The activity I've been posting about thus far in this virtual training blog was leading me up to the Chicago Accenture Triathlon. After having registered for the race almost a year ago, once the day was here it came and went on Sunday so quickly! Here's a little bit more about how race day went if you are interested.
I've been taking it easy the last couple days. But I wanted to report the activeness that took place on Sunday. I've found that I really enjoy open water swimming and would like to keep at until the weather gets too cold. And in the post-race depression of not having an event to train for anymore I found a triathlon in Lake Geneva in about two weeks... we'll see. 
< .47 mile swim, 13.64 mile bike, 3.1 mile run >
Virtual Training Partners via Chicago : August 2007
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Yesterday my activity consisted of an hour of intermediate 4's beach volleyball at Montrose. Our team lost this week and are still hovering around .500. Hopefully we pick it up going into the end of the seasion/play offs. If our level of play was half as much as our competitive spirit we'd be in good shape.
After that I practiced my tri transitions a little bit with Santiago.
Aaaand that's it. My posts are becoming increasingly lame... I promise some fun pictures from the tri on Sunday, though. But here is an aerial view of Montrose Beach to leave you with--the volleyball courts are on the bottom, right part of the beach. Luckily the rain today held off until after our match. The rain is getting ridiculous here... 10 out of 14 days or something and a tornado touched down tonight.
< one hour of volleyball >
Buuut Anthony dominates me in fitness level. Enough said. 
Rode down the 8 miles down to Ohio St again after work today. The lake was much calmer than it was on Saturday morning! So that was good. I got in approximately a .8 mile swim and then biked 8 miles north to my apartment.
I tried to imagine starting the swim portion with 100+ other bodies in the water scrambling out of the start. That makes me a little nervous, but I'm going to stick to the back and take it easy. With four days until the tri, I'm also trying to eat a little better (minus that Chipotle...) and get some extra sleep.
With that said, I bid you goodnight!
< 16 mile bike / .8 mile swim >
Greetings. Trish is now dominating me not only in activity, but also in posts.
Sunday I took a break, but on Monday I rowed a 10k with a four-crew. I love rowing, but the membership fees are really expensive so I don't get to do it as much as I would like. Here is a photo of the proposed rowing course for the 2016 Olympics in Chicago.
This morning I actually built up enough motivation to run and got in a quick three miles. I'm going to try it again tomorrow because things are getting really busy at work and I haven't been getting home until 10:00 PM lately.
It has rained the past seven of ten days in Chicago, and today has been no different. My dad and I fit a round of golf in at the Sydney Marovitz golf course that is located between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan on the north side. I've biked or driven past it countless times in the past five years and have always wanted to play it. While my golfing skills are definitely below average, now I can say I have. 
The sky opened up not long after we finished. The steady rain canceled part of the Air and Water show and has had me taking it easy the rest of the evening after a busy weekend. Back at it tomorrow.
< One round of golf > (we walked it, so I'm assuming it counts as being somewhat active)
Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30am on not a whole lot of sleep. Another cool (about 65 degrees) and windy morning compounded my desire to not jump in the lake and go back to bed. I think the only reason I got up was the thought that the tri was just over a week away!
So I biked down to Ohio Street again. However, I would like to note, it was into an outrageous, direct head wind. I'm not sure how high the winds there on the lakefront were gusting--but it was discouraging how much it was affecting my speed.
But not as discouraging as the view when I turned the corner around Oak Street and saw Ohio Street Beach--the waves were insane!! Because that swim area is inset a little bit from the break water and tucked in just north of Navy Pier, the waves have no pattern or rhythm. Just random, large waves would pop up seeming out of now where... and it made for a very interesting swim. I don't have a picture of the water from yesterday morning, but here is a cool shot of Ohio Street anyway.
The lake owned me--I was trying to find a rhythm the whole time. Then I was just thinking about getting home and taking a warm shower. I had a busy day ahead of me. After I cleaned up and warmed up I went to breakfast with my dad who was in town visiting. Both being nerdily fascinated by planes, we then went to check out the 49th Chicago Air and Water show. Our day continued with a 2:55pm Cubs versus Cardinals game at Wrigley. Due to two rain delays, we got home at 7pm.
I fell asleep at 7:30pm while watching tv. I slept until 7:30am this morning. Whoa!
Sorry for the absence. I moved to a new place and just got my internet connection installed.
On Thursday I did some sprints. If I can run the 1.5 mile in under 9 minutes I get additional points on my bi-annual Air Force physical. Right now I'm around 9:30, so I decided to start sprints once a week to help with my overall running pace. I went to the track which is 1/5 of a mile. I jogged a mile to start, then sprinted the straights and jogged the curves for an additional mile.
Today, Friday, I wasn't active. I spent the day with my friend who had hernia surgery this morning and we just hung out and watched movies most of the day. I had a hernia repaired when I was a kid and I remember how much it sucked so I thought I would try and help him out. Tomorrow I am going down to Dallas with my rowing club to volunteer at the Cowboys game in one of the concession stands. I don't follow professional football too much, so I did some research and it looks like they should have a strong season. They are also building an awesome new stadium that can hold up to 100,000 people. Estimated cost is around $1 billion making it the most expensive venue in the world.
My alarm went off this morning to another gray sky morning. Lake Michigan was strangely still and it was right around 70 degrees--a stark contrast to St. Louis' and Oklahoma City's 102 and 105 temperatures! Just as I clipped in, the sky opened up to let a little rain fall. As made my way down my street and towards the lakefront path on the wet pavement I thought, "this will be fun." I really like running and biking in the rain--but I haven't swam in the rain in a long time.
By the time I hit the path I was feeling fully awake and warmed-up. Pedaled 8 miles down to Ohio Street Beach to where they have the partial lane markers set up just north of Navy Pier in Lake Michigan in a one mile, out-and-back set up. I swam .5 mile and then hopped back on my bike to bike the 8 miles back home to get ready for work. (Side note: the bike path was altered at North Ave Beach because they are almost all set up for the Air & Water show this weekend. Looks as if it's shaping up to be a pretty cool show.)
As Anthony mentioned, running isn't my strongest discipline. Well, swimming isn't much better (yet)! But with getting more training sessions in and checking out , this was my best open water swim outing yet and I'm definitely feeling more comfortable swimming in the lake.
So--why am I doing the Accenture Chicago Triathlon?...you might be asking yourself right now. It presents a fun challenge. And I think that challenge falls into the category of looking for something new to push myself post-collegiate athletics. Toby said to me this morning that it's all about embracing your weaknesses with open arms. I'm going to keep that in mind in the short time between now and the race.
I was also active in my favorite way this evening: participating in team sports (weird, huh? ). My beach volleyball team won our intermediate 4's match tonight at Montrose Beach. We played well tonight but are about .500 on the season. I often wish that volleyball and softball had not both been fall sports at my high school in St. Louis.
Time to get some rest now. Goodnight!
< 16 mile bike / .5 mile swim / 1 hour of volleyball >
I woke up this morning to a 65-degree and windy Chicago morning that had just seen the passing of a thunderstorm. After snoozing a time or two, I rolled out of bed and was rolling down the lakefront path shortly thereafter.
I biked around 7 miles down to North Avenue Beach into a serious head wind. Locked my bike up and ran down to Oak Street Beach and back for a nice, easy 2-mile run. The 7 miles back up north was significantly faster on account of the wind.
During the run I told MB of his experience on completing his 50-miler. Before I knew it, the run was over and I could not help but try to imagine running for 48 more miles!
It was no 50-mile run, but I felt good after completing this workout to start my day off.
<14 mile bike, 2 mile run>
I'll start by stating my goal. My college coaches always said that as soon as you write a goal down, it becomes real and accounted for. With that in mind, I'd like to make myself accountable for being active five days a week an various athletic endeavors.
Now over a year out of collegiate athletics, I'm feeling a shift in my fitness and athleticism from being just part of my every-day, mandatory routine to more of a conscious decision that must be made each day.
This blog will serve as a way to document being active, share stories, hopefully provide some motivation, and shorten the distance between Chicago and OKC.
