Something worth mentioning.....

Looking back at last weeks schedule I am actually happy at how things turned out with work, training and life.

At the beginning of the week I was out of town at a customer site. I managed to get my stuff done in two days when I scheduled three days for the work. I was able to get home and surprise Aimee with dinner on the table.

While out of town I was able to connect with Big Daddy Diesel. We had dinner at Mellow Mushroom Pizza. Very yummy suggestion, especially since 'za is one of Diesel's favorites. I am totally on board with the pizza thing. I had pizza three times last week.

Anyways, I was thrilled to finally meet the man behind Tri Diesel. There is a lot going on behind Big Daddy. There is a lot less of him since starting his blog. He is a real life "biggest loser". I have read the stories. Watched the commercials. Yeah I've been impressed with peoples weight loss and healthy changes.

But this guy is doing it all on his own. Hearing his story first hand left me speechless. The ups and downs. Trying to motivate other people to join him. Challenging himself to push his boundaries aside. Not making this experience in triathlon a one time thing.

This is why I love triathlon. This is why I love promoting triathlon. This is why I get excited by triathlon. This is why I have such a hard time moving away from the sport.

Each year I enjoy hearing from people who fall in love with the swimming, biking and running. I try to encourage them and push beyond what they consider boundaries, hopefully by example.

I do follow the example of others and remember to enjoy the sport, the competition and the friendships that are created.

It will be good to be at the Rev Tri at Cedar Point in September and see many friends, especially Big Daddy completing his first half distance tri. Get that run under control my friend so you can wear that visor come race day.

As far as training the second half of the week was high quality.

Thursday night I skipped the two hour spin session and hit the Crossfit gym. It was a great workout:

7 rounds for time of

• 9 reps - 85lb summo deadlift high pull
• 7 reps - 85lb squat clean
• 5 reps - 85lb split jerk

Full body workout that left me tired and weak. But in a good way.

Aimee had a Winterfest Tri camp all weekend (Fri - Sun) so I figured I should put in some big training days as well.

Friday afternoon I hit the pool for some 1000's. Just to keep the arms loose and get some big yardage in. Simple workout actually. Three 1000's for time at a steady pace. I was very happy as I nailed each one. Total time/pace per 100 yards - 16:35/1:40, 15:32/1:33 and 16:40/1:40.

Saturday I rode for two hours in the basement with a 15 minute run on the treadmill to complete the brick. I chose two bike workouts.

Workout one is focused on high cadence.

Select a gear the allows for 110 + RPMs for the entire ladder.
Spin/Rest in seconds
5/55
10/50
15/45
20/40
25/35
30/30
35/25
40/20
45/15
50/10
55/5
60
55/5
50/10
45/15
40/20
35/25
30/30
25/35
20/40
15/45
10/50
5/55

Yeah.....that's 23 minutes of spinning at 115 - 120 RPM. The peak of the ladder is the hardest with very little rest between efforts.

I finished the second hour with five sets of 5 minutes at threshold/5 minutes recovery.

I also did this only listening to the music channel on TV. I didn't want to loose my concentration on a movie or show and miss the intervals.

Sunday was a very easy run on the treadmill. I just didn't have it in me to brave the teen temperatures or the narrow snow covered streets. My right hammie wasn't liking me very much so I also managed to see the witch doctor later on Sunday. He stretched and massaged away the first layer of issues.

This past weekend was good for my training mojo and fanned the flames for some good training to come.

Game On.