Speed in the snow

2003. A pic from the snowy run at Canadian Nationals in Chilliwak, BC.

11 minute mile

Today I had my first 'run-two-days-in-a-row' day. Up to now I'd been running every other day to give my legs a bit of a rest. I'm up to 3 miles each run now and I clocked in at an 11:00 minute mile this morning. I had an 11:30 minute mile yesterday so hopefully my times will keep improving this quickly. I used to run a 7:00 minute mile for slow runs back during the peak of my pentathlon training days and a 5:30 mile or better in competitions.

In other news, I've been paddling outrigger canoe with Wakinikona for several months now so that is helping my cardio a lot. I've now paddled in the two seat doing sprint turns and have been the caller for switches so am getting more and more into it. Hopefully I'll have a chance to practice in the Blue Heron with Mike Evans to prepare for Tribal Journey too.

A little more run

Did another run this evening, this time for 20 minutes. I'm starting off small and slow to give my legs and cardio a chance to build back up slowly. Overall, the run felt great. It's still no fun running so slow as part of the Maffetone Method, but in the long run, it will pay off. For now I'll keep running out and back along 64th in my Ballard neighborhood which is a pretty level course. That's perfect for now but down the road, when I get back in to cross country I'll find a more variable course. Next run will be a full 30 minutes so hopefully I'll hold up OK.

Back on track

Last night I did my first run in almost three months. It was a short run, only 20 minutes, but a run nonetheless and it is the first small step back on the track of training for and competing in pentathlons once again. It's been five years since I last considered myself 'in training' for pentathlon...or anything for that matter. I've had some runs, swims, and rowing machine days along the way, but nothing that I'd consider part of any formal training. So last nights short run felt especially good since it wasn't just for running's sake or for getting out of the house, it was the first run of many that will get me back on the path of pentathlon training, as well as other athletic endeavors.

I'll be doing most of my runs using the Maffetone Method so will be pretty slow on times for the next few months. But in the big picture, it will help me build a better cardio base and help me become more efficient in all my athletic endeavors.

Long run, holiday style

I did my long run for the week on today, Christmas Day. This is always a leisurely day anyway, so the run fit in well. I basically did a tour around Steilacoom, my home town. My favorite part was running through old Ft. Steilacoom. It used to be the farm and orchard for Western State Hospital (a mental institution) but now is a public park. There are lots of tall slender alder trees along the trails and the hillside looks like a scene from Tuscany. Little lake Wahop is a nice little run, about 3/4 of a mile long. My shins did fatigue a little at first, but I loosened my laces and took a little stretch break about half way through my run and all was well. I also wonder if this happens when I'm not hydrated well, because it seems to be pretty random. I'll start keeping an eye on this.

Low key 5K

After sleeping in until almost 10:00am, I had a little breakfast, watched TV for about an hour and then went for a run on the 5K course I ran back in October for the Roman Meal Glove Run. I didn't feel like timing myself, so just had a nice low key run at around a 7 minute mile pace. It was nice running through Steilacoom again, the sites and smells familiar from my youth.

Long run, lots of fencing

I did my long run around Lake Union today since I wasn't able to fit it in over the weekend. I had a YMCA Board meeting so I got started later than I had hoped to in the afternoon. I did a bit of a warm up run over to Pocock Rowing Center, stopped in to say hello and then started on my way. I hadn't taken a nap, so I could feel that I was pretty tired. But the run went pretty well, just a nice slow, long run.

Fencing went long as well. I fenced seven bouts which is three more than I usually do. I did very well, winning 5 bouts...all except Greg and Nathaniel. Nathaniel Dirkson, an "A" level fencer who recently placed 66th in a national competition out of 160, was back home for the holidays and everybody wanted to fence him. I got nine touches on him and was pretty pleased since I missed several others that with my own weapon (I am still using a club weapon) I could have gotten. I noticed that Eli Bremer, the guy I stayed with in Sydney, got 52nd in the epee competition. I should be seeing both these guys in competition soon enough.

So close...to sub 20

Did my Portage Bay (PB) run again tonight and considering how I did on the last one, I was very pleased but yet, not completely satisfied. I came in at 20:09. I'm learning more and more that the every little bit counts. Surely I could have taken 10 seconds off my run time somewhere along the way. Looking back I see many places I could have done it. You really have to push the whole way through and small break - mental or physical - could be the difference in meeting a goal or having to try for it again later. I am still getting over a cold, so it was good to confirm that I can still train in such a situation, but its still now excuse for missing out on 10 seconds. 10 SECONDS! Ultimately, I want to take two more minutes of my PB time. When I get back from Oz, I will be doing more cross country, as well as adding in some hills and stairs.

Watching the Olympics makes me realize how much harder I will have to work short- and long-term. But its all possible. A great quote about Megan Quann from her brother tonight "She decides what she wants, then enforces it". I like it. I also have to say that I'm pretty inspired by Lenny Krayzelburg's story and accomplishments. Having traveled througout the Former Soviet Union and knowing many immigrants here in Seattle, I really appreciate his (and his family's) sacrifices and dedication. He's got a great attitude as well. You can never have to many people to look up to for motivation when training.

The Monday blues

I was all pumped up for the swim session today and didn't do that poorly. But, it certainly wasn't the great times that I saw about two weeks ago. I've decided that I wasn't to go back to the workout I was doing on my own, at least once a week. I was seeing progress and even though its good to deconstruct and look at my stroke in detail, I also want to keep some progress going.

The run later in the evening didn't go as well as I would have like either, but I think I know why considering the variables involved. I had eaten only an hour before, didn't stretch beforehand and hadn't run in quite a few days. I actually had to stop at one point for a bit and stretch my lower back. I really need to make sure I do a full stretch and warm up, even before these short runs.

Fencing too was acceptable, but my point control just wasn't there. I won two bouts and lost two bouts. I got some amazing shots, but missed a lot more of them. I'll be glad when I finally get all my new uniform and other equipment so I can focus in on making progress.

Faster swim, first treadmill

I did my 200yd about 10 seconds faster today which shows how much time I really have to make up...if you can take a full 10 seconds off your time, you've got a long way to go. The swim felt pretty good considering that I had just had a much of Mint Milano cookies after lunch.

The true test would come after swimming though. I did my first workout on a treadmill. It was really cold outside and I had wanted to try a treadmill for pace purposes anyway for a while now. The run itself went OK. I ran 20 minutes at a 7.5 mile pace. The treadmill control panel was pretty wet by the time I was done...I was sweating pretty hard. When I stepped off, I was a little dizzy, more from the end of the new motion than working too hard. My legs felt like they were 'buzzing' too, kind of like after you've used a power tool. I plan on doing a treadmill workout once a week, mainly to work on pace.

Good swim, FAST run and fencing beats

Nothing too spectacular about the swim today, other than I felt really good the whole way through, I was able to get my number of strokes across the pool down to 13 once, but still usually get 14 or 15.

The run, on the other hand, went really well. I ran Portage Bay and came in at 9:08...my fastest time ever (beat my previous time vy 20 seconds). I did have to push pretty hard and my legs got a little lactic towards the end, but I'm just psyched that I not only finished it, but finished it with a great time.

In Fencing tonight, we worked a lot with beat attacks. I still have a long way to go to get my bad habit of 'guessing' opponents moves. I need to work better on making assumptions and responding to what they do rather than just guessing. Allen has me doing some great drills that make me focus on this.

Saturday shoot, a super swim and a long slow run

After sleeping in until 11:00am (felt great!), I made my way to the Kenmore Range for my second shooting session at the range. I felt much more confident this time. My arm was a little stronger so my sights weren't moving all over the place and I felt more relaxed. Best of all, it showed in my shooting. My shots were more centered around the black area and I even got a 10 along with 2 nines. Going forward, I will be practicing shooting twice a week at home and shooting at the range on Saturdays. The air pistol league starts in April, so after a few months shooting with my Daisy, I hope to be up and running with Steyr by then.

I had a great swim this afternoon. I took another second off my 2 x 100yd times. I still haven't come close to my fastest time since I started getting coaching, but I'm happy to see the times coming down again. Once again, I kept my energy level up through the end of the workout. I'm feeling much more comfortable with the backstroke finally, which is good since I'm sure I'll need it for the practice tomorrow with Salmon Bay.

I did my long run around Lake Union this evening. It was a clear, cool night...perfect for a nice long, slow run. No problems at at all to report, my legs and feet felt great the whole time and I felt like I could go for another spin around the lake.

Fast swim, fast run, not so slow yoga

I had another great swim this afternoon. My times for the 100yd were pertty much the same, but my energy level stayed with me the whole workout. My pushoffs continue to improve as well.

In the run around Portage Bay, I bettered my time by 15 seconds. Still not my fastest time around Portage Bay, but I'm only 15 seconds away. Since my legs were a bit sore form riding which I hadn't done in a week and I had just finished swimming, I was pretty pleased with this time.

Finally, I went to the yoga for athletes class again tonight. I was much tighter starting off tonight that I usually am and many of my motions were faster than I would have liked. I seemed to be wanting to do the positions too much rather than just focusing on doing what I could do. But by the end of the class I did feel a little looser and more able to control my muscles.

Faster swim, slower run, shorter fence

My swim today felt really great. I decreased my 100yd time by two seconds on two consecutive attempts. My push turns are feeling great and my backstroke continues to improve (at on the times that I have a free lane to do it, I'm still a little too chicken to try it with someone else in the lane).

I ran Portage Bay this evening. I came in under 20 minutes - which is good - but came in 20 seconds behind my fastest time - which isn't so good. But I was pretty pleased overall. My shoes were a little tight which stopped my from completely relaxing my feet. I still feel like I'm coming back from a week ago when my back was sore.

Had a short fencing night tonight. Most of the fencers were getting ready for a tournament in Ontario, CA. Since my weapon broke a last week I've been fencing with a club weapon which started having some problems tonight. With few fencers and a bum weapon, I decided to head home a little early. I did get in four good bouts though, so had a respectable night.

Shooting setup, another long run and better fencing

This afternoon I spent sometime setting up a 'shooting range' at home in my basement. The range consists of a cardboard box filled with a stack of newspaper on end behind about 6 inches of crumpled up newspaper. I got the design from one of the pamphlets I got from Daisy. The home 'mini' range will be great because I can start doing a lot more practicing in the shooting event and be able to make mistakes in the comfort of my own garage.

After I set up I took 40 shots total (10 on each target). I was pleased that my are didn't fatigue at all this time and when I really visualized and focused I did pretty good. My best score is a 61 out of a 100, which is just fine for my first shooting. I'd like to get this up into the 80s before I by my next gun, a Steyr, in February.

I decided to go for a long run again this evening for a couple reasons: 1. for some reason, I felt that the Portage Bay was too short of a workout; 2. I wanted to see what running around Lake Union was like in the dark how well lit it is for example). I started again at the Pocock Rowing Center. The run felt really good and I did take some time off my last run, coming in at about 46 minutes this time. I think I will still keep the long runs down to one day a week. I have to keep in mind that I'm doing a sprint race and really need to work on this more than my long runs.

If I wasn't convinced that I only wanted to do long runs once a week, I was after fencing. Although I actually did very well in fencing tonight, my legs were pretty uncooperative for a while. I just put too much into the long run. Luckily, I was very relaxed and seemed to have good point control for once. I even got 9 touches on John Varney! I talked with Allen, my coach a little while after my bouts about ordering some new equipment. Looks like I'll have three weapons soon and a big bill to go with them.

Long run, quicker swim

I got my long run in for the week today, I ran around Lake Union which took about 45 minutes. It is about a 6 mile run, but I did about a 1.5 mile warm up running over to Pocock Rowing Center, my starting point for the run (and my old shell house). I did my 2 min off 1:30 on intervals. The run felt pretty good the whole way, my new shoes feel great. This will be a good bump up from my Portage Bay run and good training for running 5Ks. I had another good swim this afternoon. I still feel pretty tired out by the end of the workout, but at least my sprint times at the beginning of the workout are a little quicker. Not as quick as they need to be, but quicker. My backstroke is getting a little better, butterfly is still a mess though.

Catch up and first triple in a while

Whoops, its been a while since I updated my journal. With housesitting and all, I've been pretty busy.

I've had some OK workouts here and there over the past week or so, nothing spectacular. I just started back up running and swimming since my back had been giving me some problems for a while. Both fencing and swimming have been down a notch since I started in on lessons, but that was to be expected. Still not Daisy airgun yet. Finally, didn't do any riding during the Thanksgiving week. But now I'm back on track and focused as ever to try and get ready for the pentathlon clinic/camp I'll be attending in late December in San Antonio.

I did have my first triple in a while today. The swim actually felt pretty good...finally. I'm getting better at the turns Ed had me work on, just push turns for now. Getting a little better at the butterfly and back stroke too, but nothing to brag about yet. I hope to hook up with Ed once a week or so.

I did a little better in fencing tonight compared to most of last week. I do think it is mostly due to the club epee I'm using since my blade snapped last week. The club epee doesn't record my touches very well and the tip is bent in a weird way. I also discovered tonight that the blade is a lot more flexible than what I'm used to which is probably why my point control is not what it used to be.

Finally, I did a half hour interval run on the shores of Lk. Washington where I'm housesitting for the Robbins. Its has been a week or so since I did a full on run, so it will take a few runs to get back up to where I was before. But my new shoes feel pretty good so far.

First coached swim, new running shoes and fencing push

I finally hooked up with Ed from Salmon Bay swim club this afternoon. He liked my stroke overall - especially my hip motion - but started the long path of working on the details of my stroke and strategy. He corrected a small issue with my hand entry right away then we started work on my turns. We did push-offs at this point with the intent of getting the push right, then we'll start the flip turn later. By the end of the lesson I added about four feet to my push off and probably took about 4 seconds off my time. I still need to streamline a little better off the wall, but that's just a flexibility issue more than anything...getting my big rower's body to do really squeeze in off the wall. It will happen though.

After the swim I went up to the The Foot Zone to get my next running shoe. I think my eight month old shoes were part of the back and foot problems I've been having. The Foot Zone is one of the best places in Seattle to find outdoor and athletic shoes and clothing. I was really impressed with their video setup...they video tape you running on a machine to figure out which shoe is best for you depending on your running style. I got the Saucony Grid Web and some new active orthotics. It felt great, I can't wait to really put the new shoes to the test. Dick and Bonnie Robbins are sponsoring my running shoes, so a BIG thanks to them.

Finally, another fencing lesson. This time Allen had me work on pushing the blade. I still am trying to muscle the blade more than finesse it. By the end of the lesson I was doning OK, not overdoing it both in strength and motion, but it took a while to get there.

Running in circles and the best fencing lesson ever

Didn't do any horse riding today, with fall/winter upon us it was time to clip the horses so I spent the afternoon helping out with this.

I met up with a friend for dinner so didn't go to the Club Northwest training practice tonight. Instead, I wanted to try to run Portage Bay (PB) again since my run yesterday wasn't all that great. Had the same issue tonight though, my lower back fatigued very quickly. So rather than do intervals, I just did a steady state run around PB. I felt pretty good by the end of the run, but am still wondering why my back is giving me problems all of a sudden. Could it be new shoe time already?

Had a really great fencing lesson tonight. We worked on flesches, which is a skill I've been too chicken to try, always get hit with from my opponents and have always wanted to learn. Basically, its a pretty aggressive attack in which you jump/strike at your opponent and then run by them. I had to do a lot of slow motion attempts, but did get it eventually. Can't wait to try it in a real bout. Now I just need to learn how to defend against the crazy things.

The Vesty challenge, more cross country and busy feet fencing

I had the usual problems riding Vesty this afternoon. He's a stinker at the start...he likes to over react to my commands and balance and just is an all around pill for the first 5-10 minutes or our ride. But with some confidence and a whip I think Vesty and I are starting to come to a better understanding. Generally, a tap with the whip will give him a little surge and get him out of his lazy funk. This time, I gave him a little more whip and from that point on he was perfect and I didn't have to use the whip again. Not only did the canter feel awesome, the canter transitions were the best I've had on Vesty.

I did pretty well at the cross country tonight. My times weren't all that incredible (my fastest mile being a 6:16) but I was pleased that I did do almost all of the workout that the full group did. That practice was 4 x 800 at tempo pace, 2 x 800 at 5k race pace and then 4 x 200 'strides' (building up to a full sprint over the distance). I did all but the two 800s at the 5k pace. Watching the other runners in the group fly by is inspiration for me to try harder and gives me constant visuals for where I need to get to.

Humbled again at fencing lessons. My main problem in these lessons continue to be that I'm doing too much. I want to keep moving my feet and arms and shoulders when it is not required of me. These things are great in bouts, but in the lessons, they are baggage. Its kind of like a horse doing dressage, you only need and should do what the coach asks of you. It took me a while to really focus enough to get rid of the extraneous motions, but I eventually did and seemed to break through a wall as far as finding, giving and taking openings. Alan's doing a great job of breaking down my bad habits and really making me focus at the task at hand.

Pam, another prospective pentathlete in training was there taking here fist foil lessons. We chatted a bit and made plans to meet up on Saturday to shoot new Daisy air pistols that will hopefully arrive in time.