Summer training, Internship & Cross Country

Wow, is it August already? Nearly done with another summer break. I don’t have too many of these left actually, which is kind of depressing.

Since the triathlon, I have been increasing my mileage to prepare for what I believe will be my 16th cross country season (I took the 2000 season off to keep me feeling fresh. Great decision). Since the break I have logged 70, 80 and 90 mile weeks and should finish this week a bit over 80 with a day off. I have started to throw in a few workouts and I have been happy with all of them. The plan is to get in a couple of 100 mile weeks before I head back to Flagstaff on the 18th.

I am really excited about this season and I have high hopes. In 2008 I had a great season and would love to continue to build on it. The team is looking great with returners David McNeill (competing in the World Championships in Berlin for his native Australia this month), Ben Ashkettle, Diego Estrada and myself. Ahmed Osman had a great track season breaking 29 minutes in the 10k and finishing the year as an All-American. We have lots of new faces coming in that should mix it up with the rest of us.

Just like last year, it looks like I will be fighting for my spot on the team.

The only thing standing in my way lately is work. I got a 6-week internship at ITT Aerospace Controls. It is a great opportunity especially since my resume is lacking in experience. I am learning a lot and I am being included in a lot of different aspects. With that said, it does make running a little more difficult. Many of my weekdays lately consist of waking up at ~6, commuting to work 35-45 minutes each way, working 8-9 hours, getting my run in, dinner and then off to bed by 10. I just barely fit everything in, but barely is enough. I hope.

I can see how trying to do anything well in addition to working full time (e.g. running, triathlons, studying, parenting) would be extremely difficult. It is crazy to think that for many years, the world’s best athletes had to be amateurs and could not be paid for competing in their sport.

19 Days!

I am down to less than 20 days until the Breath of Life Ventura Triathlon. I am getting a little anxious, especially when I think about that 1500m ocean swim. I hope sharks sleep in on Sunday mornings.

Training has been going pretty well as I have been hitting it pretty hard. My swimming is really starting to come around. My goal of 26:00 is looking more and more attainable with each session in the pool… and I am still not doing flip turns! (I really need to get on that)

Biking is not progressing quite like the swimming, but I think that is simply because I don’t spend enough time on the bike. I have been looking at what some other triathletes do in terms of training, and they tend to spend the most time on the bike. As of right now, I’m looking at about 47% running, 26% swimming, and 27% biking. I have done a couple 40 mile rides (which is long for me) and plan on doing at least one 50 miler before the race.

I have mostly been doing easy runs with only a few workouts on a whim. Last week Charlie Serrano was preparing for a track 10k with 10 400s with 2 minutes rest. I thought, “What the hell,” and jumped in with him. I averaged about 63 seconds which was a little faster than I expected. Great news as it seems I haven’t lost much run fitness since my season ended. That means I need to make sure I take a little break after this triathlon before I jump into the summer mileage.

Shout out to former teammate Marten Bostrom for winning the Fontana Days Half Marathon in a PR of 1:03:41. Marten is headed home to Finland after spending four years studying and running at NAU. One of my current teammates, Ben Ashkettle, finished just behind Marten.