What a week!

Hi everyone! So this past week was a doozy! Natalie and I entered into our 12th consecutive week of training. We're tired and worn down, but trying to get through it. We trained hard Saturday with a 13 Miles run, 10 of it with our good friend and awesome runner Ken Charity, then Sunday we took a much needed rest day. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we trained hard logging over 6000 yards of swimming, 10 Miles of running and 20 miles of biking those three days. Thursday Nat was feeling a bit under the weather so she took the day off, but I had my first pre-Iron Man race.
I participated in the Lifeguard Challenge called the Mega Colossus. This extreme lifeguard endurance even has no prizes, just bragging rights for where you finished. Now it might surprise some of you that even though I was a lifeguard for over a decade I never actually competed in the Mega before. Honestly I was never in good enough shape, only able to do short bursts of speed, never the long distance that the Mega demanded and it had always been a dream of mine to race in the Mega. So, after all of Natalie's pep talks about how I am a distance runner now I bought in and showed up at 5:30 am for the Race Thursday morning. There were a lot of people I knew at the race and I got to chatting with some former co-workers.
The race bega and I paced my run (1.5 miles) to get to the first swim. It had been a long time since I swam in the ocean! I entered the first swim and thought to myself, 'man, this is gonna be a tough race'. After I exited the water on the first swim I was tired, but not too tired so I set an even pace and started my next 1.5 Mile run to the pier. At about Tower 15 I hit the AID station and took some water from a friend of mine, Matt "King" Karl who gave me some words of encouragement! I had a great entry at the pier and zipped right up the rip current that runs through the middle of the pier. I was around the end in no time and swimming strong on the North side of the pier towards the Beach. Then an awesome thing happened. I was in perfect position to catch a wave to shore and I rode one almost to the shore passing several people. I was stoked so I got into my running grove once more. At about Goldenwest Street I hit the next water station and as I ran through this guy in front of me threw his water on me. It was kind of comical, and it was more comical when I realized that it was Greg Lutrell, the Junior Guard Instructor from HB City. Greg is a stud, he works with the "Captains", the highest level of Junior Guards (15-16-17 years old). We ran about two miles together, traversing the Bolsa Chica Jetty which sucked several people into it, but Greg and I timed it right and swam straight across.

Then we hit the hardest part of the whole race, the large grained "quicksand" part of the beach. This is where the big boys have trouble because we sink into the sand. Greg is a little older than me and we both weigh in close to 2 Bills so we had to make some adjustments. Our goal was to keep enough speed to not get passed through this section. We shortend our stride to quick short steps and put our heads down. When we entered the water at the Bolsa Chica Headquarters Buoy we were both happy to have finished that section. I paced Greg the entire swim and we exited the water almost at the same time with Greg a little in front of me. I felt good and only had a little less than a mile and a half to run. I was going to make it.

So, there we are, I'm looking ahead at some people and I want to get them. Greg realizes this and tells me to go. I told him I'd see him at the finish line. I passed two young kids, 16 and 18 and then a HB State Rookie was built even bigger than me. I told him to keep it up and I charged forward. Then I passed two more women and finally I saw Steve Wolfe just ahead of me with about 400 yards to go. I caught up to him, gave him some words of encouragement and passed him to finish with a time of two hours, eight minutes (on my watch, the official times are not out as of this writing). I was super happy when I crossed that finish line. It was a great event and I think I might even do it again next year when I should be in even better shape!

Thanks to John Rodgers who put on a great event and to all the Lifeguards who made it possible: Matt "King" Karl, Elizabeth Bray, Matt Harrington and all the others who I didn't know.

Post Script: The one drawback to this race was such: I had not swam in the ocean in almost a year (since Greece) and my feet were not used to being wet and running on corse sand, so as a result I have a huge blister on my right big toe. I took yesterday off and today, but tomorrow we are in for serious punishment: 40 Miles Bike in the Am and 15 Miles Run in the PM. Gotta make those goals!

I hope that these posts help motivate you in your training or fitness goals. If you need any tips, please ask, between Natalie and myself we have coached 6 sports and have competed in at least that many. Good luck and good training!

The big boys fall the hardest!

This is going to be a short entry. Today Natalie and I rode from our house all the way down to Laguna Main Beach and I crashed really hard! (Pics to bellow!) Overall we were flying! Our 40.70 Miles ride took 2:45.51. Our mile average was 4:04.

A couple funny things today:
1. We really annoyed a bike team because they couldn't shake us. Natalie and I rode with them for almost ten miles and then we passed them for good. As a cyclist on a mountain bike makes you feel pretty awesome to overtake a team on road bikes.
2. I got a good laugh out of the Laguna Beach lifeguard. I asked him if he had Bactine or an antibacterial, but he said he would clean it with Saline and bandage it. I told him I still had 20 to ride and that I'd let it coagulate. He laughed and said "Right On!" I didn't know people still said right on:)
3. We got bagels at Brugger's Bagels in CDM (Corona Del Mar or Crown of the Sea I believe). Gotta have fuel for rides over 30 or you get pooped out.
4. Small curbs, high speeds and water do not mix! I tried (unsuccessfully) to go into a driveway near main beach, my back tire didn't clear and I went sliding for about 30 feet down the side-walk. My bike light exploded and so did some of my skin (knee, ankle, calf, thumb and chest).
5. When cleaning out bike wounds you really got to get in there and scrub out any potential infection. I used natural soap from whole foods and it was mild and didn't sting. It also didn't hurt that I started shaving my legs for all the cycling we are doing so I don't have to worry about the hair infecting the wounds. Lastly, add Neosporin plus Pain for those wounds to heal faster and I should be golden in a few days. Tomorrow will suck on our long run (my shoe and sock are going to rub my wounded ankle), but what can you do?

All in all interesting day so far!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Troy and Natalie

I married an Ironwoman!

Those of you that know me may not necessarily know Natalie, my wife. She is a charger and is fiercely competitive though she regularly denies it. We've trained our butts of this week and I was proud to see her charging through the end of her workouts. I know that we have not completed the Ironman yet, but as far as I'm concerned Natalie is already an Ironwoman. Here was our grueling training schedule this week:

Saturday: 13.5 Miles. 2:01.57. 9:00/mi. Run. 10 miles we ran with our buddy Ken Charity.
Sunday: 34.28 Mile Bike. 2:40.52. 4:41/mi.
Monday: Bike AM 17.12 Miles. 1:17.09. 4:30/mi. then I went for a 10.17 Mile run. 1:32.53. 9:07/mi. and Natalie had to outdo me
running 10.28 Miles 1:22.34. 8:02/mi. Don't know what got her going that fast but I want some!
Tuesday: Swim AM (N) 2850 Yards (T) 3200 Yards, Run PM Track Workout 8.16 Miles (WU 1.5 Miles 24X200 (6 miles) CD .5 Mile)
Wednesday: Bike AM 19.06 Miles. 1:25.55. 4:30/mi.Run PM 8.29 Miles (Dead tired and headwind) 1:16.13. 9:13/mi.
Thursday: Swim AM (N)2700 (T)3500
Friday: Swim AM (N) 2450 (T) 2750

Totals for the week: Run: (N)40.28 Miles, (T) 40.17 Miles
Bike: 70.46 Miles
Swim: (N) 8000 yds. (T) 9450 yards

Grand Totals through ten weeks of training:
Run: (T) 187.6 Miles, (N) 188.32
Bike: (T) 465.14 Miles, (N) 385.52
Swim: (T) 52,350 yds., (N) 41850 yds. (In Miles: (T)31.72 Miles (N)25.36 Miles)

Hardest Workout:
Troy: Monday's 17 mile ride followed by the 10 mile run!
Natalie: Wednesday's Morning Ride of 19 miles.

Most impressive moment:
When I looked down and realized that Natalie and I were charging up our final hill in gear 3/7 without shifting up. We were tired and still kicking butt!

Thanks for following! Tomorrow we have a long am run and we're going to celebrate the 4th of July weekend with some serious workouts! Looking forward to Wednesday Day Off! Haven't taken a recovery day in 6 days.

Happy Fourth of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!