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Well this week started out great with a call from the man, Jimmy V. Having a coach is a more than a luxury for me it's absolutely necessary. He is the voice of assurance when things get a little derailed. Not that there is much consolation going on, but it's all about proceeding forward. Taking action and making smart decisions with the information we have right now, not dwelling on the past. We talked briefly of old injuries and being sick but mostly about progress on the bike and how to get up and running for Snow Valley Xterra. I haven't put any races on the schedule since the DNS at San Diego International and had planned on sticking to baselike training picking up a few races here and there where my schedule (mostly with the family) allows. I haven't signed up for Snow Valley yet as I wanted to see how I was responding to the training at the end of the week. As of today things are going pretty well.

Today

I'll do a 40 minute run after work. This morning I went for a great swim with my buddy Ramon.

We swam pretty easy for about 40 minutes at the Shores. I had a chance to check out my new

summer training wetsuit. It's a DeSoto 2 mm speedtube pant and 2 mm vest. There are a couple things that I love about it. It's sleeveless. I can't tell you the difference in how much easier it is to swim in a sleeveless suit. Normally I fight fatigue in the shoulders for about 15 minutes stopping to stretch and adjust the suit just feeling tight. Not today, it was awesome. Sure there is less buoyancy but just enough for a little added safety. My shoulders felt great and really had better ability to lengthen my stroke. Just a few rashes to deal with, a little lube should take care of that. For a little warmer water temps I can wear just the pant to feel even more slippery.

Wednesday

I went for a scheduled 2 hour hilly ride. I had tweeked my fit slightly lowering the seat about 1.5-2mm. I tried to keep the whole ride above 200W and below CP60-90 which is ~240W.

Normalized Power: 210W (including a 3 min phone call)

I felt great during the whole ride despite fighting a nasty headwind, all hail the P-Tap.

Tuesday

I checked out the pool at the local Mission Valley Y. I just joined there to have an alternate pool other than driving the 25 min to Coronado. They also have 5 masters sessions per day but the pool is only 25 yd. which is quite an obstacle to getting in a solid rhythm. 8 stroke cycles and I'm at the wall. It might enjoy it more if I flipped a little better as there is lots of turning in a long set.something to work on. Other than that I felt really good. I swam for 30 mins warming up with 5x100's on 1:40 and then 200's (20s).

After the swim I ran out along the Flood Control Channel for a total of 30 mins. I could feel the recent strenght gains in my legs from the cycling but found my lungs not totally clear from my recent cold. Kept it aerobic and hit the strength training for some light leg work and shoulder/core stability stuff. It was nice to get this all in from just one parking spot. That's what's nice about the Y. I can ride my bike there or take off for good running/cycling routes right after a swim.

One other thing. I got an email from a TCSD member who was looking for Cancer survivors in the triathlon scene. They're putting together a calendar in conjunction with the leukemia and lymphoma society, which is kind of suspect given their whole corporate style agenda, but I sent in some photos and a profile just for fun. If I can use my story somehow to inspire others, that's where it's at. We'll see....hopefully it won't turn out to be lame.