from NALCO and I accepted and I was expecting to quit my job on December 12th, 2010. Needless to say, I'm still working at Sawall's and truly happier then ever. I have found something in my life that makes me happier then anything else. It's not just one thing really it's a whole lot of them.

Being as this is the time of season to say what you're thankful for, I thought what better place then here, so I can share it with my friends and family.

What I'm thankful for:
Friends ( I can't begin to name 1/4 of them)
My close friends at Kalamazoo Area Runners (KAR)
My Pace Group at KAR
My co workers at Sawall's
My teachers and professors at Western.
My parents.
My customers at Sawall's
My awesome girlfriend Kate. ( Last and surely not least!)

Enough with the hodgepodge of Christmas, let me get you updated on life.

Western Michigan University -Graduate! Bachelor of Science in Engineering
Senior Engineering Design Project- Completed Grade: A- (I'll take it!)
NALCO - Offer not accepted and I'm ok with that.

That's the basic run down.

I have decided to stay in Kalamazoo, it's a place I've found that I truly love. It's not just the town, it's the people and the vibe. It's the people I work with, it's my family I work with day in and day out at Sawall's with. It's my girlfriend, her cat and dog, and our new addition (it's a cat don't worry!!).

I've realized that with IM Louisville in August that as a young guy, this is my only chance to truly capitalize on this free time after school I have. I'm excited for spring and summer to Train with KAR for the Kalamazoo Marathon, train with Andrew Vidor and all the other TriKats. Training has ofifficialy begun for IM Louisvilee 2011 in my books, this will be a long road but, why take the short cuts?

Finally, as many of you know, I'm done with school! I've graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Engineering Management and Minoring in Supply Chain Management. I'm looking for a job, let me know if you find any!

Until next time!

Andrew

A Change of Pace

2010-11-16T08:22:00.000-05:00

4 Weeks
Things have been to say the least, stressful this last month. I'm so close to finishing this semester it's almost unbearable. I'm just really happy that all the pins I've been lining up are set to knock down in the next 4 weeks. I have recently been going back and forth with a Company called NALCO. As a few readers may know this job will require me to move away from my home town of Kalamazoo. This is a fairly exciting and enjoyable possible experience, the heck of it is, is that I have to wait to get that ball rolling. Being who I am, I have really been planning out all the details and trying to get everything lined up (like I always do). As of right now I'm still waiting to see an agreement of employment. This is one of the 2 big things weighing me down.

SEDP (Senior Engineering Design Project)
This is nearly as nerve racking as moving. This project began in the Spring Semester and has gone through out the summer and has caused if not 100, at least 1,000 problems. This project has had a lot of scope change and it has all but changed completely since it began. This project has finally become something simple, taking a local hospitals IT department and helping them find a new method of taking in work tickets (things like broken computers, cell phones, servers, etc...), and also finding a new way of generate feedback on the work they do. As a group we have designed an intranet based (hospital use internet) tool, basically it's a form that requires less time but generates more information for the IT team. This should do a couple things, it should decrease run around, and also help them figure out how they can improve customer service. The hospital began having all IT services contracted to CSC, and after the 5 year contract was up ( 2 months into our project) all services switched over to DELL. This meant we lost a lot of progress, and lost more then a few contacts. We really had to press on even though it seemed pretty ridiculous to even think we could get anywhere. Something is definitely to be said for persistence, we pressed on, sometimes begrudgingly and made progress, while only a little at first, now we are moving along by leaps and bounds. This leads me to my final point, this crazy thing is almost done! We present on Dec. 7th, which is way to close today. Then 10 days later I graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Engineering Management and Technology, with a Minor in Supply Chain Matrix Management. I realize that's a mouthful but, it has gotten me somewhere!

Training
As I said in my last post I've really been taking it easy trying to get some rest and get my body ready for Ironman Louisville in August of 2011. I have been running and I have been going to the gym but not with near the intensity of this summer. I'm trying to build strength and maintain myself. I had 2 great work outs so far this week.
Sunday
6.26 miles- Run with Kate. Avg. of 8:51/mi
A great run, just a very social run trying to keep my legs moving.
Monday
4 miles- Fartlek (Speed and rest, repeat) Avg. of 6:50/mi
I felt pretty good, finally got the legs moving fast again. I had a sprint that got me down into the 5:20's for about 35 seconds.

Goals
I'm running the WMU Turkey Trot this Saturday and I'm really trying to break 20:00, it's nowhere close to my PR of 18:50 but, with my lack of training I'll be happy with that time. After much consideration, I've decided to put a new goal for my Marathon, I would really like to run 3:05. I think with training it's completely achievable.

Until Next Time....

The Return of an Athlete

2010-11-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

To bring you all up to date since September, I have completed a 5K, 10K and a Marathon. Needless to say that after this years season I needed a break. It's been a very long road but let me give you some perspective on how far I have come in 1 years time.

GR Marathon 2009: 3:33:54 Avg of 8:09/mile
Charlevoix Marathon 2010: 3:20:17 Avg of 7:38/mile
GR Marathon 2010: 3:11:14 Avg of 7:17/mile

Ask any runner, in one years time it's pretty tough to PR by 22minutes in the span of one year. That's taking off nearly a minute per mile, I am extremely happy with my results but lets be honest, I'll plateau at some point but until then, I need to recover. According to www.athlinks.com I have completed 14 events, which comprised of 2 marathons, 1 HIM, and 6 Multisport Events. It's been a busy year but none the less it's been pretty awesome!

One thing that has really helped my training has been a solid pair of shoes, I love to run and love to train and I am in love with Brooks Ghost 2 and now the Ghost 3.

These are my personal shoes! If you look in the forefoot it's nearly all worn away. I run these shoes out, probably somewhere near 700 miles. I started to experience pain and that's when I knew it was time to get some new shoes!

RECOVERY
This season has taken a huge toll on not only me but my body, I have also been feeling a bit tired and over all worn out. I have my big reach goal on the Calendar for August and I am really looking forward to picking my training back up. It looks pretty certain that I will be moving around the first of this year to a new town which should really help inspire some training. I love to explore and find new places to run and ride. One thing that I am extremely thankful is for my friend Steve, he to will be in training for a an Ironman and I'll really enjoy his company on long bricks, rides and runs. He'll live about 40 minutes from me and I'll be very happy to make the ride out to train. With this new job, brings potential for new toys, who doesn't love new toys!

NEW TOYS
(A wishlist of sorts)

Add caption

I'll definitely be needing to replace the 1996 Honda Accord (Chipper) and start my career with something sporty, quick, and something that has plenty of room for everything I love to do their are a few options:

2011 Subaru WRX STi

18 Mile run and 100 Mile Ride

2010-09-27T22:40:00.000-04:00

This weekend went by much to quickly! I have to give a heart felt thank you to my wonderful Girlfriend. She wakes up early just about every Saturday to watch me race, support one of my many clubs, or even race herself.

Saturday: 18 mile run with KAR (Sept. 25th)

This was yet another wonderful long run hosted by the Kalamazoo Area Runners. We ran from the Kal-Haven Trail head in Kalamazoo to Bloomingdale which is 17.5 - 18 miles. I had a great time running with a good buddy George Korr. We kept a pretty steady pace between 7:25-7:35 for the first 15. Hannah Norton and Brandon Wise caught up at one of the last water stops and pushed our pace up to 7:00. I finished very strong with Brandon in the 6:30 - 6:00 region. I was going to push for 20+ miles but, with a 100 mile bike ride looming the next day; I weighed my options and cut it short. I finished the run and spent the rest of the day at work. To inform and new readers, to learn more about me find me on facebook or read my bio.

Sunday: Apple Cider Century (Sept. 26th)

What a perfect day for a long long ride! By long I mean nearly 8 hours in the saddle (7:35:48 ride time), this was by far the longest I have ridden ever. I got a small feel of what to expect in 11 months. I think I could fairly comfortably complete the swim and the bike without too much discomfort but, the run will be a test of endurance and pure will. Anyways, back to the ride. We spent Saturday evening in Three Oaks, we were within 2 blocks of the start and allowed us plenty of time to sleep in and take our time in the morning. After getting some food and prepping the bikes we were off for what would be a very long day. Over the course we would hit 5 SAG stops. These SAG stops were chances to refuel on Apple Cider (of course), Potato Soup and many other sundries! We found refuge at each stop and took a chance to make adjustments to bikes and stretch our tired gams. The team was really strong through the entire course. The team consisted of my girlfriend Kate and her father Charles. I have to give Charles some serious appreciation for even committing to the 100 mile trek and for completing his longest ride in 30+ years. He stayed strong and learned that GU was truly GU. He was also the points leader in a woderful game of "HEY COW!" that helped keep the morale high. The game consists of passing by farm animals and yelling "HEY COW!" in an attempt to garner to attention of any grazing beast whether it be horse, cow or other 4 legged beast.

My biggest accomplishment during the ride was the completion of a "No Shift" century, for 100.04 miles I did not shift my back. This is almost nearly true except in one case. I up shifted to a harder gear to gain some speed after a "personal" SAG stop at mile 31 but, I consider the goal completed as I didn't down shift to a lower "easier" gear on any of the climbs or windy passes. We kept a respectable average speed in the 13.5 - 14.5 mph range. This was a very manageable group pace that allowed all three of us to rotate positions at the front, and according the Charles "kept me awake".

Recovery: The Next Day (Sept. 27th)

Besides working I haven't done anything in terms of a full blown "workout" I decided that after nearly 120 miles covered by my legs this weekend, they no doubt deserve a break! I went to work for 8 hours and I spent the evening with pops at his house in Portage. I'm about ready to turn in for the night and I'm planning on a short run before work in the morning and a long swim in the pool tomorrow evening.

Updates:
Look for most of my updates to be on here about what's going with me and where I'll be. Facebook is my central communication hub. PLEASE leave me comments about what you love/hate/enjoyed about my posts. I love seeing and hearing feedback!

New Beginnings

2010-09-23T14:47:00.000-04:00

I am reforming this into my path to my first Ironman in Louisville on August 28th, 2011. Follow me through my journey through training and all that life throws at me as I complete my last semester in college. This blog will delve into my training, personal life, and all that is happening. I want to keep this up and keep things moving forward. Look for something soon telling you all of what I am and what I do.

Talk soon,

A