BASE BEGINS

Today begin my 30 week Iron Distance training program to prepare for Beach2Battleship. A million emotions are running through my head. The excitement to begin the training sometimes is taken over by the fear of failure. The time is here to open the binder and begin week #1.

The first 10 weeks are the base period. I have chosen to mesh the beginner and the intermediate plan because I am a slow runner and need the longer run times. The basic schedule is as follows:

Monday===== Rest Day

Tuesday===== Swim (AM) & Run (PM)

Wednesday===Bike/Run Brick

Thursday=====Swim (AM) & Bike (PM)

Friday ======Run

Saturday=====Long Bike- starts at 1:15 in week 1/ 3:00 in week 10

Sunday======Long Run- starts at 1:00 in week 1/ 2:00 in week 10

Total hours:

Week 1 = 6 hrs.

Week 10 = 10 hrs.

Waddling into week #1 -day #1 (Rest Day)...........

HAPPY EASTER !

Waddling and wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter.......................

I had dinner last night with TriSharkie at Panera. We hadn't had much of a chance to talk in the past several weeks. I love to sit down with her because it always leads to a great discussion. Last night was no different.

The discussion centered on the coming iron distance training. We both were heading for the same race but with 2 totally different training plans. There is no doubt that both of our plans are good. We both have totally bought into our plan of choice. We began looking and comparing schedules to see how much that we could train together.

TriSharkie's plan was from Endurance Nation. It is a very time efficient plan and maximizes the use of every training minute. It focuses on working hard and intervals instead of long ,slow, distance. I understand the plan but do not believe it would be a good fit for me. TriSharkie believes in the plan and I know that is what it takes to have any plan work.

My plan is Be Iron Fit by Don Fink. It is a very conventional and easy to understand for me. It is very basic and for 30 weeks the weekly layout does not chang much. For me, it seems like less chance of injury.

The other discussion was of nutrtion for B2B. I am looking at Perpetuem and Sustained Energy. TriSharkie also added Infinit as an option. I have a feeling we will be talking alot about this also.

Waddling into training..............

REPEAT SUNDAY

Today began like last Sunday with a 6am test message from Snips. We were heading for our long run on the treadmill. It was pouring cat & dogs and due to change to snow. The temperature was dropping. It was not a day for a 12 miler outside.

We got to the gym both dreading what was ahead of us. Master's swim was just beginning so we stopped for a quick hello and headed to the locker room. We dumped our stuff and developed out strategy as we walked upstairs.

• The plan was to run for 2.5 hours.
• Speed would be set to keep our heart rates in zone 2.
• We would grab the 2 treadmills in the personal training area so we would have a view of the TVs and people with personal trainers.
• Treadmills close to bathroom.
• 1 minute of walking every 15 minutes.
• Heed to drink. Sport beans for fuel.
• We both came with list of things to talk about.
• Hot tub time when we were finished.

Amazingly the time flew by. We never stopped talking. We started at 7am and turned the treadmills off at 930am. We gave each other a high five. I was happy how good that I felt. We both had confidence that we were on track for the Indy500 MiniMarathon in 4 weeks.

The hot tub was our next stop and totally relaxed us after the long run. I was so relaxed that after I came home, I fell asleep for 3 hours.

Waddling after surviving the dreadmill...........

12 MILE RUN



Waddling...............

SIGN OF SPRING

The temperature came back up to almost 50 today. My evening training called for a 30 min. run. As quickly as I changed into my running clothes when I got home from work, a storm blew in. It was finished in 15 short minutes.

The first thing I noticed was all the earthworms that had come out all over the sidewalks. It brought back a special memory. As a kid I captured as many worms as I could in a jar with dirt in it. I could not get back to the house fast enough to show my mom and dad. My mother raised her voice and told me to immediately made me let all of them go. My dad would chuckled and whisper to me we should take them and go fishing. Good memories make for an effortless run.

Waddling while remembering.............

After a 6am text message from Snips, we decided to run our long run at the gym on the treadmill. I thought it wouldn't be so bad with a friend. As I got to the gym, Snips called and the roads were treacherous and she was heading back home. I knew that mentally I was ready for the 2 hours on the treadmill.

Today, I again used Heed to drink. I like the flavor and plan to stick with it. I also had a sample pack of Sport Beans with me to try and see if it agreed with me. They tasted not bad and did not send me to the bathroom. The problem was that it was a variety of flavors and my stomach was upset by the end of the run.

I got the run in and hope this is my last long one on the treadmill. You never know- it's still early in Spring.

Waddling to watch some TV...........