Geek in Deep

Ride and Run in Dixie

2009-11-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Had to limit my workout to 3 hours today so I did an abbreviated 30 mile bike ride from Bloomington Park with the Color Country Cycling Club. I rode with them up through Kayenta and then headed back to Bloomington instead of going to Veyo. Did a quick transition and ran a couple of miles. It has been a while since I did the bike to run transition and I forgot what prolonged riding does to your running legs. I need to practice that more- I can't imagine what a 112 mile ride will do to my marathon legs. Finished it up with a push-up, pull-up and sit-up routine.

October Part 2

2009-11-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

Several multi-state trips, cold weather, and irregular schedules have meant that my exercise schedule encountered some serious obstacles to consistency. 3-6 miles jogs a couple of times a week have been the workouts during the past couple of weeks. Praying for some more schedule stability in the coming weeks!

Mid October

2009-10-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

Did 4 runs of 4-6 miles during the week and a 30 mile road ride on Saturday after taking the kids hiking in the Santa Clara River Gorge to look at the Indian petroglyphs.

Fall is here

2009-10-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

Did a nice 3-5 mile run nearly every day this week- admittedly a little later than normal as pre-dawn temperatures here dipped into the 40s. I mixed it up with the regular core strength exercises of push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups. Gotta admit, I've missed Orange County weather this past week. I'll be back there next week.

On Saturday, spent the morning doing a 60 mile bike ride from Bloomington to Veyo and back with the Southern Utah Triathlon Club. They made me push myself a little harder than normal and also realize I've got to do some intense hill work to get ready for the Ironman in May.

Good news this week: Lynn Kubasek, a fantastic kayaker for my Catalina swim, bagged her own solo swim across the channel on Wednesday. Congrats, Lynn! I received my Abu Dhabi Tri Club jersey. Thanks Chris! I also enjoyed watching the Kona Ironman Championships- inspiring.

Sad news: I hadn't posted it before, but the Abu Dhabi jersey reminded of the great folks I worked out with there in the Middle East. Coach Mark Pringle, a fantastic coach full of spunk and positive energy, finally died of the injuries he sustained in a hit and run accident there in the capital. Unfortunately, Abu Dhabi is a less desirable place to be with him no longer there. LINK

Workouts This Week

2009-10-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

I was up late Sunday night and early Monday studying for an exam. After passing the 4 and 1/2 hour exam...I figured my body would survive a day without a cardio workout.

On Tuesday I did my loop around Bloomington with an extra intensive bout of situps, pullups and pushups that left me with a nice soreness for a couple of days.

This week, I finally got in a workout with Lynne Lund, the local swimming legend and found the legend was deserved. She was great and quickly picked apart my stroke and gave me a number of helpful technique helps. While St. George may not have the huge master swimming programs found in Southern California- its hard to get that kind of personal attention there either. I'm looking to get my 100 meters down in the mid 50 secs in the coming months.

On Saturday, I took off at 7:30 in cold and finished up after noon. Did 58 to 59 miles up to Veyo and down the 18 behind the St. George Marathon to Snow Canyon and back. I had to stop a few times due to police and race officials who wanted to make sure I didn't interfere with the tail end of the race. I believe it is the longest distance ride I've done- need to get the average speed up.

Week of Sept. 21st- Travel and Workouts

2009-09-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, ran with the family to a family function in Las Vegas and decided to continue down the 1-15 to California to get some of our stuff still stored there and take the kids to Disneyland the following day. After a morning of lifting items around our storage unit and an afternoon with Mickey, we returned to Utah late late Monday night. I was a little wiped out on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I did a 3 mile jog, on Thursday did 6 miles. On Thursday night I drove to Denver. On Friday morning I did 3 miles at almost 5,600 ft. elevation in Golden, CO and was able to return to Utah late that night.

Saturday morning I rode my bike 20 miles up to Sand Hollow Reservoir from Bloomington to watch the end of the Kokopelli Triathlon being held there. I was bummed I couldn't race it, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it back to Utah in time for the race and missed the registration. I rode back at a quick pace to get in a 40+ mile bike ride.

Next week, it is about finding a good schedule to build distance and practice all 3 disciplines.

Thursday through Saturday

2009-09-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night did a fast mile swim followed by 14 mile bike at Sand Hollow.

Thursday did a nice 3 mile jog

Friday morning was another 1 mile swim in Sand Hollow Reservoir followed by 3 mile jog and sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups.

Saturday morning, after one of the worst night's sleep of my life, I woke early from a campout with my son in the mountains about St. George to do a series of open water swim races at Sand Hollow Reservoir. Did the Kau Wela 1 mile race in a wet suit. In the warm water, the constriction of the suit caused me to have "can't catch my breath" claustrophobia reaction. (Most triathletes know what I'm talking about.) After a fast start, I heated up too fast and couldn't slow my breathing or heart rate. I lost the lead and couldn't recover my stroke/stamina until the last 1/5 of the mile. The winner smoked everyone, but I did catch up to a group of 3 swimmers all vying for the silver medal at the finish and beat out one of them for 4th place. I did the 1/2 mile without a wetsuit knowing that I'd be slower, but I'd feel more comfortable. I finished 3rd. I then did the 400m race without a wetsuit as well and took 2nd.

Wednesdays Workouts

2009-09-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

Did a 3 mile jog in the morning with push-ups and sit-ups and then another 3 miles walking with my wife. In the evening, I did a mile swim in Sand Hollow Reservoir with the Southern Utah Triathlon Club followed by a 14 mile bike ride. Not a lot of distance, but the intensity of each was more than usual...now I need to keep the intensity while increasing the distances.

Looking for a morning USMS group

2009-09-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a serious swim workout in weeks, so I hit the Summit Athletic Club's 5am workout...only to find I was the only one there. I did 3K+. I really need to find a good swimming workout group in St. George. I talked with a youth coach at Summit who mentioned he was planning something. I hope it happens, but if you live in St. George and are interested...contact me.

Ideally I like to be doing 5,000 yard workouts between 5:30 and 7:00 am with 100 yards on 1:20 intervals 3 to 5 times a week. Initially, it could be 3,000 yards on 1:30s.

Monday Workout - upcoming local races

2009-09-14T07:40:00.001-07:00

Did 6 mile run and sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups.

Signed up for the inaugural KAU WELA 1 mile open water Swim Competition next Saturday in Sand Hollow Reservoir here in St. George. I hope to do the Kokopelli Triathlon the following Saturday, assuming no clashes with other family plans.

Saturday Ride

2009-09-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Did the loop from Bloomington up through Gunlock and back down route 19 for a total of 56 miles. I did it between 11:30am and 3pm in 100+ degree heat, but I kept well hydrated and it was a nice ride. I did have a concerned motorist offer me a lift at the bottom of the hill between Gunlock and Veyo. The steepness of the hill and the heat of the day made him comment that it was "dangerous", but I declined. Though I feel that I'm no worse for the wear, I did do the climbs slower than I'd like to- I need to speed them up and then get in a second loop in the coming weeks to mirror the Ironman distance.

Short Workouts and Zions...again!

2009-09-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

Did a couple of short jogs and laps in the pool at Sand Hollow Aquatic Center the first week of September, but with 2 family birthdays and an aborted trip to California, schedules were too erratic for meaningful distances.

On Monday (Labor Day), I finally got back out to Sand Hollow Reservoir for a abbreviated triathlon workout of swimming and biking. I had to keep it short because I promised to take the kids to Zion's Narrows and a flat ensured that it would be. I spent the remainder of the day hiking several miles up and down the canyon with my 2 oldest.

On Tuesday morning, I did 2 laps of the 3 mile Bloomington loop run with push-ups, pull-ups and situps at the end of each 3 mile loop.

Zions National Park - Mystery Canyon

2009-08-31T23:46:00.000-07:00

I had an opportunity today to hike Mystery Canyon in Zions and I couldn't pass it up. What fun. 7 hours down slot canyons with friends and a good amount of rope work.

Going down "Death Gulch" to the canyon bottom.

Rappelling down a 120 foot wall into a cool pool.

Rappelling down Mystery Falls into Zion's Narrows and the Virgin River.

Time for some new Shoes

2009-08-29T23:46:00.001-07:00

Workouts yesterday and today just consisted of running. I did a short 3 mile run on Friday and a 12 miler on Saturday. My feet were blistered and bloody after the 12 miler. I was a bit surprised. Time for some better shoes. Unfortunately, the last time I went to a running specialty shop, I was professionally fit, spent over $100, and the result? I couldn't run more than a mile without getting a blister in the shoes that felt big for my feet.

My knees and and feet are hoping for a recommendation.

Update

2009-08-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Workouts Update:

Did a couple of short pool workouts and a few jogs both in St. George and in Aliso Viejo during the past week. Looking to "up" my mileage significantly so that I'm doing more than Ironman distances every week.

Gate of Tears Swim Update:
A few weeks ago I did get additional news about the water conditions in the channel. Man-eating white tip sharks are an issue and strong winds can really make things difficult. I found a great product, SHARKSHIELD that may be a solution. I talked with a distributor of the product here on the US West Coast and it is very promising.

Recent contact with the Yemeni tourism board has continued, but we still have not identified a charter boat. I am holding out hope, but concerns about pirates and the affects of a Shiite insurgency in Northern Yemen has cast a shadow over the planning effort. I don't expect to make much progress during Ramadan, but perhaps in September will get some forward movement again.

Wednesday Workout

2009-08-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Did 23 miles on the bike at dusk from Bloomington, through Santa Clara and Ivins up to Tuacahn Parkway and back down Bluff St. to the Virgin River trail and back to Bloomington. Though I had a bright flasher on, going 45 mph and being unable to see the cracks and obstacles in the pavement was not safe. Thrilling, but dangerous. Next time I'll have to leave a little sooner.

Now I'm going to get in a 6-9 mile jog before hitting the sack. I have to be in LA tomorrow afternoon so I need to get a good night's sleep.

Tuesday Early Morning

2009-08-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Joined the Summit Athletic Club crew for the 5am work out. Did 2,600m with the group & did another 2,400m to get in a full 5k.

Monday Jog

2009-08-17T22:44:00.001-07:00

The Southern Utah Tri Club has been doing 18 and 19 mile runs on some recent Saturday mornings. Though I think it is more for those doing the St. George Marathon on October 3rd, I should be able to do it, but I'm not sure I'm there yet. I'd better get there fast if I have any hope of doing an Ironman a few months from now. So after Family Home Evening and the kids were asleep, I ran around the Bloomington Country Club twice. It felt pretty good and I kept a sub- 9 minute pace for the whole 6 miles. I'll do 9 miles next time and 12 the time after that. I'd like to get that to a sub 8 minute speed and keep that for an entire marathon before the end of January. If my calculations are accurate, a Boston qualifying time for a guy my age is a 7:26 to 7:38 per mile. Any suggestions on a good December/January marathon?

Half of an Ironman

2009-08-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

A sore throat a few days before the Alcatraz Race was held at bay with high vitamin C doses, but a couple of days following the swim, an upper respitory tract infection and a crazy travel schedule kept me from working out for almost 2 weeks. For a guy who never gets sick, this was a real pain.

I eased back into a couple of 3k swims followed by 3 mile runs, but a crazy travel schedule the past week (I went between Southern Utah and the LA area 3 times in 8 days- mostly late night drives.) once again kept me from anything but small jogs until today.

In honor of the many Southern Utah Triathlon Club members participating in the Utah Half today, I rode 1/2 of St. George Ironman (1 loop of the 2 loop course). The 55 miles started in Bloomington and went up to Veyo via Santa Clara and Gunlock and down the 18 back to St. George and Bloomington. The mid ninety degree desert weather was nice. For those not familiar with Utah's Red Rock country, you can click on the map to get a sense of where these places are.

Tragedy and Triumph Among Friends

2009-08-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

First the tragedy:

With Coach Pringle at Raha International School - April 2009

While I was in Abu Dhabi, I worked out as often as I could with Coach Mark Pringle. He was so incredibly optimistic and full of energy, it was contagious. Sadly, complications from an injury he sustained while riding with the Abu Dhabi Tri Club at the end of last month make the possibility of his survival slim. It is a great loss for all of the many people that were touched by his passion for swimming and triathlons and especially his family.

Here are some recent articles on the situation:

Road Accident Leave Triathlete in Coma
How did triathlete get injured?

Now the Triumph:

Me and Jen before jumping in at Doctor's Cove, September 2008

Jen Schumacher, who was one of my escort swimmers during my Catalina crossing, bagged her own Catalina crossing yesterday. She finish the swim in an incredible 9 hours. Congratulations Jen!

Here is her blog with the details:
http://www.jenschumacher.com/

Here is a clip on KTLA about the swim:
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-channel-swim,0,7717321.story

Swim Around the Rock

2009-07-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

Start of the Swim Around the Rock Race.

At about 11am I finally did it. After about 2 hours of swimming, I completed the swim from the shores of San Francisco, around Alcatraz, and back in nothing but a swimsuit, cap and googles.

Receiving a medal after completing the swim.

The flood tide was even stronger than expected and it swept me about 1/4-1/2 of mile east of the island on the way out despite my efforts to aim to the west. It also caused me to be swim several hundred meters to the west as I neared the beach. But all told- it was a fun swim in comfortably cool temperatures (62 degrees warming to high sixties in some pockets near shore).

My family was there to see me off and my sister and her family were there to see me arrive.

With the family after cleaning up. Alcatraz can be seen in the background.

Thanks also to the wonderful support kayakers and other swimmers who helped spur me on through some of the rough waters in the channel.

Travel to Alcatraz

2009-07-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Well, after a trip to Utah County, Park City, Salt Lake City, and Reno/Sparks...I finally arrived in San Francisco this evening. I picked up my cap and shirt at the Sports Basement for the Swim Around the Rock (Alcatraz) race tomorrow morning.

http://www.waterworldswim.com/SAR/information.html

I got the run down on the swim from a swimmer who swam the "test swim" this morning. The water temps a relatively warm 62 degrees. Currents are a little tricky near Alcatraz, but generally should not be a huge factor. The race starts around 8:30 tomorrow morning at the Aquatic park near the end of Van Ness Street. I'm not worried about wildlife or the distance...my only concern is that it has been a few months since I swam 90-100 minutes in the cold, but I should be fine as I have always performed well in temperatures even into the low 50s.

Now just need to get some sleep...

Hiking and Swimming in Color Country - Swim Around Alcatraz

2009-07-15T09:03:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I opted for some time with the kids and tried to make a workout out of it too. I wanted to hike to the top of Signal Peak, the 10,300 foot mountain overlooking St. George. It became more of a workout than I anticipated when my 9 year old decided she was spent after only a quarter of the distance and I had to carry her 80 pounds on my back. We decided to find a nice lookout and turnaround. We'll see if it helps my biking. :)

On Sunday, I finalized travel arrangments to the Bay Area for the Swim Around the Rock, the annual race around Alcatraz Island. I'm excited to be one of 20 or so participants to brave the 60 degree water in this 3.25 mile race.
http://www.waterworldswim.com/SAR/information.html

I did 6K swim at Summit Athletic Club on Tuesday morning.

Brick Workout at Sand Hollow

2009-07-10T10:48:00.001-07:00

Met up with 8 Southern Utah Tri Club members at Sand Hollow Reservoir at 6am. I had broken out in red bumps after Monday's swim due to the "swimmer's itch" parasite in the lake so I decided to try my wetsuit this time. Unfortunately I discovered that storing your wetsuit in 120+ degree heat for a few months allows the rubber to melt together. It took a good ten minutes to pull it apart and it had a number of rips and holes in the neoprene by the time I unfolded it enough to stretch it on...bummer. I did a 1.25 mile swim and did seem to avoid the itch this time.

Six of us continued on to do a nearly 40 mile bike ride. We went around the reservoir and through the farm country to Hurricane, through Hurricane to La Verkin and finally into Toquerville. We climbed some good hills out of Toquerville to the I-15 and then came down the frontage road through Leeds and Harrisburg to Quail Creek Reservoir and then back to the 9 and back up to Sand Hollow. I'm in serious need of hill work, but I was nearly able to keep up with leaders, Jamie and Rob. I was grateful for a couple of hydration stops.

Finally we did a run. I jogged 2 miles back from the reservoir towards the 9, turned around, and jogged up to the western edge of the dam and ran along it back to the parking lot for 5.5 miles.

Nice 45 mile workout morning. Now I just need to keep upping the distance so I can do the St. George Ironman's 140.6 miles next May.

Early Morning Swim and Ride in St. George

2009-07-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

I woke at 4:30am this morning to join the swim workout at Summit Athletic Club at 5am. The pool was very nice and kept at a comfortable (cool) temperature. The workout was a nice 2500 and I threw in a few extra laps to get to 3K.

I came back, grabbed a quick bowl of oatmeal and hit the road on the bicycle. I went from Bloomington the whole length of the trail that ran on the north side of the Virgin River through St. George to Washington. I climbed up to the Washington Community Center and then under the I-15 and back into town on Highland Dr., through town and back to Bloomington along the Virgin River trail. It was a fun 22+ miles and relatively easy 400 foot elevation gain.

Tomorrow is a full brick workout at Sand Hollow with a number of the St. George Tri Club who are training for the Utah Half Ironman next week...1+ mile swim, 40 mile bike, and 8 mile run. That is Olympic plus distance...a good get back in shape tri for me.