Let’s be honest here: fish and chips is not something I ever crave, want, think about, or even recognize as real food. For one, it’s English and nothing great has come from England since, well, America. Second, chips are what you eat with salsa, queso, or out of a mustachioed cylinder. They’re called fries because you see, we’re in America (a.k.a. England 2.0). And third, fried food hasn’t really been my thing, including, but not limited to, fish. That is, until I went to Bits and Druthers over in the burgeoning East Side Drive-In food trailer park. That’s when my whole world was flipped on its bonce.
Recovery – Week 5 Review [brief]
Sometimes you need an easy week and sometimes you don’t. Last week was one of those times when I definitely needed an easy week of running. I diligently knocked each one out exactly as the schedule said, including a sweltering lunch time run in the heart of Texas summer heat. There were no tempo or speed miles and no real long distances. It was much-needed after a rough Week 4. Heading into Week 6 I’m feeling refreshed and ready to light it up. I’m looking forward to hitting 50 miles this coming week, particularly with an 18 mile run that I can do in Seattle’s cool, dry climate. I’m not even sure how to prepare for a place where their HIGH temp is cooler than our LOW temp. I think I’ll figure out a way though.
| Distance | Time | Pace | Heart Rate | |
| Monday | 8.17 Miles | 1:07:28 | 8:15 min/mi | 147 bpm |
| Tuesday | 5.00 Miles | 48:40 | 9:44 min/mi | 132 bpm |
| Wednesday | 8.13 Miles | 1:09:25 | 8:32 min/mi | 144 bpm |
| Friday | 4.02 Miles | 37:15 | 9:16 min/mi | 140 bpm |
| Saturday | 12.43 Miles | 1:41:10 | 8:08 min/mi | 152 bpm |
| Total | 37.73 Miles | 5:23:59 | 8:35 min/mi | 145 bpm |
Newb Triathlon Tips from a Recently Retired Newb Triathlete
This post is intended for two purposes. First and foremost it should be useful to any new triathletes wading into the sport with little or no knowledge of what they’re actually getting into. I found there to be many seemingly obvious, yet curiously undocumented, aspects to triathlons that more veteran athletes took for granted. Hopefully this post addresses many of those questions (and, let’s be honest, fears). The second goal is for this post to serve as something of a “remember when…”, pointing out how naive and innocent I was before getting semi-serious into the triathlon scene. I’m sure I’m already missing some things that I’ve taken for granted at this point, but I hope this is helpful to at least one person.
Off Pace – Week 4 Review
Week 4 is in the books leaving destruction in its wake. More specifically, my self-destruction. I hit all my prescribed runs, but not really all the paces I wanted. I’m happy I got through each day without much drama, but disappointed with most of the performances.
Let the Battle(s) Begin!
I’ve gotten the urge to do some real scientific, in-your-face, who’s-king-of-the-castle, head-to-head(-to-head) taste tests between some of our favorite trailers. This post is just a preview of what I have on deck. The rules are simple: 1) Each place needs to offer up a similar, nearly identical menu item for a fair competition. 2) The food needs to come from a trailer. That’s it. Let the battle(s)… BEGIN!
Getting Serious – Week 3 Review
Now we’re getting serious. It’s been a long time since I cracked 40 miles in a week, which isn’t really all that much when it comes to marathon training, but it’s a milestone nonetheless. Another milestone is going 14 for 14 on scheduled runs so far in the training plan. Hopefully I’ll be able to say I went 74 for 74 by the time the race rolls around, but we’ll see.
Bola Pizza for Breakfast (again)
Pizza for breakfast is a beautiful thing. In a land where tacos topped with eggs, potatoes, cheese, bacon, peppers, cheese, and/or even pulled pork sometimes, are served for breakfast and considered normal, it’s amazing how many funny looks you get eating a pizza at 9:20 in the morning. After a punishing character-building 15 mile run, I needed some recovery food. What better than carbs (dough), protein (eggs and ham), veggies (onions), and ooey goodness (cheddar cheese) served in the form of a pizza? Nothing, that’s what.
I’ve talked about Bola Pizza before, and specifically this exact breakfast pizza. But it is just so good that it deserves a second post just for being so amazing. The crust is crispy and chewy with a few air bubbles and nicely charred. The speck (ham) is salty and meaty. The onions are mild and slightly sweet. The cheese is melted and never stands a chance against the 900 degree oven. And the eggs, oh the eggs, are the perfect addition for a proper breakfast. It just doesn’t get any better than this pizza. Expensive? Well that depends. How much would you pay for perfect? Go find them at the Farmers’ Market downtown on Saturdays from 9am – 1pm, but get there early if you want this breakfast pie. And trust me, you do.
The Coolhaus Skyscraper Challenge
Time for another installment of eating meets running. This time it involves an irresponsible amount of running followed by an irresponsible amount of dessert. To make it sound more responsible, I’ll consider it a heavy dose of calcium and protein to refuel and recover from a difficult workout. Yea, that’s better. Anyway, after coming across a blog post (how many bad ideas start off that way?) I got to thinking about accepting a challenge of skyscraping proportions.
Tri Again – Week 2 Review [brief]
Week 2 was much better than Week 1. Sticking to the schedule didn’t go particularly well, but the actual running was much improved. I hit all my runs, though had some more rescheduling to fit into general life. I pushed my long run up from Saturday to Wednesday to accommodate the Couples Triathlon on Sunday. Yep, I participated in another tri even after swearing off switching to running-only.
For now things are going smoothly, but my paces are slower than I’d like. I can’t expect to pick up where I left off at my peak, but I’m hoping I see some big gains soon. Otherwise I may need to reevaluate my goal for the race. Still early though, so only time will tell.
| Distance | Time | Pace | Heart Rate | |
| Monday | 8.31 Miles | 1:10:26 | 8:28 min/mi | 151 bpm |
| Wednesday | 13.23 Miles | 1:47:38 | 8:08 min/mi | 155 bpm |
| Thursday | 10.00 Miles | 1:25:23 | 8:32 min/mi | 144 bpm |
| Friday | 5.00 Miles | 46:48 | 9:21 min/mi | 138 bpm |
| Sunday | 3.00 Miles | 23:06 | 7:42 min/mi | — bpm |
| Total | 39.53 Miles | 5:33:24 | 8:26 min/mi | 149 bpm |
Couples Tri Race Report
Sunday morning the Couples Tri came to town. The conditions were hot, the course was tough, and the competition was competitive. My goal, which wasn’t really explicit, was to be faster than last time. Since this race and the Rookie Tri are at the same location, with identical bike courses and transition areas, it made it easy to compare apples to apples. Each leg of the race is similar enough to the CapTexTri that I can see how I’ve progressed. So how did it go? Well keep reading to find out. (Here’s my race preview if you want to get caught up to speed first)
