TRI Harder…..GK17

Now I just need to go find them and try them on for size.  This is one bad looking mutha of a shoe.  Not for the faint at heart…fast shoe!  go to Brooksrunning.com and check it out for yourself…along with many other great ones!!!

GK17

Obviously the sun is setting earlier and earlier every week…by the time I decided to run it was 26 degrees with a wind-chill of about 18 or so….YES, I tried to talk myself out of it, but to no avail!  So, on went the new CWX running tights (thanks again to Stephen at GEARANDTRAINING.COM — check it out he’s awesome) and 3 top layers of fancy spandexey type materials, a hat, some running gloves and my Garmin!  Oh, almost forgot, received my new (replacement) I-pod in the mail today…loaded up and ready to go!  I started slow, ramped up after about a half mile or so, gave it aobut 10 more minutes and hit my normal pace for a bit and added in some speedwork.  Every time I had to cross a busier street, or make a transition from path to road, my legs would get really warm…so I tried to do that as much as possible!  After  a few “hi-beam” flashesa nd a couple horn honks I started to wonder if I wasn’t very visible to the cars and trucks out there!!??  I maintained as much “path” running as I could as to not get hit or startle any people.

It felt like a long run…it seemed to take forever, but when I looked down at the garmin..I was doing good time and covering decent ground..its the cold that killed my speedy feeling.  Tailwinds helped me out for the first 3 miles, cross winds kept me in check for about a half, then on the way back to the house it was ALL headwind!!  ughhhhhhh…thank God for the hardcore running mix of music I had going or it would have been brutal for sure.  It was lonely out there…Dark, cold and damp!  Not one other person was out doing anything.

Anyway…know this…If you are planning on going night running make sure you are well lit, hydrated, and don’t forget your cell phone (like I did).  You never know what could happen, God forbid, so be on the safe side!!!

GK17……………out

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 11/15/2008
• Time: 18:45:00
• Total Time: 00:52:52.00
• Average Heart rate: 160
• Max Heart rate: 186
• Calories: 802
• Distance: 6.8 miles
• Average Pace: 7:46.32/mile

so I took advantage of it and did my own little triathlon.

1)  Stength work and cardio

2) Speedwork on the bicycle trainer

3)  4+ mile run outside in the cold.

This was an awesome day!!!  I feel so good after working so hard this week in my training!  My body has been ver receptive and the smile on my face when I’m done is proof that moving more everyday is a good thing.

GK17…………….OUT

i find it comical in my own mind, of course, that i want to shave my legs! Is it a good enough excuse that I am a triathlete, cyclist, runner and swimmer? Or the simple fact that i want to admire my newly renovated leg muscles? Seems good enough for me, any thoughts = Greatly appreciated!!

GK17

i hope this is at least good for a laugh!

I have not been tracking my everyday workouts on here nearly as much as I was in the beginning of the year up til about a month ago. i have been doing nearly zero running, all my biking has been on my indoor trainer, and my strength workouts have been good, but spread out and mixed up with other types of workouts, so tough to keep up the training, let alone blog it all too.

I do not have the season ending blues as of right now, yet i m starting to feel the mental fatigue as the days grow shorter and the nights seem, well, shorter too (NO SLEEP). i am looking forward to starting up swimming again in November and really concentrating on that two days a week through the new year and beyond with Team In Training. Team in Training will start in january and our first race with them will be in June (the 27th I believe) and I am stoked.

I have been completely runless since my race and plan on keeping it that way through january in order to be fully healed from what ever ailment I am suffering from. I should find out more after a doctor visit within the next coupla weeks.

So for now, it’s two days a week on the trainer, and 3 days strength and cardio with potential bike training mixed in as well…that should suffie for now!!

Keep sweating for the good!

P.S…..in order to keep my “mental edge” over the off season, I have also decided to not indulge in ANY adult beverages from now until the new year (trust me, I didn’t have a problem in the first place, but just want to prove that it can be done!!)

GK17….out!

I couldn’t of asked for a better day to run this race (5-10 degrees cooler would have been fine). The sun was out, the wind was light and the smell of running was in the air! Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove, MN is home of some of the loveliest landscape I can think of. Today I was too zoned in to notice it all. My best friend, Drew, who is a 2 time half ironman participant (just this year), a marathoner, and elite olympic triathlete, was running this with me along with long time friend John K.! John was gonna go slow and steady and do his thing, Drew said he would do the same (just coming off some minor surgery a month ago), but when that gun sounded Drew was off like a cannon!

He and I paced each other the whole race…he would coach me along in the treacherous flats and the much hated downhills, and I would try and hold pace for both of us on the uphills! I would say, quite honestly, that there were probably a total of .7 or 1 mile of flat terrain on this course, the rest was up and down the whole way through…made for a tough, and great challenging run. I fought hard through miles 4 and 5 falling off pace few times, but Drew would not let me lay down, he pushed me hard as my brain thought too much about finishing, I was talking myself out of victory, losing some composure…but it didn’t get lost, not today. Hitting the 5 mile mark was glorious, but I knew the tremendous pace we had held thus far would only be heightened to a new race pace and it was to my horror and delight. The last mile seemed to float right on by and before we knew it we could hear the commentator over the loudspeaker loud and clear…JUST 2 tenths of a mile to go…ALL uphill around a sharp corner out of the woods and onto a parking lot to the finish. We had biked this trail so many times it was mentally handicapping at times knowing what was ahead of you, but I blocked out the big hill as much as I could. Hitting the parking lot and seeing the finish makes my legs happy and no matter what I have left in the tank there is always reserve for one last sprint (our old soccer coach in high school is to thank for that). I could hear my wife and daughter off in the distance, just before the finish “Go Sean, good job Daddy!” I love it, and it makes it all worth it! Never retreat and never surrender…Spartan Law some would say, my law, Drews law! We had beaten the mental game today, and now it is time to hang the race number on the race wall and hang up the running shoes until next year (let the old wounds heal).

Bigs Ups to Drew, my friend, my Mentor, my coach and my Brother!!! It truly has been a pleasure racing with you this past season!!!

Until next time, keep sweating for goodness sake!

GK17……….. OUT!

Dropped the kids off at church for their evening of fun and activities and decided to run the trails of maple Grove. nice long stretches of rolling trails, through the woods, by the lake…blah, blah, blah. Very scenic and not too busy. It was getting dark around 6:45 Pm and I had minimal lighting and what not so i decided 3 to 3.5 miles was all i needed. i was hydrated and had had dinner 2 hours prior so off I went. i felt like I was flying during most of it and happy with my time as I stopped for a “potty” break and worked on some slight interval training (speed, slow, speed slow). i guess i was flying, but my legs ere not happy with me this go….

Anyone here do this marathon in hopes to qualify for Boston, or know anyone who did? i was really hoping to go check out the event, i understand it is very well put together and I had a few friends running in it and the 10 mile as well. Kind of a crummy day for a marathon, but could have been worse (you never know what you’re going to get in MN).

On a different note…is anyone planning to do boston already and has qualified?

peace….GK17

Okay…Square Lake triathlon was September 6th and since then not a lot has been happening in the way of training. light cardio and weights (upper body, and core mostly) have been the most significant things going! I have yet to really do any hardcore training. i have really wanted to get out onthe bike and do some running as well, but in the same breath, this is a good time to rehabilitate my body from what i put it through this past season.

Problem number one…i feel tired, overweight, slow, and anxious because of the lack of time invested…the number two problem…I have a footrace coming up in less than a month that I want to do really well at (it’s a 10k) and then my season is pretty much topped off.

The good news is this…I am getting closer to having the money to purchase an indoor bike trainer from my friend Stephen at Gear and Training here in Rogers MN (go to GEARANDTRAINING.COM for your multisports needs and other cool stuff). I look forward to doing alot of biking indoors this winter and it is something that I did not dbble in at all last year. The local pool at our middle school is going to be open for adult lap swimming starting november 10th for 2 night a week, one and a half hours per time…the key is this–ADULTS only! And for $2 a night or $30 for a season pass, you can’t really beat it.

Running (even though my favorite of the 3) will be put on hold til next year after my run in October. I want to be healthy as a lark when it comes time to train with Team in Training this coming late winter. My goal is to train with them all spring, do my first TRI in June of 09…it will be an olympic distance and close to home. Then if things go as planned we will be doing a half ironman in Sunriver Oregon the end of June. if things go really really well, I am planning on doing another race with TNT in the middle of July which will be the Lifetime Fitness olympic tri right here in minneapolis. I am already getting excited and we have alot of time from then and now.

Anyway…hope all is well with you out there following up with me and my happs. if I don’t hear from ya…good morning, good afternoon, and good evening!!!

GK17

that the Minnesota chapter will be doing 2 triathlons next summer (2009)! First one is in Sunriver oregon and it will be either Olympic or hlaf Ironman distance. So far me and 2 of my buddies are gearing up for the HALF!!!! I can’t wait to train with TNT and to race for such a great cause.

The second race will be 3 weeks later in Minneapolis….Lifetime Fitness Olympic Triathlon. My goals are to do both races and raise lots of money for this great cause. Keeping in mind that although these reaces will be fun and memorable…they are not for ME, and they will not be about me, I just want to make an impact if I am able to and if God is willing to use me in that way!

God bless…

GK17

YOU can read and see more at : TeaminTraining.org