Home and working out

This is my first post since coming back from Finland. ECC 2010 in Karjaa was amazing and the students were great. I have made many new friends and renewed some old acquaintances. Helsinki was fun and a day trip to Tallinn Estonia was very nice. Travelling always presents new experiences and it also reminds me how great it is to be home.

Because I was involved in teaching the bulk of the time in Finland I only managed three runs. There were no cycling or swim opportunities. I spent Midsummer at a cottage with a Finnish family and it was beyond amazing. A country lake, few houses surrounding, birch groves, good food and company, saunas and jumps in the lake; more fun than you can imagine and in a setting as beautiful as anything you might imagine.

Back to reality at home and after a day's rest I got to training again. For July so far I have trained 9 days out of 11. This coming Saturday is the Seafair Sprint Tri so my training will taper a bit. After I'd like to up my volume and intensity but I'm not sure I can physically take it. I'll give it a go and just wait and see how it is. My swim is progressing, but hills on the bike and distance on the run are my weakest points right now. I feel confident that I can do 10K runs and long rides but hills with speed are not making it right now and I need to extend my runs. More on that later.

June summary: swim 4.74 mi., 3:51; bike 77.25 mi., 8:49; run 14.32 mi., 3:18; 1:45 strength training; total miles 96.31, total time 16:44.

July to date: swim 5.23 4:10; bike 52 4:35; run 9.5 2:15; strength 2:15; total miles 66.73, total time 13:15.

Starting out the week tomorrow with a 1:45 cycle and 1:45 run: about 20-25 miles on the bike and 7 or 8 on the run. It's July and there is plenty of summer training ahead so, a hui hou and I'll see you on the road.