OWS (Open Water Swim)

I swam this morning with Al Coleman from church. We had a great time, putting in about 2800 yards in a lazy out and back along the coast.

Oooh welcome Times readers

So my story was published in the Malibu Times this week and they mentioned my blog. So...

Welcome paper readers! Congratulations on making the bold transition from paper products to the internet blogging community. On this site I have been tracking my training, thoughts, and inspirations to hold me accountable. There are no restrictions on the commenting section so feel free to click the "comment" button on the right and leave me questions, thoughts or encouragement.

:)

Andy

Monday

Alright we are in the waning days here - the race approaches!!!

Monday morning I did the Masters Swim class for the 2350 yards. And I managed a beach run for 39 minutes. Did not have any discomfort in the legs.

Finished off my morning with 30 mins of boogie boarding out in the big waves (we are getting a swell here now). I had a blast. Oooh and a seal came and saw me. I thought someone had thrown a motorcycle helmet in the water until I realized that it was the round, shiny head of a seal who was watching me play. :)

more animals

Thanks for the well wishing on my Birthday!

Yeah for endurance!

So I was able to put in 60 minutes on the stationary bike this morning and then do about 5 min of sprinting/jogging to stretch out the legs. Feeling better all the time.

Swam in the suit

So I got out in the water in the suit! Woohoo! Very exciting. Only about 20 min of swimming, but that is about what I will need for race day. On a positive note - the suit is already slightly baggy. IN the arms and legs there is a little give, but the suit is sized right for my torso and shoulders so it will rock for this season. And I am SURE that next season I will be down a full size anyways ;)

Love to yas - 6 days out!

T-Shirt upclose

Best UPS day EVER!

No training to report

But I come bearing pictures! My calves are taking one more day to heal. Back on bike tomorrow - hope to run on Friday. But we did a little photo shoot at the church today to get a couple of shots to send to the paper. :)

Maddie was my set dresser and costume consultant - she got in on the act with my goggles and cap.

This was the shot we went with for the paper.

Just call me aqua man!
(my full tri wetsuit arrives on Friday)

Looking cool on the bike

I am the King of the World!

Weekend

Saturday, I went to Masters Swim at 6:30. I had the chance to swim in a deep "big kids" lane because we had a new swimmer join who started in my usual slot in the "slow" end of the pool. It was great! Not only did I get a sense of perspective without the bottom of the pool racing by, but I kept the doors blown off my barn by much better swimmers. It really challenged me to work on my form and turnover rate! I swam 2200 yards. I would have done another 500 or so in the workout, but pushing off the wall at the start of the drill I had a HUGE, monster cramp in my LEFT calf. Grrr - not even the one I have been favoring and watching out for. Still sore 36 hours later, but I am working on it.

Sunday, I hit the beach for a short warm-up jog, 18 minutes, no pressure on the speed. Both legs seemed to hold up okay, the cramp cleared while running but cropped back up after. Then, I swam the open water section with the Malibu Tri club. That went GREAT! I had so much fun. Claire, a trainer and occasional church visitor, swam out 200 yds as our "Buoy" and then we went west along the coast, came in after about 600 yds. I finished 2nd out of 6 which I felt real good about in a time of 16:46.

Tomorrow is Masters Swim again and then off to Orange to hang out with some dear friends (one of whom is moving to CO next month with his family). Enjoy your Labor Day!

Update

The calf continues to heal up well and as I suspected the hardest part has been the self mindgames. It has been tough not wanting to go out and push things after training so hard the week before. But I have been taking it easy - jsut doing strength training and resting and stretching. Will be ready to rock again soon.

So...leg update

	36m 43s 1400.00 yards 02m 37s /100 yards
6:15 AM

Masters Swim starter: 400 yd WU 5 x 200 free working on form and turnover. Neg Split the last two down to 3:35 and 3:26.

	51m 38s ----- -----	Avg HR: 121 Max HR: 155
7:13 AM

Spin - light, very light, no standing

So...after a balancing by my kinesiologist and a session with my trainer, we have decided that my tumble on Sunday did some damage to my right calf. There is minor pain when standing to ride and putting weight on the right leg in climbing and a more significant pain running. Trainer has me off both for rest of the week...All good. It will be a healthy mental exercise for me and a chance to focus on swimming both in class and Open Water. Happy thoughts to the Big Dog's right calf, please!

Good weekend.

Hey there, friends.

I had a good weekend.

Saturday - I took a laid back day. I swam in the masters class for 45 min and then left the house for the day. I had a meeting down in Fullerton and then visited with some friends in Bellflower.

Sunday - after a great morning in worship, I hit the beach for a run. I ran from Morning View out to the Point and back. Things were going well until the last 100 yards. I hit a hole that a child had dug out and really banged up my legs with the fall. That was not fun. I took a nap that afternoon and am hoping that stretching and easing back will take care of it.

Today - got up and did Master's swim. The left leg is fine - my right calf and ankle are still pretty sore, but I will manage ;)
Swim class was great - our main set was 3 X 400 sets and the last two I did under 8 minutes each which is a personal best for me.

Full Day

So I am feeling lazy about posting today - so I am going to link my training log for the last two days from BT for the details. But note: I am one bad dude. :)

	1h 24m 27s 6.01 miles 14m 03s/Mi	Avg HR: 161 Max HR: 178
5:27 AM Home to Video Store Climb: 308 feet

Returned my daughter's DVD. Ate a gel before run and hydrated with Nuun and water.

	16m 800.00 yards 02m /100 yards	Avg HR: 151 Max HR: 163
6:40 AM

OWS

	53m 40s ----- -----	Avg HR: 147 Max HR: 173
7:12 AM

Spin Class

Thu, Aug 21 2008

]

	1h 02m 37s ----- -----
5:30 PM

Spin Class

Bike Swim

Good morning. Got up at 4:40. Beat the Sun out the door and rode by moonlight/headlight on the mountain bike for 30 min (Point and back) and then did 3350 yards in the pool with drills over the course of 1:40 and then rode home. I am excited to meet the daughter of our dear friends this afternoon too. :D

Just saw this today

Feeling great this morning

I had a huge swim yesterday in the Masters Class. Did the whole program (less one sprint - curse you time!) for a total of 3200 yards swum. Then at lunch I did a 45 min beach run and played in the waves off the beach club. Had a life guard that was worried when he saw I was in a riptide. Waved to me - so I swam out and came into talk with him. He said he just wanted to check my stroke and see that I wasn't in any trouble, wasn't worried when he saw me actually swim.

What I am doing...

Currently I am watching the live feed of the Womens Triathlon from Beijing. Pretty cool. The swim leg is in an amazing reservoir. ON bikes now. Back to live feed!!!

Well, well - look what showed up in my inbox

The good stuff starts half way down :) :) :)

August MESP Newsletter

Dear Athlete: MESP is proud to introduce you to our new monthly newsletter! We will keep you posted on the going’s on in the event world, keep you updated on the latest and greatest that MESP has to offer and introduce you to some of the folks who make our events so unique. Our motto is to “make a difference in people’s lives” – thanks for joining us as we continue to create and produce some of the most fun and enjoyable athletic events around the country ! If you get a chance – please click over to our South Beach website, we recently posted the event video up there – it was one of the coolest races we have been involved with, in a long time. The weather, the food, the course and amazing warm ocean swim all combined for a great day – so join us in Miami Beach, if you can – next year ! Take Care and have a great time working out ! Michael Epstein President MESP

Top Fundraiser: Are you the Chicken or the Pig?

“The pig and the chicken were on their way to breakfast, trying to decide what to have. When chicken said, ''Let's have ham and eggs.'' The pig then replied, ''That's fine for you, it's a small donation on your part, but it's a total sacrifice for me.'' –Unknown Rich Iazzetta the top fundraiser in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon presented by Toyota, who has almost reached his goal of $10,000, displays this quote on his fundraising page. When asked of the meaning he explains, “I wanted people to understand that they just had to give a little; that I would do the work of asking for donations, collecting money, training and competing in a triathlon!” His original goal was $5000, but he continued to get donations and increased his goal to $7,500 and finally $10,000. His secret; a personalized donation email to family, friends and clients with the incentive that he would donate $50.00 if anyone donated over $100.00. Talk about sacrifices! Rich has already donated over $3000. This is Rich’s first time fundraising with the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. He was motivated by his grandmother’s recent passing. Rich and his family in NY are gathering to celebrate his grandmother’s life on what would have been her 100th birthday and Rich is raising the $10,000 in her honor. Rich found his fundraising success through starting early, personalizing his letters, and finding creative ways to motivate people to give! If you haven’t had time to start your fundraising efforts for CHLA, click on the following link for more tips on how to be successful. http://www.fundraiserinsight.org/articles/neverfailfundraising.html And remember whether you’re the chicken or the pig, every dollar goes towards children at CHLA!

Athlete Feature: Finishing is Winning!

The Nautica Malibu Triathlon presented by Toyota not only brings out elite athletes, celebrities, challenged athletes and those triathletes who just enjoy the weekend challenge, but it also brings out the first time triathletes who overcome obstacles to race Malibu. Andy Mattick, a local Pastor in Malibu, is one of those first timers. After cheering on the 2007 athletes he was inspired to try the race. His first challenge; he was out of shape, weighing 360lbs, and if that wasn’t enough, he didn’t even own a bike. After dropping 35lbs while training and finding a used bike, he quietly went to register. Like other athletes, Andy found that regular race registration was sold out, which became his second obstacle. His church community helped purchase a charity slot and became the official sponsor of “Team Rev. Big Dog.” Andy’s last hurdle will be the triathlon. He is continuing to train, lose weight and enjoy his new healthy lifestyle. Andy’s goal isn’t to win his first triathlon, but he desires to cross the finish line that morning and ride up the block a hundred yards to proudly preach a sermon wearing his Nautica Malibu Triathlon finisher’s medal.

Saturday

Got up this morning and did the Master's Swim. I was not in the mood for all the breaststroke that the instructions called for so I focused on form and distance. I did my first continuous mile. 1800 yards straight - 72 laps. Oh Yeah!

Neglected you Thursday...

So here is my training log from BT for the day...

	34m 1000.00 yards -----
6:15 AM

Open Water Swim (OWS)

	1h 08m ----- -----	Avg HR: 138 Max HR: 171
5:45 PM

Spin Class

Swam open water with my trainer - strong after a warm up, and then did some body surfing and duck diving to get more comfortable in the ocean waves.

Friday: I rested but got a physical done. In good shape here.

Swam today

Did not make it up for the masters class (my children have decided to give up sleeping for the rest of the summer apparently), so I swam on my lunch. Did a 200 warmup, and then 1100 (29:31). Felt good.

Yesterday I got to the gym and did 30 min elliptical and 45 min of strength and core training.

What's that? Oh yeah. BAM!

Below is my training log entry for the day :D :D :D :D :D

	28m 53s 1250.00 yards 02m 19s /100 yards	Avg HR: 141 Max HR: 150
6:32 AM

Masters swim. Did a 200 warmup and then the 1250 straight.

	1h 09m 47s 18.00 miles 15.48 Mi/hr	Avg HR: 155 Max HR: 182
7:19 AM

Malibu tri course, beach, out PCH to Carillo and back

	53m 32s 4.00 miles 13m 23s/Mi	Avg HR: 167 Max HR: 176
8:35 AM

Race course along strand

OK - so... technically I am not a triathlete until I have raced, but I did the whole darn distance back to back to back today. Felt great to do. Legs a little dead in the last mile, but ran through it.

So Brett Favre is on the NY Jets now huh?

Boy being at camp for a week means you are definitely out of touch. In other non-tri related news, I am really enjoying the Olympics coverage. Especially the coverage of the disciplines I am working on.

I exercised yesterday and am resting today. To be honest, I felt like yesterday's double was a bust. I am hoping that my system was just tired out from camp, but I only went half of the masters class for about 35 min of swimming, and only ran 30 min instead of the hour I set out to do. Just felt cruddy...and a little depressed. Saw a lot of tri clubs out practicing on Saturday and felt pretty lonely out there.

On a cheerier note, I got my tri shorts in the mail yesterday :) They are shorts to be worn under my wet suit that are quick dry, have a little padding for the bike, but are leaner so that I can run in them. Very cool! B)

Back from Camp!

It was a success. The whole family even survived, not too worse for wear.

In the interest of time I am going to copy my training log from BT over here so you can track what I did for the week. Just spent 30 min updating it.

Fri, Aug 8 2008

Wt. 308

	23m 08s ----- 8.63 Mi/hr	Avg HR: 146 Max HR: 172
6:17 AM

Biked same road - less distance

	27m 43s ----- 15m 19s/Mi	Avg HR: 158 Max HR: 170
6:42 AM

Ran same road - less distance

	15m 09s ----- -----	Avg HR: 138 Max HR: 156
7:10 AM

Thu, Aug 7 2008

Rested - mostly because sharing a room with my kids is the suck.

Wed, Aug 6 2008

Wt. 308

	34m 45s 5.00 miles 8.63 Mi/hr	Avg HR: 154 Max HR: 182
6:00 AM

So while at camp in mountains rode up a trail road on my mountain bike. 25 min uphill, nine back down. :)

	35m 13s 2.30 miles 15m 19s/Mi	Avg HR: 160 Max HR: 171
6:50 AM

Ran on same trail road in for 1.15, uphill for 20, down for 15.13.

Also did 12 min of band strength exercises between.

Tue, Aug 5 2008

16m 51s ----- -----

Mon, Aug 4 2008

	1h 15m 40s 2.77 miles -----	Avg HR: 122 Max HR: 157
6:45 AM

Bah - this was a total bust. Bike flatted in mountains after a 2.75 mi downhill. It was then that I realized my saddlebag was still in the rental car...

Left for camp this day - just updated log for week.