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Oh man,  it’s hard to keep yourself motivated and current on your training plan.  I’ve been doing pretty good with my bike and run workouts but it’s the swim training where I’m seriously lacking.  Getting to the pool,  undressing,  swimming,  showering, dressing again and getting to work is a huge time chunk.  Look at it this way:  If your workout calls for a 50 swim,  what you’re really talking about is at least 90+ minutes of time devoted to getting the pool time in.  That an hour and a half! My swim training is therefore falling behind and I need to get my ass in gear. Time to break out the wetsuit and go to Aquatic Park in SF, a superb open water swim area. I need to see how far my training has gone and how I do in actual open water. I just wish it wasn’t so damn cold…

Other than that,  the rest of it is going pretty well.  I’m currently in week 13 of my 34 week training plan.  The fitness it coming along and I’m starting to lose some body fat thanks to the longer and longer aerobic sessions that I’ve been doing.  My run is OK but I’m having problems with keeping my hear rate monitor at a reasonable level.  Oh,  and my Garmin 305 battery has decided to only give me around 3 hours of total charge so there’s no way that I can use it on an extended bike / run session.  I’m also depending on this unit for the actual 140.6 mile rate as well so I’m going to have to send it back to Garmin and have them fix it.  Triathlon costs so much $$$

Immersing myself into the lifestyle and really taking my training personally is where I find myself these days.  I’m constantly trying to squeeze in workouts here and there throughout the day.  I kind of feel like this guy in the video below but shudder to think that this is what I’ve become. What do I have in common with this dude? Well, let’s see:

1. I wear Newtons
2. I have a blog
3. I’m obsessed with my bike fit
4. I train on a bike trainer
5. I constantly complain about my aches and pains.
6. I’m always on the lookout for new crap to buy
7. I love triathlon to the point where it’s becoming ridiculous.

Week 9 is now history and I’m into the 10th week ot training for Vineman.  The amount of hours each week is really increasing and I find myself doing two workouts a day on a regular basis.  While the actual intensity and duration is increasing,  I find that my biggest problem is one of scheduling.  I just can’t fit everything into a day and have come to the only conclusion that I need to get up earlier to get the first workout in.  This means that I have to rise and shine around 0430 hrs… Yuck.  I hate waking up early.  My morning routine also takes me a while to get through.  You know what I mean.. coffee,  brush teeth,  eat something,  use the bathroom, etc, etc.

There’s no way to get around this.  I need to be an early riser so that means that I need to get to bed early the night before.  Training for a full distance triathlon really takes some dedication and I’m just starting to grasp the enormity of it all.  I can imagine that it’ll only get worse as the season progresses.  I’m really concerned about my long bike rides which are beginning to increase in duration.  Because of family obligation,  I’m having problems fitting everything in on the weekends so I’ll have to figure out how to get the long rides in during the week.  Can you say “vacation days”?  Yes,  I’m going to have to take time off from work to get the really long rides in….  There’s just no other way.

Anyways,  week 9 is done thank God.  I was able to get everything done for the most part except for a missed swim on Monday (pool closure).  Friday was a rest day so I swam that day instead.  Saturday was a 2+hour indoor trainer ride followed by a 40 minute run on the treadmill (it was raining).  Sunday was supposed to be a 1.5 hour long run followed by a 50 minute bike but it was football Sunday and I spent it watching the AFC and NFC championship games.  Watching the San Francisco 49ers lose destroyed any hope of getting a late afternoon workout in….  Yeah, yeah… excuses..  I had Monday off so I did the long run and bike that day instead.

Here is week 9′s breakdown in terms of hours per discipline:

Swim:  2:30

Bike: 5:40

Run:  3:45

Total:  11:55

In case you’re wondering where I got my plan,  I’m currently using this one which is free and doable for me.  I’ll go into more detail about all of this later.

Fitness levels are starting to increase and I can feel the difference.  I’m also still doing my 90 pushups a day for 30 days program and have been pretty good about it except to 2 days so far that I missed.

I also did another swim test set earlier in the week.  Here are the results.  Nothing impressive but I did shave a little off of my previous week’s time. I hope to break the 1:39 barrier the next time I do this.  I’ve also got to start thinking about dusting off the old wetsuit and hitting Aquatic Park in San Francisco for some open water sessions.

I’ve been in this sport for a few years and have been running and swimming even longer than that.  The first two years of my triathlon “career” were spent trying to make up for lost time.  I immediately started with a merciless training regimen,  spend untold amounts of money on gear and race registrations fees and caused my wife to question what the hell I was doing while I drove myself into the ground with all of the ill found training that I subjected myself to.  I’m amazed that I’ve been able to stick with it after those first two years.  I’m also lucky that I didn’t come out of all this with a stress fracture or some other sports-related injury that might have sidelined me for months.  Most guys in my position would have quit long ago,  sold their bikes and bought golf clubs.  Luckily,  I’m still here and in the thick of it. I guess I found my calling.

In my first year as a triathlete,  I must have signed up for every single event that the greater San Francisco Bay Area offered.  Most of them were Olympic distance in length but part of me always looked enviously at the guys with the Ironman M-Dot tattoos and stickers on their cars.  I really wanted to be in that club so my second year was spent ramping up my training and trying to get to that next level of fitness.  I emerged a while back ready to tackle the half Ironman events.  To me at the time they were merely training sessions towards some greater glory that I envisioned myself doing down the road…. St. George?  Coeur d’Alene? Kona?  The half ironman year unfortunately was very dark for me.  I was pushing myself towards an unrealistic goal and was not having fun doing it.  I was burning out but still training and my fitness level suffered as a result.  Bottom line was that my two half IMs were very disappointing and I was fed up with the whole thing. I had pushed myself too far,  too fast.

Who was I kidding?  I’m a 40+ year old age grouper and given my hectic work schedule and full family life,  my skills as a triathlete will improve only marginally even if I do adopt a solid and smart training plan.  I let my fitness level lapse almost to the point that I had lost it completely.  It really freaked me out because I was starting to gain weight,  slow down,  drink too much beer,  smoke too many cigars,  etc, etc.  A few month’s prior to Thanksgiving,  I decided to get back into the sport again.  This time,  I decided to do it for a different reason.  Training for triathlons should be and actually is fun if you have the right mindset.  As long as you don’t kick the SH#T out of yourself with some God awful training program that you realistically can’t handle or push yourself towards some unreasonable objective like a Kona spot,  you can actually enjoy those trips to the pool and the training rides and runs.  Who gives a crap what kind of carbon fiber bike you don’t have?  Do you have a bike?  Good!  Use it!  Don’t have that lean triathlete body?  Don’t worry about it.  You’re middle aged and you’re not supposed to be lean!  In the end,  it just feels good to work up a sweat and once you get into a solid routine,  it’s easier to develop a different mindset towards diet and a reasonably healthy lifestyle.  Speaking personally,  I started to eat better once I got back into my normal (yet fun) workout routines. It also sets a good example for your family because they aren’t watching you suffer through your weekly training schedule.  I guess what I’m trying to say is having a positive and REALISTIC attitude about your training and why you want to do it makes all the difference.

This year,  I’ve only signed up for one race,  the full distance Vineman.  I decided that I would dedicate my training towards that one event and have fun doing it.  I promised myself that I won’t obsess over my lack of high priced, carbon fiber equipment and I’m not going to punish myself for the doughnut that I decided to eat the other day and it’s OK to have a cheeseburger and a beer once in a while.  Get your long runs in and you’ll burn it off.  My feelings are that you should train,  live as healthy a lifestyle you can,  spend time with your family and work and have fun.  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Triathlon is a lifestyle.  It’s not about the races that you do.  The race should be a celebration of the dedication that you’re put into the sport.  Does that sound really cheesy? Yes, yes it does.

I saw a guy at Vineman 70.3 last year that was absolutely KILLING it on the bike course.  He had the balls to go full speed ahead on the downhills while the rest of us were sitting up in our saddles, on the brakes and trying not to go flying off the road.  This guy was aero the entire downhill and I noticed that he had this little smile on his face.  The thing that really got me about this dude was that he was fairly overweight.  He didn’t let that bother him however and his attitude on the bike really let that mindset shine through.  He was having a ball and must have beat me to T2 by at least 15-20 minutes.  Sure,  I caught up to him on the run but he had his run strategy down pat and eventually finished the race at a time that he was happy with.  I decided to go up to him afterwards and compliment him on his bike handling skills. He was totally cool and had this big old smile as he admired his finisher’s medal.  That’s the kind of attitude that I want to have as I continue with my training this year:  I’m just an age grouper, nothing more and I want to finish my race and have as much fun as I can while I’m doing it.

Last week went fairly smooth for me.  I was able to complete all of my workouts with the exception of a missed swim practice on Wednesday.  I figure that if I have to miss one session,  the swim would be it.  It’s such a pain to gather all your stuff together,  drive to the pool,  change,  swim,  shower / change and then head to work.  I can usually finish the bike and run  workouts without any problem however because most of those are done close to my house.

Having a set schedule each week really helps me stay consistent with my training.  I print it out at the beginning of each week and then refer to each day’s workout the night before so I know what’s in store for me the following day.  If I see that I have a big ride or run session later in the week that conflicts with my schedule,  then I can easily shuffle things around so that I can get them in.

Today’s workout calls for a bike session of 1:10 and a run of around 40-50 minutes.  It’s now 7:54 and I haven’t even had breakfast.  I need to get my but in gear for the day and am also dealing with a little burnout.  I’m getting tired of the bike because most of it is done on the trainer.  I really wish that I could get outside more often but my work schedule plus the kids at home plus the lousy weather here in NorCal prevents me from doing so.  My burnout prevention strategy is to force myself to get the workout in.  Once finished,  I feel a sense of accomplishment and can usually get myself motivated for the next session.  Putting your workout clothes on is step one towards the defeat of procrastination.  If you feel yourself losing the battle and letting your workout slip for the day,  change into your clothes as fast as you can and sit around dressed like your ready to head out.  Chances are high that you’ll end up hitting the road since you’re already dressed.

I need to get back outside on the bike sometime this week.  I think that’s my problem.  The trainer has become so mind numbing that I’m mentally recoiling at the thought of another indoor session.  My HED race wheels are hanging in the garage too and I haven’t been on them since last August.  Maybe I’ll slap them on the Cervelo before the rains start.

This is all part of the lifestyle.  You find yourself wondering what the hell am I doing?  Why did I eat that crap for dinner last night?  How come I’m so tired?  Why aren’t I working on my core more often?  It’s a mental game that you have to play with yourself.  OK,  I”m going to march to the room and put my cycling clothes on so I can get this damn workout in.  I’ll run later this afternoon.

Oh and one more thing.  Hey Apple Computer!  Where’s my FU%$*N# iPod?  I had an ancient Nano that was recalled because of a fire hazard and Apple has offered to replace it for a new Nano.  I went to the website,  entered my information and got my shipping box.  This was last Monday.  I dropped it off at Fedex that same day and confirmed that it was delivered the following Tuesday.  It’s now 1 week later and zilch.  No Nano.  Everyone else seems the have received theirs within 4 days so WTF?

Happy New Year!

The arrival of the new year symbolically gives us the mental opportunity to “wipe the slate clean” and start fresh.  As far as this little blog of mine is concerned and more specifically,  my triathlon training,  I intend to pursue both with renewed vigor.  I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions because I generally flake out on them as soon as I start them.  Here are a few little idea that have come to mind however which I think I should be able to accomplish:

Strength Training:  Last year,  I hardly did any whatsoever.  I got a jump start on this last month and so far,  I’m happy to say that I’ve stuck with it.  I’m usually pretty successful when it comes to following plans so I decided to give myself a little challenge.  In addition to my squats, lunges, planks, etc, I’m going to do 90 pushups a day for 30 days.  Sounds pretty simple right?  I can find 10 minutes out of my day to do 3 sets of 30 and so I don’t forget,  I created a little check off list that I stuck to my fridge.  Other than the one day (day 5) in which I was supremely hungover due to a party at our house,  I’ve been able to stick with it and I can actually feel myself getting stronger which, so far, has been a big help to my performance on the bike and in the pool.

Diet: I’m watching what I eat.   No, seriously!  I’ve been making a concerted effort to not gorge myself all the time.  I’ve been eating sensibly 3 times a day and have been drinking these killer kale smoothies that my wife whips up on the Vitamix each morning.  Like the strength training,  I sort of got a jump start on this by starting in early December.  I guess I was terrified at the expected weight gain that comes with the holiday season.  I’m also trying to cut out the beer, etc because the calories from that alone would have exceeded my recommended daily allowance based purely on calories.  This part was a little tougher to handle because who doesn’t want a nice cold beer when they come home from work?

My trusty Garmin Forerunner 305 and smelly HR strap

Vineman 140.6:  Like my push up chart,  I do much better if I have a goal that I’ve committed to.  Thus,  back in November,  I registered for the full Vineman Triathlon which will be held this year on July 28 in the Russian River valley which is north of San Francisco by about 40 miles or so.  In 2011,  I did the 70.3 Half-Iron version of this race and frankly,  it sucked.  I didn’t follow my plan very well which I got out of a magazine.  I  was inexperienced and generally,  had a pretty miserable time.  After a few months of thinking, drinking and weight gain,  I decided the hell with it and registered.  This will be my first full distance race and I am totally 100% committed.  I found a great plan online and have been sticking to it without fail.  I like this plan because it’s easy to follow,  sensible and doesn’t take up a lot of my time.  It has forced me to become quite familiar with my Garmin watch as I use specific heart rate percentages for each workout.  I’ve been riding indoors on the trainer mostly because it’s so hard to get to good riding areas.  This old watch and I are close friends and my heart rate strap is even closer no to mention funkier because of the smell.  Our bedroom smells like a locker room too as I have bike shorts, socks,  shoes and running gear strewn everywhere.

Finally,  I’ve decided that I need to take it easy on myself and get use to the idea that I will never podium a race (other than the 10K that I did a few month’s ago). I haven’t signed up for any other events this year and probably won’t until after Vineman.  I realized that it’s not all about the races that makes triathlon such a great sport but the actual lifestyle itself that draws me to it.  I really like swimming, biking and running and enjoy just being active.  The weight is starting to come off and I’m enjoying myself.  I faced some serious burnout factor last year which is one reason why my blog posts fell off.  Hopefully,  with my new found “better attitude” about this sport,  I’ll be able to stick with it,  stay the course and enjoy life.

In the past, I really enjoyed putting this blog together each week.  With my new found zest for training coupled with a better attitude,  I’m sure that I’ll contribute more to this page and share my experiences.  OK,  that’s enough for today.  Earlier,  I did an 80 minute run today followed by a super easy 30 minute spin session on the bike and am feeling my legs glowing.  They’re not hurting,  just glowing so I take that as a good sign.

Happy New Year again to all three of my readers.  I look forward to sharing more stuff with you this year!

Today,  I had an extreme lapse in self control.  I’m usually able to more or less keep myself in check when it comes to junk food but today was an exception.  I was watching the Food Channel and they had a show about ice cream.  My taste buds went haywire and I immediately started some serious jonesing for ice cream.  I fought the good fight but my disciplined,  athletic, “watching-my-diet” self gave way to the “I gotta-have-it-right-this-instant” self.  I grabbed my keys, headed to Safeway and got my fix.  Voila….

The Vitamix blender (a heathier option) sits forgotten in the background as usual.

Do I feel guilty?  Sort of.  As I lay there thinking about what I had just done,  it occurred to me that this pint of “chocolate and vanilla ice cream mixed with gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough and fudge brownies” contains a whopping 270 calories per serving.  Know how many servings are in this little pint?  FOUR !!!.  Yes,  that’s right,  I consumed,  in the span of about 20 minutes,  1080 calories of the stuff.  In order to burn it off so to speak,  I would have to run around 10 miles.  I never bothered to figure out how much I do burn per mile spent running but 100 calories sounds about right.

For some reason,  I don’t feel that bad about it.  I’ve been training on a fairly regular basis and have been pushing the pace a lot more but still feeling good afterward.  My running is starting to pick up again and I can feel a real spring in my step.  My cycling is coming along as well and I’m really starting to feel confident in myself.  I can get a few more weeks of solid training in before I decide if I’m going to do the Silicon Valley Long

Course Triathlon next month.  The way I see it,  I can either sign up for that one (1 mile swim,  56 mile bike,  9 mile run) OR I can just do the Olympic distance race the day after.  Both events are still open. Either way,  I want to have fun doing it and not beat up on myself afterward which is what I normally do.

I decided a while back to give myself a break with the diet thing and allow for a few cheat days once in a while.  It’s a great way to prevent burnout as it breaks things up a little and give you a little freedom.  Sure,  I can’t chow down every day but what’s wrong with once a week or so?  Want to order that bacon cheeseburger?  Go for it.  That piece of pie look good to you?  Eat it.  The rest of my diet is more or less sound although I could cut back on the beer a little (100 calories per bottle on average).  Even the pros have their weaknesses.  Sure,  I don’t train as hard as they do but then again,  I’m just an age grouper with three kids and a full time job.  I can afford to be a little less dedicated.

Either way,  it sho tasted good!  I love those gobs of cookie dough….  I’ll have to make it up to myself tomorrow and do an extra tough Spinnervals workout.

Cheers!

I officially have one year left in the M40-44 age group. I turned a whopping 44 year’s old on Tuesday and I’ve been grumbling and bitching about my gray hair and the rapidly returning paunch in my stomach. I’ve given up on the ceremonial aspect of birthday parties long ago.  All I really want now is a nice juicy steak, a few dry martinis and some close friends and family.  No more streamers,  balloons and party favors for me.  Guess that’s what happens as you get older. I have nothing to complain about though. I’m happily married, have three wonderful kids, a good job and I’m a lot healthier than other dudes my age.

OK, I DID have a B-Day party shindig last night with the family. I endured the usual happy birthday singing at the restaurant and was amused when my 12 year-old scurried out of the room in mortal embarrassment once she realized that the smiling waitress was approaching our table with my single candle dessert and humming the first few bard of Happy Birthday.  I didn’t endure this sudden attention without any aid by the way. I had a few cocktails to help me through the evening:

Cocktails at Trader Vic's

Yes,  I’m getting older but am I becoming fitter and faster?  I really hate to say this but the answer is “barely”.  The reason for this is pure and simple.

I   Don’t   Train   Hard   Enough!

I’ve been involved in multi-sport training off and on for the last 7-8 years. I’ve been triathlon-specific for the last 4 and somehow haven’t been able to show much in terms of improvement. Oh sure,  I can see small gains on my bike and run splits but nothing to brag about.  I’ve come to the horrible conclusion that much of my training,  specifically my bike training,  involves leisurely sessions in the Zone 2 and 3 heart rate zones.  I need to step it up a few notches if I want to make some improvements and since I’m now 44,  the clock’s a tickin’.

Today was the day.  I slapped a Spinnervals DVD into my laptop,  set it next to my bike on a trainer and proceeded to let Coach Troy Jacobson kick my ass up one side of the street and down the other.  What a workout!  There I was sweating and huffing and puffing for the 40+ minutes of the program and I couldn’t believe just how ineffective my usual training program was.  I wore a heart rate monitor as well as was able to keep my rate up in the higher echelons of Zones 3-4.  Just another reason to consider getting a better bike trainer.  I’m gonna plan on doing these guided workouts at least twice a week.  It’ll be good training for Vineman 70.3 which is on July 7.  Check out the Spinnervals program.  You buy the DVDs depending on what type of workout you’re looking for,  pop them into the DVD player and follow the instructions.  Jacobson’s a former pro and knows what he’s doing.  The best thing is that you’re on the trainer and can get a kick butt workout in about 45 minutes or so depending on which sessions you buy.

Here’s a snapshot of my HRM as I went through the program.  Yes,  it’s probably not as impressive metrics-wise as some of the other,  more seasoned athletes out there but it’s a good start for me.

Spinnervals HRM results

We’ll see how it goes.  I’m motivated again at least and must have stepped on the scale at least three times today post-workout.

No, there is no official Half Ironman tattoo. I guess you could get the traditional m-dot tattoo that Ironman finishers often have on their calf muscles and a 1/2 in front of it. That would look really, REALLY lame however. You could also get a 70.3 put on your leg but why bother?

I’ve had a few people ask me this recently and it begs the question: Is the sport of triathlon becoming trendy enough that it warrants a tattoo so you’ll “fit in”? Have we really stooped so low as to put a company’s copyrighted logo on our bodies? You might as well put the KFC’s Col. Sanders face on your other leg… or the Pepsi logo.

Come on people. You don’t need to show off. If you really want to advertise your mad triathlon skills, get out there and train so you can can kick ass on the race course and live a healthy lifestyle. You don’t need to show off.

Part of my job as a blogger is to research topics (key words) that people type into the search engines and then put up content that matches these queries. I noticed that half ironman tattoo is towards the top of the list. Thus, my rant.

Would I get an M-Dot tattoo if I did an actual Ironman? I’m not sure. I’ve given this some thought recently and decided that I MIGHT get one but only after I had done at least two or three of them. That would ensure that I was committed to the sport enough that I would embrace the lifestyle and put myself through all of the rigor-moral of training.

I feel like I’m in the training doldrums right now. My weight has plateaued at around 180 and I’m struggling to lose those last 3 to 5 pounds by race day. As I shed the weight, I can feel my performance improve drastically so I’m really trying my best to keep going. The problem is that we’ve got boxes of crackers and cookies, cans of beer that miraculously appear in my fridge, home made left over pizza, etc. Last night, i had to make dinner for the kids. I didn’t know what to cook so I ended up grabbing some nice healthy ground turkey, some frozen veggies and made the following delicious one pot meal.  Naturally I had to have some.  Later on that evening,  I pulled a stealthy ninja move and crept into the kitchen to have more…and more.

Well,  at least my training is going well.  This week is another build week and my running and cycling is getting better.  My swimming really sucks however and I need to get my a$$ in the pool on more of a regular basis.  My daughter swam her first 1650 yd freestyle (1 mile) at a race last weekend and I couldn’t help but feel guilty that I wasn’t putting in the same amount of effort.  I had intended to hit the water at least three times this week and was going to include an open water swim for once.  The race is in 6 weeks after all and I need to get the wetsuit out of the closet and try it on.  Unfortunately,  a combination of totally stormy weather (hail,  winds,  rain) plus a large fuel leak in the SF Bay has prevented me from getting any swimming in at all.  Excuses,  excuses.

Here’s my schedule for this week.  Note that this is a Thursday but I’m posting everything I have to do starting from Monday…

Monday:  Bike / Run brick (30 minutes each moderate).  Check / done.  Bike trainer / treadmill combination.  This was supposed to be a ride-only day but the weather was lousy outside and I couldn’t stand the idea of an hour on the trainer.

Tuesday:  Bike 40 minutes moderate plus 20 minutes “comfortably hard”.  Check / done.  Did this on the trainer.  Comfortably hard to me meant about 20-30 bpm above my moderate heart rate of 120 or so.  I tried to keep it at 145-150 for the entire 20 and managed to git ‘er done!.. Good workout plus I was a little hung over because I had to entertain some work visitors the night before…

Wednesday:  Run 6 miles + 6 x 20 hill sprints and swim 1600 yds.  Check / partially done.  The run sucked as I had no energy whatsoever so I skipped the hill sprint part.  I also bailed out on the swim because of inclement weather….

Thursday (today):  Long Bike 55 miles moderate…. Yeah,  right.  I’m looking outside and it’s totally windy and rainy.  I’m going to probably do an hour or so on the trainer and call it a day.  My long ride will have to be pushed back a few days.

Friday:  Long Run 13 miles Moderate and swim 2000 yds.  If I can’t get Thursday’s long bike done,  then Friday’s long run and swim will have to be pushed back..

Saturday:  Rest (depends on what happens Thursday and Friday however)

Sunday:  Bike 1 hour plus 4 x 4 minutes hard

Ugh…  Fall is here.  Fortunately,  I don’t have to contend with snowy winters here in the Bay Area but like many folks trying to keep in shape and train,  the temtations and general lackadaisical attitude towards training are high.  Maybe it’s a defense mechanism where the human body wants to fatten up for winter by eating more and storing adipose tissue (fat).

Let’s start with the temptations.  First of all,  my wife did a Costco run the other day and bought the usual groceries.  Unfortunately,  she also came home with two GIANT bags of Halloween candy.  She bought the little skittles and lemon sours but also got those little mini snickers,  almond joys and peanut butter cups.  Like an addict just out of rehab,  I cracked and grabbed large handfuls of the stuff and squirreled them away in the bedroom.  I feel like I’ve put on 10 pounds just from the candy alone.  The weather has also been pretty bad so nice hot,  juicy meals involving lots of meat and melted cheese seem to be high on my list of priorities.  My caloric intake yesterday consisted of a ginormous double cheeseburger topped with linguisa sausage.  Naturally,  I had fries with that.  That was lunch.  For dinner,  my wife and kids were hungry and the fridge was empty so I headed over to Sparky’s Burger and bought everybody cheeseburgers (my second for the day).  Of course,  we had Halloween candy for dessert.  I feel like a fat cow right now and have this urge to break out the Vitamix and stick to green smoothies for the next few days.

As far as training is concerned,  most of my runs have been on the treadmill and my rides on the trainer.  Like most runners,  I frigging hate the treadmill.  We’ve got a big TV set up in the studio but even that doesn’t help relieve the boredom.  The bike trainer is no better and every time I look at it,  I shudder.  My race schedule for the remainder of the year is nonexistent with the exception of the US Half Marathon in San Francisco next weekend.  I’m not even ready for that one as my longest long runs recently have only been up to around 10 miles.

Damn,  I feel like crap

Must… Get… Motivated…!  I’m going to turn over a new leaf this weekend AFTER the San Francisco Giants win the World Series.  Sitting around watching baseball and drinking beer has come very easy to me this week.  We’re heading to a friend’s house tonight for dinner.  She’s a fantastic cook and I’m sure the calories will be delicious but heavy.