How to Enjoy a 3 Day Weekend

So I thought I would share a little advice with you all. As most of you who have known me for a long time know, I am pretty much the happiest I have been in a long time, maybe ever...and so I want to share with you the secret to my happiness.  It starts with a three day weekend. Now, I get three day weekends every week, so I suggest you find an awesome job like I have, with great bosses, and work only Monday to Thursday. Of course this three day weekend advice can also be used for holiday weekends.

First, run 12 miles with 1300 feet of climbing on Friday:

Climbing that much may seem difficult, which I would have to agree with you, but it is totally worth it once you get to the top. Look at the view I had of Mt Diablo. Plus I could see the golden Gate bridge on the other side.

A few words of advice though. If running by yourself, you might want to avoid jumping locked gates:

If you do so, you might run into very scary cows:

Ok, so in this picture they look really far away, and appear to be minding their own business. But when I came upon them they were standing in the middle of my trail and all of them were staring at me, like what are you doing in our field? They are very big too.  So I had to run off the trail and all the way around them...and I was too scared to take a picture of them up close.  You never know what a crazy cow might do.  So part of my advice is: do the run, do the climbing, but maybe stick to trails that you don't have to jump fences to get to.

So that was day one of a great weekend. Day two: bike 58 miles with 30 of your friends through wine country.

Be sure to wear your green jacket and purple flames, because it obviously makes the ride much easier, and the hills seem shorter.

Then to finish off the perfect three day weekend, you should end with four hours of open water swimming, running in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and doing a bunch of core (lunges, situps, pushups, squats, etc.)

And don't forget that running up stairs is one of the best parts!

Ok, now you may think I am crazy, and that you wouldn't enjoy yourself doing all of this.  But I swear to you, once you get started, you will get addicted to how much fun it is, and how happy it makes you and you will be amazed at yourself and what you can accomplish!

Top 10 Ways to Train for Ironman

Wondering what it takes to be an Ironman? Wondering how hard you would have to work in order to swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, and then run 26.2 miles all in less than 17 hours? Well start by following these tips from Iron Team 2011:

1. Be sure to work on upper arm strength, it will help you with the swimming:

 2. Be persistent. Keep at it, and don't give up even if everyone else in the world thinks you are crazy and part of a cult!

3. Balance is key! You wouldn't want to fall off your bike, right?

4. Be sure to eat correctly! Lots of protein and green vegetables.

5. Don't forget that you are a superstar and a cancer buster!!!!

6. No matter how hard you try, you gotta accept that finishing an Ironman always requires a little bit of good luck.

7. Avoid pirates on bikes carrying pinwheels.  This doesn't just pertain to Ironman training...it is a basic rule that all people should follow. Never know where those pirates have been. ;)

8. Don't forget that stretching is a very important aspect of training. Stretching in wetsuits increases flexibility, especially if you have already warmed your wetsuit up!

9. Remember it's all about crossing that finish line, but.....

10. You can't get there without a GREAT TEAM to get you through these CRAZY MONTHS and MONTHS OF TRAINING!