Sunday morning:
The morning didn’t get off to a good training start as we were suppose to meet a few of Steelhead half IM friends for a 6am swim in Lake Michigan just north of Navy Pier. When I woke-up at 4am that morning it was pouring rain as it continued thru the next several hours. We sent a few e-mails to our friends early saying that we would not be attending the early morning swim due to the continued raining effort by Mother Nature…it’s a shame as we really need to get in the open water swim training as the half IM is about a month away already.
So as I woke-up again at about 7:30am the rain was getting lighter and the sky to the west was getting clearer so K & I decided to figure out where to get in our longer bike ride for the day. We decided to drive-up to a Lake County Preserve area in North Barrington about an hour drive away where the roads are much safer to ride on compared to where we live. We actually didn’t start riding until 10am which is late for us but based on the weather this is what are option was for the day. This area is where I used to do all my longer training rides back in the early to mid-1990’s with the triathlon group I hung out with so I remembered the route even though its been some time since I last rode it. The bike route is pretty hilly (alot more than the Indiana ride we did last Sunday) so that was a training plus for the day but the winds were brutally strong out of the west during the whole ride time.
K held a great pace throughout all of these challenges as we headed northwest towards the town of McHenry and beyond. As we continued to ride west of McHenry the winds got stronger and I noticed the clouds were getting quite dark & gloomy in the direction NW of where we were riding too. We could see raining falling off in the distance from those clouds as we both decided to turn-around and head back to our start point where our car was located. The whole way back Kristen held a fantastic pace especially for the size of some of the hills we needed to climb on our bikes plus the storm clouds were chasing us the whole time also. It didn’t start to rain until we were ~ 2 miles from our car when the clouds opened up on us at a decent rate of rainfall. Then just as we pulled under the pavilion at the Lake County Preserve area the massive downpour started with even stronger winds, a microburst weather climate zone which lasted about 10 minutes…we were soooo lucky.
After that passed we loaded our biking stuff into the car as we ran for 2.1 miles together to semi-salvage a simulated brick workout. The area in the preserve has a nice and rolling hilly limestone path so it was nice to training together during the short run after the bike.
As for the bike ride info we were trying to get in a 3 hour endurance ride but due to the weather our ride time was only 2:22:43 which we covered 37.3 miles for an average rate of speed of 15.7mph and I hit a coasting max speed on a longer downhill at 34mph. My average cadence was at 82rpm which is ok considering the amount of hilly climbing we needed did do but for some reason my HR monitor bpm did not record yesterday during the biking portion but it worked fine during the run portion…go figure.
So at least we were able to salvage part of the day yesterday for some proper triathlon training…plus over the last three Sunday long bike rides we have gotten rained on at somepoint…it’s getting old at this point.
b
Monday, June 30, 2008
running for food...
Saturday morning:
Once again K & I headed out quite early to Montrose Harbor by Lake Michigan for our Saturday morning CARA marathon training programs. I start at 6am with the 8 minute mile group as a participate and K starts at 6:30am with that session as a pace leader for the 10 minute mile group so she gets in a couple more training miles before her session starts.
This week only our one pace leader was present and held us right out of the start area to a strong & consistent pace. My running legs finally warmed up quicker this week as the temps were warm & humid and I was able to handle the pace comfortably thru our 8 mile scheduled run for the day (down week). Our last 3/4 quarters of a mile was slightly slow as were had to take a detour from our normal running path due to a larger running race in the area. I got thru the 8 miles in 1:04:17 for a mile pace of 8:02 with an average HR of 136bpm and a max HR at 150bpm. I felt good both during and after the run just like the previous week…
Afterwards a group of 12 of us runners went out for a really great breakfast off of Montrose...
b
Once again K & I headed out quite early to Montrose Harbor by Lake Michigan for our Saturday morning CARA marathon training programs. I start at 6am with the 8 minute mile group as a participate and K starts at 6:30am with that session as a pace leader for the 10 minute mile group so she gets in a couple more training miles before her session starts.
This week only our one pace leader was present and held us right out of the start area to a strong & consistent pace. My running legs finally warmed up quicker this week as the temps were warm & humid and I was able to handle the pace comfortably thru our 8 mile scheduled run for the day (down week). Our last 3/4 quarters of a mile was slightly slow as were had to take a detour from our normal running path due to a larger running race in the area. I got thru the 8 miles in 1:04:17 for a mile pace of 8:02 with an average HR of 136bpm and a max HR at 150bpm. I felt good both during and after the run just like the previous week…
Afterwards a group of 12 of us runners went out for a really great breakfast off of Montrose...
b
more laps...
Friday mid-day:
Went for a quick swim at the health club across the street from work today during my lunch hour. Focused 100% of the swim on the upper-body strength training in the pool at more of a mid-tempo pace for myself. Below is the swim routine:
10 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
So I swam 1200 meters during this workout…done for the day!!!
b
Went for a quick swim at the health club across the street from work today during my lunch hour. Focused 100% of the swim on the upper-body strength training in the pool at more of a mid-tempo pace for myself. Below is the swim routine:
10 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
So I swam 1200 meters during this workout…done for the day!!!
b
Friday, June 27, 2008
rolling steamer...
Thursday evening:
After work I headed out for the group cycling ride repeat night near our local bike shop as I have done for the last several weeks as I prepare for the half IM. The temps were warm & muggy with a strong crosswind out of the NNW which meant we would be pushing this wind during our repeat portions of the ride. Once again there was a group this week of about 40 riders at peak time but luck would work on my side as I was able to get a lot of free air to ride in as I stayed away from the pack during the repeats as much as possible.
Below are the 9 in order repeats I have Polar lap data on with distance & time plus average & max mph and average & max HR values:
.675 of a mile – 1:35 - average 25.4mph/max 27.7mph – AHR 141bpm/MHR 158bpm
.883 of a mile – 2:04 - average 25.6mph/max 29.3mph – AHR 145bpm/MHR 156bpm
.666 of a mile – 1:31 - average 26.4mph/max 30.3mph – AHR 134bpm/MHR 144bpm
.846 of a mile – 1:58 - average 25.6mph/max 30.2mph – AHR 132bpm/MHR 153bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:18 - average 26.7mph/max 30.1mph – AHR 152bpm/MHR 158bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:21 - average 25.7mph/max 28.3mph – AHR 148bpm/MHR 152bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:34 - average 23.9mph/max 26.3mph – AHR 137bpm/MHR 143bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:17 - average 25.5mph/max 27.5mph – AHR 147bpm/MHR 156bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:27 - average 24.3mph/max 26.9mph – AHR 143bpm/MHR 147bpm
I rode for 29.6 miles in total time of 1:29:53 which is an average pace of 19.8mph. My average HR for the ride duration was 128bpm with a max HR during a repeat at 159bpm also my average cadence was 90rpm with a max cadence at 110rpm. Once again at various times past mile 18 my calf muscles knotted up at different times which is possible due to the double running/biking repeat day but those melted away fairly quickly. I was eating & drinking correctly during the day & ride so that’s all I can figure that it was :-)
It was a good day of exercising today…
b
After work I headed out for the group cycling ride repeat night near our local bike shop as I have done for the last several weeks as I prepare for the half IM. The temps were warm & muggy with a strong crosswind out of the NNW which meant we would be pushing this wind during our repeat portions of the ride. Once again there was a group this week of about 40 riders at peak time but luck would work on my side as I was able to get a lot of free air to ride in as I stayed away from the pack during the repeats as much as possible.
Below are the 9 in order repeats I have Polar lap data on with distance & time plus average & max mph and average & max HR values:
.675 of a mile – 1:35 - average 25.4mph/max 27.7mph – AHR 141bpm/MHR 158bpm
.883 of a mile – 2:04 - average 25.6mph/max 29.3mph – AHR 145bpm/MHR 156bpm
.666 of a mile – 1:31 - average 26.4mph/max 30.3mph – AHR 134bpm/MHR 144bpm
.846 of a mile – 1:58 - average 25.6mph/max 30.2mph – AHR 132bpm/MHR 153bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:18 - average 26.7mph/max 30.1mph – AHR 152bpm/MHR 158bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:21 - average 25.7mph/max 28.3mph – AHR 148bpm/MHR 152bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:34 - average 23.9mph/max 26.3mph – AHR 137bpm/MHR 143bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:17 - average 25.5mph/max 27.5mph – AHR 147bpm/MHR 156bpm
1 mile ---------- 2:27 - average 24.3mph/max 26.9mph – AHR 143bpm/MHR 147bpm
I rode for 29.6 miles in total time of 1:29:53 which is an average pace of 19.8mph. My average HR for the ride duration was 128bpm with a max HR during a repeat at 159bpm also my average cadence was 90rpm with a max cadence at 110rpm. Once again at various times past mile 18 my calf muscles knotted up at different times which is possible due to the double running/biking repeat day but those melted away fairly quickly. I was eating & drinking correctly during the day & ride so that’s all I can figure that it was :-)
It was a good day of exercising today…
b
stifling...
Thursday morning:
I skipped last nights track workout basically because I felt completely exhausted and worn out. My sports chiropractor appt the night before was a really intense MAT’s treatment focusing 100% on my neck/shoulder area since I was having problems there a lot over the last couple days especially since the long bike ride…but the good news is the added rest day made me feel 100 percent better than yesterday.
So this early morning I planned on running my 1000 meter repeats as I would have done at the track workout last night. As I headed out the door to start my run at 5:15am this morning the weather got warm & sticky overnight with no wind, 76 degrees and 100% humidity so I left some Gatorade/carbo-pro mix for rehydration purposes by our door. After my mile and a/half warm-up I needed to hit the bottle of fluids since the conditions were very stifling. Also when I got into my repeats I would jog home during the 90 second recovery time and drink some more after each set of two repeats, I did a total of six - 1km repeats with a 90 second recovery walk/job between each.
Below are my repeats times with average and max HR values per each:
1000 meters – 4:21 – AHR 136bpm – MHR 143bpm
1000 meters – 4:18 – AHR 137bpm – MHR 144bpm
1000 meters – 4:28 – AHR 139bpm – MHR 146bpm
1000 meters – 4:20 – AHR 140bpm – MHR 149bpm
1000 meters – 4:29 – AHR 144bpm – MHR 149bpm
1000 meters – 4:24 – AHR 144bpm – MHR 150bpm
Luckily our house is on a perfectly symmetrical one mile sub-division street oval so I have already had all my repeat distances memorized for years now. My 1km repeat times were not as consistent as I would have like to seen this morning but the good news is I got the quality workout in the training journal for the day.
Afterwards I took a 20 minute ice bath to help aid with recovery and to cool off my body core temperature due to the weather element as I plan on riding with the cycling group for repeats this evening…
b
I skipped last nights track workout basically because I felt completely exhausted and worn out. My sports chiropractor appt the night before was a really intense MAT’s treatment focusing 100% on my neck/shoulder area since I was having problems there a lot over the last couple days especially since the long bike ride…but the good news is the added rest day made me feel 100 percent better than yesterday.
So this early morning I planned on running my 1000 meter repeats as I would have done at the track workout last night. As I headed out the door to start my run at 5:15am this morning the weather got warm & sticky overnight with no wind, 76 degrees and 100% humidity so I left some Gatorade/carbo-pro mix for rehydration purposes by our door. After my mile and a/half warm-up I needed to hit the bottle of fluids since the conditions were very stifling. Also when I got into my repeats I would jog home during the 90 second recovery time and drink some more after each set of two repeats, I did a total of six - 1km repeats with a 90 second recovery walk/job between each.
Below are my repeats times with average and max HR values per each:
1000 meters – 4:21 – AHR 136bpm – MHR 143bpm
1000 meters – 4:18 – AHR 137bpm – MHR 144bpm
1000 meters – 4:28 – AHR 139bpm – MHR 146bpm
1000 meters – 4:20 – AHR 140bpm – MHR 149bpm
1000 meters – 4:29 – AHR 144bpm – MHR 149bpm
1000 meters – 4:24 – AHR 144bpm – MHR 150bpm
Luckily our house is on a perfectly symmetrical one mile sub-division street oval so I have already had all my repeat distances memorized for years now. My 1km repeat times were not as consistent as I would have like to seen this morning but the good news is I got the quality workout in the training journal for the day.
Afterwards I took a 20 minute ice bath to help aid with recovery and to cool off my body core temperature due to the weather element as I plan on riding with the cycling group for repeats this evening…
b
Thursday, June 26, 2008
coolness...
Tuesday morning:
Woke-up early this morning to perfect running temps at 56 degrees with low humidity as I went out for a shorter recovery run. Since I plan on attending the track workout group tomorrow night (pending weather) that made for an easy run day for me today. I ran in the neighborhood around where we live for a 4.2 mile at a pace that felt comfortable to me. The run lasted for 36:03 which is a mile pace of 8:35 with an average HR of 118bpm and a max HR of 126bpm. My legs felt pretty fresh as the last day I ran was on Saturday of the past weekend so I guess all the swimming & biking is helping the running legs recover quickly.
Tonight I have an appointment with my sports chiropractor which I’m looking forward too…honestly :-)
b
Woke-up early this morning to perfect running temps at 56 degrees with low humidity as I went out for a shorter recovery run. Since I plan on attending the track workout group tomorrow night (pending weather) that made for an easy run day for me today. I ran in the neighborhood around where we live for a 4.2 mile at a pace that felt comfortable to me. The run lasted for 36:03 which is a mile pace of 8:35 with an average HR of 118bpm and a max HR of 126bpm. My legs felt pretty fresh as the last day I ran was on Saturday of the past weekend so I guess all the swimming & biking is helping the running legs recover quickly.
Tonight I have an appointment with my sports chiropractor which I’m looking forward too…honestly :-)
b
back to the pool...
Monday evening:
This week starting today is more of a training cycle recovery week especially when it comes to the running discipline. Last week I trained 4 days of double workout days with one brick workout in there for good measure. Needless to say I’m looking forward to this step-back week of training…
After work last night I walked over to the health club to get in some lap swimming in at the pool. Below is the workout routine I did for the evening:
10 laps with pull-buoy
10 laps with pull-buoy and hand-paddles
25 laps freestyle straight through
So I got in an 1800 meter swim before I headed home for the evening. The swim felt really good as it actually helped to get my shoulders comfortably working again as they were achy sore from the long bike ride on Sunday…
b
This week starting today is more of a training cycle recovery week especially when it comes to the running discipline. Last week I trained 4 days of double workout days with one brick workout in there for good measure. Needless to say I’m looking forward to this step-back week of training…
After work last night I walked over to the health club to get in some lap swimming in at the pool. Below is the workout routine I did for the evening:
10 laps with pull-buoy
10 laps with pull-buoy and hand-paddles
25 laps freestyle straight through
So I got in an 1800 meter swim before I headed home for the evening. The swim felt really good as it actually helped to get my shoulders comfortably working again as they were achy sore from the long bike ride on Sunday…
b
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
the long route...
Sunday morning:
Ok so Kristen & I needed to get in a long biking training ride of a minimum of 3 hours especially since last Sundays ride was a thunderstorm washout day for that. So during the end of last week I found this organized 1 day Bike Tour in Porter County Indiana that starts in a town named Chesterton which is not that far from Lake Michigan and a lot of rolling 2 lane farm roads…so below is the link to the event:
http://www.vnaportercounty.org/LoriesRide%20online%20brochure.pdf
So were drove down early Sunday morning to register for the ride as we pre-determined to ride the 63 mile loop since it was the closest distance wise to the half IM bike ride portion of 56 miles. To this date the farthest distance we have ridden is 42 miles 3 weeks ago so this was the next step in biking endurance building. Also we were both testing out fluid and nutrition plans for the biking portion of the half IM to fine tune those needs. So we headed out on our bikes from the middle school that was kind enough to host the ride event around 7:20am and hooked up with another local rider that was riding the 63 mile loop for training to the Louisville Ironman event whom just happened to race the Steelhead 70.3 last year.
As always I planned to ride with Kristen the whole distance as she held a fantastic pace for herself especially with the rolling hills in the region. The 63 mile loop took us west for a couple miles then northward to the roadway that turns and runs eastward parallel to the beaches of Lake Michigan where the first of three food/drink stops were located at mile 15 for a nutrition pit-stop. After a 5 minute quick break (we could hear thunder in the clouds out & over the lake) we headed back eastward for several more miles before turning southward on the rolling roadways. Here is where we experience the rain storm for the day for about a 5 mile section before it stopped a couple miles till the next food/drink stop. We stopped here for about 10 minutes this time because the warm sunlight felt really good after the rain chilliness plus the food was a good bonus too! As we then got back on the road southward the three of us were warming up quickly as the humid sunshine was on us with force since this region of Indiana is really all crop farmland with a lack of trees for shading.
After a few more miles of heading south we then turned right to head back westward into a decent wind out of the northwest. I helped out at that point with the pacing as K needed a break from leading into the wind but her energy returned quickly and she was back at the front within a couple miles. Then after a few more miles we turned northward towards Valparaiso, IN where the final food/drink stop was located at mile 50. We stopped for about 10 minutes again as we refueled with foods and a little extra water but by this point I was more than ready to get rolling again as the temperatures were quite warm at this point. Heading thru and northward out of Valpo’ this is where the hills were the most obvious but K pushed on with a very solid pacing effort. From about mile 54 thru 60 this is where I kinda went thru a "funk" feeling which is not at all similar to a bonk but you just feel tired. Even with all the proper electrolyte/carbo-load, water and food I ate I drank more & ate more then that feeling went away.
Kristen led us into the middle school parking lot with a very solid ride time of 4:12:03 which is a pace of 15mph for the 63 mile ride…great job…woohoo!!! My average HR was at 89bpm with a max HR in a hilly section of 121bpm. My average cadence was quite low at 76rpm which is much too low of a cadence but it didn’t feel that low at all and my max cadence as at 114rpm at some point. The ride was a very low level one if that for myself but it still tired me out completely until I ate some more food at the post-event stop in the school and Kristen said she felt the same way also. Plus riders were able to take showers in the school which definitely made you feel better and more recovered also.
Now were feeling much better knowing that we have ridden the distance of a half IM bike portion and then some via this great training ride
b
Ok so Kristen & I needed to get in a long biking training ride of a minimum of 3 hours especially since last Sundays ride was a thunderstorm washout day for that. So during the end of last week I found this organized 1 day Bike Tour in Porter County Indiana that starts in a town named Chesterton which is not that far from Lake Michigan and a lot of rolling 2 lane farm roads…so below is the link to the event:
http://www.vnaportercounty.org/LoriesRide%20online%20brochure.pdf
So were drove down early Sunday morning to register for the ride as we pre-determined to ride the 63 mile loop since it was the closest distance wise to the half IM bike ride portion of 56 miles. To this date the farthest distance we have ridden is 42 miles 3 weeks ago so this was the next step in biking endurance building. Also we were both testing out fluid and nutrition plans for the biking portion of the half IM to fine tune those needs. So we headed out on our bikes from the middle school that was kind enough to host the ride event around 7:20am and hooked up with another local rider that was riding the 63 mile loop for training to the Louisville Ironman event whom just happened to race the Steelhead 70.3 last year.
As always I planned to ride with Kristen the whole distance as she held a fantastic pace for herself especially with the rolling hills in the region. The 63 mile loop took us west for a couple miles then northward to the roadway that turns and runs eastward parallel to the beaches of Lake Michigan where the first of three food/drink stops were located at mile 15 for a nutrition pit-stop. After a 5 minute quick break (we could hear thunder in the clouds out & over the lake) we headed back eastward for several more miles before turning southward on the rolling roadways. Here is where we experience the rain storm for the day for about a 5 mile section before it stopped a couple miles till the next food/drink stop. We stopped here for about 10 minutes this time because the warm sunlight felt really good after the rain chilliness plus the food was a good bonus too! As we then got back on the road southward the three of us were warming up quickly as the humid sunshine was on us with force since this region of Indiana is really all crop farmland with a lack of trees for shading.
After a few more miles of heading south we then turned right to head back westward into a decent wind out of the northwest. I helped out at that point with the pacing as K needed a break from leading into the wind but her energy returned quickly and she was back at the front within a couple miles. Then after a few more miles we turned northward towards Valparaiso, IN where the final food/drink stop was located at mile 50. We stopped for about 10 minutes again as we refueled with foods and a little extra water but by this point I was more than ready to get rolling again as the temperatures were quite warm at this point. Heading thru and northward out of Valpo’ this is where the hills were the most obvious but K pushed on with a very solid pacing effort. From about mile 54 thru 60 this is where I kinda went thru a "funk" feeling which is not at all similar to a bonk but you just feel tired. Even with all the proper electrolyte/carbo-load, water and food I ate I drank more & ate more then that feeling went away.
Kristen led us into the middle school parking lot with a very solid ride time of 4:12:03 which is a pace of 15mph for the 63 mile ride…great job…woohoo!!! My average HR was at 89bpm with a max HR in a hilly section of 121bpm. My average cadence was quite low at 76rpm which is much too low of a cadence but it didn’t feel that low at all and my max cadence as at 114rpm at some point. The ride was a very low level one if that for myself but it still tired me out completely until I ate some more food at the post-event stop in the school and Kristen said she felt the same way also. Plus riders were able to take showers in the school which definitely made you feel better and more recovered also.
Now were feeling much better knowing that we have ridden the distance of a half IM bike portion and then some via this great training ride
b
a long morning at the lakefront...
Saturday morning:
K & I headed out quite early to Montrose Harbor by Lake Michigan for our Saturday morning CARA marathon training programs. I start at 6am with the 8 minute mile group as a participate and K starts at 6:30am with that session as a pace leader for the 10 minute mile group so she gets in a couple more training miles before her session starts.
This week our second pace leader was present and held us right out of the start area to a strong & consistent pace. For me my running legs finally warmed up after the first 2 miles and I was able to handle the pace comfortably thru our 10 mile scheduled run for the day enough so that I pick-up the pace on the closing mile. I got thru the ten miles in 1:19:16 for a mile pace of 7:56 with an average HR of 136bpm and a max HR with a quarter mile to go at 156bpm. I felt good both during and after the run…
Next step was to get the MT bikes ready for K & I as we pre-planned to do an open water swim in Lake Michigan at the usual triathlete beach entry swim area just north of Navy Pier. So after Kristen returned we headed southbound on the lakefront path for 6 miles via our bikes to the swim area. The path was pretty crowded by now since it was a beautiful morning so our bike pace was very casual because of this which was fine to help flush out the morning run legs…
As we got into our wetsuits and all set-up for the Lake Michigan swim it was sprinkling alittle bit which really didn’t matter at this point. So we headed out into the lake as the water felt nice & cool to me as K thought it felt cold. The reason for that was she has a full-body sleeveless wetsuit as I have a full-body sleeved wetsuit so I could understand what she was referring too. This was Kristen’s first open-water tri-training swim as for me it was my first time back training for a triathlon via swimming in Lake Michigan since 1995! The lake had some rollers (slight swells) to it so that was good experience for Steelhead as we also worked on sighting technique while out there also. We turned around a little bit after the ¼ quarter mile buoy and then focused on swimming with a slight current from the back-left side. So for the swim we covered about 1000 meters distance wise which was enough for the day…
After we got out of the water Kristen said she felt much more comfortable & better swimming in Lake Michigan than the sprint distance tri-swim she did two weeks ago. K actually did really, really well during the whole swim I thought but I always knew she would. I felt really good out there also and I forgot just how much a wetsuit helps with swimming so now I will be able to minimize my leg usage during the tri to save them for the bike & run portion then. The swim was really good for training purposes for both of us :-)
Afterwards we headed back north 6 miles on our MT bikes and got soaked again due to a rain shower…a long morning of quality training
b
K & I headed out quite early to Montrose Harbor by Lake Michigan for our Saturday morning CARA marathon training programs. I start at 6am with the 8 minute mile group as a participate and K starts at 6:30am with that session as a pace leader for the 10 minute mile group so she gets in a couple more training miles before her session starts.
This week our second pace leader was present and held us right out of the start area to a strong & consistent pace. For me my running legs finally warmed up after the first 2 miles and I was able to handle the pace comfortably thru our 10 mile scheduled run for the day enough so that I pick-up the pace on the closing mile. I got thru the ten miles in 1:19:16 for a mile pace of 7:56 with an average HR of 136bpm and a max HR with a quarter mile to go at 156bpm. I felt good both during and after the run…
Next step was to get the MT bikes ready for K & I as we pre-planned to do an open water swim in Lake Michigan at the usual triathlete beach entry swim area just north of Navy Pier. So after Kristen returned we headed southbound on the lakefront path for 6 miles via our bikes to the swim area. The path was pretty crowded by now since it was a beautiful morning so our bike pace was very casual because of this which was fine to help flush out the morning run legs…
As we got into our wetsuits and all set-up for the Lake Michigan swim it was sprinkling alittle bit which really didn’t matter at this point. So we headed out into the lake as the water felt nice & cool to me as K thought it felt cold. The reason for that was she has a full-body sleeveless wetsuit as I have a full-body sleeved wetsuit so I could understand what she was referring too. This was Kristen’s first open-water tri-training swim as for me it was my first time back training for a triathlon via swimming in Lake Michigan since 1995! The lake had some rollers (slight swells) to it so that was good experience for Steelhead as we also worked on sighting technique while out there also. We turned around a little bit after the ¼ quarter mile buoy and then focused on swimming with a slight current from the back-left side. So for the swim we covered about 1000 meters distance wise which was enough for the day…
After we got out of the water Kristen said she felt much more comfortable & better swimming in Lake Michigan than the sprint distance tri-swim she did two weeks ago. K actually did really, really well during the whole swim I thought but I always knew she would. I felt really good out there also and I forgot just how much a wetsuit helps with swimming so now I will be able to minimize my leg usage during the tri to save them for the bike & run portion then. The swim was really good for training purposes for both of us :-)
Afterwards we headed back north 6 miles on our MT bikes and got soaked again due to a rain shower…a long morning of quality training
b
Monday, June 23, 2008
another brick in the wall...
Thursday morning:
Once again I woke-up to picture perfect running weather to start my run at 5:30am and it was 52 degrees with no humidity, beautiful weather yet again. So in our neighborhood I ran just over two miles to warm-up then I started my 800 meter repeats with 90 second recovery walk/jog after each times 4 and finished everything off with just over a mile cool-down run. Below are my repeat times with average & max HR values:
800 meters – 3:25 – AHR 135bpm – MHR 143bpm
800 meters – 3:22 – AHR 137bpm – MHR 146bpm
800 meters – 3:22 – AHR 140bpm – MHR 147bpm
800 meters – 3:16 – AHR 141bpm – MHR 152bpm
My total mileage covered this morning was 5.7 miles in 48:02 with an average HR of 123bpm as the cooler, crisp air helped with these values. This is a run I used from Hal’s adv.I/II marathon training program since I choose not to go to the coached track workout last night to give my body a break from those intense workouts. This morning’s run felt really good especially as my body is slowly healing itself as each week goes by
Tonight I plan on the participating in the biking group repeat sessions once again…
Thursday evening:
After work I headed out for the group cycling ride repeat night near our local bike shop. The temps were perfect tonight with a strong crosswind out of the west. The 2.2 mile parallel (one way) street loop is connected by two There was a group this week of about 40 riders at peak time which are mostly roadies once again with just a few of us triathletes/duathletes/TT’ers. So I pick some blank air where ever I find it away from the group riders whether it be on the repeat and/or the recovery mile. Also you will notice my repeat distances are different and that is because I would pick-up the wide & slower moving peloton at different distances so I would have to back-off the speed and cut the repeat short.
Last night I had a situation that hasn’t happened to me in a while which was just at about mile 11 during a recovery section my front 170psi tire tube blew-out abruptly like someone shot off a 22 caliber rifle as I was cruising at 20mph. I carefully coasted to a halt and took out my replacement tube, CO2 canister plus adapter then changed the tube and was rolling again in just under 6 minutes lost time. I eased back into my pace after a couple miles to make sure everything was ok with the front tire/tube assembly.
I really didn’t keep a total of my repeats as I was more focused on getting an overall quality paced distance ride so below are the repeats I have Polar lap data on (I was bad with the lap counter this evening) distance with time plus average & max mph and average & max HR values:
.75 of a mile – 1:42 - average 27.3mph/max 30.1mph – AHR 145bpm/MHR 154bpm
.8 of a mile – 1:45 - average 26.7mph/max 27.6mph – AHR 150bpm/MHR 153bpm
.6 of a mile – 1:30 average 25.3mph/max 26.4mph – AHR 143bpm/MHR 148bpm
1 mile -------- 2:22 - average 26.2mph/max 31.1mph – AHR 140bpm/MHR 147bpm
.85 of a mile – 2:08 - average 24.2mph/max 27.5mph – AHR 146bpm/MHR 154bpm
1 mile --------- 2:29 - average 25.1mph/max 29.3mph – AHR 148bpm/MHR 152bpm
I rode for 27.9 miles in total time of 1:23:06 which is an average pace of 20.1mph. I felt tired out there last night during pretty much the whole ride duration maybe due to the morning repeat run but I think it’s because I have been training a lot of double workouts this week. On my cool-down couple miles both my calf muscles knotted up at different times which is an indicator that my body had enough for the night…it was a different ride night that is for sure.
b
Once again I woke-up to picture perfect running weather to start my run at 5:30am and it was 52 degrees with no humidity, beautiful weather yet again. So in our neighborhood I ran just over two miles to warm-up then I started my 800 meter repeats with 90 second recovery walk/jog after each times 4 and finished everything off with just over a mile cool-down run. Below are my repeat times with average & max HR values:
800 meters – 3:25 – AHR 135bpm – MHR 143bpm
800 meters – 3:22 – AHR 137bpm – MHR 146bpm
800 meters – 3:22 – AHR 140bpm – MHR 147bpm
800 meters – 3:16 – AHR 141bpm – MHR 152bpm
My total mileage covered this morning was 5.7 miles in 48:02 with an average HR of 123bpm as the cooler, crisp air helped with these values. This is a run I used from Hal’s adv.I/II marathon training program since I choose not to go to the coached track workout last night to give my body a break from those intense workouts. This morning’s run felt really good especially as my body is slowly healing itself as each week goes by
Tonight I plan on the participating in the biking group repeat sessions once again…
Thursday evening:
After work I headed out for the group cycling ride repeat night near our local bike shop. The temps were perfect tonight with a strong crosswind out of the west. The 2.2 mile parallel (one way) street loop is connected by two There was a group this week of about 40 riders at peak time which are mostly roadies once again with just a few of us triathletes/duathletes/TT’ers. So I pick some blank air where ever I find it away from the group riders whether it be on the repeat and/or the recovery mile. Also you will notice my repeat distances are different and that is because I would pick-up the wide & slower moving peloton at different distances so I would have to back-off the speed and cut the repeat short.
Last night I had a situation that hasn’t happened to me in a while which was just at about mile 11 during a recovery section my front 170psi tire tube blew-out abruptly like someone shot off a 22 caliber rifle as I was cruising at 20mph. I carefully coasted to a halt and took out my replacement tube, CO2 canister plus adapter then changed the tube and was rolling again in just under 6 minutes lost time. I eased back into my pace after a couple miles to make sure everything was ok with the front tire/tube assembly.
I really didn’t keep a total of my repeats as I was more focused on getting an overall quality paced distance ride so below are the repeats I have Polar lap data on (I was bad with the lap counter this evening) distance with time plus average & max mph and average & max HR values:
.75 of a mile – 1:42 - average 27.3mph/max 30.1mph – AHR 145bpm/MHR 154bpm
.8 of a mile – 1:45 - average 26.7mph/max 27.6mph – AHR 150bpm/MHR 153bpm
.6 of a mile – 1:30 average 25.3mph/max 26.4mph – AHR 143bpm/MHR 148bpm
1 mile -------- 2:22 - average 26.2mph/max 31.1mph – AHR 140bpm/MHR 147bpm
.85 of a mile – 2:08 - average 24.2mph/max 27.5mph – AHR 146bpm/MHR 154bpm
1 mile --------- 2:29 - average 25.1mph/max 29.3mph – AHR 148bpm/MHR 152bpm
I rode for 27.9 miles in total time of 1:23:06 which is an average pace of 20.1mph. I felt tired out there last night during pretty much the whole ride duration maybe due to the morning repeat run but I think it’s because I have been training a lot of double workouts this week. On my cool-down couple miles both my calf muscles knotted up at different times which is an indicator that my body had enough for the night…it was a different ride night that is for sure.
b
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
tempo and a brick...
Tuesday morning:
Woke-up bright & early this morning to absolutely picture perfect running weather to start the run at 5:30am; it was 54 degrees with no humidity with a very slight wind out of the North. This morning I scheduled a tempo run which was a 2 mile warm-up then 2 mile tempo and finishing off with a mile recovery for my cool-down. Total 5 mile run time was 41:31 with an average HR of 124bpm and below is my stats for the 2 mile tempo session:
2 mile tempo – 15:04 time – AHR – 133bpm – MHR 143bpm
I was very happy to see I held a nice pace during the tempo as I ran by perceived effort level feeling as I didn’t watch my HR values during the 2 mile tempo. Average HR was nicely placed during this portion and I hit my max HR at the end but I was not sprinting as I focused on slowly getting quicker as the distance went by…mission accomplished!
Tuesday evening:
I scheduled for myself this evening a brick workout which was to be an 1 hour tri-bike ride in our house via my Kinetic rear wheel resistance training and then immediately go our for a one mile run in the neighborhood to simulate a triathlon T2 transition. Gotta start practicing these things as the half IM is only now 44 days away…also the reason I train indoors during this time of the year for this situation is the area in which we live is not very good for quality bike rides, basically its just too unsafe due to vehicle traffic.
So with the a/c & fans going in the office room I started up my one hour tri-bike training ride using the first 12 minutes as a proper warm-up for the ride duration and then started to slowly push the pace by using more challenging gears on the rear cassette. I altered this consistently up thru minute 52 when I started a cool-down cycle especially since my legs where feeling fatigued from the tempo run earlier in the day. This was more of a level two ride for me this evening. The last five minutes of the ride I focused on using easier gears but keeping my cadence right around 100rpm to prepare my legs for the quick mile run…
I hopped off the bike at the hour mark and quickly changed into my running clothes as I grabbed my garmin 305. As I left the house I started the clock immediately along with my running to simulate a transition period. I was surprised to see that my legs felt pretty good right from the get-go so I was able to push the running pace during this one mile running repeat. Even thought the effort was strong to simulate running through the cycling legs fatigue the effort was very controllable…a very good brick workout it was indeed :-)
Below are my stats for the bike and run portions:
Bike 1 hour – 16.5 miles – Average speed 16.5mph – AHR 106bpm – MHR 133bpm – Average cadence 92rpm – Max cadence 103rpm
Run 1 mile – 7:22 pace – AHR 137bpm – MHR 155bpm
b
Woke-up bright & early this morning to absolutely picture perfect running weather to start the run at 5:30am; it was 54 degrees with no humidity with a very slight wind out of the North. This morning I scheduled a tempo run which was a 2 mile warm-up then 2 mile tempo and finishing off with a mile recovery for my cool-down. Total 5 mile run time was 41:31 with an average HR of 124bpm and below is my stats for the 2 mile tempo session:
2 mile tempo – 15:04 time – AHR – 133bpm – MHR 143bpm
I was very happy to see I held a nice pace during the tempo as I ran by perceived effort level feeling as I didn’t watch my HR values during the 2 mile tempo. Average HR was nicely placed during this portion and I hit my max HR at the end but I was not sprinting as I focused on slowly getting quicker as the distance went by…mission accomplished!
Tuesday evening:
I scheduled for myself this evening a brick workout which was to be an 1 hour tri-bike ride in our house via my Kinetic rear wheel resistance training and then immediately go our for a one mile run in the neighborhood to simulate a triathlon T2 transition. Gotta start practicing these things as the half IM is only now 44 days away…also the reason I train indoors during this time of the year for this situation is the area in which we live is not very good for quality bike rides, basically its just too unsafe due to vehicle traffic.
So with the a/c & fans going in the office room I started up my one hour tri-bike training ride using the first 12 minutes as a proper warm-up for the ride duration and then started to slowly push the pace by using more challenging gears on the rear cassette. I altered this consistently up thru minute 52 when I started a cool-down cycle especially since my legs where feeling fatigued from the tempo run earlier in the day. This was more of a level two ride for me this evening. The last five minutes of the ride I focused on using easier gears but keeping my cadence right around 100rpm to prepare my legs for the quick mile run…
I hopped off the bike at the hour mark and quickly changed into my running clothes as I grabbed my garmin 305. As I left the house I started the clock immediately along with my running to simulate a transition period. I was surprised to see that my legs felt pretty good right from the get-go so I was able to push the running pace during this one mile running repeat. Even thought the effort was strong to simulate running through the cycling legs fatigue the effort was very controllable…a very good brick workout it was indeed :-)
Below are my stats for the bike and run portions:
Bike 1 hour – 16.5 miles – Average speed 16.5mph – AHR 106bpm – MHR 133bpm – Average cadence 92rpm – Max cadence 103rpm
Run 1 mile – 7:22 pace – AHR 137bpm – MHR 155bpm
b
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
twice is nice...
Monday morning:
Since my swimming & biking was not existent this past weekend due to various reasons I decided to wake-up early this morning to make the most of the sunny and 64 degree temps before work to get in a nice 4.1 mile recovery run. Quite a relaxing run I might say after a hectic weekend of events. It was nice just to get out and run with really no specifics to the run especially after the last two marathon training cycles following the very structure to the tee FIRST programs…So the run time was 34:24 with an average HR of 119bpm.
I will attempt at lunch today to go swimming at the health club…hopefully its re-open!
Monday high-noon:
Got to the health club and yeah...the pool was open so I planned on a specific pull-buoy, hand paddle kinda workout since I only have so much time to work with here. Below is the quick swim w/o:
10 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand-paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand-paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
So I covered 1200 meters in a rushed workout during lunch which was good in two ways; made the swim feel more like a tempo pace and got in some good upper-body training...
b
Since my swimming & biking was not existent this past weekend due to various reasons I decided to wake-up early this morning to make the most of the sunny and 64 degree temps before work to get in a nice 4.1 mile recovery run. Quite a relaxing run I might say after a hectic weekend of events. It was nice just to get out and run with really no specifics to the run especially after the last two marathon training cycles following the very structure to the tee FIRST programs…So the run time was 34:24 with an average HR of 119bpm.
I will attempt at lunch today to go swimming at the health club…hopefully its re-open!
Monday high-noon:
Got to the health club and yeah...the pool was open so I planned on a specific pull-buoy, hand paddle kinda workout since I only have so much time to work with here. Below is the quick swim w/o:
10 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand-paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand-paddles
5 laps with pull-buoy
So I covered 1200 meters in a rushed workout during lunch which was good in two ways; made the swim feel more like a tempo pace and got in some good upper-body training...
b
Sunday, June 15, 2008
new suit...
needed to get a new wetsuit as the old QR version is no longer usable...so I got this long-sleeve entry level 2XU T:0 wetsuit...very nice :-)
lakefront mileage...
Saturday morning:
K and I headed down to the lakefront by Montrose Harbor for our 1st official CARA Chicago Marathon traing session. K took it easy as shes recovering from illness plus she went to p/u her pacer package shes doing that again this year.
This year once again I'm running with the CARA 6am group but with the 8 minute mile pace group at least thru half ironman training/race time. Normally I would run my LSD distances with the 8:30 pacing group. With the temps slightly cooler but higher dew points that early in the morning I comfortable and at home with the group of 9 runners.
We ran 9.1 miles in 1:13:15 for a pace of 8:03 per mile so we were almost on key pace here. The good part has my average HR for the duration was 135bpm with a max HR in the last half mile during a pick-up of pace purposely of 151bpm. I looked at my training calender from last year when I ran with the 8:30 pace group and my HR was almost identical if not slightly higher for the same distance at the lakefront...hopefully this is a sign of better fitness this year ;-)
b
K and I headed down to the lakefront by Montrose Harbor for our 1st official CARA Chicago Marathon traing session. K took it easy as shes recovering from illness plus she went to p/u her pacer package shes doing that again this year.
This year once again I'm running with the CARA 6am group but with the 8 minute mile pace group at least thru half ironman training/race time. Normally I would run my LSD distances with the 8:30 pacing group. With the temps slightly cooler but higher dew points that early in the morning I comfortable and at home with the group of 9 runners.
We ran 9.1 miles in 1:13:15 for a pace of 8:03 per mile so we were almost on key pace here. The good part has my average HR for the duration was 135bpm with a max HR in the last half mile during a pick-up of pace purposely of 151bpm. I looked at my training calender from last year when I ran with the 8:30 pace group and my HR was almost identical if not slightly higher for the same distance at the lakefront...hopefully this is a sign of better fitness this year ;-)
b
Friday, June 13, 2008
bikin stuff...
Thursday evening:
Well I attempted to go swimming at lunch since our health club is right across the street from work and as I when to the check-in desk the club had a sign stating "the pool is closed on Thursday June 12th and Friday June 13th"…so much for that training for a couple days…I have never seen this at the health club during the last 3+ years I’ve been a member there…
With the threat of strong t-storms all day the weather actually held out so I could head out for the group cycling ride repeat night near our local bike shop. The temps were at 90 degrees, high humidity and a very strong southernly wind with gusts. There was a group of about 35 riders at peak time which are mostly roadies with just a few of us triathletes/duathletes/TT’ers being in there hence the roadies ride mostly in a peloton group even on the repeat mile. This of course is of no benefit to me since drafting is illegal in tri’s, du’s and tt’s so I pick some blank air where ever I find it away from the group riders whether it be on the repeat and/or the recovery mile. Also you will notice my repeat distances are different and that is because I would pick-up the wide & slower moving peloton at different distances so I would have to back-off the speed and cut the repeat short.
I did a total of nine repeats but I’m not listing the first 2 below because I used them as warm-ups for my legs so below is repeats 3 thru 9 with average & max mph and average & max HR values:
7/10ths of a mile – average 28.8mph/max 32.5mph – AHR 134bpm/MHR 142bpm
6/10ths of a mile – average 30.4mph/max 33.0mph – AHR 138bpm/MHR 147bpm
5/10ths of a mile – average 29.1mph/max 31.0mph – AHR 129bpm/MHR 155bpm
9/10ths of a mile – average 26.1mph/max 30.2mph – AHR 122bpm/MHR 135bpm
1 mile --------------- average 28.3mph/max 30.5mph – AHR 151bpm/MHR 154bpm
7/10ths of a mile – average 30.8mph/max 35.8mph – AHR 146bpm/MHR 152bpm
1.1 mile ------------- average 29.5mph/max 33.6mph – AHR 148bpm/MHR 154bpm
I rode for 23.2 miles in total time of 1:11:17 with an average HR of 126bpm and a max HR of 155bpm plus my average cadence was 91rpm & max cadence at 112rpm. I felt strong out there last night especially when I finally got into some really free air with no one around me on the last 3 repeat/recovery 2.2 mile loops. Also I was very happy my legs were fine especially since I ran the Yasso 800’s the night before…a happy night out on the tri-bike.
b
Well I attempted to go swimming at lunch since our health club is right across the street from work and as I when to the check-in desk the club had a sign stating "the pool is closed on Thursday June 12th and Friday June 13th"…so much for that training for a couple days…I have never seen this at the health club during the last 3+ years I’ve been a member there…
With the threat of strong t-storms all day the weather actually held out so I could head out for the group cycling ride repeat night near our local bike shop. The temps were at 90 degrees, high humidity and a very strong southernly wind with gusts. There was a group of about 35 riders at peak time which are mostly roadies with just a few of us triathletes/duathletes/TT’ers being in there hence the roadies ride mostly in a peloton group even on the repeat mile. This of course is of no benefit to me since drafting is illegal in tri’s, du’s and tt’s so I pick some blank air where ever I find it away from the group riders whether it be on the repeat and/or the recovery mile. Also you will notice my repeat distances are different and that is because I would pick-up the wide & slower moving peloton at different distances so I would have to back-off the speed and cut the repeat short.
I did a total of nine repeats but I’m not listing the first 2 below because I used them as warm-ups for my legs so below is repeats 3 thru 9 with average & max mph and average & max HR values:
7/10ths of a mile – average 28.8mph/max 32.5mph – AHR 134bpm/MHR 142bpm
6/10ths of a mile – average 30.4mph/max 33.0mph – AHR 138bpm/MHR 147bpm
5/10ths of a mile – average 29.1mph/max 31.0mph – AHR 129bpm/MHR 155bpm
9/10ths of a mile – average 26.1mph/max 30.2mph – AHR 122bpm/MHR 135bpm
1 mile --------------- average 28.3mph/max 30.5mph – AHR 151bpm/MHR 154bpm
7/10ths of a mile – average 30.8mph/max 35.8mph – AHR 146bpm/MHR 152bpm
1.1 mile ------------- average 29.5mph/max 33.6mph – AHR 148bpm/MHR 154bpm
I rode for 23.2 miles in total time of 1:11:17 with an average HR of 126bpm and a max HR of 155bpm plus my average cadence was 91rpm & max cadence at 112rpm. I felt strong out there last night especially when I finally got into some really free air with no one around me on the last 3 repeat/recovery 2.2 mile loops. Also I was very happy my legs were fine especially since I ran the Yasso 800’s the night before…a happy night out on the tri-bike.
b
Thursday, June 12, 2008
track workout...
Wednesday evening:
Last night after work I headed right out to Harper College in Palatine, IL for our training group’s coached track workouts. On the plate were eight Yasso 800 repeats with a 400 meter recovery lap in between each. So I ran a two mile warm-up session which I find loosens up my body/legs better for the speedwork which is something my sports chiropractor believes also is of good benefit for me too. After that I only ran 4 – 100 meter stride outs with the group who does six of these. Below are my 800 meter times with average and max HR info also:
800 meter – 3:28 – AHR 143bpm – MHR 156bpm
800 meter – 3:27 – AHR 146bpm – MHR 157bpm
800 meter – 3:28 – AHR 147bpm – MHR 156bpm
800 meter – 3:26 – AHR 148bpm – MHR 158bpm
800 meter – 3:27 – AHR 145bpm – MHR 160bpm
800 meter – 3:26 – AHR 147bpm – MHR 159bpm
800 meter – 3:23 – AHR 149bpm – MHR 159bpm
800 meter – 3:22 – AHR 147bpm – MHR 161bpm
I’m happy with the consistency I ran the 800’s in as I ran them slightly conservatively since I was feeling pain from my left glute thru my hamstring then behind the knee to my calve…this maybe had to due with my sports chiropractor working on these areas the night before. I was able to push the pace alittle more on the last two 800’s which was a good sign to me.
Total mileage for the night was 8.6 miles which included warm-up, stride outs, repeats, recoveries and cool down. This was more than enough speed workout for me for the night as I skipped the one mile time trial afterwards that most of the group did after the repeats…
b
Last night after work I headed right out to Harper College in Palatine, IL for our training group’s coached track workouts. On the plate were eight Yasso 800 repeats with a 400 meter recovery lap in between each. So I ran a two mile warm-up session which I find loosens up my body/legs better for the speedwork which is something my sports chiropractor believes also is of good benefit for me too. After that I only ran 4 – 100 meter stride outs with the group who does six of these. Below are my 800 meter times with average and max HR info also:
800 meter – 3:28 – AHR 143bpm – MHR 156bpm
800 meter – 3:27 – AHR 146bpm – MHR 157bpm
800 meter – 3:28 – AHR 147bpm – MHR 156bpm
800 meter – 3:26 – AHR 148bpm – MHR 158bpm
800 meter – 3:27 – AHR 145bpm – MHR 160bpm
800 meter – 3:26 – AHR 147bpm – MHR 159bpm
800 meter – 3:23 – AHR 149bpm – MHR 159bpm
800 meter – 3:22 – AHR 147bpm – MHR 161bpm
I’m happy with the consistency I ran the 800’s in as I ran them slightly conservatively since I was feeling pain from my left glute thru my hamstring then behind the knee to my calve…this maybe had to due with my sports chiropractor working on these areas the night before. I was able to push the pace alittle more on the last two 800’s which was a good sign to me.
Total mileage for the night was 8.6 miles which included warm-up, stride outs, repeats, recoveries and cool down. This was more than enough speed workout for me for the night as I skipped the one mile time trial afterwards that most of the group did after the repeats…
b
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
maintaining...
Over the last several weeks I have been randomly running, biking and swimming as we prepare for the half IM in early August. My body is still healing from the health issues I have been dealing with over the last several months so the cross-training via swimming & biking help with that alot...
b
b
Monday, June 9, 2008
Kirin and Romy
Kristen and I would like to thank everyone for your kindness and sympathy during our time of loss. We greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers during these difficult times of our recent loss of our dogs Kirin and Romy. Your kindness and compassion mean a great deal to us.With many thanks,
Kristen & Brian
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