Long time....no post

It has been a terribly long time since I have posted here.  Wow.  Sorry to my few readers.  What's been going on?  Well lots, but then when I look back, not a lot but I always seem to run out of time.  It's been cold and snowy here for far too long.  I am so ready for some warm weather.  So what is new.....not a whole lot.  I have been training a lot.  Asher has been an awesome running partner.  I am building my mileage for the Big Sur Marathon on May 1 and he has been a great running partner.  He has done back-to-back 16 milers and has done great.  And he is loving every minute of it.  He wears his backpack and shoes and people check him out as we are running along.

Jeff, Asher and I have been trying to get out and do as much as we can with the sub-par weather.  We went to our first professional lacross game a few weeks ago and are going to another one this weekend.  The Buffalo Bandits.  Until I moved here I never knew there was a professional lacross league.  The games are pretty wild and fun.  They are rough and the crowd really gets into it, chanting and yelling and they play music throughout the whole game.  Pretty cool. 

I took a couple trips up to Canada to get some lactate testing done for my coach and then I did the Shamrock 8K here in Buffalo.  The weather was terrible, rainy and 30+ mph winds but it was good to get out and race again.  I have my race schedule set through September so I'll get that posted on here as well.  Lots of new races to try which will be fun....and even a little traveling to new places as well.  I'm looking forward to it all.

I'll be better about updating in the future.  Promise.  I hope everyone is well and praying for spring. 

Year End Review

The end of the year always means lot of cool, new things.  Making new resolutions (if you believe in that stuff), looking forward to hopefully warmer temperatures in the near months, and sbr (Swim, Bike, Run) totals for the year....of course.  This year my focus was not to do more quantity but instead focus on quality and let the quantity fall where it does. 

So my totals for the year looked like this:

Miles:
Swim: 184 miles
Bike: 7514 miles
Run: 1848 miles
Total: 9,546 miles

Time:
Swim: 97:25:08
Bike: 385:36:18
Run: 274:51:33
Total: 757:52:59

I also had 34 hours of weights. 

Asher had 1,303.6 miles for the year.  He had a great year of running and we look forward to logging lots more miles together in 2011.

2009 numbers:

Miles:
Swim: 179 miles
Bike: 8066 miles
Run: 2300 miles
Total: 10545 miles

Time:
Swim: 95:07:24
Bike: 419:50:19
Run: 325:43:13
Total: 840:40:56

I'm looking forward to a fun and exciting 2011. 

Sprague Brook Park

This Saturday we did another new run location.  We headed down to run some trails at Sprague Brook Park.  I did a little research on it during the week and this looked like it should have some good running opportunities and I was totally blown away.  These trails were amazingly awesome.  Super technical, lots of roots, and trees and rocks and bridges made of rocks and trees and hills, oh the hills.  Probably the best trail running I have ever done.  We even did two full water creek crossings, where my shoes and socks were totally soaked.  We saw some white tailed deer too.  Very cool.  There were some amazingly steep cliffs that went down to a creek that we continued to wind around.  I wish I would have brought my camera.  Next time.  I did grab it after the run and took a few shots of the creek we ran around and through. Asher had such a blast and was exhausted the rest of the weekend!  I can't wait to go back.  A few pictures, more to come next time.

18 mile creek

Since moving, Asher and I have been exploring new running routes all over the place.  Last Saturday we did another new one and ran to a county park called 18 Mile Creek Park.  I found out about this park from a store owner in our town and heard it had great trails.  We weren't planning to run the trails, we'll head back someday and tackle those, but I wanted to see where this place was.  The creek that the route runs along is really cool.  Lots of character to the river which is cool.  I took a few pictures with my phone to share.

Pictures of the really cool creek.  Sorry they are sideways.  Blogger is being dumb and not posting them like they are saved.  Not sure what the deal is. 

Long time....no update

I haven't written on here in a long time, sorry about that to my couple of readers.  Things have been going on I just haven't had a spare chance to write about them.  So I'll do my best to update you and keep you updated in the future.  First and foremost I have a new address and even a new time zone.  On October 24th Jeff, Asher and I packed up our vehicles and moved to Buffalo, NY.  I had a job transfer that I have known about since the first part of the year and this was finally the weekend to do it.  The moving truck came on Thursday and Friday, packed up all of my belongings and loaded them into this huge truck.  The guys were awesome.  Very friendly and helpful.  And best part is they packed everything and had to carry it and put it on and take it off the truck.  That's one of the worst parts of moving, in my opinion.  Jeff and I each drove our cars, Asher with me, to Cleveland on the 24th and the rest of the way to Buffalo on the 25th.  We lived on very minimal items until our stuff came on Thursday, the 28th.  I have never been so happy to see my stuff!  The movers moved everything into the apartment and storage unit in a matter of about 5 hours.  It was crazy and there was stuff everywhere!!  It was tricky getting everything put away and cleaned up.  I downsized from a house, with essentially 3 floors and a 2 car garage to a two bedroom apartment with no basement and a one stall garage.  Thank goodness for the storage unit!  It took almost two weeks but we finally got almost everything put away.  It was nice to be able to use the living room, workout room and kitchen again.  Now that we have everything moved in we have spent our time exploring the area and all there is to do here.  We don't know how long we will be here so we plan to live like tourists and see and do as much as we can.  I plan to write about as many of these as I can.  The weather has been mild so far, so that has allowed us to get in some outside activities which has been fun.  Asher and I have been having a blast finding new running routes around our apartment.  I have been biking on my trainer in our workout room and I found a great pool that is super quiet downtown that I have been swimming at.  The Y pool was hot and had too many floaters for me.  I miss my friends back home but am trying to stay in touch with them as much as possible.  I hope to get involved in some groups here to meet some people, not to replace, just in addition to the great people I have already met on my life's journey.  Apartment life is going okay so far.  I was very worried about how Asher would do with the move but he's doing great.  We have actually worn him out so much he's snoring by 9 at night.  Lots of dogs in the complex for him to check out too so we'll have to get out and meet them.  So I guess......let the journey begin....

1000 miles

This morning's run marked a momentous day for Asher, my standard poodle.  Today Asher passed 1,000 running miles for the year!!!  This is his favorite activity to do.  If you ask him if he wants to go running, he'll jump about 8 feet in the air just to make sure you understood, YES!!!  I am so lucky to have him as a running partner.  No matter the weather or time of day he is always ready to go whenever I ask.  It's something that we get to share together and is just awesome.  Awesome job little buddy and here's to many more.

Ironman

Well it's finally here.  Ironman Wisconsin.  I signed up a year ago and spent the last year with this on my mind.  Training for it.  And all that goes along with it.  The training is all done now.  I'm all checked in, checked Griff in, and checked my T1 and T2 bags in.....so now all that's left is to be nervous.  This will be my 4th Ironman and I am just as nervous as the 1200+ newbies doing the race.....yes 1200+ newbies.  That's an incredibly large number.  I think there's around 2900 registered, which is a lot to all start the swim together.  So yes, I'm still as nervous as if it were my first.  I know how long the day is.  I know things can not always go your way and I have had something go wrong in each one of my 3 previous, so the unknown makes me scared and nervous.  And the known for that matter.  I just hope and pray that the day goes well. 

If you want to follow me during the day, Jeff will have my cell phone so you can text him or he will be posting tweets on twitter all day.  You can follow me on twitter here.  My twitter name is: @trigb21. 

The weather looks awesome for tomorrow.  So in true Ironman fashion.....let's get it on!!!  :)

First Endurance Article

Interesting article on training, or rather over training and how important proper nutrition and recovery are. 

Weekend Warrior #2

This was my second weekend in a row of trying to do "almost" an Ironman in 48 hours.  This was an intense and exhausting 48 hours, let me tell you! 

Friday: Swim

It was kind of storming all day and I had a long ride the next day to logistically get ready for so I opted for my swim at the Broadview Y pool.  Boring but easier and the weather didn't really warrant an outside swim.  I did 3700 yards which is 2.1 miles.  Felt good. 

Saturday: Brick

Saturday I got up early and headed out for an epic ride.  My plan was to ride from my house down to 7 hills road, ride the road out and back with little break and then head back home.  This ride is very rural with no gas stations directly on the route so Jeff volunteered to be my sag support for the ride, bringing me water, Gatorade and food.  He was going to do his long run along the way and I would meet him at places on the course.  So I headed out.  The goal today was to eat as much as I possibly could, see how much my body could actually absorb.  This was tricky.  I felt like I was always eating.  But my energy level stayed pretty constant the whole time so that was a good thing.  I rode down pretty conservative.  I was very nervous about 7 hills.  These hills are crazy steep, like some are literally straight up and down.  So I was nervous I wouldn't make it.  I was even a bit wobbly in my stomach before starting 7 hills I was so nervous.  The road is 8 miles long with 600 ft of elevation gain, one way.  So out and back, 16 miles with 1200 ft of elevation gain.  So off I went.  The hills were tough but I tried to spin up them and then fly down the back side.  I got to the end, ate and drank something real quick (this is so rolling that you can't eat or really drink on the road) and headed back.  I made the 16 miles in just under an hour.  I was very relieved and proud of that.  This road is difficult to capture in pictures but here are a couple Jeff took:

The ride back home went well and I pushed it more than the way there.  The total distance was 125 miles and ride time was 6.5 hours.  After the ride I immediately went for a 2 mile run.  Ooohhh, I could feel those hills then. Plus it was hot.  I got it done though.  Run 2 miles.....done.


Sunday: Run

On the schedule for Sunday was an 18 mile run with Mark.  I met him at 6 and we started out.  I was exhausted.  It took me a bit to get going.  But then we settled into a groove and it felt pretty good.  The humidity and temps finally dropped for this run and that helped a ton.  You could actually breathe.  We picked up Asher part of the way through and Jeff rode his bike by us and chatted with us.  It turned out to be a really nice run.  18 miles....done. 

After the run I took a nap.  I totally needed it.  And then Jeff, Philip, Asher and I went to the Tall Ships downtown Green Bay.  They had sailed in late last week and were here for the weekend for people to view.  Some even had cannon's on them.  They were pretty neat looking.  Here are a few pictures of some of the ships:

And there is a new water fountain that Asher had to play in.  He's trying to catch the water as it falls.

Recap: 2.1 miles of swimming, 125 miles of biking, 20 miles of running.  Good solid training weekend.  After it all I needed a big scoop of custard from Zesty's.  Nice way to top off the weekend. 

Fun new toys

This season I decided that I wanted to upgrade some of my equipment for training and racing.  Become more "with the times".  Triathlon is an expensive sport so I struggle buying new things all the time, and there is always something you need or want so I try and budget for that.  Saying that, this year was an expensive year but stuff that I needed.  And a special thanks to my "sponsor" for the help and support.  So here is the fun roll down of my new equipment that I am racing and training with. 

Swim:

Xterra Wet Suit

Bike:

Mavic Cosmic Carbon Wheels -

super smooth ride

Giro Advantage 2 Aero Helmet -

super fast

Old Cateye Computer -

yep, that's 20,687 miles on the computer

there is actually more on my bike than that

New Cateye computer -

and I now have cadence again....yeah!!

CycleOps Power Meter -

this thing has taugh me tons already and I've only had it a few weeks

ISM Adamo Saddle

Weekend Warrior #1

I always laugh a bit when I go back to work on Monday morning after a long hard weekend of training and everyone is like "What did you do this weekend?" and I reply, "Not much".  Kind of funny.  So this weekend was a BIG training weekend.  Close to an Ironman in about 48 hours.  I get to sleep two nights in there and eat a couple meals in there, so it should be easier right.....sure didn't seem that way though. 

Friday - swim:

Friday night after work I went and swam with my coach Mike and his wife at a small lake in the Waupaca chain of lakes.  2.4 miles.  This was good practice in my wet suit.  I only get to swim in it once in a while so any open water I can get is great.  This was a nice little lake.  About 265 yards across so there are back 8 times is 2.4 miles.  I felt good and tried to work it like I would in a race.  Got home a little late after this but it was well worth it.

Saturday - Brick

Saturday I got up early and headed out on my bike ride.  I had mapped out a route to Kewaunee along Hwy. 42.  This is a nice road, a little busy but pretty riding along Lake Michigan.  I had some watt goals I was supposed to meet for this ride, so going into this I knew it was going to be my hardest long ride I had ever done.  And that definitely proved to be true.  1,700 feet of elevation gain, which for my Colorado friends is nothing, but for Wisconsin that's quite a bit.  I got to Kewaunee and stopped for a quick break for a snack and a few pics of the lake.  It was very pretty today. 

The pictures don't really do the lake justice.  Sorry.  After my short stop I headed home.  It was dang hilly.  Whew!!  But I made it.  93 miles.  Then picked up Asher and we did our brick.  We were both hot and it was tough but we did it.  And then each drank about a gallon of water when we got home.  3 miles....done.

Sunday - Long Run

Sunday was my long run.  I was going to meet Mark at 6, well at 5am it was lightening and thundering so we postponed the run until 7:30 after the storm passed.  I wasn't real excited about getting struck by lightening, not my idea of a good time.  Well holy humidity after the storm.  This run was tough, for everyone involved.  Mark and I met, did 3 miles, then picked up Erik for some more.  We got Asher 6 miles in and I was struggling already.  We ran back to Voyager and met up with Julie Petersen.  It was nice to see her.  Dropped off Erik and got a big drink.  Asher was steaming already at this point.

The dog days of summer, as my friend once told her Golden Retriever.  So Mark, Asher, Julie and I continued on.  Gotta get the run in.  We ran some more, dropped Julie off, drank a ton more and then headed back.  I was out of gas, totally.  And very warm, as were Asher and Mark.  It was a tough run but we got it done.  16 miles....done. 

After the run Jeff and I went kayaking on the Suamico River.  It was hot even doing that, especially when you stopped but it was a very nice paddle.  It had been a while since we were out on our kayaks so it was nice to get back out there again.  We paddled this river as our second ever outing last year and this year we could tell how much stronger and more experienced we were.  It was cool to see the huge difference. 

 

Recap: 2.4 miles of swimming, 93 miles of biking and 19 miles of running.  Not quite an Ironman but decent training volume.  Oh and a nice paddle of about 2 hours.  Overall it was a very tiring weekend but a lot of fun.  Wouldn't trade this life for anything!  Have a great week everyone!

Mystery Solved

Well, my long standing foot mystery is finally solved.  I took all last week off from running after the marathon.  I even did very little walking to try and stay off it as much as possible.  I would go to bed at night and it would be fine, then I would wake in the morning and not be able to walk on it.  I could push on my heel with no pain.  Very odd.  So maybe it was something other than a heel bruise.  So I went searching on the internet and also called my PT to run through what was going on to see what he knew.  Well I figured it out before I even talked to him (but did confirm with him when he called me back).  I have achilles tendinitis.  Everything that was going on last week matched to every one of these symptoms.  Ugh!  I looked back and this has been a problem since November.  Double UGH!!!  So now that I finally know what the problem is, how do I get it fixed without ruining my whole season.  I talked to the PT and my mom who talked to the PT's she works for and came up with a game plan.  I have a Strassburg sock, so I have to wear that at night, ice....lots!, continue using my foam roller and use my ProStretch to stretch it out.  All things you would do if you have plantar fasciitis.  I also ordered some KT tape to tape the area which is supposed to help.  My mom said they use a ton of it at the clinic that she works at.  I've heard good things about it so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I figured this all out on Monday.  Oh and Sunday night my pilot light on my water heater went out so I had no hot water until the plumber came over on Monday to fix it.  My life is trying....a lot!  But it has been two mornings, two mornings of running and two nights of wearing the sock and I can definitely see a difference.  I can walk when I get up and I have very little pain when I run.  Knock on wood.  I hope this finally solves my foot issues for good.  I've had foot pain, of some sort, for over 3 years so I'm looking forward to finally being totally pain free. 

Cellcom Marathon Expo & Kids Run

This past weekend was the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon (I'll write a more detailed race report in the next couple days).  I went to the expo on Friday night with a couple friends and picked up our packets, did some shopping and talked to a ton of people.  Then on Saturday I worked at the Door Country Triathlon/Fall 50 booth with Jeff Z, Tammy and Ivy.  That was fun.  Got to get all caught up with the three of them and saw lots more people I know.  I also saw my friends daughter do the kids run.  Here are a couple pictures I took.  She did awesome and ran strong! 

Kids running around Lambeau Field for the kids run 5-15-10

Kids running around Lambeau Field for the kids run 5-15-10

Grace and Brian rippin' it up during the kids run 5-15-10

Navarino Trail Half Marathon

I did the Navarino Trail Half Marathon back in mid-April but never posted anything about it.  I'm a slacker...I know.  Anyway, this was a Marathon or Half Marathon.  Totally awesome.  I go over and run on the Navarino trails a few times a year.  It's one of the only trails in the area that it's okay to have dogs....and yes that erks me to no end!  Asher loves it and so do I so when they changed their previous distance of a 15K to a marathon or half marathon I knew I had to do one.  I didn't want to do three marathons in three months so I stuck with the half.  It was great.  A couple friends of mine ran the full so I got there early to watch them start (they started an hour before us halfers did).  I ran the half and then went back and got my friend Jeff and finished again with him.  It was a cool and windy day but you didn't notice it too bad in the thick forest.  This race is really well run and the trails are soft and challenging.  I recommend this to anyone that likes to trail run.  I never posted the few pictures I took from the race so here they are:

Marathon Start

Marathon Start

Brad after the first mile (he went on to take second for the marathon)

Mike after the first mile (he's in the white shirt)

The Half Marathon medal

Dogs 'a Barkin'

Now that I have been able to bike outside more I am remembering all the "fun" things about biking outside....cars that don't watch for bikers, cars that think bikers don't belong on roads (not sure where they want me to go when I'm on a country road with a gravel shoulder), nasty head winds and farm dogs that chase you (this is possibly my favorite of them all).  Some of the farm dogs are fast, some are big, some have large snarly teeth, and some have it all, fast, big, black and large snarly teeth that like to chew on bikers.  Keep in mind these farm dogs have trained all winter to be in top physical condition to chase a biker when they get the opportunity, 6 months they've waited to sink their teeth into our leg.  So when one comes barreling at you like it's the biggest thrill in the world, push on those pedals like you've never pushed before, see what you really have and hope like heck the dogs endurance isn't nearly what they think it is.  Wednesday night when I rode I had a fun one.  I got chased by a big black dog with snarly biker eating teeth while his owner proceeded to rake a patch of dirt and pay no attention to his dog that took off after me like I was his next meal.  I was like WTF!!!  Now I have a big black dog

Who has also been known to chase bikers

But he doesn't have snarly biker eating teeth and I don't rake dirt while my dog chases people (look how much fun he is having running with those bikers).  Some people just downright scare the heck out of me.  So as we all spend more time on the roads running, biking or walking be careful for inattentive Big Mac eating cigarette smoking drivers and dogs with snarly endurance eating teeth.  It's a crazy world out there!