Friendship...

Life is an interesting experiment isn't it? I've written before about how much I value my relationship with my fiance, my family, and friends. "Get busy living" A mantra I'm trying to live by. Over the past few months I have come to realize how important friendship is to me, especially as it pertains to living in accordance to this mantra. This weekend was a fine example. Meghan and I have some great friends and this weekend we were able to spend some fun time with a few of them. We were able to have some great food, vino, conversation, and even some Wii!

In the past I have at times taken friendship for granted. I don't really know why. But not anymore. In fact, I will say that Meghan and I have been lucky enough to have some great couple friends as well which I haven't really had too many of before. I've also been blessed with some great work and training/racing friends. These people really help to keep me happy, motivated, and realistic whether at work, in the pool, or on the track. This morning proved this. I had a 10 mile run scheduled with a friend, who I had bailed on a ride with yesterday. Obviously I couldn't let my buddy down two days in a row, so I got up extra early, slammed the coffee and we took off. 10 muddy miles later, I realized how much more fun I have training with others, especially friends. I guess my rant can be summarized with, I will continue to savior the relationships I have developed, both by myself and with my partner, each and everyday that I'm lucky enough to have them for.

On a training front...kind of getting back into it is how I would describe things. Life has been very hectic as of late and I haven't gotten in all my workouts that I had scheduled, but I am happy with my progress for the most part. February and March will continue to be base oriented, and then I will start to develop more speed and intensity late April into May for my first A race in June. I'm excited to see what this season brings, and am very happy to be able to share it with such great friends. Thanks for reading...enjoy some pictures from our 10 mile mud run this morning,

-T

You can kind of see the mud on the legs above. Close up of the shoes below.

Football...

And Pizza. My two weaknesses. I love em both! Today is a great day for me as I woke up to left over pizza in the fridge and my Vikings are playing in the NFC championship game this afternoon! Couldn't ask for a better day...well I guess I could ask that it was Saturday instead of Sunday, but now I'm just being unrealistic. On a training front I got in an hour run this morning in the rain that concluded with hill repeats. I'm starting to feel stronger and am looking forward to my first race of the season in March. Until then? Well, as far as this afternoon is concerned I will be cheering on my favorite football team and munching on my pizza! Thanks for taking the time to read,

-T

Life...

Sometimes the idea of fitting Ironman training and racing into life is just...well laughable. This past week encapsulated one of those times. I had an ok weekend training including a good 70 minute run on Sunday. I spent part of the afternoon working on my training schedule for the spring and early summer and was starting to get pretty psyched. I had even modified my plan for this week as I had to fly out to St Louis bright and early Monday morning and wouldn't return until very late Thursday night.

I figured I would just keep busy with running while I was in St Louis. But this is where life got in the way. I was able to get in an easy 7 mile run on Monday after landing, but Tuesday and Wednesday where all day sessions in a classroom. Breakfast started at 7am and we had dinner right after lasting until 8pm. Ok, well I had planned on taking Tuesday off anyway, no worries...I'll just try to squeeze in a run prior to dinner Wednesday. Well after a second straight day of staring at a computer screen and eating crappy food, I was exhausted. No problem, just take a second day off in a row and wake up early Thursday and run. Late announcement Wednesday, "we are starting extra early Thursday so we can get you out in time to make your flights home and you will need to check out before breakfast Thursday am so make sure to get up plenty early."

So, Thursday was going to be out as well. This was the first time I had taken 3 days off in a row since post Ironman. Probably not the worst thing in the world, but I was getting cranky and frustrated that I couldn't exercise. Fast forward, we finally get to the airport Thursday afternoon and after an incredible wait to make it through our embarrassing TSA "security" lines I was looking forward to getting on the plane and working on my training schedule and relaxing. 30 minutes into the flight I put on my headphones and open my laptop. And then get kicked in the back...repeatedly. Great, a 4 year old behind me that figures my seat is her jungle gym. Perfect. Then the person in front of me reclines their seat so much that I can barely keep my laptop open.

Life had won this battle. I couldn't even plan to train!! I spent the next 5+ hours sitting on my butt, wishing I was somewhere else. Wishing I didn't have all these various road blocks to deal with. And then it hit me. It's just another challenge Trevor, one of many that I faced last year and that I will continue to face this year. What doesn't kill me, will make me stronger. A small smile hit my face as I remembered I had tomorrow, Friday, off and would sleep in...and maybe finally get that run in.

-T

Swimming...

The off season is so tough for me. I don't want to run because it's cold or wet out. Can't really ride outdoors. And the thought of waking up early for swimming, well it just sucks! All that being said, it's nice to be back into somewhat of a groove with some structured training and target hours, miles, etc. I also enjoy trying to stay fit with other activities like cross country skiing, yoga, etc.

The one thing I've continued to slack on though has been swimming, so I made a point to get to the pool today. I managed to get in 3k. I'm going to try and get in tomorrow as well as I have to travel back to the Midwest for work next week and won't have access to a pool until Friday of next week. Competition feels so far away still, but I started really working on my training plans and couldn't believe how soon the Eugene half marathon was! I can't wait. In the meantime, I just got to keep getting to the pool!

In non training related info, I just finished a great running book for those interested...Running with the Buffaloes by Chris Lear. It's definitely written to appeal to more of a running audience, but it's a great book that follows the University of Colorado and senior Adam Goucher on their quest to win the national cross country championship in 98 (I think). Check it out...it's worth the read. Alright, well, I guess I better get ready for tomorrow if I'm swimming. Thanks for reading,

-T

Race Calendar 2010...

So I believe my race calendar for this season is finally complete...mostly. I might tweak it slightly as the season progresses, but as of now...it's good to go! I posted it to the right. I'm concentrating on developing run toughness early on with 3 road races this spring, leading up to what I hope is a fast race at Eugene for the Eugene 1/2 marathon. I've never run an open 1/2, just at the end of a tri so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with that. The other races prior are just for speed and again working on my "run toughness." Again, I've never run an open 10k, just at the end of a tri, so that should be fun too!

During the spring time I will continue to build my other disciplines and plan on peaking for my lone 1/2 Ironman of the season, Boise 70.3 in early June. I won't do a full taper for this race, but will take some rest and make the race a priority. It's an Ironman branded event so the competition will be good and appears to be a course that will play to my strengths. Plus it has an afternoon start which is awesome. Just a few weeks prior to this I plan on racing my first Olympic of the season in Eugene. After Boise I will take some time off to recover and get ready for my build for the big dance of the year...Ironman Canada!!

At this point my final push to Canada will include two Olympic distance triathlons that will help keep me sharp and continue to work on my speed and focus. For better or worse I didn't race enough this past season so this season I plan on incorporating racing into my training. I have Blue Lake targeted as my final race prior to taper for Ironman as it's a very fast course that I will race at the peak of my build and fitness...so basically it will be used as a big confidence booster heading into taper.

Ok, I guess that's it for now. Training is going pretty well although I haven't been hitting the pool at all. I've been riding frequently and getting in a few runs per week. The thought of getting out of bed this time of year and making it to the pool! But I made a commitment that I would after IMAZ so time to get it on! Thanks for reading,

-T

New Trevor...

Well not really...but kind of...sort of. I guess! I just read an interesting article regarding Ironman training. It was written 15 years ago by Greg Welch, a few weeks before his win at Ironman Hawaii. You know how in life sometimes things happen for a reason? As in, you knew you were supposed to do something, you finally do it, and something confirms that you in fact did the right thing? Maybe you helped an elderly lady with a door and later you are rewarded for your good deed by someone helping you with a door while you are juggling groceries...something like that? I think it happens to all of us, at least it happens to me somewhat regularly.

This past year, my "coach" kept harping on me about the importance of rest and recovery. I thought I did a decent job taking every Monday off and sometimes backing off a speed workout, etc. Well, ultimately I think I pushed the envelope a little to hard a few weeks out from the big dance in Arizona and got a little sickness as a result. If I would have listened to him, maybe I don't have to go on prednisone and fight through a miserable marathon because my airway is trashed. Maybe I would have gotten sick anyways? Probably some sort of combo, but point being...I should have listened to coach and rested...at least one day!

Just today, I meant to ride after work. I've been getting in minimum 100 miles per week on the bike the past few weeks as I get back into more structured training and so today I wanted to get a quick hour in. Yet I was so tired today that I decided not to ride tonight...even after changing into my clothes...first time I've ever done that. And then I came across Welchy's article. All about how he went about that season and his build up prior to Ironman differently...focused much more on rest. If he felt crappy when he woke up in the am, he went back to bed. Had two serious back to back days of training and woke up feeling crappy? Back to bed. He went into Hawaii more rested than anyone else around him and shocked the world. Does that mean all I do from now until Canada is sleep? I wish!! No, but it does mean I need to continue to work on the part about listening to my body. Tonight my body didn't want to workout and I, FINALLY, actually listened! Yeah me right? Coach has always told me, the hardest part about Ironman racing is resting. I believe him and my New Year's Resolution, and trust me I hate freaking New Year's Resolutions, is to listen to my coach and listen to my body this year.

Happy New Year everyone! I'm trying to get some pics posted from XX skiing, but my computer sucks so you get nothing but font for now instead :) Enjoy. Thanks for reading,

-T

2010...

Well the New Year is here. I had a nice New Year. Meg and I drove over to Brasada Ranch in Central Oregon to spend the weekend. Brasada is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to! It is also where we are getting married this summer! So we figured we would take advantage of a long weekend and head over to hang out and get some planning done. Our parents met us over there and the 6 of us had a very nice weekend.

I'm starting to get into slightly more structured training now so I made sure I got in some training while over there. I got in an awesome session of hill repeats on the treadmill January 1st am prior to the Rose Bowl which probably helped me absorb the tough loss a little easier. Saturday 4 of us headed up to the mountain for some cross country skiing. It was my second time trying cross country skiing and I can definitely say I'm hooked! I tried a hybrid type of cross ski that had metal edges and it made a ton of difference for me. I was able to stop and even turn a little as opposed to last time when I would simply just fall once I started going downhill!

Unfortunately we ended up going a little longer than expected and kind of wiped out part of the group. We ended up skiing for right about 4 hours. I felt great and in a perfect world would have kept skiing for another hour or two. After this weekend Meg and I are looking at buying skis for next year...however I want to try out skate skiing before I commit to cross country. We saw a ton of people skate skiing and it looked awesome...and hard, a perfect combination in my book!!

The drive back to Eugene today was filled with questions for me. Some of those questions related to Triathlon, and in particular, my schedule for 2010. I almost have this finalized, but every time I sit down to work on it I get distracted. Some day :) In the meantime I hope everyone had a very safe and happy New Years celebration!! Thanks for reading,

-T