Photo of me with Team Hero, Kari Schultz.

Kari was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in the Fall of 2001. After being treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the disease had gone into remission. However, in 2007 the disease had returned. Kari is still undergoing treatment.

This Triathlon is in honor of you Kari! And your family.

Hey everyone,

Thanks for visiting and welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'd be forever grateful if you would make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's mission.

I will be posting pictures and posts so visit often to see updates as I navigate the triathlon experience.

Thanks for your support!

Chris

MORE PHOTOS COMING SOON :)

Time to start dialing back the intense workouts so that my body gets plenty of rest and the proper nutrition for Race Day on June 25. Coach Nicole insists that we follow her training schedule and no extra workouts.

Time to put together my written race week and race day plan. Lay everything out and pack it up then re-pack. There's lots of stuff to bring and carry to the transition area so check lists and plans are essential.

Saturday June 11, 2011

Today we met up with the Denver team at Chatfield Reservoir once again for a complete dry run triathlon. One again the water was cold and hampered my swim. We swam for approximately 500 yards followed by 19 mile cycle then ran two miles.

Monday June 6, 2011

Back up gold camp road!!! Hit some awesome speeds coming down. Had a front blow tire out...grrrr. It kind of messed up my workout.

Sunday June 5, 2011

More open water swim training at Cherry Creek Reservoir with team mate Bridget Jordon. The water was warmer this time. Kept getting drowned by the boat wakes....LOL.

Saturday June 4, 2011

Awesome 3 hr cycle training with the team!! We staged and left behind my office and rode up Gold Camp road where the pavement ended. Some of the team did it two times the coach and I went up 3 times. Burned 1947 calories!!

Sunday June 5, 2011 Cherry Creek Reservoir

With the coach and team members at the top of Gold Camp Rd

Saturday June 4, 2011

Monday May 30, 2011 - Cycle Training

Two hour cycle - I was brutalized by the relentless wind once again :( What was suppose to be an easy ride turned into hard work.

Sunday May 29, 2011 - Run Training

Well, not every training session is a winner :( Lack of sleep and fatigue = poor training session. I ran for 30 minutes. Sometime you have to listen to what your body is telling you and rest up a bit.

Saturday May 28, 2011 - Open Water Swim

Started the morning with a 90min cycle ride in and out of Chatfield Lake. Knowing that I didn't have to run afterwords I poured it on. After the ride we put on the wet suits and jumped in 55 degree water in Chatfield Lake. My muscles tighten up and fatigued quickly. I wasn't really expecting that. With the help and encouragement from the coaches I was able to complete the training for the day.

Race Day Wet Suit and Tri Suit!!

Hey Everyone!! What a tough several days of training it's been...

Thursday May 26: RECOVERY DAY :)

Wednesday May 25: Sore, sore, and sore from yesterday :(.......Swim Training today consited of drills and open water pratice and mass group starts and drafting.

Tuesday May 24: Warm up – Easy jog for 5-10 minutes, Dynamic Warm up

Interval Set

• 1x1600 fast
• 1x800 fast as a 2x800 relay
• 1x400 fast as a 4x400 relay
• 1x200 fast as a 8x200 relay

Strength Plyometrics

Cool down

One of my 800's was done at 1:26.....not bad!!!

Monday May 23: Cycle Training: Left office from Downtown Colorado Springs, headed west and straight up Cheyenne Canyon to Gold Camp Road (non-stop).

Sunday May 22: Cycle Training: Semi-Easy 1 hour ride followed by a quick 10 min run. Still tired and sore from Saturday.

Saturday May 21: Brick Training at Castlewood Canyon: 26 mile cycle ride followed by a 40 min run.

Friday May 20: 1 hour of swim training and drills.

Thursday May 19: Recovery Day!!!!!! Yea!!! :)

Wednesday May 18: Swim Training: 2300 yards total. Drill sets and Main Sets.

Tuesday May 17, 2011 - Run Training At CC Track

Although a little sore and fatigued due to my weekend workout I still managed to achieved a 7 min. mile and a 1:26 400 meter run. Here's the workout:

Warm up – Easy jog for 5-10 minutes, Dynamic Warm up, Interval Set

• 1x1600 w/ 3’ recovery • 1x800 w/ 3’ recovery • 1x400 w/ 3’ recovery • 1x400 w/ 5’ recovery • 4x200 w/ half lap run/walk recovery - Strength Plyometrics - Cool down

Great Weekend Training!!!

Sunday May 15, 2011

60 minute cycle train (weather was bad so I trained indoors) followed by a 30 min recovery swim.

Saturday May 14, 2011

Awesome 7 1/2 mile progressive run in Denver with the Denver Summer and Fall teams.

2 mile warm up followed by progressive intervals then in reverse.....tough workout!!!

Friday May 13, 2011

Yea!!! My Birthday :)...........Swam 60 minutes, concentrating on form and speed.

Tuesday May 10, 2011 - Run Training!!!

Today's training included (1) 800m and (1) 400m, (1) 800m and (2) 400m, (1) 800m and (3) 400m. Run the 800m at 75 % of race pace and the 400m at 95% race pace.

Monday May 09, 2011

Team In Training Fall Team - Kick Off Seminar!!! Yes, I signed up for two more

Triathlons. This time I am going in as a Team Mentor. I will be competing in the Boulder Sunset Sprint Triathlon and The Nation's Triathlon in Washington DC. Both races are in September.

Saturday May 07, 2011

Went on an awesome cycle ride today with my friend Gordon on the Larkspur Triangle. Then off to get ready for our tri team's Casino Royale fundraising event. Texas Hold'em for charity. It was a huge sucess and everyone had a great time. We had approximately 75 RSVP's and plenty of silent auction stuff. We raised close to $6,000 for the LLS.

Sunday May 01, 2011

Wow!! Feels more like November than May outside today. Too windy and too cold for out door brick training today, sooooooo I moved my brick training indoors. Brought the LItespeed into the gym and hooked it up to the trainer. 60min. interval cylcle training followed by 30min interval run on the treadmill.

Friday April 29, 2011

Grrrrrr....nursing a sore quad muscle and knee today before a two hour ride this afternoon. It appears I may have overtrained that muscle :( ouchy!!

Sunday April 24, 2011 - Run

Today I ran for 60 minutes...20 min. warm up pace, 20 min. level 8 pace, 10 min. cool down pace and finished it off with 10 min. level 8-9 pace.

Saturday April 23, 2011 - Bike-A-Thon Fundraising Event!!

Our team put on a "Bike-A-Thon" at Bicycle Village so that we could raise more money.

Unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate. However we did rais $85.00. Had the weather been nice I think we could have done better. We may try this one again. We cycle trained for 4 hours this day.

Sunday April 18, 2011 - Run

Today I ran for 60 minutes at a slow pace which equated to 10K run.

Tuesday April 19, 2011 - Run Training at CC Track

Wow...what a work-out. I think coach Nicole is trying to kill us....(insert evil laugh here)..just kidding Nicole :)

The main work out was a 220, which is 3 1/2 miles, at a level 8...holy smokes! My best one mile time was 7:37...not bad...my 220 time was 24:43. We ran about 5 miles this evening when you factor in all the warm up runs.

Saturday April 17, 2011 - Triple Brick!!!

YEEEE HAAAWWW!!! Today we met the Denver TNT Triathlon Team at the Meridian Business Park outside of Denver for a Triple Brick. Here's the Brick:

Cycle 6.6 miles then Run 1.1 miles...Do this 3 times. We had the option of running 2.2 miles but I opted for the 1.1 in order to minimize any injuries. The Colorado Springs chapter kicked their butts.

Wednesday April 13, 2011 - Swim Training

Ah Yes!! Swimming is great fun!! Our team may be small but we sure can kick some azz!!!

Com'on girls!!! Lose the towels...LOL

Saturday April 9, 2011 - Training Ride

Nope...no brick today, just an awesome training ride with the members of the TNT cycle team and triathletes. This was a 45 mile round trip starting from Bicycle Village, up Cheyenne Canyon and back. I had to stop at the falls and get the heart rate down but then continued to the top. Once again the wind was brutal and demoralizing....grrrr. This is one ride I will definately master over the next coming weeks...non stop to the top!!

Sunday April 3, 2011

YIKES!! Way too windy to train outside on the bike!!! So I headed to the gym where I trained on the "Cycle Trainers" for an hour. It was a progressive workout where I maintained 80-90 rpms for an hour.....whew!...I was pooped...after that workout I swam for 30 min.

I can't wait for Monday where I can finally get some rest at work....LOL

Saturday April 2, 2011

Nope...Not a brick training day!!! However we did do a progressive 10K run on the Sante-Fe Trail. Start slow then increase pace every ten minutes. After the run I headed over to the pool where I swim trained for an hour.

Friday April 1, 2011

Today I cycled approximately 20 miles, east along the frontage road that flanks Woodman Road. Let's not forget about the never ending wind that makes it quite difficult to maintain 80-90 rpm's. I'm not quite sure what a tail wind feels like since it always seems to be blowing towards me...lol.

Some practical advice from a USA Tri Certified Coach for the Triathlon Race:

The Swim is the warm up.

Pace yourself and do not burn out on the Cycle event.

March 29, 2011 – Run Training

This was our work out....the percentage is exerted effort...yeah, no wonder I can't walk today!

Warm up – Easy jog for 5-10 minutes

Dynamic Warm up

Interval Set

1x1600 at 85% w/ 1’ recovery

1x200 at 90-99% w/ 3-5’ recovery

1x800 at 85% w/ 1’ recovery

1x200 at 90-99% w/ 3-5’ recovery

1x400 at 85% w/ 1’ recovery

1x200 at 90-99% w/ 3-5’ recovery

1x400 at 85% w/ 1’ recovery

1x200 at 90-99% w/ 3-5’ recovery

Strength Plyometrics

Cool down

March 26, 2011 – Another "Brick" Training Session

“Brick” Training (Cycle to Run) at the Air Force Academy!!

From Left to Right…Kisti Felps, Bridget Jordan, Me :) (TNT Tri-Team Members),

John Hardee (Team Captain..also an Air Force Captain!!!

Today we rode approximately 25 miles on the Air Force Academy and

then through Glenneagle. Let’s not forget about the never ending

relentless wind that never seems to be at your back…LOL. On this

particular ride I have fortunate use of an awesome “Lite Speed” road

bike on loan to me by my best friend Gordon Leiser. Gordon is an

expert Mountain and Road Cyclist as well as mentor. Soooooo,

no more training on mountain bikes for me although it definitely

built me up :)

After the 25 mile ride we then transitioned to run where we ran for

awhile along the Sante-Fe Trail.

From Left to Right…Nicole Drummer (USA Triathlon Certified Coach), John Hardee (Team Captain)

March 22, 2011 – Run Training

Tuesday’s is our Tri-Team’s run training day…..yea!!!! Coach Nicole Drummer is increasing the intensity of our trainings each week. So by the time race day comes, we’ll be ready.

Today’s work-out – 4000m of “Striders” which is 2 1/2 miles. Here’s the work-out:

Run 400m at a perceived exertion Level 8 (remember…10 is a sprint..at least to me it is), then walk for two minutes in order to bring down the heart rate. Do this 10 times around the track…..yikes!!!

Although I can’t remember each time but my best 400m at a Level 8 was 1:34….not too shabby :)

Yep! I should have not run trained the night before…..cuz…now I’m feeling it….LOL.

March 21, 2011

Today I am a little burned out on swimming and strength training so I decided to run train at the CC track after work.

My work-out today consisted of 2400m of “Bounders”. Run at a perceived Level 3 around the corners then sprint down the straight-aways. Not sure that this was a good idea since we have our regular run training on Tuesdays.

March 19, 2011 - Brick Day!!!

Yes, Yes, Yes...I just love brick days

Today the TNT team road 19.04 miles. Keeping up a high cadence between 80 - 90rpm is important. A little tough to do on my Specialized Mountain Bike but I kept up :) After the ride we ran for 20 min. which came out to about 2 miles. It took me about a mile for my legs to adjust to running...lol.

After the workout we all went to King Soopers where Nicole, our Tri Coach, put on an awesome Nutrition Clinic.

March 16, 2011 - Swim Training

Splish Splash! Wendnesday is Swim Training. I seem to be drinking a lot of pool water these days.....soooooo, ya'lls better not be peeing in the pool....just say'n :)

March 15, 2011- Run Training

Coach Nicole turned up the heat on our run training last night at the Colorado College track and I am a little spent this morning. It's going to take about 8 cups of coffee to get going :)

Last night’s training:

Warm up - Plyometertics, 400m walk, 400m level 3 run with bounders (run on the radiuses, sprint on the straight aways.

Work out - 800m run at a perceived level 8 (if 10 is a sprint then 8 is pretty fast).

walk it out for about 2 minutes.

2400m sustained level 6 - catch breath, walk for about 2 minutes.

Finish work out with 800m level 8 (my time on this one was 3:17)

Cool down - Walk 400m, run 400m level 3, Plyometertics.

Go home, scarf down food like a maniac - top off with Advil :)

March 12, 2011 - Run Training

Photo before a group run at Monument Valley Park. Left to right: Me :), Nicole Drummer (Tri-Team Coach), Kisti Felps, Bridget Jordon. Ok, enough standing around....start running!!!

March 05, 2011 - Brick Training (Cycle / Run)

Brick Day: Today we cycle then run. It's all about getting use to the transition between bike / run. Wasn't anticipating the cold so by the time I was done with the ride my feet felt like two ice cubes attached to my legs. It took about a mile before I could feel my feet hit the ground during the run...LOL. In this photo are two other members (Denise, Krissy) of the Team In Training, Colorado South Chapter Triathlon Team. Note the Generation UCAN product placement....LOL, Yes they used this photo on their Facebook Page :)

March 03, 2011

I'm a little tired from the swim training the night before. It's hard work but I'm having so much fun. This is the most dangerous part of the event since I need to swim .9 miles without stopping. My Tri Coach, Nicole Drummer, is a USA Triathlon certified coach and is also an awesome Triathlete. With her coaching and guidance I have probably moved past "pollywog" to "guppy"