116 Days - Wednesday Night Solo Bike Ride

I needed to get a bike ride in as I neglected the bike the last two days. I made myself commit to getting out on the roads. I really wanted to do the group ride that Trek offers, but Amanda had to tutor so I was home with the kids. As soon as she got home around 5:40 I headed out before it got too dark. My goal was to get in 90 minutes of riding. I headed out to PV Junior High to battle the hilly roads to work my legs and see where that would take me. I made sure to wear my brightest shirt which is my red Live Uncommon tank from last year.

I made my way to PV Junior High in a little over a half hour and decided to tackle Wisconsin Street. I kept riding thinking I knew where I was, but after about 2 miles I knew I had no idea where I was so I headed back to repeat the route I just completed. The hills were a good workout. I don't know how to rank the hills in comparison to other routes, but I definitely got a good workout in.

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The hills on Forest Grove all the way out to the Junior High were a killer workout. I really had to drive with some leg power.

I felt 100 times better on the bike compared to Sunday. I was able to stay in the drops without much back pain and really get after the hills. My right calf came close to seizing up a few times from cramping this morning in the pool.

I made my way back to the end of Forest Grove and still had about 13 minutes left so I changed course, rode up 56th street, connected to 53rd out to the roundabout and then headed back home from Tanglefoot.

It was a great ride. I was so glad to get it in. I found it quite peaceful when I was on the country roads and not worrying about city traffic. I will need to get another one of these rides in again this week before getting after a long ride this weekend.

Despite being bummed about missing the group ride I ended up ending my day with a great ride. I am slowly building up some confidence on the bike. It is definitely my weakest link. Once I gain some confidence on the bike, then I need to start thinking about brick workouts because I need to practice running with jelly legs.

Here are the bike stats

I am off to bed to get ready for the 6B46 group run tomorrow.

Maurer Family Has Been Hooked on Geocaching

Last night I took my kids outside to try out Geocaching. Geocaching is simply using a GPS enabled device or a compass to locate hidden treasures and locations that others have created. I wanted to test out the Geocaching.com app as we are exploring geocaching with my 4th grade ELP group. While we wait for more GPS devices I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing.

I tried to explain to Aiden what we were going to do. My explanation did not work out well as he was not the least bit interested. Aiden and I had to make errand run and while I was waiting for him I tested out our location to see if anything was nearby and lo and behold there was a spot about .3 of a mile away. I gave him my phone and told him to navigate me to the spot. We drove to the Family Museum and got out and began to use the app to track down the treasure. This treasure was called Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This was one of several clues in the series. After wandering and wandering we finally made the discovery. Aiden was so excited. I knew by the look in his eyes that he was hooked. We took one of the treasures and replaced it with another treasure from my car,hid the contents, made sure nobody was looking, and took off home.

When we got home Aiden instantly went to work making his own little treasure to hide. In the meantime I found that there were two more pretty close to our house. I loaded Ava in the stroller and Addy got ready and we headed out exploring.

Aiden brought his treasure in case he found a good spot to hide it.

They were in heaven looking for the treasures. Over an hour later we had tracked down two more treasures and walked easily 1.5 miles if not more. It was awesome to see them so excited and getting exercise at the same time.

She was one proud girl tracking this one down.

Tonight we hope to hide his treasure and get it loaded up on the geocaching.com website. We are also going to explore Duck Creek for me treasures.

The nerds have found a new way to waste time together. Time to get ready to explore.

Here are some pictures from our travels. SPOILER ALERT! A few of these might give away certain hiding spots so if you are interested in finding these then don't look through the photos.

116 Days Remaining - Toughest Swim Workout To Date

Today was a tough workout. I had to really dig to keep going. I felt much better in the water today compared to Monday. On my way to the Y this morning I realized I left my watch at home so I had to turn around and retrieve it because this workout needed times and certain splits. I entered the pool about 5 minutes late, but I was still able to get it all done.

Warm Up - The warm up was no joke. 100 yards of swimming for warm up is almost a workout in itself.

2 x (200 free, 200 pull, 100 kick)
I timed these just to see where my easy pace was at this point in my training. I tried to really focus on form, reaching and getting my stroke back to where it was before vacation. Things felt much better.

200 free - 3:30
200 pull - 3:31
100 kick - 2:02
200 free - 3:16
200 pull - 3:19
100 kick - 1:59

Main Set
12 x 25 DPS every 40 seconds - I hit every 25 in 20 seconds and my DPS was 14 or 15 every single time. I think it came down to how streamlined I was to start my swim. I really focused on reaching out. I thought I would be able to get down to 13 like I did in swim class, but it did not happen

6 x 100 with 20 RI with Descending 2-2-2 - This means that every 2 sets I had to go faster. This was so hard. I started out way ahead of my T-Pace. My T-Pace is 1:36 for the 100. I tried to keep the pace up and it was a mental battle.

 My times: 1:30, 1:30, 1:25, 1:25, 1:20, 1:22

I was very happy with these times. I had to work very hard to get these times. It was the hardest set I have done to date. I was gassed at this point and still had a long way to go.

4 x 75 pull with breathing 3,4,5 - this means that the first 25 I was able to breathe every 3 strokes, the next 25 every 4 strokes, and the final 25 every 5 strokes. I thought I was going to drown when I got to 5 strokes. I had to really work on keeping my mind relaxed or else it made it much worse. I did not swim fast as I used this time to work on my stride and to recover for the next set.

My times: 1:08, 1:08, 1:10, 1:08

4 x 100 Descending 2-2 with 20 RI

My body was worn out by this set. I could tell fatigue was setting in as it was very hard to keep my legs at water level and my stroke in the water my arms started to straighten out. I was gassed and really though about stopping at this point. I had to talk to myself and get my weakness out and get this workout done.

My times: 1:27, 1:27, 1:23, 1:25 - I did get faster, but not by much. I was dead after the fourth set. Almost done

4 x 75 pull breathing every 3. My times were 1:09, 1:09, 1:10, 1:10.

My last set consisted of 2 x 100 fast. I took an extra rest before each one. I had to really gather up the strength to swim hard.

Set 1: 1:19 - I was happy with this. I felt my legs starting to cramp, but was able to finish without them actually cramping. I took a long break of about 30 seconds and decided to try and beat 1:19 for the last set. I had to go all out.

Set 2: 1:20 - I reminded myself over and over that the key to going faster is to stay calm and relaxed. I was calm and swimming my butt off. I knew I was going to beat my time and possibly hit a PR on the 100. However, on the way back off the first wall I caught a cramp in my calf. I kept swimming and the cramp continued to grow to my shin, then, my hamstring on up to my butt. The last 40 yards I was swimming with one leg because I could not move my right with all the cramping. I still hit 1:20 and had I not cramped I would have beat 1:19.

What a great workout. My hardest to date both mentally and physically.

Total Yards: 3200
Swim Time: 48:04(rest time not included)
Total Time in pool: 65 minutes

Board of (Jamaican) Inspiration 3.20.12

It has been too long since I changed my board. I am back on track.

117 Days Remaining - Tuesday Run With CRAZIES....moving quickly my friends, moving quickly

Last night and all day I dragged major butt. I was so tired. My alarm went off this morning and I almost allowed myself to lay in bed for another five minutes, but I knew that if I did I would oversleep being so tired.

I got up and drank a big cup of coffee and took a GU and made my way to the Y. My legs felt tired from the bike and swim workouts the two previous days. I was not expecting much from this run to be honest. Little did I know that as soon as I shook off the rust I would feel fantastic.

I don't know what go into me, but I just felt great after the first mile. I just ran. I tried to keep that nice and calm feeling I had while running on the beach in Jamaica. I did not look at my watch and worry about pace and time. I ran by feel. I was glad to see my times constantly drop during this run. I just kept running a little faster without realizing it. I never felt labored in my breathing or in my legs which was awesome. I am not going to lie, my legs are a little sore now, but during the run I felt great. I kept thinking "I hope I feel like this in Racine, WI". It was a good run for me and for all the other CRAZIES.

We had 7 of us run this morning. We added another new member to the crew. Ben D. joined us and he sure picked a tough morning as we ran a really fast pace for us and we had probably the hilliest run to date. He stuck it out and it was great to have him join. Chad, Katie, Brian, Jane, and Jay all joined in the run this morning.

This was my first run in Iowa since before Spring Break and it was a great feeling to be out in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. It was just a few weeks ago that we were running all bundled up.

This run was a good confidence booster in my fitness after struggling in the pool yesterday. I hope to keep things going and get back on track with my training. I need to get in a bike ride tonight.

Last, I did weigh myself. It has been two weeks since I weighed myself. I forgot two weeks ago and was not going to do so while in Jamaica. I was interested to see my weight. After running so good today I was expecting my weight to be the same or possibly a pound or two under since my last weigh in. I know I consumed a huge amount of calories while on vacation, but I was not too worried.

I had a major wake up call when I stepped on the scale.

Since 2/29(two weeks ago) I have gained 5.4 pounds. It is time for me to really focus on my eating. I have been bad. I came home from work yesterday and just consumed a large amount of junk food. I need to prep some healthy snacks so I eat those instead of the junk. This will be my goal for the rest of the week and hopefully drop a few of these pounds. I now have a long way to go to get to my desired race weight. 5.4 pounds is way too much weight which leads to so much unneeded force on my joints while running. GETTING IT DONE just become more serious and focused as I prep for race weight and fitness.

The run this morning was a step in the right direction. Great run everyone! It was awesome to be back in the group of amazing people.

I do think my shoes are ruined as I thought. I developed a nasty blister on my toe from running.I think the ocean water and sand has done a number on my shoes. I hope to fix them, but if not, then it will be time to break out my 70.3 Racine, WI race shoes that I purchased. I have not trained in them yet, but maybe it is time.

Until next time.....

118 Days - Holy Jamaica Batman, Vacation Has Caught Up To Me

I headed to bed early last night. I was whooped and dead tired. I think I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow. I woke up bright and early this morning to get back to work on my training. I was not sure where my swimming fitness was going to be after not really having any sort of formal training the week before.

My quads were still tired from the bike ride yesterday(all that stopping and going caught up to me). My legs were tired right away and I knew this was not good.

Things I noticed right away
-I did not feel relaxed in the water. My breathing was heavy and I felt tense
-I did not have my natural flow in the water. I had that feeling like I was trying too hard which just leads to nowhere good in swimming
-My legs were burning so either my kick was worse than before or I was kicking with much more effort than needed.

I started out with a good warm up and just felt tired the entire time until the end swim set where I finally calmed myself down. One thing I realized after looking at my splits was that I was actually way ahead of my race pace. That may have been one reason for the fatigue setting in so quickly. I was way ahead of my times which I guess is a good thing, but that sure did not help during the workout when I thought I was going to drown.

The pool and the air temp was very warm today. I was very hot while swimming so that did not help matters.

Warm Up

2 x 400 (200 Free, 4 x 25 DPS with 15 RI)
200 @ 3:26, 23, 23, 21, 23 (all at 14-15 DPS)
200 @ 3:03, 20, 21, 20, 20 (all at 14-15 DPS) - you can see my split times were quite fast for a warm up

2 x 50 Kickset with boards @ 51 and 49

Main Set 1
2 sets of the following

300 @ T-Pace + :05 with 30 RI going into 3 x 100 @ T Pace with 15 RI
-My times for this should have been 4:53 and 1:36

Here is what I swam
300 @ 4:23
100's @ 1:26, 1:29, and 1:29

Second Set
300 @ 4:34
100's @ 1:29, 1:29, and 1:31

You can see I was way ahead, but I had lost my sense of pace from not swimming in a while. I will get it back by the end of the week. This does help explain why I was so tired.

Main Set 2
16 x 50's (odds easy and evens hard) with 20 RI
My T-Pace for 50's are 48 sec
46,40, 43, 40, 44, 40, 46, 39, 45, 39, 43, 38, 44, 38, 45, 38 - I was a happy to see my time go down on the fast sets

100 Kick set as cool down in 2:05

Total Swim Time was 42:15, but workout took over an hour as I did some talking with Chad and took a few seconds longer break after the 300's

Total Yardage: 3000 yards

I am dragging major butt today. I am curious to see how the body responds tomorrow to the running. GETTING IT DONE! has returned. Rest is nice, but it sure puts you behind.

119 Days - Jamaica Vacation Training Totals and Sunday Afternoon Bike Ride

For my first post pertaining to Jamaica I am going to just share my training. I did not train too much, but I did get off the beach chair and get some training done.

I had purchased a GPS swim device that straps to goggles to track open water swimming. I had it all charged and ready to go, but my first morning in Jamaica I gave it a try and found the battery dead. It somehow turned on during the flight and worn the battery out. I was very mad. Not a great way to start my vacation. I woke up early Tuesday morning and headed to the ocean around 7 am to perform my first open water swim workout. This did not turn out to be a very long workout. First, I was mad because I had no way of gauging how far  I was swimming. Second, I panicked in the water. I jumped in and started swimming. The water was warm and calm with no waves. However, I started looking around and just froze thinking something was going to get me. I was so out of my element. I then gagged on some salt water and was thankful most people were still sleeping. I did swim a couple 100's based on my DPS calculations and then decided to just end it. I ran back up to my room changed clothes and went for a run instead.


My run was awesome. There is something so peaceful running along the ocean. There was 7 miles of beach and I ran 3 miles out and back. There was a really cool nature trail I ran on from beach to beach. The first time I was a little scared as there were Jamaicans sitting around offering weed and goodies. They were harmless, but it did catch me off guard. Running and just seeing beach was beautiful. Everyone was coming out raking the beach, prepping the stores and restaurants. It was awesome. Not sure how else to describe it. The first run I ran in my favorite pair of running shoes and I am pretty sure I ruined them with sand and water. I ran a pretty good pace. It was just perfect weather for running.

Wednesday I did not run as my knees were tender from running in the sand and my shoes were still soaked. I did go to the gym right on the beach and ride a bike. I rode a pretty cool stationary bike that allowed me to ride up a mountain. It was a tough workout. I biked 12 miles in 31:43 ascended 6600 feet and had an average HR of 144. I also lifted weights. Yes, that is right. I actually pumped up these weak muscles. It felt great. I need a beach with a gym here in Iowa. I had a great morning.

Thursday I ran again. I ran in my Five Fingers. My feet were sore and tender from walking barefoot or in sandals all the time. Once I got going the pain went away and I felt fine. It was much easier running in these shoes than my running shoes. However, after I finished my run my left foot flared up in pain. It has done nothing but get worse since Thursday. I am super angry with this stupid pain. I was not expecting setback from Jamaica with injury. Saturday I could barely walk. I hope that it will go away, but I am thinking running six miles on the beach practically barefoot is what triggered the pain.

My Thursday run was a little slower, but I did run sub 7:00 at the end. I was really hitting on all cylinders towards the end.

I always started each morning sitting on the beach to reserve our 8 chairs and sip on some delicious Jamaican coffee. After about 10-15 minutes I would run and always end by sitting on the beach for another 30 minutes or so before waking up Amanda for some monster breakfast. It was awesome.


Today(Sunday) I took my bike outside. I wanted to run, but with my foot hurting I decided not to do so. I rode 29 miles and it was so hard. The wind was against me the entire time. The bike path was packed with people. I really struggled to get my cadence and/or my speed up to where I ride on my trainer. My bike needs serious work or else my race times are going to suck. I have time to get it dialed in, but I must become more efficient my bike. My knees hurt super bad at the end of the ride along with my foot, but I am glad I got out and enjoyed the Iowa sunshine.

I got in some good workouts during this week of rest. I need to get my foot back on track and get things dialed in again. I have my workouts planned for the week and look forward to getting back to eating better, sleeping normal, and training hard. My swims were not recorded but I was constantly swimming in the ocean searching for starfish, stingrays, crabs, etc. We also snorkeled twice so I got some good fin kick workouts in while out checking coral and marine life. It was a great week. I wish I could head back to the islands. Maybe we can swing something next year to celebrate 10 years of marriage. It is back to reality now. Paying bills and hanging out with my awesome kids. I was able to knock out 12 miles of running, 41 miles on the bike, and swimming was unknown and one weight lifting session.

Here are some photos of Jamaica. Good times and congrats to my In Laws for 40 years of marriage. I hope that when we are married 40 years we can enjoy Jamaica!

119 Days Until 70.3 Racine - A Week in Jamaica And I Feel Very Far Behind

Late last night we finally made it back home to Iowa after spending a week in Negril, Jamaica. I had a fantastic time of sitting by the ocean, swimming, eating, drinking fruity drinks, and staying up late. It was a well deserved break from the busy lives we lead. It felt awesome to wake up, drink coffee by the ocean until 10:00 am and just not worry about a thing.

I will be working on a series of posts about Jamaica throughout the week, but just wanted to get back in the groove of posting to the blog and getting caught up online. I only accessed internet once while there and it was amazing how much time that frees up.

This post is short and just really a check in to let everyone know that I am back and ready to get back to my regular posting and training schedule. I have returned ready to train, but also dealing with another foot injury. I am struggling like crazy just to walk normal. I hope it is something minor that will go away once I get back to walking with shoes again, but I was in some pain.

I think my fitness levels have dropped quite a bit since last weekend, but I am trying not to worry. I am going to head out for a bike ride outside to get used to some biking and to practice riding outdoors.

I am not quite back in normal yet and maybe that is a good thing. I will work on keeping the Jamaican vibe of taking things with a positive outlook.

Until my next post, I hope you enjoy the rest of this wonderful weather. It sounds like it was amazing weather with people doing some amazing things with their training and the St. Patrick's Day 5K race.

I look forward to catching up with everyone.

126 Days - End of Week Totals and Looking Forward To Some Rest(maybe)

That darn time change really spun my sleep out of control.

Last night I squeezed in a little power bike workout when the kids went to bed. I was so tired from cleaning and doing all sorts of little things to get ready for our vacation. It was hard cleaning and doing this and that when I just felt like hanging with the kids and watching basketball. But, the kids were outside enjoying the weather and I don't think they wanted to be with us anyways. After scrubbing the floors and debating going to bed I forced myself on the bike. I set out to get 4 workouts on the bike this week and I did not want to let myself down.

I just cranked on the bike and worked on a hard gear until I hit 15 miles. I was tired. My knees were tender from the run in the morning and from doing things all day. I knocked out 15 miles in 35 minutes and was glad I got on the bike.

However, as I was getting ready for bed and setting my alarm for a 4:30 wake up I realized that the time change messed things up and put that wake up call at about 3-4 hours of sleep. Not good.

My alarm went off around 5 am, but I did not move. I was sore and tired. My legs were fatigued from the bike ride just a few hours before.

Finally, around 6 am I got myself up. I was already an hour behind and knew I was not going to get in a 40 mile ride. I forced myself on the bike and started one of my Spinerval workouts. After about 20 minutes of shifting gears, standing, going high cadence, etc. my knees told me that 40 miles was not going to happen. Perhaps this was a good thing because amazingly so we still have tons of things to do today. This house is more organized and clean than ever before.

When I decided to pull the plug on the 40 mile ride I was around 15 miles into the workout so I just told myself to keep riding at least until I completed one hour. I was able to do just that. I completed 22.06 miles in 60 minutes.

My legs are tired, but I was able to get four workouts in on the bike with three workouts in three days.

Overall, this week was nothing amazing, but I had a great week totaling122.31 miles of training in 9 workouts. This is my third largest volume in a week since I started training.

I ended the week with 4 bike workouts for 96.12 miles
I ended the week with only 2 swim workouts for 3.2 miles
I ended the week with 3 run workouts for 22.99 miles

My training totals after 15 weeks

871.61 miles on the bike
321.76 miles on the road
52.95 miles in the water

Total Volume: 1245.85 miles

This blog will be empty for the next week as I head to vacation. It is going to be hard leaving my kids, but I know they are in great care with family and friends and being able to hang out at home.

Have a great Spring Break. I hope I am able to come back feeling refreshed and rejuvenated to get after my training. I also hope I don't become a complete slob and am able to get some runs and swims in. Most importantly I hope to come back and find that I finally have received some donations for all the causes of Live Uncommon Revolution with starting with the CASI St. Patrick's Day 5K Race. Just click on the link over in the sidebar.

Until I return, keep striving with your goals and GETTING IT DONE!

I just hope the beaches are as splendid as the Iowa beaches we ran by along the Mississippi River yesterday.

127 Days - Saturday Morning Run With Outstanding Group of People

This weekend the Leadville guys(John and Rick) were out of town so we organized our own run today. I sent out some emails after figuring out a few details with Katie and Chad and hoped for the best. We met over at Starbucks and was very happy to see a nice group of people show up at 5:30 am on their weekend and Spring Break to join us for a run. That is dedication. At 5:30 we headed out in of the largest groups we have had for a long run - Chad, Katie, Jane, Jay, John, Josiah, Phil, Anne, and myself. 9 people out Living Uncommon. We ran downhill as navigated some road to make our way to the river running through the East Village. It was good to mix up our regular run routes and run some new roads.

As we made our way to the Arsenal Bridge we decided to change our intended path and go bridge to bridge, but once we jumped on the bridge we realized the bridge was open to go all the way across. You will notice a slower time on mile 4 and that was our turn around getting everyone on track with our planning mistake. It was not a big deal, but next time perhaps we should look ahead and be sure the bridge is passable.

We made our way to our halfway point in 45:27. That was a good pace. I was not planning on running too fast, but we started off at a good pace due to running downhill and it just took off from there. We made sure everyone made it and we headed back. We took off and made some good time.

We really picked up the pace on the run back. The great thing was that it felt nice and smooth. I did not feel like I pushing my limits. I felt really good. As we made our way up the Middle Road hill I thought my heart was going to shoot out of my chest, but it was good push. As Byrne always says this is a Character Builder and this hill is a good one. We ascended the top of the hill and I tried to calm my breathing and finish the run strong and was able to do so. We ended up cutting off 6 minutes on the way back. That is a great negative split. I was very happy and the 10 miles seemed like nothing. We were talking about how it was not that long ago that our workouts were 3-4 miles and here we are running 10 miles and it feels good.

It was a great morning and a great run. It was awesome to see Josiah join us. He was a great source of motivation for during my first marathon last fall and without him helping me along I am not sure I would have made my goal of under 4 hours. He ran well today as he told me it was a faster pace than he has ran in a while.

After everyone made it back we headed indoors for some coffee. I like this part best as we just take the time to not only train, but to take a few minutes to shoot the breeze and get to know each other a little bit better. I think this helps with the training. As we get to know each other more and more it helps us stay motivated to showing up and helping each other feeling more comfortable with pushing ourselves beyond our own limits of our mind. Being that we had some new people join us - Anne and Josiah and Jay for a long run it is nice to take time to get to know them.

After some coffee talk I grabbed the donuts for "the kids". I did sneak in some tasty pastries, but the kids were excited to have donuts. I dread the day I go for a long run and forget donuts.




I hope everyone has a great week. I head for vacation tomorrow and hope to get some miles in the water and along the water, but that may not happen. I am treating this week as a rest week as I have not taken a day off since February 4th. It is important to rest and I must give the body time to recover. I still have two bike rides to get in before leaving in addition to the extensive To Do list that was created by Amanda this morning.

Good luck training. Good luck to everyone running the 5K next weekend. I look forward to coming back and seeing some amazing times. GETTING IT DONE! is in effect and we took care of things this morning.