Tri - Runner's Roost

A blog from a "Middle of the Pack Marathoner" starting his journey from Newbie to Ironman. The ride is awesome!

I Don’t Wanna Stop

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History

I started running in January of 2004 to get in shape. I had gained too much weight and felt terrible. I was able to run my first 5K 3 months later. 2 years later and 50 lbs lighter, I have continued to push for greater goals and have run 5 marathons and I am training for an Iron distance triathlon now. Everyday I wake up with a positive attitude towards life, training and my future.

Marathons Completed

Arizona RockNRoll 2007
Salt Lake City Marathon 2006
Steamboat Marathon 2005
Boulder Backroads 2005
Las Vegas Marathon 2005

Why do I Tri?

Should be why do I want to Tri? I want to see just how far I can push myself. With everyday I am in the best shape of my life. And I'm never going back!!!!

Sponsors

Elite Family Fitness-Canon City
BB's Tanning and Massage

Scheduled Races

Littlefoot Triathlon
Bolder Boulder 10K
Highland Ranch Sprint
Boulder Long Triathlon
Redman Iron Distance

Tuesday

April 29, 2008

Busy day at work. I sometimes wish I could quit work during workout months. You know --- just work the winter months.

Anyway - I had a great swim yesterday. I am still feeling fresh in the water. My stroke is pretty much right-on but I am alsway trying to tweak it a little for more power. Tomorrow i'll be back in the water in the morning. I do enjoy pool days.

Ran this morning and I felt pretty good for a change. I am still working on form. Today I did 45 minutes of running - it was suppose to be a foundation run but I ended up doing some hillwork also. My pace is up from last year - at least it feels like it.

Tomorrow night is another bike ride. I am going to try and get in 1-2 hours after work. I have both of my bikes tuned and running great.

Well that is about it - O, there is a little news - I signed up for an XTERRA race in June.

WHAT !!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I signed up for an XTERRA triathlon in June. Could have gone for the short course but NOOOOOOOOO. I have to sign up for the XTERRA distance. The race is on June 21st. It's called the Buffalo Creek Triathlon. (that would be 1 week after riding a century) Duh!!!

It sounded like a lot of fun and I need a challenge if I am going to keep this workout schedule up. So now I have something to scare me into pushing myself harder. The XTERRA is a 1 mile swim, a 20 mi off road ride and a 5 mi run. How long will it take me to go 20 miles on a mountain bike I have no idea. But, the ride should not be boring. Anyway - it will be a fun weekend.

Anyway - got to go. Keep working towards a goal - never - ever, say QUIT !!!

posted by Mondo @ 3:59 PM 0 comments

Tired Legs

April 24, 2008

Well I am now in the 2nd week of my training. So far I feel pretty good except for the fact that my legs are pretty tired today. Let me describe things to date.

SWIM:

My swim is coming along great. The distance has increase a little this week. My workout this week is consists of 350 warm up, 8x25 drills, 4 x 150 intervals, 8x25 kick and another 350 of cool down. Tomorrow is a long swim of 1400 yards without rest. I am feeling pretty good with the swim except on Wednesday i felt real heavy in the water, that is probably because of my birthday party the nighit before - just a little too much food and drink.

BIKE:

My bike workouts are still a favorite - although with the wind we have been having in Colorado I am getting more of a workout than I really wanted. Man, I hate the wind, no matter what direction that I go I feel that the wind is in my face. Yesterday I rode for 90 minutes - 30 minutes out and 60 minutes back. The wind was at about 10-20 mph constantly. That makes it 2x the work that I want.

RUN:

My run is getting better. I did a brick early this week and felt great. I am running at an average of 9:05 min/mi. That is pretty good for me. My legs are feeling tired tonight but I should be ready for a long run tomorrow. I feel that my pace, cadence, and form are coming together well. I just hope that my body can keep up with this training schedule.

Speaking of my body - I did just turn 44 years old. An average guy at 44 is settled down, sitting back, working a regular job and getting fat. I see guys in my office day in and day out that are my age. 90% of them are overweight and miserable. Here I am busting my ass day in and day out to do what - an Ironman? I must be fricken nuts.

I am fricken nuts - I am nuts for living a great life. I want to continue to work hard at a goal - to work hard at staying healthy. To live everyday to it's fullest. I want to continue to be in love and to share my active lifestyle with the girl of my dreams. I want to continue to build my body up for new and longer events, pushing myself to break my own records. I want to get to heaven like I'm sliding into home plate with a catcher in my way. I want to be totally used up screaming"Wow, What a Ride". So 44 is not that bad. Happy Birthday to ME !!!!!!!!

posted by Mondo @ 8:27 PM 0 comments

Week 2 Update

April 18, 2008

Well it's Friday of week 2. I still have a long bike on Sunday but I did do well this week with my workouts.

This morning was another swim day. My workout consisted of 250 yards of warm up followed by a full 1200 yards of continuous swimming. Then finished with another 250 yards of cool down. I felt real calm with the long interval swim. I pushed pretty hard at the beginning and during the last 200 yards. I finished the 12oo in 20:30, I have no idea how fast that is compared to other age group athletes but I feel pretty comfortable at that pace. I did not include flip turns, but rather turned at the wall. Open water swimming will register a faster time since I do not have to slow down at the wall.

This evening I ran my 5 miles. My pace was pretty good for me - landing in the 9:00min/mi area. I did do some pickups along the way and pushed hard up the hills. As usual my running will be lagging in back of everything else since I really don't enjoy the run as much as I do the other 2 events. But with a little more work and motivation I will get it together before September.

Today was beautiful in Colorado again - I am hoping that the weather will not get cold again. It's not that I hate the winter but since I cannot go snowboarding I would rather have it nice out. Sunday is suppose to be my long ride this week. I think I am scheduled for a short brick this week. Looks like I am going to be doing 45 minutes on the bike, followed by a 15 minute run. I learned the hard way at Timberman last year that Brick workouts are very important to the training. It helps the body learn to transition from bike to run, possibly avoiding the cramping that occurred last year.

Well, until Sunday - Keep training, keep dreaming, and keep your ass moving!!!!!!!!!!

CIAO !!!!!!

posted by Mondo @ 8:01 PM 0 comments

#$^*%$ Weather

April 16, 2008

So yesterday it was 80 degrees. The sun shining, no cares except for the poor people affected by the wild fires that got started because of the wind. I was able to swim in the morning and run in the evening without worrying about a coat. I ran at the track part of the time and was able to run some pretty fast times. But all in all it was a great day. Today started out about the same.

I got in my swim this morning and then the weather turned south. The wind has been up to 30-40 mph today. Impossible to ride a bike in. Then this afternoon the weather turned evil. The rain and snow started - yup snow. I though I was finally through with the snow, I am really sick and tired of winter weather.

The weather today had a purpose though. The fires in Southern Colorado have been snuffed out like a match. That is sure good for everyone up there. I have been through a wildfire before and I know how terribly scary that can be. Not knowing if your house is still standing, if your life has been burned up. If you have to start over. It really is terrible.

Back to training - I don't think I mentioned my long ride on Sunday. I rode out about 17-18 miles and back. I felt pretty good on the ride. I probably could have pushed a little harder but for my first long ride of year it was pretty good. The weather was great - little to no wind for a change. My legs are feeling pretty strong, even on the hills.

Tomorrow I have a ride in the morning and a run tomorrow night. Getting back into the training mode is not an easy thing. But slowly I am getting back into the groove - however, it is so hard to get out of bed with a warm body snuggled up to me. I have had to set 3 alarms just to get out of bed. Wow, is it ever noisy in the morning. But my Love is starting to get the idea that kicking me out of bed is the right thing to do - either that or she will see me suffer in September. And she says it shuts up the alarms............

She is looking over my shoulder right now so - I need to say goodnight - CIAO!

Oh Yeah!!!!!!!!!! Life is GOOD.......................

posted by Mondo @ 7:26 PM 1 comments

Here We Go

April 12, 2008

I've said it before and I am saying it again.

" Let The Ride Begin"

I started my new training program this week. I know I have not been blogging lately and I apologize to all of my readers. Life has been changing quickly for me since my divorce but I think it is finally calming down and heading in the right direction.

Since my last entry - I have found someone to enjoy life with. Someone I can love and be loved. Someone I can share my life with. I have been the happiest I can remember in a long time and want it to continue forever. I have been working with my spin class as well as several people to train as a personal trainer. The classes have been going great although with the start of daylight savings the attendance in my classes as dwindled to 6 people or so. But the people showing up for the classes are having a lot of fun.

I have started my training program for the Ironman race. I am now destined to complete the race in September. It is a good thing that I am a thrifty, money conscience person - I will not quit now because I already spent 250.00 on the race. Now I need to train for it. I will complete the race no matter what. So from now on the blogs have to continue so that I can document my progress as well as keep a written journal of the event, thoughts, triumphs and falls during my training and into race week..

SWIM

My swimming is coming along great. I feel more comfortable in the water this year then I ever did last year. I can now feel the water exerting pressure on my arms. I can feel when I am out of sync, when my form is bad and needs changed. I am not panicked if I get tired and keep pushing onward. I have worked out some boats for my open water swims, I should be able to get in at least 1-2 open water swims per month. Now I am working on my aerobic capacity and length of swims.

BIKE

Another strong event - my cycling has been very good with all the spin classes I have been doing. It is not quite the same thing, but I have noticed some strength gains on my hill climbs. I need to work on the length of my rides and the distance. I still have both my bikes from last year, Athena - my training bike, Apollo - my race bike, and I have added a Mtn Bike for commuting to work every day. I call the bike "Thor". This bike is giving me at least an additional 6 miles of cycling a day with a gas savings of $20.00 per week. And in this time of high gas prices - the savings are going to get better and better.

RUN

Well there is always at least one bad event - At this time running is bad. I have not placed any great amount of time running over the winter. My running is clumsy and I get tired quickly. I know that I need to start taking the running serious. I need to push myself harder in this area than any on the others. I need to be able to run that 26.2 miles in September, and I will need to be able to do it after the other 2 events are done. So I will be pushing the running, I need to get every run in.

Tomorrow I will be doing my first long ride of the season, 2 hours and 15 minutes. I am hoping the wind will not be a factor but this is Colorado - and the wind always blows ----- against you -----no matter which direction you go...........

CAIO!

posted by Mondo @ 7:56 PM 0 comments

About Me

Name: John Maynard
Home: Canon City, Colorado, United States
About Me: In 2008 I completed a full Ironman. Since that time I have continued to keep myself in a decent shape with running and hiking. As the years have rolled on so has my midsection. With my 50th birthday behind me I have embarked on another journey in life. This journey will take me into my next decade in the best shape of my entire life. It's time to kick life into overdrive.
See my complete profile

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