Solo training camp

The girls are in day camp from 9-4 M-F this week, so I'm trying to get some increased training volume in a solo training camp by myself. (The slight glitch in this is that my new Adamo bike saddle arrived Monday, and it's going to take me a few more miles than I expected to get accustomed to totally new pressure points. I'll post a review soon).

Here are my completed workouts (I'll update this and add as I do them):

MONDAY
SWIM 0:44 0.99 mi 44:47 min/mile 396 cal
BIKE 1:02 17.29 mi 16.7 mph 691 cal
Painted 1 laundry room, grouted cracks in driveway, filled 1 rotten windowsill with wood putty.

TUESDAY
SWIM 0:49 1.10 mi 44:12 min/mile 440 cal
BIKE 2:36 40.80 mi 15.7 mph 1632 cal (slow and sluggish)
Also spent too much time adjusting the bike seat, putting on the behind-the-seat water bottle cages for summer long rides, etc.

WEDNESDAY
SWIM 0:42 0.96 mi 43:47 min/mile 384 cal
RUN 2:07 8.30 mi 15:18 min/mile 830 cal (call it heat acclimatization training - hot and slow)

THURSDAY
RUN 0:60 5.00 mi 11:54 min/mile 500 cal
BIKE 1:19 20.07 mi 15.2 mph 802.8 cal

FRIDAY
BIKE 2:13 35.20 mi 15.9 mph 1408 cal (cut it short, had intended 50-70 miles)

SATURDAY
RUN 0:49 4.24 mi 11:30 min/mi 424 cal

Plus some walking that I won't count! Whew!

Baby bunny

Eating up all my grass. Punk!
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Vacation

I didn't take many photos last week when we rented a house at the Outer Banks in North Carolina, but here are a couple that make me smile:

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Group of 7-8 deer on my run route today
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New cabinets

Still being installed, and no appliances nor countertops in place, but at least it's progress!

Here is the "before" photo of that stove area in the center. We are keeping the same stove, in the same location (only it will have a microwave above it instead of the vent hood), but that's all that remains of the original kitchen and layout:

Bad photo, but at least you can get the gist of the 2-sided glass cabinets between the sunroom and the kitchen:

This is about the same view, before remodeling (nothing in this photo is still in place other than the doorway I'm shooting the photo through). The new dishwasher is going approximately in the same place as the old one that is barely visible on the right far side.

Starting Over

Here we go again. I have 24 weeks in this year's log and 20 weeks to Ironman, more or less.

Averages per week this year:

• Swim: 334 yards (zero for fully 20 of those weeks, since I never got meds to swim in the indoor pools, and I would get sick without them. Fortunately outdoor pools seem okay so far.)
• Bike: 29.8 miles (better than I had thought!)
• Run: 10.6 miles (fairly average for me).

Hmm. Compared to this time in 2006, when I was preparing for Ironman Florida (which I DNFd halfway through the run), that's about 2975 fewer yards swimming per week, 19.4 fewer bike miles per week, and 4.8 fewer run miles per week. That's not good! But my paces are faster now and my body weight lower, so that's in my favor. And while I'm 3 years older, I've also got 3 more years of base training and triathlon experience.

Now I need to gradually bring up the swim total within a week by about, oh, roughly 10X - 20X, the bike by about 4X-6X, and the run by about 2X. Not in every week, though, the overall weekly averages in the next 24 weeks will be somewhat less since I'll focus more heavily on single disciplines each week.

Bring it on.

Home again!

Home again from vacation! Yay! I'll post some photos when I find my camera (buried somewhere in unpacked luggage, I hope).

Major events of this week:

* My birthday! My math says it's my 52nd, but that can't possibly be right.

* Summer day camp starts! Hurrah!

* MORE work on both houses proceeds, slowly. Photos to come, also. Two sets of beautiful upper cabinets are now installed in my new kitchen and 3/4 of the beautiful floor. It's still going to be several weeks until moving day. The old house is listed for sale and we've had a few looky-loos so far.

* 20 weeks to Beach 2 Battleship iron-distance triathlon means that SERIOUS tri-training begins this week! I'm using a modified ontri.com free canned training program, which looks good, along with logging my workouts there. They have a "friends" function, though I'm not sure exactly what the friends thing does.

* I just ordered one of these funny-looking bike saddles. It's my only hope for riding long distances without being in serious, serious, SERIOUS discomfort after 2-3 hours. Nothing else has worked, and I've tried everything. Everything. And yes, red is fast.

Hot tub

The girls are loving it! Yes, we have the temp turned down so they don't cook. But maybe we'll get one at home one of these days!
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At the beach!

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New carpet

In the middle of carpet installation today throughout the new house (everything outside of the remodeled area and bathrooms). This is in the girls' bedroom, but the color goes very well with the tan, yellow, and brown shades I've used for the walls throughout the rest of the house. Sure beats faded 80s dusty rose.

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Swimming at Claiborne

My training partner Dave and I did another short open water swim this morning at Claiborne, Maryland. There's a sleepy village which many years ago used to host a bustling ferry terminus. These days there are more ospreys and crabs than people.

You might be able to see a flag in the middle ground which showed the wind to be 8 or 9 mph. The water had a bit more chop than I would like, but the temperatures were pleasant enough and there is no sign of the sea nettles yet. We did, however, pause to let a very large swimming snapping turtle go on his way. Since it's completely open to the west it can get a lot of wind coming off the bay and a lot of chop, making swimming there a bit of a challenge. Plus it's only deep enough to swim there when the tide is out - otherwise it's only hip height out to a half mile offshore. Today that allowed me to stand up and rest and take a breather whenever I felt like it!

The crescent-shaped bay is just to the south of the "A" on the map below, on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay.

Blowup pool

I don't think I could fit an Endless Pool in it, but we're enjoying the new back yard before we have even moved in!
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Don't like

"Race Day Packet Pickup (each) : $10.00"

Oh well, won't be registering for that race either.

New floor

Finally the floor installation begins!
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Update: VERY glad to see our new flooring finally going in! It's Bruce "Butter Rum" prefinished 3/4 inch oak. Can't wait until it's done!

New blinds

Just installed these in living room
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Update: They are great shades! I'm very happy with them. I got them on sale online at JCPenney (Spencer II Roman Shades), about $50 per shade with shipping - they have a sheer portion and a heavier room-darkening portion (in lots of colors and a few patterns, this is called "Sienna Scroll" in a very rich-looking fabric). I'll probably use them alone for a long time and then put drapes on top of them, or maybe just a valance. VERY easy to install, I was surprised!

Birthday festivities

I had hoped to have a real backyard birthday party this year, but that idea got dropped when the remodel wasn't anywhere near finished. But we ended up with several fun days of celebrating six years with my girls anyway!

Starting with the ever-popular rainbow cupcakes with buttercream frosting (48 of them took me all afternoon to make). I think I need to find information somewhere on "How to Frost Cupcakes".

I brought them to school on Monday to help fuel the kids for their outdoor "Field Day" which is lots of fun.

We had our own outing at our private beach cove on Saturday which was great! Too bad the jellyfish will arrive soon.