Tuesday, July 26, 2011

An easy fix with fogging sunglasses


About 4 years back I had a pair of custom sunglasses made.  The frame I chose did not have any nose pads, which was fine for the time being. However, after a few bricks of swimming and running I started to notice the lenses would fog up. While running I would take the glasses off and on to help the problem.  What needed to be done was a very simple fix and it helped in two ways.  I made a pair of nose pads using regular caulking, yes from the hardware store.  I placed a few small circles of caulking on some wax paper of different sized until I had a bunch of choices.  I let the caulking dry a few days, and then picked a matching pair, size wise, and stuck them in the nose piece of the frame.  AWESOME!  The pads help lift the glasses off my nose a bit letting air flow under them and help with the fogging problem.  They also work to help stop the glasses from slipping off the bridge of my nose being they are a little sticky.  A very simple and easy fix.  No more fogging issues.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Great weekend training

 The above image is created using my Mio Quest GPS enabled watch, with heart rate monitor.

 Last Saturday, I was able to nail down another 50 miler in the heat.  I have been working on keeping my heart rate constant.  Some hills were added in this weeks longer ride, but nothing long.  No flats this week.

I guess this could be filed in the "Too Much Information", so for my longer weekend ride, I took my weight before and after Saturday.  I lost about 6 pounds which is before I removed my tri-suit and lost another 2 pounds.  I guess my clothes soaked up more sweat than I thought.  The high humidity must have made the material just hold the water and not let it evaporate.

My running is coming together and getting easier.

This past week I have been pouring over new songs to add to my iPod I run and swim.  Previous playlists I have on my player are getting dull and need to be updated.  I look to post a new group of "What is on my iPod" playlist as soon as I get it made and stay motivated.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Learning from the past and changing the future

Over the past few years I have been training and racing, I have learned a lot about myself and my strategies during racing. Over the last week, I looked back on my training schedule and nutrition from my half Ironman race.  During this race I felt very weak at the end and over the 6 hours on was on the course lost about 11 pounds of weight.  CRAZY!  I was really only concentrating on liquids and gels during the race.
Things I am doing different this time around are:
1.    I have started in my training using more solid easy to digest PowerBars and Gel Blasts.
2.    I am eating more calories prior to training rides and runs as well as before races.
3.    I am taking in more plain water during training.
4.    I have started watching my calories being burned wearing my Mio Quest heart rate monitor

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Training from last weekend


This past weekend I was able to get my longest ride in this year at 51 miles. On Saturday, I rode the first 20 miles with a local tri group.  The last 30 was done with a friend after I had a flat and he stopped and waited while I changed the tube.  I am once again working on getting more comfortable in the aero position with some adjustments I have made.   
I felt very strong through out, with an average heart rate of 142 for the just under 3 hour ride.  A little cloud cover helped hold off the heat so my workout was done before 8am. 
On Monday, I took in a 20 mile recovery ride, which was very humid.  I stayed away from the hills and just concentrated on a spinning and keeping my heart rate up.  The just over an hour ride had my heart rate averaging 136. 
My nutrition for both rides this weekend was perfect, with recovery time better than I expected.  Using a PowerBar gel still every half hour needed or not, and consuming 40 ounces of water an hour.