New aero bars on Felt S32

I few posts ago I wrote about how I got a new triathlon bike the 2010 Felt S32. I am very happy with the bike but could not help upgrading the aero bars. I know that carbon bars make a huge difference in absorbing some of the bumps when riding so I shopped around and found some carbon aero bars that were affordable. I ended up buying the profile design cobra carbon bars that I had written about before.

I got the bars and took the bike to my favorite Portland bike shop Veloce and had Demetri and his crew install the bars. The whole bike was already perfectly fitted so I was a little worried about having to get re-fitted after the bars got changed but Demetri assured me that they would just take the measurements and fit the bars exactly. I have great trust in Veloce so I left my triathlon bike to get its upgrade.

When my bike was ready I went to pick it up and it looked great! What a difference some carbon aero bars look on the bike. I took it on a ride right away and it was so smooth. The fit is also spot on! Overall very exciting! I just cant wait to race!

Pool is a Busy Place!

I went swimming today and when I arrived at the pool the parking lot was completely full. Oh no I thought to myself if the parking lot is full I am going to have a hard time swimming as they usually only have two lanes open for lap swim. I went into the locker room changed came out to the pool and my fears were confirmed. There were about 50 people doing aqua aerobics and only 2 lanes open for lap swim, in one of the lanes there was a guy kind of just floating around.

I jumped in the lane with two people in it and we started doing a clock but all of our speeds and needs were different so I could not get my rhythm going. I managed to get my workout done anyway and my times were ok even though I had to navigate around so many people. I wish they would open at least one more lane for lap swim especially when all the lap swimmers are cramped into 2 lanes.

Tour de Cure Promo Code!

Join Tony's Rides before Monday February 14 and take $10 off registration by using the promo code heart.

The Tour de Cure is a fundraiser bike ride for the American Diabetes Association that will be held on July 31, 2010 at the Hillsboro stadium just outside of Portland, Oregon.

Join the team or make a donation by clicking on the the link below or copying and pasting into your browser. Thank you!

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=7041&px=4081560

500 Yard Swim

Today my triathlon workouts included swimming for 2000 yards and running for 35 minutes. The run went fine it was routine. The exciting thing today was my 500 yard test swim. I have been following this triathlon training program and I am hoping to see results and I saw them today! I swam my fastest 500 yards yet. I could not believe it I took about 15-20 seconds off of my time!

Looks like the training is helping I am really really excited about it and cannot wait for the Beaver Freezer on April 3 2010!

I'm Back!

After weeks of traveling and having to adjust my triathlon training and deal with smog, heat, and humidity I am back in the Pacific Northwest! I have already done 2 workouts and I feel faster and stronger than I have in a long time. Today I did a tempo run and I felt really strong.

My first race of the season is coming up the Beaver Freezer in Corvallis, OR. It will take place the first Saturday of April and I am really excited about it. In the past I have placed 4th in my age group and 17 overall I am hoping to do better this year but I think it is going to be hard as those results are already so good.

Anyway we will soon find out.....

Tour de Cure

As I posted earlier I am involved in the Tour de Cure Ride for Diabetes in the Portland, Oregon area. This is a very important ride that benefits the ADA. This year I am trying to rise more money than I did last year which was almost $3,000. I have started a team called Tony's Riders. The ride will take place on July 31 2010 in the Hillsboro Stadium in Oregon. So everyone please donate to this cause or join the ride or my team. No donation is too small! Please, please donate to the Tour de Cure in Portland, Oregon.

Click here for donations or more information on the ride:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=7041&px=4081560

Garmin Answered!

Garmin finally answered me back about the problems I have been having with my forerunner 310xt. Their response was simple, download the new program onto the forerunner and you should be good. I am pretty sure that I had done that after the first time it froze but I am not 100% sure. It has been a couple of weeks with no freezing problems so maybe I did it that same day? Anyway if the "solution" I hope it actually is was so simple then my did it take so long to get back to me. Anyway as of now Garmin Forerunner 310xt working like a charm, I hope it stays that way.

Smog Smog

Again I am in a big city and went for my morning run today and now my throat really really hurts. I am not getting sick so all I can figure is that it is the smog I have been breathing.

The smog was really strong today I can actually see it lingering in the air when I go outside so it is not that surprising that I have been feeling the smog especially after going for a run. I wish large cities would not have this much pollution.

I wonder how my running will be once I am in clean air again!

High Heart Rate in the Heat

It is amazing how much ones heart rate can change when running in the heat. For the past week I have been running in a hot humid climate and my heart rate has gone up about 15 beats per minute. I have also noticed that I find it a little harder to breath. I find this all very interesting.

I have been reporting back to my coach and after consulting with her I am just going to try and keep my heart rate at what it should be and not really worry about the pace which translates into I will probably have to run very very slow.

Anyway this is the update with my triathlon training. I will let you know how slow I had to run in order to keep the heart rate.

Garmin Forerunner Problems No Response!

It has been about two weeks since I contacted Garmin asking them about the freezing problems I was having with my forerunner 310xt and no response yet no response at all. Not even we have received your email and we will look into it.

So far I am very disappointed with the service Garmin has provided me with I have a very expensive product of theirs and I am having problems with it the least they could do is acknowledge that they have received my email and know that there is a problem. I know Garmin is a very large company but come on.

When the Garmin Forerunner 310xt is working well and does not freeze I love it but as I mentioned before it has frozen twice and I have contacted Garmin about this and in very bad form they have not responded. I am not sure what to do next. Very very poor service from Garmin.

Running with smog

I am currently in a very very big city so what this means is that there is a lot of smog. On the triathlon training program for today was to run for 40 minutes and maintain pace and then do 35 minutes of strength training. I went out for my run and it was humid and I could just feel the smog coming into my lungs. I tried to maintain my pace and I did but I could feel that my heart rate was a little higher than it usually is. I was also having some trouble breathing it seemed faster than it should at that pace.

Anyway I finished my 40 minute run at a good pace but was breathing heavier than usual and my average heart rate was at about 15 beats per minute faster than it should be. I guess its the humidity and the smog. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

Triathlon on a Cruise?

I went on a little vacation, a cruise it was my first time and went for a total of 5 days which meant I had to do all my triathlon training on the ship which proved to be very interesting.

The ship had a "track" and a gym so I figured it would not be that bad it was just a matter of finding time to do a work out in between all the cruise activities. As soon as I boarded the ship I went to check out the gym it was pretty well equiped I was going to have to ride the stationary bikes for at least an hour a few times and was happy to see that they had two of those.

First day I ran on the "track" which is basically an open area that goes around the ship was fine I was a little bored but it was fine. The strenght training I had to do also went well eventhough the gym was a little crowded.

The next day is when it got interesting. I had to ride a stationary bike for 70 minutes. A bike with a huge saddle and a bike that did not fit me properly. On top of all that I was stationary so I was really bored. About 40 minutes into it I started to cramp up just because I was so uncomfortable on the bike. Followed through with it and by the time I was done I could barely walk. That night my legs hurt so bad they woke me up.

Even with all this I still did all my workouts, did lots of stretching to help with the bad bike fit and now I am on firm land again so back to normal! The cruise was great though and my hat off to those who live on ships and still train for triathlons!

Registration for 2010 Beaver Freezer!

Registration for the Beaver Freezer Triathlon is one of the more stressful events in my life. It is my favorite triathlon and I really want to make sure that I am able to sign up for it but it fills up so fast it makes me nervous that one of these years I will not be able to sign up. Last year the raced filled up in just over an hour!

We are just a few weeks away from February 1st which is when registration opens for the 2010 Beaver Freezer so I of course keep checking the Oregon State Triathlon Club's website for any updates. Today I came across an interesting update, the website says that they will have two pools going in order to increase the capacity of the race! This is great news. I just wonder which is this other pool that will be used? Are they going to use the one that is usually used for warm ups or what?!

This does make me feel better that there will be more slots but now I am stressed out about which pools will be used. I know I know all very silly things to worry about. So good luck and see you all on April 3rd, 2010!

Veloce Bicycles, Portland

As a triathlete I am particular about getting fitted for my bike and want to know to a place where there is a knowledgeable person and that place for me is Veloce Bicycles in South East Portland. I came across this shop about 3 and a half years ago. A good friend of mine worked there and I was getting into triathlon. I was looking to buy a new racing bike and she kept going on and on about how great Demetri the owner of Veloce was. She talked wonders of him and convinced me to go to the shop and just talk to him, tell him what my bike ridding goals were and see what he said.

So one day I ventured out to Hawthorne to check out Veloce and the famous Demetri. I walked in introduced myself and he was very friendly. I talked to him about what I wanted how bikes fit me problems I had had in the past and yes he did know his stuff. He took a couple measurements and recommended a couple of bikes to me. I ended up buying one and loving it!

Since then I have gone back to Veloce and Demetri's knowledge. He does great bike fittings and will tell you exactly what you need to know. He will answer your questions truthfully and this is what I like so much about him. If you want to get the right bike that fits well I highly recommend going to Veloce Bicycles. Its a great place. Below is the store info.

www.velocebicycles.com
3202 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 234-8400

Sick! Sick! Why!

Once again I am sick, what this means is no triathlon training for me. For some people this might be a good thing not being able to work out but not for type A triathletes. I consider myself to be a pretty healthy person in fact I don't often get sick until the last 4 months. I keep getting sick and not just a cold but bad stuffy coughing that last for at least a week.

Yesterday I decided to ignore the symptoms and go for my run. 10 minutes into it I could just not breath. So I turned around to jog home but I could not do it as my breathing was so bad so I had to walk.....

Today I am not doing a workout, I think its probably best to rest and get over this nonsense. It is so FRUSTRATING!