Daddy do number two. (there goes the neighborhood)

It's official! I'm going down the road of fatherhood......again! I've been sitting on this huge news for the past month but it wasn't until Jessica brought a picture back of the little pollywog that we decided to go public. Everything looks great and I couldn't be more stoked. Of course this puts a lot of question marks as far as the topics of this blog. The baby on the way is a perfect parallel to what looks like an amorphous schedule at this time. It doesn't have much size or shape that I can recognize but it just keeps growing gaining more size and strength with each day.

This is what I know. Baby X is going to be born on or around June 20th. This puts Wildflower out of reach as leaving the wife 8 months pregnant for four days is not wise and counting on her to travel there is even more unwise. I'm still on for Xterra West Championships as it's local. What happens after the baby is born will be considered to be pure chaos and have no intentions of planning races after that unless its late september or October. What I am considering is getting back over to the Big Island and giving Lavaman a go. It's around the first of April as I couldn't find the date yet for 08. For now it will be pending as planning air travel for the third trimester is subject to doctor approval.

So.................It begs the question. What am I going to do? Can I justify all the sacrifices that are involved in trying to balance family, work and training for just one "A" race in '08. Why not?

Let me explain.

My success in sport will not be measured by one race, one season or one year. It will be measured over time and only after I am no longer able to physically do what it takes to get to the starting line, the ocean or the mountains whatsoever the case may be. I love to swim bike and run. I don't need to do them in that order or even on the same day to be fulfilled. These are the vehicles by which I am fit enough to be able to pull off just about any activity on any given day at any age. Consider Laird Hamilton, god of performance and longevity. If I'm fortunate to be able to pull off a completely focused training plan, that is enjoyed by most pro's and younger carefree athletes (you know who you are...JW) the results will come. For now, I have to consider taking this season Credit/No Credit. I can train, gain a lot more knowledge and miles in my legs whithout worrying too much about the end result. My focus is on the cumulative effect over the years and have some breakthrough experiences along the way. The question is, how does this philosophy manifest itself into the current training plan?

Answer:

Train my ass off for Xterra West Championships

any races between now and then is considered training.

Become a monster on the MTBike and in the water.

Keep the running as Xterra specific as possible. quality not quantity.

Thats what I want to do!

TRAINING RECAP

This last week of training has been a lot of fun as the cobwebs are gone and the desire to train has not yet been tempered by any cumulative fatigue.

I'll start with a week ago.

Sunday: Hike:2:00

I hooked up with PL local MCshow and headed out to Mission trails. We hit both summits of Fortuna mountain from Clairmont Mesa and did a little easy running on flats and shallow downhills to keep the HR from going back to resting rates.

Elevation Gain: 2000 ft

Avg HR: 130

MC leads and clears the trail of snakes. N. Fortuna
N.Fortuna. Cowles Mt. in the distance.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: Swim :50

Swim golf 50's

Best score: 54, that's 37 seconds with 17 strokes

1600 yds total

I was happy with this score but its not an apples comparison to 50 m pool that I'm used to. I'll be swimming in a 25 yard pool a little more this year as it's close and usually hit the weights right after. Swim felt good and threw in some left side breathing 25's. This was usually faster(?), but more strokes and more hydration.

Wednesday: Trainer SLD's: 60 minutes

I pulled off 16x30 second SL repeats for a total of 8 minutes each leg. These were f'ing tough by the end and just couldn't get the legs up and over the top. Left leg fatigued far sooner than right and I was definitely sore the following day.

Good Work. I need more of this!

Thursday: Strides :45 minutes 4000 ft elev.

I did an out and back off road at the ranch before EATING. I found a good shallow slope and did 4x20s up and 4x20s down. Otherwise it was easy running on soft fire roads.

Friday: No show(swim golf scheduled)

chopped wood.

Saturday: form sprints on the bike: 2:00

Easy ride under 200W then back to Fiesta Island to do the sprints 8x20s

Max power: 800W

Average power for all sprints: ~650W

Max cadence: 124 (from HUB)

These were fun but I know I was working hard as my arms, low backand legs all felt some decent work by rides end.

Sunday: Hike off road: 2 hours

Headed back out to Mission trails with MCshow and did the loop backwards heading up the stairsteps of S. Fortuna instead of down. This was the better way. We hit some killer steeps on our way to Portello (Along 52) and had an easy run back down to the car. The run was easy keeping the cadence tight and carving through some technical sections. I can't say enough about these workouts. Keeping the HR in check while focusing on some legburning strength is perfect. There are lots of opportunities out there to go as hard or easy as I want as the specifics of the workouts will progress.

Monday: today:Off

I have a phone conference scheduled with Jim and we'll see what he has to say given this bombshell is all news.

Updates coming sooner than later.