Triathlon Training Weeks 1 and 2

Last year I trained for and completed my first Olympic distance triathlon. I had several people helping to keep me motivated to train last year... this year, it's all me, and I'm waaaaaay behind where I was at this point a year ago. To keep myself honest, I'm going to post my training log here (since I barely use this site for anything other than a repository for humorous quotes I come across in watching endless hours of television in my boredom). I have found myself wanting to post more, so possibly, posting any information here will encourage me to return to the usage of this site and the hordes of readers, who have been weeping at my absence, shall rejoice!


Week 1 - Finally seemingly over my back problem induced by lack of core workouts, I am back into training.


Monday Feb 14 - Valentine's Day - regular basketball session is canceled because some people have lives... lame. I end up spending an hour in the gym doing a shoot-around instead - 1 hour


Tues Feb 15 - Rest


Wed Feb 16 - Rest


Thurs Feb 17 - 45 min shoot around, then Rec-league game on Thursday night - best game of the season


Friday Feb 18 - I chose to ditch friends... to do a 3 mile / speed run workout. I did a 1-mile run at fast pace (sub-9 min - geez, I'm slow compared to last year, but that's what 20 extra pounds does to somebody, I guess), followed by a 2 mile alternating quarter mile walk/run.

Macken Park Run - Speed Training by daskaff at Garmin Connect - Details

Saturday Feb 19 - 20 lap speed training swim (27:30 total time) at the university pool. Start with 7 lap (350 yd) freestyle swim at faster than normal (for me) 6:46 - normally average 1:05 per lap, so I'm pretty happy with that. Another 7 lap (350 yd) freestyle (6 lap) and breast stroke (1 lap) combo - (7:44) which is still fairly fast for me. 2 lap breast stroke (2:44), then a series of freestyle 'sprints' - (50 yd - 57") (100 yd - 1:47) and (50 yd - :49)

Swinney Lap Swim by daskaff at Garmin Connect - Details

Sunday Feb 20 - 5.1 mile run in the hills of Platte Brooke North. It's pretty windy but in the 50s so I got to run in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt...in mid-February. WTF? The first mile is relatively flat on the trail. Miles 2-4 have giant hills that are a real struggle. Mile 3 has the absurd 130 foot climb in 0.4 miles, which I have yet to be able to run through. Overall, a decent run and my back feels alright. Last time I did this run, my back felt like shit and I couldn't run for at least a week.

Platte Brooke North Trail Run + Hills by daskaff at Garmin Connect - Details

Week 2


Monday Feb 21 - Basketball was back on this week. 90 min. Ended up guarding only much smaller opponents, which ended up putting a lot of pressure on my ankles, chasing guards around the court. Probably had my best performance (offensively especially) of my life... until the next to last game, when I pulled down a rebound, faked a shot to get a defender in the air, then raised to take the shot only to have the faked-out defender came down on my shoulders on my way up... re-fucking up my back. I managed to finish the day but suffered the rest of the day, having to shuffle my way through the rest of the work day - still worth it though.


Tuesday Feb 22 - Rest. Walking better, back improving.


Wednesday Feb 23 - Rest. Feeling at least 90%


Thursday Feb 24 - 30 minute shoot around before rec-league game. Ankles feel fine, back is somewhat weak, but good enough to play in the night game (last of the season). Played the rec-league game but my back tightened up early and got worse as the game went on. Pushed through it, but definitely needs some rest to heal.


Friday Feb 25 - Rest (lame). I wanted to run, but I know damn well that a run will only make my back worse... and the weather is ultra-shitty, so outdoor run is not possible (and I'm still too heavy for treadmill run, so that's pretty much that).


Saturday Feb 26 - Rest - Back is feeling better but will wait until at least mid-next week to run again. Both ankles have healed.


Sunday Feb 27 - Reluctantly resting again. Lame. Training is not getting off to a good start. I've already postponed starting training because of injuries about seven times already in the last two months. And guess what... another injury. Not happy.

Quotes for the Week #91

"I don't want to die in a place like this. People shouldn't die in the same place as People magazines do." - Annie Edison

"Vengeance? Haha, I was never one to hold a grudge, Jeffrey. My father held grudges... always hated him for that." - Pierce Hawthorne

"Good luck to those girls. Raising a child by yourself is one of the hardest things in the world... along with fending off laugh-lines and making the news seem interesting." - Brooke Alvarez

The Onion SportsDome

Here are two clips from the fantastic Onion SportsDome show on Comedy Central on Tuesday nights.

The Gatorade B-Force announcement - combining the benefits of electrolytes and meat via Gatorade's patented "three I system" - ingestion, injection and and immersion. Anyone claiming 'strawberry barbecue' sounds anything but delicious... is lying.




While this clip does have a Royals-centric portion... the true gem is the Joe DiMaggio rant.  Hilarious.

Onion SportsDome

Quotes for the Week #90

"We're celebrating our fifth anniversary this week and we couldn't have done it without all of you at home on your couches, sitting in silence, absorbing every word I say, navigating your lives around the information I feed you. I'd say 'thank you', but really, you're the ones who should be thanking me. Now, let's get on to our top story..." - Brooke Alvarez

"It's a baby shower... for the bastard child you humped into a filthy whore." - Malory Archer

"I am telling everyone here that there's no way I could be pregnant because I have had my period for the last sixty-one days." - Liz Lemon

"So much of television is really not fit for children, or Christians, or the elderly, so what if there was a black bar on the lower half of your TV screen that kept you from seeing bad things, like nudity or soccer." - Kenneth Parcell

"Homie, you always mean to say the nicest things." "Well, it's not easy with you talking all the time." - Marge and Homer Simpson

"Holly and I are like Romeo and Juliet and this office is like the dragon that kept them apart." - Michael Scott

"I never sleep on planes... I don't want to get incepted." - Jack Donaghey

"Yes, my daughter is Canadian-American, but I'm going to treat her just like a human baby." - Jack Donaghey

Quotes for the Week #89

"I think the new guy is a badass...he wears Wranglers." - Bridg3t Bi3r$mith$mash

"It doesn't matter how long you've lived in New York, it's still fun to look up and pretend all the buildings are giant, severed robot penises." - Liz Lemon

"This is my last show before Sunday's Super Bowl and I have already started preparing my seven layer dip: beef, cheese, sour cream, chili, peppers, pancake batter and Lipitor." - Stephen Colbert