A Weekend of Firsts...

This past weekend was characterized by quite a few firsts...

My first bike ride through Collier Canyon in Livermore, which happens to also be my first time exceeding a distance of 60 miles on a ride. I rode with the Cyclepath club again, as I've lately been wanting to explore some newer routes in my area. This is week 11 of Ironman training program, which called for:



30 min swim, 3.75 hour bike ride, 30 min run



And while this clearly ate up a big chunk of my time on Saturday, I was thankful to come back and see Jo at the end of the day. After this workout, I was famished as all I had eaten the whole day were energy bars and gels. To refuel on carbs we decided to go to Sweet Tomatoes. Yes! Carb heaven !!!



Another first, Jo ran 12 miles on Sunday....a personal best for her! I am so proud of well she is doing, as she trains for her big dream of completing the Nike Women's Marathon this October.

She's already done two triathlons...so this young lady is no stranger to endurance sports, but the commitment she's made to do this marathon stands as the current "MOUNTAIN" that she wishes to turn into a "MOLEHILL". Great job honey, you're almost there...so proud of you!



And the final first...the first Ironman 70.3 race to held in the Philippines this past Sunday. The men's pro division was won by Terrenzo Bozzone, while the ladies champion was Lisa Bentley. More about the Inaugural Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

Weekend Update

Kicked off a big week of training this past weekend. On Saturday, I rode with the Cyclepath club. We started in Pleasanton at the Main Street store, and went up through Sunol and past Calaveras Reservoir just a few miles short of Milpitas. A 43-mile endeavor with about 1000 feet of climbing.


In all, about 3 hours worth of riding...not too shabby to say the least. There were about 30 or so riders out there, and all kinds of bikes. The best part of the ride was that there was very little vehicle traffic as this route is not commonly used.

The next day, I joined up with the Nike Marathon training club in Danville and ran a 10-mile easy-paced run. Needless to say, it was an exhausting weekend. Par for the course, if you want to become an Ironman.

13 weeks and counting...

I'm 13 weeks out, and next week starts the "peak" phase where my distances in each discipline will increase dramatically. Thankfully this week was a much needed "rest" week. I limited most of my riding to about 20 miles or less, and the longest swim was 2500 yards. Easing back into running, as I still have a little bit of tenderness from a calf strain from a 2 weeks ago. So I haven't pushed much more than about 6 miles three times since Sunday.

I'm enjoying the calm before the storm, which is just about to arrive...

Ironman Resurrection

I apologize to my readers for such a long stretch since my last post. I've taken a leave of absence from blogging for a while, but I am back on track now. Life seems to throw many challenges at you, sometimes all at once...but today I am fully focused on the challenge at hand: Ironman Florida.

So...what have I been up to since the spring? Let me fire off a few quick bullets:

April 4th: Finished at Ironman California 70.3
http://picasaweb.google.com/tridude72/2009IronmanCalifornia703?feat=directlink

April 10th: Took a much needed vacation to Italy with my wife
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/marv.n.jo/1/tpod.html

June 20th: Finished at Tri For Fun #1 in Pleasanton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CZ1CcCGnmk

And for the past month and the next 12 weeks, I'm focused on training in earnest for the highlight event of my short triathlon career so far: Ironman Florida

Stay tuned, as I'll be posting periodic updates and various events in my life leading up to the big day!