Buongiorno

I heart Italy.

The people,

The language,

The food,

The wine,

The countryside.

I will go back.

Getting there was a long day with 3 plane changes and a bus ride to Riccione. Once there, we did a final set up of our bikes and went for an easy ride to shake out the jet lag and get used to our bikes.

I was given an all carbon, hand made, Wilier. A nice road bike that suited me quite well the entire time.

The food and wine were fantastic.

Group rides to hilltop towns. San Marino, Urbino, Varruchio, and a pass through Cappone. We even biked stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia. 60 miles of leg busting love.

The Adriatic sea was too cold for swimming at this time of year so we went to the pool. A local 8 lane, 50 meter pool. Sah-weet.

Running was done on the beach.

The track was pretty nice too.

It only rained on us one day. Easter Sunday. So we walked to the closest church to thank God for blessing us with this time in Italy.

Many pro teams were in town for the Coppi-Bartali race. A criterium in the morning and a team time trial in the afternoon. Very cool.

Wine tasting and good food was consumed at every opportunity. Good for the soul.

Now, back to training.

Arrivederci per ora

Goodbye for now.



I'm off to Italy for 10 days. We'll be spending most of our time around Riccione on the northeast coast just east of San Marino.
Swimming, eating, drinking, biking, eating, drinking, running, eating, drinking, spa treatments, massage, eating, drinking...you get the idea.
Full report and photos when I return.

Viva Italia!

Going good and ready to go to...

Thursday
Swim (a leettle speed work)
300 as: 50 smooth/25 build/25 fast. 3x
4x50 dr @ 1:10
4x50 @ 1:00
3x25 @ :35
75 choice @ 1:45
50 ez
5x50 @ :50
4x25 @ :30
100 @ 1:50
50 ez
600 as: 300 p @ 6:00, 300 k/s by 50's @ 6:40
2x25 @ :35 build
2x25 sprint @ :30
200 @ 4:15 (rest 10 sec. @ ea.50, hold interval)
200 ez as: 25 k/25 dr/50 ez swim
2,500 total. 50 minutes.

Strength training with weights and core work. 45 minutes.

Friday
Run 50 minutes.
Run on a flat to gently rolling course. Get at least 50% of run time with heart rate in zone 2. Avoid zones 3-5.
Followed by
Bike 30 minutes
Ride in HR 1-2 zone, mostly 1 zone. Flat course. Low effort--light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm.
Foam roller and stretch.

On tap for this weekend:
Swim 2,400 yards of speed work and efficiency. Descending sets with less strokes per 100.
Bike 105 minutes (1:45) on trainer. Some intervals of 5X6 min. in HR zones 4-5 (LT). Smooth Pedaling at 80-90 rpm in aero position.
Run 2 hours at 70-75% of max HR.

Pack for Italy training camp.

Back at it. Whew.

pre Ironman Zurich, June 2007

Thanks for your kind concerns and comments about my hip flexor issue.
I've got it nearly worked out now and it's cooperating.
I did a short 40 minute trot through the neighborhood yesterday and all went well.
No pain today.

On tap for today:
Run 45 min. at 85% effort at near threshold HR maintaining constant pace.
Bike 75 min. with 20X30 sec. at 90% effort with 30 sec. recovery spin between each.

Side-lined

Dammit anyway.

I was supposed to have a fun run Friday evening with some surges thrown in for speed.
I was supposed to do a 90-100 minute bike ride on Saturday and a 90 min run on Sunday.

But....

I pulled/strained my hip flexor, specifically the Tensor fasciae latae (TFL). I have no idea how and that's what's got me ticked off at myself. Was it the weights? Body flow? No clue. It just went to crap.

I did my usual weights on Thursday evening followed by Body flow class.
My swim on Friday morning was great.

But...

as Friday went on, every time I got up from my desk chair, my hip flexors screamed in protest and a sharp pain would grip my hip and I limped around trying to loosen it up. By the time I got home from the office, I could not walk up my front steps without taking one step up with my good leg and then dragging my bad leg up as it hung like a wet towel. I could not lift my knee up. I cancelled my run. Duh.
I iced like heck. On 20 min, off 20 min. until I went to bed. I could hardly lay down properly at first and it took me a few feted flops to get in a comfy enough position to sleep.

I got out of bed Saturday morning so carefully and purposeful I felt like I was attempting to escape from a hospital bed without passing out...
can I get a gurney over here please?
I still had a limp but it wasn't as bad as Friday night. I got strait to the icing again while I ate breakfast. Icing 30 min. on, 30 off.
I figured since I wasn't going anywhere, I did my taxes. Yeay.
3 hours later, I got up from my chair and things were noticeably better. Maybe just numb.

I felt mobile enough to go the Y and do some upper body weights. Things went fairly well. Finished with a short soak in the hot tub and went home to ice again.

So there I sat, icing, web surfing, and blogging, with most of the pain gone. What? Gone? Are you kidding me? What in hell is going on here?

The pain was markedly reduced and I could walk up and down my steps without limping. I poked around my hip flexor area and there appears to be some swelling but not much pain. Thank goodness.

I did the same routine on Sunday and things went well. I took a 60 minute walk with my dog and that went well. I still have a mild sensation on my TFL so biking and running are still on hold for now. Swimming Monday morning was fine.
Tuesday now.
I still have a little soreness 'butt' the ache has moved around posterior to my gluteus medius (upper butt cheek).
I have got to figure out what I did to bring this on so I won't repeat it.
Dang, what pain in the ars.
Feeling fine and making adjustments for now to stay aerobic and mobile.

Bottled water...Cha-ching

Useful trivia:

Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water.

Tap water has stricter health and safety standards than bottled water.

Before you drink up from your newly cracked bottle of Dasani or Evian. Consider this:

City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).
City tap water, from surface water, must be filtered and disinfected. In contrast, there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water.
Most cities using surface water have had to test for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, two common water pathogens that can cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems, yet bottled water companies do not have to do this.
City tap water must meet standards for certain important toxic or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate (a chemical that can leach from plastic, including plastic bottles); some in the industry persuaded the FDA to exempt bottled water from the regulations regarding these chemicals.
City water systems must issue annual "right to know" reports, telling consumers what is in their water. Bottlers successfully killed a "right to know" requirement for bottled water

Clean water is the next (or even now) big battleground.

Wait, what about oil? and gasoline?

A gallon of bottled water costs about $4.00

A gallon of gasoline is about $3.00 - $3.50

It seems we can't live without either.

Today's workouts.

Friday

Swim

400 s, 100 choice

6x50 @ 1:05 (odd:25k/25s, even:25dr/25s)

4x100 @ 2:00 desc. lots of rest.

30:00 (THIRTY MINUTE SWIM!!) bagged 2,100 yards.

100 ez

4 x 50 k @ 1:15

4 x 75 p @ 1:40

100 ez

1800 + 30min Swim (2,100) 3,900 total. 80 minutes.

Run

Surges. 10 minute ez warm up. On a rolling course run 2 minutes (recover for 1 minute), 1 minute (recover 30 seconds), 30 seconds (recover 30 seconds) at ~5k pace. Repeat then cool down with 5 minutes ez.

Marathoner 101...and a Rock singer

I want this guy as my great grandpa.



Buster Martin is taking time out from work to train for the London Marathon - aged 101.
The dad of 17 is determined to become the oldest man to complete the gruelling 26.2-mile run.
War veteran Buster, who plays in a rock band, bass player, when he's not at work cleaning vans, said: "It's about time someone my age did the marathon. It will be a record, though I'm not doing it for that. I just want to show that old people can do things."

"You have got to keep your knees from freezing up - and a couple of pints to grease them up could be called for." He plans to have a cigarette and a beer half way through the race.

He puts his long life down to a daily pint of bitter and "good red meat" rather than cheese or fish,

He said: "I will only give up when they put me in a wooden box."

Watch his video. Zimmers My Generation.



A little training lately
Tuesday (IMC day 33)
Bike
Warm-up well and then do 15 x 30 seconds at 90% effort with 30-second spin recoveries. Rolling starts, standing, big gear. Get to top end quickly. Cool down easily and stretch.

Wednesday
Swim
200 s, 100 IM/ch
4x50 stroke drills @ 1:20
10x50 @ 1:05
9x50 @ 1:00
8x50 @ :55
100 EZ
2x150 Kick @ 3:50
2x100 Pull @ 1:45
100 EZ
2,550 total. 45 minutes

Run
Heart rate in zone 1-4 on hilly course. A few seconds with heart rate in zone 5 is OK. Don't force heart rate up--allow it to rise with hills.

Thursday
Ride in 1-2 zone, mostly 1 zone. Flat course. Low effort--light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm.

Strength training, weights.
Good form focus during dynamic warm-up
Athletic building, lifts and skills
Core, balance and general strength!

Ahhhhhh, March

And March means the first day of spring, 20th, and April is next and that means outdoor recess (training). I'm just giddy about it.

Saturday
day off so did 60 min Body Flow class.

Sunday
60 min run as I feel.
I felt good and so did my dog so we kept it strong and steady.
Ran with my tri club geeks. Loved it.

Monday
Swim
WU 300 swim
2x300 as
1) k/s by 50's @ 9:00
2) pull @ 6:00
2x200 as
1) bk/fr @ 4:25 by 25's
2) br/fr @ 4:25 by 25's
2x300 desc. @ 6:00. lots of rest.
4x100
1) build @ 1:55
2) F.A.P. @ 2:00. lots of rest
3) F.A.P. @ 2:00. lots of rest.
4) EZ 100
2,300 total. 45 minutes.

Run
Tempo. Warm up and then 20 minutes zone 3 heart rate continuous.
Mostly flat. Heart rate will fall on downhills--that's OK.