The mid-March weather in the Northeast has been crazy warm. Not just a few days, but rather consistent. The trees and flowers are a bloomin’, so hopefully it doesn’t freeze again are we may have some problems this year. It has been awhile since I have posted anything and every day I am out training I think about how I need to start documenting my progress this year. So tonight my procrastination to do my taxes has motivated me to post something finally. I poured myself a leftover Murphy’s stout and am gonna type away until it is gone.
Training has been progressing quite nicely. I am up to ~8 hrs a week right now and am feeling pretty good. Got in some long bike rides and runs on the weekend as well as some shorter, quality work during the week. It is so nice to be out on the road again with the bike. Last Sunday I pulled a calf(gastroc) going up the steep hill by bridal path, but fortunately it wasn’t bad enough to shut me down. I still got around ~7.5 miles in. I thought I may have to layoff it a bit, but I ran twice more this week and it felt fine. Even did 8.5 tonight(Thurs) which is a lot for a weeknight in the off season. I actually forgot to start my Garmin until after the first lap around Rodale(Fitness Park) and then I totally forgot about that first mile until I got to the car. Any here is my current training volumes so far this season.
Dieting has been slow and steady. I have lost a total of ~10lbs so far since Jan 1 2012, which is about > 3lbs a month. It seems like the older you get the harder it is to drop weight. I had to lower my daily calorie target to 1500 from 1700 to really start seeing some movement. The change is very gradual which I guess is good. I am starting to feel the difference, especially running, without that extra 10lbs dragging my ass. Another 10 would be perfect. The Livestrong Daily Plate is so awesome, it is really the only way for me to hold myself accountable for my intake. The graph below shows my progress. The big spike was from my week vacation in Lake Placid. Typically, when it snows like normal, I get a lot of exercise up there. This year we got hardly any snow, so it became and eat and drink fest. Hence the 7.5 lb setback. That sucked! Although it was still a nice vacation.
I am hoping to get down to around 170-175 by May. We are heading to the Amalfi Coast in Italy to do some hiking there. Although we will be doing a lot of hiking there will still be pasta, pizza and wine waiting for us at the trailheads, so I may need a little buffer.
Upcoming Events
I have a little sprint triathlon called the Independence Triathlon coming up in June. This will be a little tune-up race to get back in the swing of things after vacation. I had a credit for a free race and that was the only thing I could fit in.
I am also doing the Troy Jacobson(from Spinervals fame) Lake Placid Tri camp in June which I am really looking forward to. Should be a good measuring stick for my full Ironman experience.
In July I will be volunteering for Ironman Lake Placid at Run Stop #4 on River Rd. Should be nice since we stay there. I think this is really going to pump me up for the “big show” next year. Volunteers usually get some preference to the following years’ registration so hopefully I can get in. IMLP sold out pretty quickly this year. I just saw Timberman was offering qualifying slots from IMLP this year. Crazy!
Steelman Olympic will be in August again, which is usually my yardstick for the big race of the year, which this year is Ironman Muskoka 70.3 .
I hope to get some posts out on some recent gear issues, additions, and subtractions. So stay tuned.
