Tuesday, July 27, 2010

072710 Randomness

Goal: AM swim, recovery run, eat healthy

Results: Am recovery run, 2 miles is 23:30 minutes

Diet setbacks: two brownies, two bowls of fruit loops

Random Stuff:

We had a storm last night with thunder that shook the house. I think it is the first time I have ever been in a storm that had NON STOP thunder for over two hours. Not the occasional crackle, non stop. Dog cried and we didn't sleep much. It even tore one of the doors off my shed.

Woke up early, but two late to get in both workouts. I didn't realize this until after my run. I had planned to mow the lawn this afternoon so I pushed both my workouts to AM. Too wet to mow the lawn but we are in another thunderstorm so I can't make up my swim. Inserted a make up core workout- 100 push up challenge and 200 sit up challenge week 3, day 3.

Thank you every for the feedback from yesterday's post. Not so much worried about the 2 pounds I was up, I know that is water weight,l even though it does make me want to get out my sauna suit and head to the gym. I don't have to make weight for fights anymore so I don't think I will do that any time soon. I am more aggravated by the weight loss stall, but I am very happy about losing inches. In fact, below is fat boy picture of the day:


Here I am wearing a pearl cycling jersey. This is from my group ride yesterday (hence the sweat). It excites me because one, a name brand jersey that fits and two its a XL. The only two jerseys I have been wearing, including the one I raced in, are 2XL and 3XL. This XL is actually a little loose. I even have a size large Sugoi jersey in the closet that fits. I haven't worn it out yet because I am still not that comfortable in lycra. Still happy to KNOW it fits.

Lastly, I am excited that my wife RAN two miles today. She was so happy she text me at work and I don't even have my phone at work, it is a maximum security prison after all. It was just this month she ran her first mile. Last month she couldn't run for 1 minute. GREAT PROGRESS. I told her I am going to sign her up for the 2 mile race they are running at the 5k I am running 8/13. I am trying to talk her into doing my October triathlon with me. I am not winning so far, but I will keep trying. This is contagious!

Monday, July 26, 2010

072610- mixed emotions

Goal: Lunch time core workout, PM group ride, eat healthy

Results: PM group ride 14.65 miles in 59 minutes

Diet setbacks: one dr. pepper, one bowl sugar free ice cream

Thoughts: As the title states I am feeling kind of off today. I am aggravated because I am 222lbs today, after being 220 for 14 days. I am upset that, except for one night post workout I when I was 218, I have been unable to break through to 219 (my next benchmark). I have no idea how to break through this plateau. I lost the majority of my weight combining exercise and diet. The diet I was on I do not believe would support my training now. I was running up to 6 days a week at the time and often lost a pound a day. I do not want to run that much because I would rather focus on a balanced training schedule.

As aggravated as the lack of weight loss makes me, I am happy that last month my wife bought me a pair of shorts, they were my normal size and they were too big. I like the shorts so my wife bought me another pair in a smaller size, they were also too big. They fell off. My chest has also gotten smaller and my body fat percentage has been staying lower. I am happy for this and do realize that some of my lack of weight loss may be caused by gaining muscle as I increase abilities in my sports.

All that aside my diet went well today- eggs, salad, grapes, and ground beef made up the majority of my calories. Busy at work so I didn't get a chance to make it to the weight room, doubt I will make it up tommorrow.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Mock Orange Bikes Tri-4-Fun


Pre-Race: Packed everything up, over packed just like a Boy Scout.

Made the hour drive to the race site, a little more interesting than an average drive because I forgot the directions and my GPS. I'll wing it, only two wrong turns. Got there, got checked in, and had my arm marked. I found it funny they marked my arm considering my jersey covered it. Transition set up, check.


RACE TIME!!!

Weather: 96 degrees, humidity 55%, heat index 101.

Swim: We were started in heats by 200m time and there were 2 of us per lane. I thought this was odd, especially when they paired me with a really skinny chick. Fat guy expecting to get dusted by the skinny chick. The race started and I felt myself taking off to fast, forced myself to slow down. I did this several times. Half way through my form was slipping I had to rest with breast stroke for 5 stokes. Even with taking my breast stroke break, I finished in 5:09. New PR! Oh, the skinny chick, after first my length I pulled ahead of her by one body length. After I finished my third length I had half a lap on her.

Transition 1- 1:32 I had to put on socks.

Bike: PROBLEM, due to the heat they changed the route to get more shade and have less loops. Unfortunately, the new route was rolling uphill for 5.25 miles of the course. 12 miles and I complete in 52:08.  The new route hampered my big ring boogie strategt. I passed 5 people, and was passed about the same amount of times by others. It did feel good when I passed one guy who had passed me 4 miles earlier. I came to an intersection about 100m after I passed him and volunteer yells to me "good job taking that guy down". That made it feel even better. I had the observation that in the bike section, the first finishers were the the lean guys with fit legs similar to regular cyclists (they probably were cyclists, but I don't know for certain), the middle group was stocky guys, like me, with powerful legs, and the last group was the ultra-lean guys that look like runners.

Transition 2: I was able to get my shoes unbuckled before I got to the transition so I jumped off the bike and left them clipped in. Then I freaked out because someone had left there bike in my spot! I was on the end so I just leaned my bike again the end of the rack, there was not room left to hang it. According to my watch I was there 12 seconds, seems wrong too short , but whatever.
 I was also surprised by all the people who brought buckets, crates, and coolers to sit on. Without a bucket, i did not sit and therefore did not stay in the area as long. That is a good enough reason if not for any other reason not to use one.
Run: this was the hardest part of the event. This was actually shortened to 2.55 miles due to the heat. I was burning up. I ended up running the slowest run ever, an dumping a half cup of water over my head at every aid station. I took 3 two minute walking breaks to lower my heart rate and averaged 190bpm for this section. If they had no shortened the route i would have finished but it was not easy considering the heat.

OVERALL TIME 1:31:14

Post Race: After siting down and drink my Gatorade all I wanted to do was take my shirt off and pace in the shade to cool off. This is unusually for me because I don't like being seen without a shirt on, I was just that hot. At 5 the bike shop hosted a post race party with pizza, garlic bread, and free beer. This is my kind of post race party. The last 5k I ran they had bananas, pretzels, and water. Pizza and beer, that's fat kid food!
This is how I felt:

candid photo, not posed at all!

Thoughts: I had so much fun. It was hard, but felt very rewarding to finish. It was very well organized and the volunteer were so nice and encouraging. Most of the athletes were very friendly; there were only two exceptions that reminded me of a feminine hygiene product, one might use on summer's eve. One of these was bragging about how he had the fastest 100m swim time. It made me laugh when he didn't finish the swim first, he was passed by a woman doing backstroke. I can't wait for my next race in October. I am going to take advantage of my training and several 5k's and 10k's to get faster. Running is my weak link I need to improve. lastly, if the race had been to length and i had walked the rest I still would have been done in under 2 hours so I am going to consider that goal accomplished. Hopefully, I will beat my 30 minute goal on one of those races and can repeat it on my next tri. I can't wait.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

072410

Goals: AM swim, eat healthy but a few more carbs than normal.

Results: AM 600m swim, 20:05

Diet setbacks: too many fries and onion rings

Thoughts: My first 200m was 5:20, new personal best the last was 5:50, I also mixed in some drills. Felt great, I was also amazed that afer I did the drilll I could feel an enormous inmprovement on the amount of water my arm (not just my hand) was moving. It felt GRRRREAT!!!

After my workout I took the rest of the day to drive to Raleigh (3 hours), and attend the last planning meeting for my trip to Guatemalla. I have been putting so much time into my training I don't beleive I have mentioned it. This time next week I will be in Gautemalla City on a mission trip teaching rope rescue, vehicle extrication, and fire fightting. In that area if you are in a car accident and they can not breech the vehicle you are left in it; if it goes down the mountain the vehicle is left with you in it at the bottom of the mountain. Last year my group went down, taught them, and donated a rescue truck, fully stocked. Last Year I was unabel to go and assisted in getting tools donated, this year I will be on the ground teaching. To top it off, as one ofe the younder memeber of the group it is outstanding to know one of my losest friends will be going too as the logistics and PR officer. This year we were able to donate I fire truck and an ambulance.

When I got home I was picking out which jersey and socks to race in. I am a big geek and like to match my clothes all the time. I have a collection of over 20 pairs of timerbland boots. I chose my yellow jersey but realized I no longer have yellow socks. My wife went  to her closet and got a present she was holding till my birthday. She gave them to me and in a very child-like voice and said "I got them for you because you're stinky". Check them out.


072310

Goals: AM stroke drills, PM run

Results: PM kinda run

Diet setbacks: cheese lovers plate at the local greasy spoon, eggs with cheese, hash browns with cheese, bacon and a waffle.

Thoughts: Long day at work, not sure the cheese lovers plate was the best lunch. Again, not how I intended to increase my caloric intake.

My boss loaned me a bluetooth gps puck to pair with my blackberry so that I could use gps apps. Verizon block the use of gps with any programs other than blackberry maps and VZ navigator with my phone, therefore I can not use the may my run/ride app that I wanted to use. I decided I would do my run at 8pm, 5 mile run with a 3 mile tempo run. From the time I got off until I about 7pm I played with the gps puck to get it to work. No luck. Just after 7 I got it and the app working, I figured I had better go run while it is working. Not my best decision. I started my run and the warm up mile was a little fast, so I made a conscious effort to slow down. It cam time for the tempo run and could not keep my pace (the large, long on the route I chose did not help). I only made it one mile into my tempo run and then I walked .63 miles home. It was interesting to watch my pace on the phone screen. during my tempo portion I ranged from 7:25 to 13 minute pace depending on terrain. In the end, it took almost just as long to run my tempo mile as it did my warm up mile.

I was very upset about this run. This is not the way I want to perform and then I started thinking. I wonder if this was my subconscious trying to sike me out for Sunday. If I don't race well I can say I was ill Thursday and had a bad run Friday. I wonder if it is my nerves, I usually don't get like this. After a cooling shower and stretching I checked the weather. It was 99 degrees and 65% humidity at 7pm when I ran. I am going to blame my performance on this, not all the nervous subconscious stuff. It was friggin' HOT. I had planned to wait, but when I got everything working, I never thought to check to see if it had cooled down. Obviously, it had not. Now I don't feel as bad. In fact, I read an article one that said you can add 30 seconds to your normal time for every 5 degrees over 60 degrees. Definitely going to blame the heat, definitely.

Looking forward to rest and a swim tomorrow. GOOD LUCK to anyone racing tomorrow. I look forward to reading your race reports.

Friday, July 23, 2010

072210

Goals: am swim, lunchtime core workout, PM run speedwork run

Results: am stroke drills- fist drill, finger drag, kicking drill, scrub the rest!

Diet Setbacks: no bad foods, but maybe too much food.

Thoughts: Woke up early, feeling great! Walked to the Y for 20 minutes of morning swim drills, CB even went with me so she could walk on the treadmill and ride the bike. Sometime after lunch I started feeling very run down. Then I developed a head ache. I borrowed some cash to get some caffeine and a snack to try to fight it off. By the end of the day, it only grew bigger, and then on the way home i fell asleep almost a dozen times, mostly at stop lights.

Tonight we were having dinner at the in-laws again and they scheduled dinner knowing I had about an hour of running to do, I decided to sleep until dinner instead of run . I think this was the wiser of the options. Dinner time and I felt slightly better, by the time dinner was over my head hurt again and I was sweating like a turkey in November.  I also started searching for sweets because I felt like my blood sugar was low. Tome to go home and go to bed, forget about my run tonight.

I racked by brain trying to think about what i could have done to make by body rebels. Nothing come too mind. My only possible conclusion was not enough calories or maybe carbs for the day. I had eggs for breakfast, a banana and something else (?) for a snack, tuna and celery for lunch, an apple for pm snack, and then the diet Mountain Dew and crackers once my head started hurting. Maybe this was just not enough food. For dinner I had grilled lemon pepper chicken, potatoes, green beans, squash, and okra. Two plates full. With this much food in me I can not explain why I had a headache after dinner or the feeling of low blood sugar. I decided to make today my rest day move my run to Friday and my swim to Saturday. Ideally, I would want to completley rest the day before I race, but if I am going to do anything i would prefer to swim. all my reading says that swimming is the activity with the shortest rest period before you can do it again. I am going to swim first thing in the morning, after I sleep in a bit.

Thank you everybody for the feedback about speedwork. Right now, I do speedwork in the pool and running once per week each. I do hill workouts once per week on the bike. I was considering adding another speedwork day of running. I am slow in every area, but I think this is the area that is going to kill my time. In a short race like this weekend, I think I would be able to finish much closer to 1 hour if I could run faster. I have looked at a lot of times and to be in the top half I need to trim 6-8 minutes off my run, 9-10 minutes to be top 5. My cycling could get faster too but I don't think I can get fast enough to make up for my run. I am sure that running on tired legs will also slow me down even more. I have done a few bricks and they have been painfull exhausting ridiculously slow tough. After the feedback and some online reading I am going to keep it to one speedwork session a week. It does amaze me when I think about the fact that it is so hard on the body and that when I ran track we did speedwork 5 days a week.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

072110

Goals: AM Swim, lunchtime core workout, PM hill/cycle workout.

Results: Cycle workout: 1 mile warm up, repeats on a .5 mile hill, 1 mile cool down. 30 minutes.

Diet setbacks: Oy Vey.

Thoughts: Today was not my typical day. I was in a lot of pain last night (not associated with training) so I took a hydrocodone I had left over from when I had herniated disks in my back last summer. I only took about three last summer, and they always lay me out. This led to the best sleep I have had in weeks, however slept through my swim. Not too worried about it since this was an extra workout to help me readjust before Sunday. I got up with plenty of time to get ready for work, just not enough time to get to the Y. Left the house and got a flat tire. I ended up be an hour late for work. By the way, changing a tire on a dodge ram SUCKS!!!! By boss is flexible and made let me count this hour late as my lunch. This eliminated my core workout time. I am now two workouts behind on my one hundred push ups challenge.

My surprised me with wanting to go to dinner at her parent's. She said they would time dinner around my workout, unfortunately I was going the opposite direction for my workout. I decided I would use the hill near thier house instead of the one I was going to use. Once I finished we had dinner. I have a large number of food weaknesses. Lasagna is my favorite food, I also love candy, chocolate, cookies, pie, pizza, wings, bread sticks, any type of potato, hot dogs, onion rings, and cheese sticks; but one of my biggest weaknesses that I rarely ever have is corn dogs. They are a food surrounded by good memories, the fair, school lunches, things like that. Well the reason i made that list of scrumptious foods is because CB's mom made corn dogs and tater-tots for dinner. I had 4! Again, this is not how I meant to increase my calorie intake. My diet the rest of the day was great, fruits, salad and grilled chicken.

On my breaks yesterday I was able to work in a little blogging, reading about one an hour as opposed to my normal half day on blogger. During this time i found a blog on runner's world discussing how to stay cool in the summer while running. There were some decent tips in it, myself, on speed work days I run a one mile loop and put water bottle in my mail box so when I run by I can pick one up. What I though was funny about the post was that it is late July and and it has been hot for 3 months. Here's the link: http://askcoachjenny.runnersworld.com/2010/07/tips-for-running-in-hot-and-humid-weather.html .

I also had two questions for my athlete blogger buddies: How often do you do speedwork? Also, do those oppression socks dealies really work (according to the CEP website they make you faster, run longer, and recover faster afterwards) and at what running distance do they really start becoming a thought? Let em know your thoughts!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

07/20/10

Goals: Am swim, llunchtime core workout, Pm recovery run, eat healthy but increase my calories.

Results: PM Swim- fist frill, finger drag drill, kick drill, catch up drill, 3 rounds 50m stroke golf. 2 mile run in 21 minutes.

Diet setbacks: several glasses of real soda, hamburger and onion rings, and 5,011 buckeyes.

Thoughts: First, it has been a busy day I can't believe it is 5pm 7/21 and I am just now writing about yesterday. I usually blog first thing in the morning. last night I was reading on the USAT website and it said that you only need 3 hours per week to train for a sprint and 6 hours for an olympic. I worked out 6 hours last week and am already in over 2 hours this week (btw I start my week on monday). It makes me wonder if I am overtraining. I want to be competitive, and I don't think I can pull fast times ever for a clydesdale. I think I will still be at the back 1/3. Mostly, do to my run and that makes me want to train more.

Today I tried some of the swimming drills, but I was too tired to do them in the morning so I did them before my run. This made the recovery run a hair harder. I also ran it the more uphill direction of my loop,but I like to reserve the flat/slightly downhill direction for my speedwork. I did not get in the lunchtime core workout, I will push it back another day, but I am not happy about that because I pushed it from monday.

I got kidnapped today by my boss for lunch, hence not making the workout. I had decided to up my caloric intake but I am not sure the burger was the best way to do it. It felt like I couldn't skip ordering it because I don't get the chance to eat at restaurants like this one a lot. Homemade hamburgers and onion rings. I have been stuck at 220 on the dot for 9 days, I am going to raise my caloric intake to fire up my metabolism to try to drop at least the one pound to my next benchmark. I want those socks!!!!. I am fearing weight loss may have stopped due to not having enough calories for training, I have done this before. On the other hand I don't want too many because after all  am trying to lose weight. Anyone have ideas for higher calorie food, preferable still with low carbs?  I hade more to write about but I have forgotten during this extra long day :(

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Swimming Drills

I mentioned last week that my swimming feels off, ever since I took the week out of the pool with the escaped inmate (by the way we captured him, not sure I ever mentioned that). I decided to try to sneak some more workouts in and focus on stroke drills. I have read other blogs lately looking for stroke drills so I thought I would share. About half of these I already do so I was happy, some are new and I look forward to trying them. I stole them from http://www.mvm.org/workouts-drills.php .

Fist Swimming

Swimming with hands completely in a fist. No "karate-chop" hands allowed! Concentrate on body position, using your forearm in the catch and optimum elbow bend through the stroke. When you return to swimming with an open palm, your hands will feel as large as kickboards! Have fun and think Distance Per Stroke!

Kicking
Kicking without a kickboard will allow you to perform your kick in the same body position of the stroke. Kicking with a kickboard will allow you to get to know your lane mates.

For freestyle, kick on your side with your bottom arm (the one closer to the bottom of the pool) extended straight out of your shoulder line before your head. Keep your palm facing down and your extended hand about 8 inches under water. The top arm (the one on the surface of the water) should be relaxed at your side with your had on your hip and out of the water. Maintain a head position as though you were swimming freestyle, with your head in line with your spine. Press your arm pit toward the pool bottom to get your hip at the surface of the water. Your extended arm should feel weightless.

Golf
While swimming 50's repeats, calculate your "score" for each 50 by counting your strokes in both directions (one arm equals one stroke) and adding it to your time. For example: If you swim 50 freestyle with 20 strokes per 25 in a time of :40, you would have a score of 80 (20 + 20 + 40). Descend your score by taking less strokes and/or completing the 50 in less seconds with each successive 50.

Catch-Up Drill
When swimming Full Catchup freestyle, pull with one arm at a time and touch your hands in a streamlined position out front between each alternating arm stroke. Keep your extended hands about 8 inches under the surface of the water for improved body position. Concentrate on swimming in the front quadrant and keep a long, streamlined body line.

You can progress to simply exchanging hands in the "passing zone" extended in front. We call this the "Ear Catch-Up" Drill, wherein you begin your pull as your opposite arm passes by your ear near the completion of the recovery.

Fingertip Drag Drill
This drill is swimming normal Freestyle while dragging your fingertips along the surface of the water on the recovery. Focus on a high elbow recovery, which ensures proper hand and elbow position at your hand entry. You should also check your body position during this drill, focusing on good side-to-side rotation

Gallop Drill
This is the same as the 6-Count Drill above, but you take three strokes as you switch from side to side. Focus on long strokes and quick hips in these three strokes, completely rotating from one side to the other. Maintain great body position while kicking on your side!

Single Arm (R, L) Drill
Preferred: With the opposite (nonworking arm) at your side. Breathe to the side of the nonworking arm. The secret to success with this drill is to complete your breath before stroking. Concentrate on the catch, initiating body rotation with the core body muscles. Take this drill slowly: technique is more important than speed.

Rhythm Drill
Single Arm freestyle with opposite arm at your side (see description above), executing 2 right arms and then 2 left arms. This takes some practice, but may very well become your favorite freestyle drill once you master it. Focus on rhythm and timing from the hips. Remember to take your breath with an arm extended out front (on the opposite side of the extended arm). If you swim this drill easily and well, your technique is close to perfect.

Open Water Swimming Drills
Sighting Drill: Swim normal freestyle. On every 5th stroke, raise your head straight forward and "sight" on an object off in the distance. You can place a target object or sight something already in place, i.e.: a tree. After sighting the object, lower your head back into normal position. Practice maintaining a balanced stroke rhythm and rotation while clearly seeing the target object.

Blind Swimming: Swim normal freestyle with your eyes completely closed. On every 5th stroke, raise your head straight forward and "sight" on an object off in the distance (above). Make sure you are maintaining a straight path down the pool. You can do this drill swimming side-by-side with your lane mates to reinforce swimming in a straight path.

Monday, July 19, 2010

071910.....or a day of firsts....

Goals: AM swim stroks drills, lunchtime core work, PM 10 mile ride, eat healthy.

Results: 21.6 mile ride in 1:31

Diet setbacks: 1 junior whopper w/o mayo, buckeyes

Thoughts: So.....I usually wait until first thing in the morning to I update, but I am VERY excited tonight. It may not be big news, but I am happy. As my title suggests I had a night of firsts. First time going on a real group road ride, first time drafting, and first time NOT being the last guy the ENTIRE ride.

When I re-arranged my training schedule I worked in my long ride on Monday. I learned last week that there is a group ride that leaves from the corner by my house on Monday nights. I figure I will do the group ride and it will more than likely get more miles in than I need and if not I will just ride a little longer. Check my goals, I wanted to ride 10 and I rode 21. For the first few miles I was last and darn near getting dropped, then after a few miles I passed another rider. A few minutes after I passed him he was so far behind me I could no longer see him, the group took a turn so I waited at the corner for him. Then for the next couple of miles we took turns passing each other. I left the corner a few seconds before he got there and he caught up and drafted off my wheel. I didn't realize he was there and when he started talking to me I yelled some expletives and did a double take. I apologized and told him he scared the crap out of me, I'm used to riding alone.



A few miles later while me and the other guy (on a custom bike btw) were passing each other, there came a point where I was struggling but just behind group. The guy leading the group coasted back to me and told me that he has been racing for 20 years and asked me if he could give some tips. He then told me how to draft, he put a hand on my back and pushed me into the right position off the tire in front of me. He then gave me some suggestions on shifting, not when to shift but how to use the down tube shifter (haven't been able to change them yet, can't get the right gear combo), and how to pedal better. He even showed me some drills. I actually knew what he was telling me about pedaling, but I always thought I was doing it. I guess not, but it was helpful. The next few miles flew by. They were super easy, I think it was the combination of not only the drafting, but the concentrating on drafting. If I am watching someone's tire (or tyre if you like) and thinking about staying on it and keeping up with them, the size of the hill in front of me is not on my mind. Around the 12th mile the group stopped to wait on the last man, NOT ME!! Leader guy made me get off my bike and raised my seat about 6 inches, put me back on it and then fine tuned. After this it felt very comfortable. By the end of the ride I was in the front three of the pack. My 10 mile loop usually takes me about an hour and in 1:30 I rode twice that (including part of that loop).  I like group rides, not only do I learn but I think it pushes me to keep up and I go faster then when I'm alone.

As for the rest of the day, I wasn't feeling well before the ride so I cheated and ate the burger thinking it would be decent fuel. It worked! May have not been good for me, but it was fuel. also on the diet side, it only took us a week to eat 3lbs of gummy bears, so while I was on my ride CB and her "brother" decided to make buckeyes (chocolate covered peanut butter balls). THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED IN THE HOUSE! No special reason, her brother just showed up with the ingredients and a bottle of wine because he wanted to bake, drink, and listen to show tunes while they gossiped together.

In terms of the missed workouts, they are not part of my tri schedule just extras so I will let the swimming go and make up the core workout tomorrow.

071910

Goals: AM LSD RUN, eat healthy

Results: 6 miles 1:06.

Diet setbacks: 1 slice of left over pizza.

Thoughts: Woke up early to beat the heat on my run this morning. It was still hot, well really more humid. I was generally disappointed with my time, but I usually am. 11 minute miles just are not good enough to satisfy me. Although one thing that I have noticed is as I increase my distance shorter distances feel like cake. The first 3 miles flew by. I also found it interesting that the second half of my run was faster by 2 minutes. I would think as fatigue sets in I would get slower, but in this case I was wrong.

Last night I sat down and re-wrote my race calender because windows ate my original. I tried to remember the majority of the races I had, but I am not sure I found them all again. They are mostly local charity runs but as always there is some strategy. My September race is supposed to be a certified course and very flat and fast, I am hoping the hilly 3 mile loop I practice on will come to my benefit and I will beat my PR and accomplish one of my 2010 goals. I also start with 5k's and work into 10k's by late fall. I am doing this because it is my plan to register for the Charleston, SC Half marathon in January. I want to do this race as a mid-winter excuse to get out of town and to build my stamina in hopes of completing a HIM next year. I would like to find one or two more sprint tri's to add in to my calendar. As my first one's I would like to find something small and local, but close to standard length. I will settle for Try-a-tri events if I can find some of those.

I am already thinking about next year's calender. the more and more I think about it, the less I want to do sprints and the more I want to do something longer. I discussed a few days ago what i read about concerns of not being fast enough and endurance comes easier that speed to me. I found a HIM training plan and it even suggested doing some shorter races earlier in the season in place of the long workout or brick workout on the plan. That got me thinking about my goals for next year. It was my plan to start next March/April as I had planned to this year and compete in one race a month for an entire series. As I re-think this, what I may do is start out with sprint, move to olympic distance and have the goal for my season to finish with a HIM. I have a lot more time to think this over and need to get myself up to the minimum distances for the training plan that I found. This may change my focus for the fall to getting my endurance up to begin that training plan next year. Friday when i had the evening to myself I also tried to contact some of the local tri clubs and coaches but none have responded back yet, but there were two races in the are this weekend.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Personality types

This evening as part of my much anticipated date (pizza) we watched the movie Dear John (we also watched shutter island, luckily).  There was something I thought was weird was that the male protagonist was an awkward, shy and quiet guy, but he was also supposed to be a US Army Green Beret. This is a career that I would expect to be type A personalities, which he was not. I started doing some research on this personality typing and thinking about my personal experiences. I take part in technical rescue, fire fighting, and law enforcement special operations. All of these are FILLED with type A personalities. I have noticed that endurance sports also seemed to be filled with type A personalities per my experiences and assumptions about my blogger buddies.

This made me think about the Myers Briggs Type Indicator system. This is a test I have to taken 3 times in my life typing my personality in order to identify how I work and who I work best with. This system has a combination of 16 different personality types,  created a combination of 4 fields: Extraversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs.iNtution, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving. I had to take a long test scored and explained by a trained moderator, there is 4 question version here.

I am would like to KNOW has anyone else taken this and if so please let me know your type.

I am an INTJ, this is known as the scientist. Below is a description of the type and I have bolded the parts I know to be true about myself. The part in red my wife says is true, but I'm not sure it is.

The Scientist
(Introverted Intuition with Extraverted Thinking)
As an INTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via your intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things rationally and logically.

INTJs live in the world of ideas and strategic planning. They value intelligence, knowledge, and competence, and typically have high standards in these regards, which they continuously strive to fulfill. To a somewhat lesser extent, they have similar expectations of others.

With Introverted Intuition dominating their personality, INTJs focus their energy on observing the world, and generating ideas and possibilities. Their mind constantly gathers information and makes associations about it. They are tremendously insightful and usually are very quick to understand new ideas. However, their primary interest is not understanding a concept, but rather applying that concept in a useful way. Unlike the INTP, they do not follow an idea as far as they possibly can, seeking only to understand it fully. INTJs are driven to come to conclusions about ideas. Their need for closure and organization usually requires that they take some action.


INTJ's tremendous value and need for systems and organization, combined with their natural insightfulness, makes them excellent scientists. An INTJ scientist gives a gift to society by putting their ideas into a useful form for others to follow. It is not easy for the INTJ to express their internal images, insights, and abstractions. The internal form of the INTJ's thoughts and concepts is highly individualized, and is not readily translatable into a form that others will understand. However, the INTJ is driven to translate their ideas into a plan or system that is usually readily explainable, rather than to do a direct translation of their thoughts. They usually don't see the value of a direct transaction, and will also have difficulty expressing their ideas, which are non-linear. However, their extreme respect of knowledge and intelligence will motivate them to explain themselves to another person who they feel is deserving of the effort.

INTJs are natural leaders, although they usually choose to remain in the background until they see a real need to take over the lead. When they are in leadership roles, they are quite effective, because they are able to objectively see the reality of a situation, and are adaptable enough to change things which aren't working well. They are the supreme strategists - always scanning available ideas and concepts and weighing them against their current strategy, to plan for every conceivable contingency.

INTJs spend a lot of time inside their own minds, and may have little interest in the other people's thoughts or feelings. Unless their Feeling side is developed, they may have problems giving other people the level of intimacy that is needed. Unless their Sensing side is developed, they may have a tendency to ignore details which are necessary for implementing their ideas.
The INTJ's interest in dealing with the world is to make decisions, express judgments, and put everything that they encounter into an understandable and rational system. Consequently, they are quick to express judgments. Often they have very evolved intuitions, and are convinced that they are right about things. Unless they complement their intuitive understanding with a well-developed ability to express their insights, they may find themselves frequently misunderstood. In these cases, INTJs tend to blame misunderstandings on the limitations of the other party, rather than on their own difficulty in expressing themselves. This tendency may cause the INTJ to dismiss others input too quickly, and to become generally arrogant and elitist.

INTJs are ambitious, self-confident, deliberate, long-range thinkers. Many INTJs end up in engineering or scientific pursuits, although some find enough challenge within the business world in areas which involve organizing and strategic planning. They dislike messiness and inefficiency, and anything that is muddled or unclear. They value clarity and efficiency, and will put enormous amounts of energy and time into consolidating their insights into structured patterns.

Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ. They may see them as aloof and reserved. Indeed, the INTJ is not overly demonstrative of their affections, and is likely to not give as much praise or positive support as others may need or desire. That doesn't mean that he or she doesn't truly have affection or regard for others, they simply do not typically feel the need to express it. Others may falsely perceive the INTJ as being rigid and set in their ways. Nothing could be further from the truth, because the INTJ is committed to always finding the objective best strategy to implement their ideas. The INTJ is usually quite open to hearing an alternative way of doing something.

INTJs need to remember to express themselves sufficiently, so as to avoid difficulties with people misunderstandings. In the absence of properly developing their communication abilities, they may become abrupt and short with people, and isolationists.

INTJs have a tremendous amount of ability to accomplish great things. They have insight into the Big Picture, and are driven to synthesize their concepts into solid plans of action. Their reasoning skills gives them the means to accomplish that. INTJs are most always highly competent people, and will not have a problem meeting their career or education goals. They have the capability to make great strides in these arenas. On a personal level, the INTJ who practices tolerances and puts effort into effectively communicating their insights to others has everything in his or her power to lead a rich and rewarding life.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

My First Blog Award- The Versatile Blogger

Today was a good day for training and I got a blog award.



I received the award from Patrick at Responsibility 199.

I was informed that the rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person giving the award
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs.
4. Let your nominees know about the award.

1- Let me thank Patrick for the recognition.

2- 7 things about me, this is gonna be tough and I have been thinking about it all day. It's tough because I tend to TMI on here and it's hard to think about things I haven't said before.
  • I grew up with 3 evil sisters and my mom. I can cook, clean and sew. I always blame it on being surrounded by estrogen, but none of my sisters can do any of those things. I have my own sewing machine and think quilting is cool.
  • One of the many college jobs I had was as a stitcher in a costume shop for the university theater department. When they couldn't pay me anymore I agreed to continue to work for drawing lessons. I still can't draw.
  • I was told by my high school guidance counselor that I wasn't suited for higher education and that she saw a help wanted sign at the grocery store that morning I should go check on.
  • I have 5 documented learning disabilities. (hope that explains some of the mistakes in my writing, sometime I can't see them)
  • I completed a traditional two-year master's program (on campus) in 13 months.
  • I have yet to find a job at education level in my field (i.e. town administrator, prison warden, grant writer, policy analyst)
  • I have always wanted to serve our country in the armed forces but weight and asthma ruled me out. If I get my weight down I still may attempt to enlist as a reservist. (U.S. Coast Guard has an enlistment program for experienced professionals that only requires a 2 week basic training, that would limit my time away from work)
Lastly, I am going to cheat and only nominated 5 people. I would have to nominate everyone I know to get 15 and I have seen others get this award with the rule of nominating 5 in the past.  By strategy for the selection will be to pick the last few I looked at because otherwise I will feel like I'm leaving someone out.
In no order:

Fit, Fat, and Back
I am Boring
Tri Diesel
cody-the-clydsdale
Dangle the Carrot
Endurance Athlete Project

BTW- I know it's 6, see I can't leave people off, this is hard.

Now...time for my daily accountability record

Today blew by with a lot to do at work. I ate pretty healthy, but had 20 wings for dinner. I decided that in the future I will order them without sauce and that should make them healthier.

For my bike ride I wanted to find a place that was flat so I could put in a fast workout in the big ring (similar to race day I hope), I have not been able to find anywhere flat thus far so I called my lbs. They laughed at me and told me to move somewhere else. Again, why I am boycotting that bike shop. They had a chance to redeem themselves and failed miserably. My best solution for a flat ride was to ride 8 loops around the 1 mile circle in my neighborhood. .7 mile is flat or slightly downhill with a .3 climb (my block). On the fastest portion I topped out at 24mph, I completed the 8 miles in 35:01 and did it all in the big ring. I even did the climb in the big ring. Today I even managed to climb faster than usual averaging between 8-10mph, with my max climbing speed previously at 6mph (I think). Afterwards I completed a core workout week 3, day two of the 100 push up challenge.

Tomorrow is my rest day and I am looking forward to it. for the last 5 days I have been stuck at 220 lbs. Although I am happy I got off all the weight I put on during the escape, it is frustrating because it is 1 pound from my next benchmark and I just can't get there. Tomorrow I am going to have a half free day as I have a date to rent a movie and eat pizza with my wife. Hopefully the increased calories will be good for my metabolism. Sunday morning is my long run, so I am not worried about it too much.

I hope everyone has a safe weekend with their families and I am sending positive thoughts to anyone racing.

Friday, July 16, 2010

071510

Goals: am swim, speed work run, eat healthy

Results: PM 200m swim and 200m stroke drills in 12 minutes, 5 mile run with 3x800m repeats,

Diet setbacks: overindulged on macaroni with dinner and had one two handfuls of gummy bears. however, I feel that I may have done enough exercise to warrant these transgressions today. Not as a reward but as fuel for the speed work.

Thoughts: Is it sad that I look forward to leaving work so go train? This week has been a good change for me and I am very thankful for my wife who had dinner ready everyday this week when I got home, this keeps me from skipping workouts due to lack of time, and on top of it all she has gone to the gym all but one day this week too. Although dinner being ready when I get home helps me be able to turn around and workout, when she goes back to school (she's a kindergarten teacher) I would rather that she continue to workout. I am willing to sacrifice meals on the table when I walk in the door, to see her continue these healthy habits. I am excited for her.

This morning I overslept and missed my AM swim. I made it up this afternoon before I ran. My 200m still felt awkward, I almost felt like I was running out of air and my legs weren't working. This is not how I felt a few weeks ago. I did some stroke drills and then I felt better. I would like to work in stroke drill before my main set, but every time I try this I end up not doing my mine set as well.

The run went great despite a few issues. Coming up at 1 mile I looked at my watch and realized I was on my fastest mile since high school (I did run a 6 minute mile in 11th grade for an Air Force PFT). This didn't make a lot of sense considering this mile was my warm up. The watch was reading 7:50 and I was about 150m from the end. I thought really hard and realized I made a turn a block early and had shorted my course. I had only ran about .8 of a mile. Sad. At the 1 mile mark I did my first 800m interval and forgot all about it until I reached the 5k mark and realized that due to the intervals I was getting ready to complete my fastest 5k ever! Then I remembered the premature turn on the first mile. Sad again. Finished the 5 miles including a trot of a warm up and cool down in 54:28. Good day!  I am having one issue, for the last two weeks I have been running without socks in order to prepare my feet for my tri-4-fun, I am going to forgo socks to speed the transition. I put bodyglide on the tongue and heel and baby powdered in the shoe. I usually get blisters on my heel and have not gotten any. However I get several blisters on each foot on the inside edge, near the ball. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this? I am going to make sure I have socks on for long runs from now on. I am looking forward to rewarding myself for this event with a new pair of running shoes next month. This pair now has 326 miles and they will be retired to my gym locker at work. Then I will have no excuse to skip workouts with a pair of shoes at both locals.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Bored and Obsessed

I have been at work for several hours now and can not seem to concentrate. My mind only wants to think about training, racing, race calender, transitions, training, reading blogs, blogging about training, training, oh and how cool I think Endurance Athlete Project is. Did I mention training? I naturally levitate toward the outdoors and an active lifestyle so this office thing is hard for me. I would rather be a mountain guide, a pro athlete, or ideally a millionaire so I can do both of the above things but not need to worry about the paycheck, just the love of it.

After thinking about last night's transition clinic and watching you tube videos, in my mind I have how I want to set up my area. See my graphic illustration below.




The transition area for my Tri-4-fun will be standard elementary school bike racks, no order. First come first serve. I plan to have my bike pointed out. shoes laid in order of transition on my towel with my jersey between my bike shoes. Theoretically.....Run up to T1 step up on towel, dry feet, step into shoes, bend down secure Velcro and grab jersey. Put jersey on while turning toward bike. Grab bike, step out sliding helmet and glasses on. I am not sure I need gloves for a short course but if I decide tow ear them I will pre-place them in the pocket of my jersey.

Upon reaching T2, I can step out of my shoes, throw my helmet in the bag while racking my bike. Slide on running shoes, and go.

Upon my finish (under 1:40 I hope) roll everything up in my towel and toss in bag. Pick up bag, place in car, go get man food!

THOUGHTS?? ADVICE??

I am thinking like a SCUBA diver, we have a saying: plan your dive, dive your plan. In this case: plan my race, race my plan. However, it strikes me that there may be some elements similar to fighting in triathlons. When I used to compete in martial arts we always had a strategy for warming up and a strategy for the match. however, I used to impress upon my students and teammates that despite training, inevitably once you get punched in the face your plan goes out the window.

Not that I expect to get punched in the face, but I am sure that once adrenaline and fatigue are battling, I won't remember my plan. I will remember the man food part though.

On another note, I have been doing a lot of reading lately and am re-thinking next year's race season. I had planned to do a series of sprint distance races, but I was reading about how that is really better suited for those with a lot of fast twitch muscle. I have never really been able to be very fast, however I have had a history of being good at building endurance (of course I know even for longer events I need both). So I thought to myself that I might splint my time between the sprints and the olympic distance races in that same race series. Today, I read an interview with Lance ( I know him like that, no need for a last name where he spoke about how he did not want to compete in the olympic distance because of the speed some of those athletes can move. This makes me think is olympic too fast for me too. Of course, I am not racing in the elite wave, and I do not by any means plan to win as an age grouper. However, I do want to at least be competitive even if only as a clydesdale. If I compete in 6 races and DFL in all 6 it won't be very encouraging for me to continue. It may be closer to depressing.

I guess it is about time to get back to work or take lunch. I hope my boss isn't a lurking follower just to see if I post at work.

071410

Goals: Swim, cycle, core workout, eat healthy

Results:  400m swim, 6 mile hill workout in 30 minutes, 11 mile ride in 52 minutes, week three, day one of 100 push up challenge and 200 sit up challenge.

Diet Setbacks: none...except a reward.

Thoughts: 400m swim did not go well. The week and a half out of the pool has apparently killed the muscle memory of my form. Need more work before next week. Afterwards I used the steep long hill on my road to do a loop and practice climbing. It was hot but decent.

I took the day off today, in part to make up for sleep I am behind on. Also, because there was a ttransition clinic at the Y tonight and it is my late night in the office. I got to the clinic and there were three of us and the instructor. The other two were this superfit couple that were also at the swim clinic I attended last month. When I got there, the teacher said he planned for us to do a "short" group ride and then talk about transitions. We rode the 10+ mile local tri course. This was my first ever group road ride. I was struggling, It seemed like everyone else was going the same speed as me but their cadences were much lower. I was counting. Around mile 7 I got dropped during a climb as I was trying to reach down and find my shifter. one I got everything straight and I finished the climb, put it in the big ring and hammered until I caught them around mile 8.4. Then I went to change gears and could not get the chain off the big ring, I got dropped again!

After we got back he talked to us about transition but it turns out the guy is very experienced but has only done triathlons as a relay participant and never had a transition. he told us about how to transition by what he has learned by watching others. I am glad I have read articles, watched youtube, and picked the brains of you bloggers.

The one thing that he mentioned that I thought was interesting was that he had seen other put all of their gear upside down in a bucket so that they could turn the bucket upside down it would be stacked in order to put it on, and then they could sit on the bucket while they put on their shoes. Has anyone see this before?

food-wise it has been a very clean day just fruits, veggies, and chicken breasts. However, I weighed myself after returning from my workout and had lat over 2 pounds since morning. Since I had worked so hard (already drank over 120oz of water) I rewarded myself with my last slice of key lime pie.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

071310

Goals: AM Swim, PM recovery run, eat healthy.

Results: 50m warm, 4 x 25m repeats, and 50m cool, 2 mile run in 19:00.

Diet Setbacks:  Two strawberry cake donuts.

Thoughts:  First, the food. Everything else I ate was great- salmon, mixed veggies, yogurt. However those donuts :(. The social worker from my office brought some for a meeting in her department, since we are work-friends and used to workout together everyday she stopped by my office on her way to the meeting to offer me one. I have had blueberry cake before, but I have never seen strawberry cake!! Willpower what willpower? Later I went to the break room to get my water bottle from the fridge and she had placed the leftover donuts on the table. There was only one left, the other strawberry cake donut. It would be mean to leave it there by itself, right? I'd better rescue it! The effects of healthy eating sat in and I felt sluggish and bloated the rest of the day.

I was short on time this morning due to oversleeping, but wanted to get in the workout so I followed it as prescribed. I followed the distance but decided I would make the most of it and do the 25m repeats as sprints. Ideally, I believe this plan was developed to get tri-wanna bees like me in the pool for the first time so it has short repeats with rests. My post dinner run started out slow as I stayed in my recovery/lsd range and completed my first mile in 09:45 then I decided to time myself in my tempo/interval range. This yielded a 09:15 mile and feeling like I had pushed myself (not too hard), but so much for recovery. No run tomorrow. BTW- I envy people like Emz that can run over 26 miles all at a pace under 8 minutes. I'll get there one day, but I will be be happier the day I complete 1 mile in under 8 minutes.

Overall, although I pushed myself today it was a good day. I have began thinking about the use of recovery drinks and sports gels. Never really used either before but am going to start researching them.

Planning my rewards

I was reading Patrick's blog (good stuff- he's a man on a mission, and didn't leave his sense of humor at home when he set out on that mission) and he lists a planned set of rewards for reaching his goals. After little thought I determined this is a great concept.

I thought about how I chose triathlons as a way of staying motivated during training. Why just exercise, I am naturally competitive even with myself so I set a goal of triathlons for why I am exercising! With this in mind, why wouldn't I reward myself for reaching my goals? I have set benchmarks for reaching weight loss goals. It only counts if I stay three consecutive days at or below the benchmarks. I may think about rewards for my PR goals later.


219 new cycling socks. I like fun ones.

215 running socks.

210 race belt or fuel belt.

205 transition bag.

199 NY Yankee's Jersey.

195 Ryders or Oakleys with interchangeable lenses, preferably polarized.

190 Electric shooting ear protection.

186 tsali or a ski resort for a mtb trip.

180 new pistol or shooting class.

This is my tentative list and I may change it later. I tried to stick mostly to items in my price range except the new pistol. I also feel like I need another camping trip or vacation worked in their somewhere. Much like all things I do there is a strategy. The first few items are to encourage me to continue exercising/competing. I assume that by 199 lbs I will be a shirt size smaller and therefore will reward myself with my first piece of new clothing in forever and its something I have wanted for a while. The glasses will be for cycling, again encouraging me to get out. The hearing protection or "ears" as we call them on the range will be a build up for my last goal (I was going to call them something else but decided to call them "build up" to keep this PG) Tsali National Recreation Area will be a combo MTB/camping trip. TSALI is a mecca for mtb'ers and the last time I was there I was rewarding myself for defending my thesis (high pass btw). Fitting that I get to my target weight and reward myself with a trip into the woods. If at that moment in time a weekend trip is not in my budget I will take a day trip to a ski resort for downhill mtbing or snowboarding if it is winter by then. Lastly, the new pistol is something I have wanted for years and I it will be used to train to make myself a better tactical operator. I have qualified at the expert level with my agency the last 3 years in a row, but I can always get better. I doubt anyone will notice, but in my original goals I set for myself 186 lbs was my target weight, it still is but since I fluctuate by 5 pound on a regular basis getting to 180 for three days should let me fluctuate to under 186.........and there we go!

Now,I have posted them here for all to see in hopes that it will keep me motivated and my blogger buddies will keep me honest.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

071210...No really this time.

Goals: AM swim, lunchtime core workout, PM Speed work, eat healthy.

Results: lunchtime- week two, day three of 100 push up and 200 sit up challenge, bench press, squats. PM- 3 mile tempo run in 30 minutes, plus one mile each of warm up and cool down making the run total 55:00 even.

Diet setbacks: 1 large handful of haribo gummy bears in the middle of the night.

Thoughts: Diet went well today. No macronutrient count but my diet consisted of Atkins shake, Atkins snack bar, steak salad (still have left over london broil), banana, and meatballs over ziti. As a rule, I do not like to eat a lot of pasta because of the high amount of carbs but I figured I had consumed very few carbs for the day so it would be ok. Once my weight is down I will probably up my carb and calorie intake mor inline with athletic training but I never want to get it as high again as it was when I was a high school athlete because it led to me getting into the habit of eating a lot and then getting fat when I'm not active.

If you take another look at my goals for the day you will see AM swim listed. This morning I woke up got ready to walk over to the pool (only 3 house and a church separate me from my Y) and then realized it is not swimming day! So I scrapped the swim and went back to sleep, I need it anyways. Today's core workout was tough. My push ups had poor form and I could barely BP 135. I think yesterdays workouts have left me a little tired/sore. Lastly for the day, I completed my run on the treadmill at the Y. I typically do my speedwork on the treadmill (no choice today with the thunderstorm) because I still can't pace myself very well running outside, at least in terms of doing runs at specific speeds. I can generally hold the same pace for an entire run, but never know what that pace is until I get home and get the calculator out. I want one of the GPS watched like the forerunner. The ran hurt but I got it done. Glad to do a easy recovery run tomorrow. Although working on the treadmill gets the workout in, this time actually at a faster pace than specified, there are still two things I do not like about a treadmill. First, my arms get tired and I am prone to hang them over the top of the display. I don't have this issue running outside, my ARMS never feel tired. Secondly, I feel like being on a treadmill too often shortens my stride. I don't know this to be true, but that's how I feel. I have fast turn over but a short stride, when I ran track in high school I had a abnormally long stride.

Well that's it for the day and I am looking forward very much to sleep tonight.

Monday, July 12, 2010

071110


Goals: LSD run, test run on tri course, and eat healthy.

Results: 5 mile run in 55:21, 1 lap ride and 1 lap run brick around triathlon course.

Diet setbacks: gummy bears!!

Today feel like a great training day. I started off with my morning LSD and it didn't kill me. After lunch I made an hour drive to Winston Salem, NC to recon the course I will be NON-competing on Sunday after next.  I say non-competing because it is a non-competitive Tri-4-fun. I stumbled over the info for it a few weeks back and it seems like a good test of my training. Am I a little crazy for going to these measures for a fun race? The bike course is 10 miles- from t1 .5 to the loop, 3 mile loop and .5 miles back to transition. I rode 1 lap around the loop in 14 minutes (including the out and back from transition). I felt slow but I was cycling with a map in my hand looking for the turns. There were only about 1.5 climbs, plus another steep one going back to T2. After 10 miles of riding I have to climb!! WTF The third mile is also mostly downhill and I feel like I could go dangerously fast on it. The rest is flat I feel like I am going to BOOGIE! Today, my legs felt a little burn but I think it had something to do with the run just 4 hours earlier.

The run section seemed entirely up hill and I felt awful about it as I watched by clock. It took me 14 minutes to complete 1 lap (3 laps is to be a 5k) even with keeping my HR at 165 bpm (tempo run zone for me). My legs were dying, but I don't know if this was the right direction for the course. If it is the other direction around the loop it may be easier. I felt much better about my time when I got home to my maps and the loop was 1.26 miles. There must be a short cut some where I don't know about. My focus for this week will be cycle/run bricks. I may also try to go back this Sunday and complete 2 loops of each, but this will involve changing the day of my long run.

Several times through the day I felt myself crashing and reached for the 5lb bag of hasbro gummy bears CB brought back from her mission trip. Other than that, it was a good eating day- eggs, tuna, veggie tray, corn, grilled steak, grilled chicken and salad. I am 1 lb from by next weight benchmark and have been stuck at a platuea for months. I resisted my key lime pie again but may reward myself after I make up my speed work workout Monday.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

071010

Goals: Rest, hydrate, eat healthy, get in a workout if feasible.

Results: 7ish hours of sleep, healthy food, 64oz of water, 1.75 mile treadmill run in 15 minutes, 5 mile spin on stationary bike in 10:18, week two, day two, column three of 100 push up challenge and 200 sit up challenge, 3 sets bench press, 3 sets squat, and 2 mock rope climbs.

Diet setbacks:  1,311 calories, 63g fat, 90g carbs, 82g protien

Thoughts: took the time at work to get in a workout. The treadmill is rickety but it runs. The stationary bike is worse, but I maintained a 120 rpm for the workout and made it to 180rpm on a 30 second sprint. I decided today would be the day I shot for my bench press goal, I thought I would warm up with 185 but could only get it half way down before I got nervous. I did three half reps with this and then did two more sets of wide grip bench press with 135. I think I can conquer this goal soon but think I have to get over the mental barrier more than the physical.  Did 210lbs squats and the mock rope climb were done by hanging a towel over the pull up bar and doing pull ups with one hand gripped higher than ever.

Food-wise, I am not happy with how high my fat and carb intake were but I ate very well. Special K, snack bars,two salads, yogurt, london broil, and half a corn cob today. I feel GREAT!! I really want a slice of key lime pie but I am going to resist.

Best of all I went to check on my garden, as it had been neglected for the last 12 days, and found 6 cucumbers that were ready. One of them may actually be a little past ripe. IT'S THE HUGE ONE!!  And as I pulled weeds I found a carrot. I forgot I planted carrots and have been pulling them for months thinking they were weeds. I also found out that although I have been watering the garden for days there was a kink in my soaker hose and no water was actually getting to my plants.


Training Questions

After I found a training program that was detailed enough for my liking I read through ti but had questions.
The author of the plan said that we could email him with any questions and I did so on 06/29-06/30 while I was in the movie theater waiting to watch that HORRIBLE vampire, werewolf, over dramatic teenage love movie. I have not had a response but I am hoping some of you experienced triathletes, distance runners, and cross trainers may read this and have some insight or be able to share this with people who may.

The meat of the email is below:
Greetings. I am preparing to begin the 10 week sprint beginner program. Inside, it said email if I have questions and I have 3 so I hope you can lend advice.


First, I am on my last week of the 16 week sprint beginner program from beginnertriathlete.com and can swim 400m freestyle non-stop (10 minutes) and over an hour if I vary strokes. Should I start your plan as prescribed(200m) or can you recommend a varied base distance.

Secondly, I read through the plan now since I'm beginning next week and decided to start using my heart rate monitor for my runs now. To stay in my target zone I have to shuffle at a 12 minute mile during a short run. For my long slow distance workout Sunday without the monitor I ran 6 miles at 10 minute miles so my results today in my zone concerned me. With this in mind should I stay in the prescribed zones or alter them? Thank you for your help, hope it doesn't seem like I'm looking for a coach, I'm just trying to figure out how to proceed since I'm not coming straight off the couch.


Third.......not important for the blog......
 
NOTE: I found another article on heart rate zones and completed an assessment. I found that my MHR on running a fast pace for a prolonged time at a 7 degree incline (via treadmill) was 206 bpm. I used a provided formula taking that number subtracting my resting hr (72) and finding my zones. I set my zones in my HRM and went for a run. The only problem is that I can't figure out how to change the zone I want to train within in my monitor. I have a 2005 polar electro and can not find the user manual online. I set zones for LSD, tempo, and intervals/ sprints.
 
Can you lend any advise on these topics? Until then it is my lunch break and I am off to workout.

Friday, July 9, 2010

It's over now.

Semi-good news- The search has been called off.

Bad news- Bad guy still at large.

After searching into the early hours of the morning I was relieved and told I could have Friday off from the search in order to catch up on my regular duties. I planned a lunch time core workout, but decided instead to take off a few hours early and go pick up my wife's birthday present and on the way out of the prison I was informed the search is over. Hard to believe that this all started on her birthday and Although I had picked out her present I never had the chance to go get it. She has been out of town this week on a mission trip so I have not had to feel guilty about not giving it to her. On the other hand, not having her here has made household stuff suck since I have been working nights for crazy-long shifts.

After picking up her gift (she reads this sometimes so I'm not saying what it is on purpose), I decided to go to the store and pick up ingredients for steak and chicken satays, grilled corn, salad, and Indonesian relish. I love to grill and I felt like making fancy food (thanks Molly) even if it is just for me. The meat needed to marinate for 20 minutes and the skewers needed to soak for an hour. In my mind this is a great time for a long swim and maybe a short ride. This was all squashed when I walked out of the store into a thunderstorm...AKA....no grilling in the rain (although I have grilled in snow), pool closed with thunder, and don't want to get bike wet. FRIED CHICKEN AND A NAP IT IS. I guess with the news of the search being called off, my high alert wore off and all the sleep deprivation from the last two weeks hit me. I AM EXHAUSTED!

This week I was to start my new training plan. I found the beginner sprint plan from tri-newbies. I liked this plan because it gave more direction than the plan from beginner triathlete that I just completed. The only thing I don't like about this plan is that it starts at more of a couch potato level than beginner, including starting with a run/walk, and the swims only starts at 200. I am substituting a 5 mile race running plan from runner's world smart coach and am thinking about how I may alter the swims. Maybe, I will use the short swims for speed work and add a long swim sometime in the week. Tomorrow and Sunday I am planning to do two-a-days and make up a few of the workouts, but more importantly is for me eat healthy, get rest, and hydrate.  I am thankful tomorrow is a new day..........

Just for fun, here are some pictures from this week. The dark one is the prison at night.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

...and the saga continues...

9th day on the escape and 12th day of work straight. Ranging between 13 and 16 hours a day. Up until today I have been on the night shift. Yesterday, Wednesday, and they told me to take the night off and report back on Thursday night. Remembering the joys of 3rd shift I knew not to go to bed and mess my sleep cycle up ruining me for the next day. So I planned a days worth of activities like cleaning house, swim, core work, but first yard work because I know the mid day sun will keep me awake. After a few hours I was called and told not to report just remain on standby as the search will be called off Thursday afternoon. Now I have to regroup. I need to drop what I'm doing and regroup to go back on a normal schedule. No time now to swim. By bed time I was too tired for my core workout.
Today, set my alarm for an am swim and slept through the alarm for an hour, just enough time to shower and make it to work. weighed myself and noted I have gained 10lbs, heaviest since before the beginning of the year. Brought my gym bag to make a lunch workout. 2 hours into the day, I get called that there was a sighting of the inmate and I need to gear up. I have been on patrol on the same 2 miles of road ever since.

I sure hate when real life gets in the way of the things I want to do. I was planning to do a tri 4 fun at the end of July and this an obstacle for my Sunday brick I was going to do at the race site. And I started a new training plan (actually 2 but more on that later) ad haven't got a full workout yet. Everything is running together but I remember 1 swim, 1 ride, 1 hour max assessment and 1 mile run. On top of it all I missed by bike fitting! On a positive not I was able to put together a race schedule for the rest of the year. 9916 clear.
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Friday, July 2, 2010

070110

Goals: mid-day swim, SLEEP

Results: bite me

Diet setbacks: everything that went in my mouth.

Hallucinations: still looking for the inmate. After 25 hours on duty command told me to take 8 hours off and be back. I took 5 hours to sleep and got up early to swim. Despite that its training, I have started to enjoy it. Today was my long swim day and I thought it would be relaxing after yesterday. I should have called first. When I walked into the pool area the lap pool, mind you separate from open swim pull), was full of inflatable water slides and children. So I turned around and went home grumbling about how I could still be sleeping.
All I have had to eat is hamburgers, donuts, and soda. I meant to pack a salad but I forgot. I had gotten my weight down to 220 on sunday, monday and tuesday but I feel like I am bloated back up to about 226 when I get to 219 I am going to reward myself. I have been wanting to post about that for a few days anyhow.

I can't wait to get relieved and get home and sleep. I might try the swim first if I get relieved early enough.

9816 out.
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Thursday, July 1, 2010

063010

Goals: morning cycle, lunch time core workout, eat healthy.

Results: 60 minute 12 mile ride.

Diet setbacks: about 5 hamburgers, 3 sodas, and fries.

Thoughts: as I write this I am searching for an escaped inmate. I have been searching since 230pm. We have been provided with food but none of it's healthy. I am eating to stay awake at this point. This also cancelled my lunch and therefore no workout. Before work I had a good ride my goal was to ride for 70 minutes. I rode the course and then added an extension in under an hour. I didn't ride for the full 70 minutes because I had no where left to go that would only leave me 10 minutes away. Feeling a lot better averaging 6mph on my climbs. Room to improve but its getting better. My time makes me feel my 2 hour tri goal is obtainable!
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