Monday, February 20, 2012
My last post
Hello everyone! I have been missing for some time from the blogosphere. I have had some changes at work and have also been focusing vast amount of time getting my martial arts school up and running. For that reason, I decided to create a new blog about balancing working multiple jobs and wanting to race. My new blog can be found at bluecollartriathlete.wordpress.com
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Real World Application of Triathlon Training
High volume with the addition of speed work, tempo work, and bricks are the core of most triathlon program. Personally, I also spend a good deal of time, especially during my first season setting up transition and running through the costume changes I need to make. Once I had the hang of it I integrated it into every brick workout that I do.
Yesterday I was able to use these skills in a less than typical manner for the average triathlete. As a member SWAT I maintain proficiency with pistol, shotgun, and the M4 assault rifle. Yesterday was my monthly training day and the afternoon portion of the training was with the M4. We did a standard qualification course shooting 50 rounds into a silhouette from a variety of distances and positions. I scored 100% as did over 3/4ths of my team mates.
Everyone on the team became nervously anxious. This changes things. I drank the cool aid at first and was nervous too. I made a comment about I would be happy if I hit one. Then, just before the whistle sounded I thought about it. I need to run and then shoot; how is this any different from running my bike in and then sliding on shoes, visor, Garmin, and race number belt? With the exception of one involving a high power lethal weapon with a high capacity magazine they are basically the same. They both employee the use of fine motor skills while exhausted. With that realization I decided to just think of it like transition, focus and control my breathing.
I was in the last group to go. Prior to my group 48 others had shot and the high score was 12 out of 15. using my triathlon focus I shot a new high score of 14 out of 15. Making me happy to out shoot the hunters and the military vets in the group (who weren't as happy about it). These group have more experience than I, yet fundamental shooting and knowing how to manage stress turned out to be more valuable. Making it even better was the mocking the ensued. I never said a word about my score, the cadre pointed out to some of the more loud mouthed members of the team (you know those guys in every group) that they were out shot by the team medic!
Yesterday I was able to use these skills in a less than typical manner for the average triathlete. As a member SWAT I maintain proficiency with pistol, shotgun, and the M4 assault rifle. Yesterday was my monthly training day and the afternoon portion of the training was with the M4. We did a standard qualification course shooting 50 rounds into a silhouette from a variety of distances and positions. I scored 100% as did over 3/4ths of my team mates. After this was completed we went on to another drill. For this drill we would be firing at a paper plate from fifty meters. A paper plate is usually used to practice keeping tight grouping or to simulate taking head shots. The distance adds even more difficulty to it. To add to the difficultly we were told that we would not be allowed to shoot until we returned from a 1/2 mile run, up a hilly gravel road and back. This is called a stress course. The purpose was to change our breathing and fatigue level similar to having to shoot when you are involved in a building entry or other line of duty incident. As some one who tracks escapees, it not improbable to have to take a shot after running through the woods after someone.
I was in the last group to go. Prior to my group 48 others had shot and the high score was 12 out of 15. using my triathlon focus I shot a new high score of 14 out of 15. Making me happy to out shoot the hunters and the military vets in the group (who weren't as happy about it). These group have more experience than I, yet fundamental shooting and knowing how to manage stress turned out to be more valuable. Making it even better was the mocking the ensued. I never said a word about my score, the cadre pointed out to some of the more loud mouthed members of the team (you know those guys in every group) that they were out shot by the team medic!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Weeks 2, 3, 4, and 5 of fitness revisions.
I know I fell off a few months ago and its been worse over the month, with one post. It's been tough for the last few weeks but the lack of availability to blog is for the best (so it seems).
A month ago my job changed a little and I it has reduced my stress. New boss, less paperwork. With this change came a change of hours. I know work second shift two days a week- getting home so late has been annoying but I have time to swim in the mornings without having to get up extra early. On top of these work changes I now have been running my own martial arts studio. I have class two days a week in the afternoons, making two more late nights a week.
I am now on the go formally from 8 am until after 9 pm everyday. I am still spending Saturday mornings teaching karate for the non-profit. I spend Sundays, and the hour between bed and when I get home on Tuesdays and Thursdays doing freelance web design. I started with traditional html and css but have learned to do some very cool things in CSS. I have even now officially made money doing it. I got my first check in the mail. I also go duped out of a $500 job I did for someone else.
Staying so busy has led to mixed results with my diet, but I have hit EVERY workout- two per day with Sundays Off (and Thursdays soon)
Week 2 was a fail. I had the new boss, new work schedule and new stress that led me to living on fast food.
Week 3- Success. Good food choices all around.
Week 4 was another fail. This week was busy with PERT (SWAT) and we never pick anywhere healthy to eat when working,
Week 5 was by best success to date. Sunday morning I spent a few hour cooking and boxed lunches and snacks for the week. Eggbeaters for breakfast, boiled egg whites for am snack, grilled chicken and asparagus for lunch, and kale and steak for a pm snack.
In terms of fitness I have been following crossfit endurance strength and running training. In order to get my swim time improved I was advised to work on only 25m intervals. I have seen some improvement getting my 25m time to 24s now to hold that speed over 50m and then to hold it over 100m and so on. I have also increased my core strength, my bench press to 225, and my dead lift to 250.
I have been tracking various metrics with my body and have had interesting results. My weight has come down a few pounds since I started but is close to what it was at the end of the my tri season. Still need to lose about 20 pounds to my goal. On the other hand, I have lost about 2+ inches on my waist and about 2 percent body fat, and have more visible abs. To me these are interesting results.
As a last note I have a question for parents. My martial arts studio started out slow and has gotten worse. I went from two students to one student. The only student in my children's class is an autistic adult. This has lead to me paying the rent mostly out of my own pocket. I have been stepping up my marketing but am trying to get very focused. Parents: If I want to get ads to you about the classes we offer what is the best way?
Secondly: to get the kids to class I have to get parent's interested. What is the best "goal" to advertise- fitness, self defense, bully proofing, fun, discipline, character, or something else?
A month ago my job changed a little and I it has reduced my stress. New boss, less paperwork. With this change came a change of hours. I know work second shift two days a week- getting home so late has been annoying but I have time to swim in the mornings without having to get up extra early. On top of these work changes I now have been running my own martial arts studio. I have class two days a week in the afternoons, making two more late nights a week.
I am now on the go formally from 8 am until after 9 pm everyday. I am still spending Saturday mornings teaching karate for the non-profit. I spend Sundays, and the hour between bed and when I get home on Tuesdays and Thursdays doing freelance web design. I started with traditional html and css but have learned to do some very cool things in CSS. I have even now officially made money doing it. I got my first check in the mail. I also go duped out of a $500 job I did for someone else.
Staying so busy has led to mixed results with my diet, but I have hit EVERY workout- two per day with Sundays Off (and Thursdays soon)
Week 2 was a fail. I had the new boss, new work schedule and new stress that led me to living on fast food.
Week 3- Success. Good food choices all around.
Week 4 was another fail. This week was busy with PERT (SWAT) and we never pick anywhere healthy to eat when working,
Week 5 was by best success to date. Sunday morning I spent a few hour cooking and boxed lunches and snacks for the week. Eggbeaters for breakfast, boiled egg whites for am snack, grilled chicken and asparagus for lunch, and kale and steak for a pm snack.
In terms of fitness I have been following crossfit endurance strength and running training. In order to get my swim time improved I was advised to work on only 25m intervals. I have seen some improvement getting my 25m time to 24s now to hold that speed over 50m and then to hold it over 100m and so on. I have also increased my core strength, my bench press to 225, and my dead lift to 250.
I have been tracking various metrics with my body and have had interesting results. My weight has come down a few pounds since I started but is close to what it was at the end of the my tri season. Still need to lose about 20 pounds to my goal. On the other hand, I have lost about 2+ inches on my waist and about 2 percent body fat, and have more visible abs. To me these are interesting results.
As a last note I have a question for parents. My martial arts studio started out slow and has gotten worse. I went from two students to one student. The only student in my children's class is an autistic adult. This has lead to me paying the rent mostly out of my own pocket. I have been stepping up my marketing but am trying to get very focused. Parents: If I want to get ads to you about the classes we offer what is the best way?
Secondly: to get the kids to class I have to get parent's interested. What is the best "goal" to advertise- fitness, self defense, bully proofing, fun, discipline, character, or something else?
Monday, September 12, 2011
Week One of diet and fitness revisions
Paleo Eating: The first week was a week of questions. I now am unsure of the difference in paleo and primal. Avoiding grains did not seem too hard, but I have eaten my weight in almonds. During the work week I cheated twice, one time I needed something to carry me through Karate class so I ate a handful of multi-grain cheerios and another time I ate some as a late-night snack. I tried to add more veggies in to the diet and found a few I added may not be part of the Paleo scheme- green beans and snap peas. At the start of the week I was 3 pounds over my shame weight and by the end of the first day I dropped 7 pounds, presumably just shedding the junk in my system, the next day I dropped another two and then I dropped small increments the rest of the week. Due to things going on for the weekend, I took an 80-20 aproach to the diet and ate free for the weekend. By the end of the weekend I put 3 pounds back on. Crossfit Endurance: This has been the most interesting. Tuesday I started with my first official CF strength workout. It was tough, but not too hard. I am weak, but not too weak. After the first workout (with a total of 45 dead lifts with 150lbs plus other stuff) I tried the endurance WOD- a run. FAIL. The program calls for putting 3 hours between workouts but I didn't have the time. I quickly understood the requirement. The next day I was so sore I could barely walk. I couldn't bear a swim so I just did the strength workout. The next morning I couldn't walk or lift my arms and doing pull ups as I normally do when I pass my closet was out of the question. I ended up doing the strength workout Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Friday I couldn't move. I invite the new pain, pain from strength training. Saturday I rested and Sunday I got in my first endurance workout. I did a ten mile tt on the bike. I completed it in 23:22- A NEW PR!! I am very proud.
Life- My Kayak is sold and I am one step closer to my independence. I plan to start round two in the attic this week and am slowly but surely learning about running my own business, despite a hiccup (or possibly two) last week.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
What's been up
Knowing I have 30 minutes at work and knowing that I have hours of work in the que that needs to be done I have decided to write a post because I am feeling withdrawn lately.Over the last four months or so my posts went from content back to status checks and then dropped off. I have had a lot going on but I miss the encouragement of my peers and well as reading about other's life. This is a great way to have relationships for an introvert and I value them highly, more than some of you inspire me more than you will ever realize.
LIFE
In May I started my 31 day freelance experiment. It has had decent results and led me have some "real work" and became a third job on top of my job at the prison and my Saturday morning job teaching karate for the non-profit at a rec center.
My web design freelancing has led to me updating some skills, but I am not where I want to be yet. I figured I would advertise some online and if I got enough bites to cover my cost of living I would just do this. It has not worked out quite that way. I got no referrals from online advertisement, in order to build word of mouth I offered a doctor friend of mine to build a site for free (pretty much free). It was something he had been shopping for anyway and I did not know it. This turned in to a chore as he didn't really know what he wanted and once we got going going he kept making revision after revision. He would sign off on a version as being good and as soon as I would make the changes he would change his mind and want something different. I have a contract I did not use with him since he is a friend, but it only allows for two revisions for most projects. Once we finally got it live he got a letter from another company's lawyer and as he did not trademark on his name, we had to redo a good bit of the site. Now its live again. I did this for the price of 2 hosting contracts and domain names before I thought it was going to be as complicated.
I also got a referral from a friend, they wanted a very basic store front site and a rush over a weekend, I completed the site and then got stiffed for $500 after dedicating over 20 hours over two days to it including logos, image editing, two revisions, and a bite more. The good new is there is a supposed referral from a different friend for an interior designer who wants a site. She has a budget between $250 and $300 so I should be able to do a simple site for her. I also realized web marketing is not how to get things done in my area and have started a targeted direct mail campaign to a some local businesses. I have abandoned the idea of living off this for the time being and any profits it nets I will put toward savings.
Over the summer I became a lot more active pursuing this goal. I have written my first business plan with the help of SCORE (Thanks P!) and sought rental space. Unfortunately, the resources are not together to get my own space and the people who for years said they would back me- backed out, despite pushing me for two years because how good the numbers look.
I still wanted to purse this goal so went on the prowl again for existing dance studios and gymnastic gym's to see if any would sublet. I found one that would. She was very interested in adding martial arts to create a mutually beneficial relationship, she already had children's dance, Zumba, and yoga. This seemed great despite some other things....
I attended her open house and had 10 kids sign up. I held the first class on 09/01/11 and had ONE of those kids show up, this gave me a total of three students including my little sister-in-law and developmentally disabled adult who showed up at the wrong time. I was running a promotion for August that if you signed up you got reduced tuition and no registration, I learned the benefit of a registration fee. My bet is if there was a registration fee, parents would either not sign up unless they were serious and would come if they paid.
I have ordered some cards, placed an ad in a school directory, and have done a few other marketing things. With my two paid students I have not yet to make enough for my rent but I am still hopeful for the remainder of the month.
In order to fund the dream, as well as raise enough money to devote myself to this full time, I started a fundraising effort. For the first phase I found everything in my attic I was willing to sell. I put books on Amazon and everything else on ebay. What didn't sell after two rounds on ebay went to a yard sale. The total gave me about $600, and once I get my kayak sold I will gross about $1,000 to $1,100. However, I have used some of that to pay for business overhead (marketing, Thesis theme, misc. office stuff). Now that I have some momentum I am going to go through the attic again next week and see if there is anything else I can part with. Once I am out of stuff I can sell (or that CB will let me sell, because if it were up to me i'd sell everything in the house) I have another fundraiser scheme. Also, anything I make from web design will go directly to my saving for this purpose.
Hopefully, if I will find the right marketing recipe for my budget and my numbers will take care of the rest. I have long felt that part of the inability to monetize in martial arts is to lack of advertisement and with an increase in budget I hope to take care of that.
Training
Unfortunately with four jobs seven days a week, training and diet fell off. I had planned to take a free week after my last race but it turned to three weeks.
Over that time I have eaten more fast food than I can care to recall and put on 11 extra pounds. After reading a few article I decided to try 6 weeks on the paleo/primal kick and see if it renders any results. I have read about it several times over the past two years and always thought it was NUTS. However, I read a few articles in the past two weeks about the connection between those eating habit with heavy lifting for lean results. They intrigued me and I thought it to be worth a shot. I have been on it since Monday and realized that other than kicking out grains and trying to find non-processed meats, it isn't that different from the low carb diet I originally used to lose weight. Two days of clean eating left me feeling great and seven pounds of junk/water weight shed.
Feeling better got me back in the gym. I eluded a few weeks ago to trying a new training method for the off season. I started today what I meant to start three weeks ago- Crossfit Endurance. When they changed their format a few month back I started making a spreadsheet of all of the the workouts for the 12 week program. so that I could start it once I was ready. After putting hours and hours toward long rides and runs during my training season I am looking forward to using shorter, harder workouts. However, I do plan to work in periodic long workouts just to keep a base. If it makes me faster or have more power- great! If not, I will enjoy shorter workouts and it will keep me active. SEEMS win-win.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Creative Help Needed
Again using this medium as a springboard for figuring out life-
I need help giving my newest clsss a names. At this time I am calling it RUN.JUMP.KICK.
The class is a children's fitness class with a karate base. Think boot camp meets Aerobic Kickboxing. Push ups, sit ups, and a lot of bag and pad work. No traditional lining up and punching from horse stance.
If someone supplies a name I like better there may be a prize.
Thank you everyone for the help.
I need help giving my newest clsss a names. At this time I am calling it RUN.JUMP.KICK.
The class is a children's fitness class with a karate base. Think boot camp meets Aerobic Kickboxing. Push ups, sit ups, and a lot of bag and pad work. No traditional lining up and punching from horse stance.
If someone supplies a name I like better there may be a prize.
Thank you everyone for the help.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Sorting things out Volume I
“We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”
-Tyler Durden
Have you ever had so many things on your mind you didn't know where to start? Or so many topics you don't know which to write about?
Than is how I feel today. I was thinking about fitness, sorting life out, figuring out how to plan, making that plan, a product review, and more.
I could not decide where to start and I feel like I have many meaningful things to say and I know that if I take one road and not another I will forget. I remembered that I had seen a quote yesterday (above) and saved it in blogger. I decided to start I would go back the the saved post and just go from there.
That quote is one of many from the movie Fight Club that resonates with me. I remember being raised with elementary teachers and my mom and other adults telling me I could be anything I want to be when I grow up. THAT SHIT IS A LIE!
There are several thing that never get said to young children or even older children.
1- You may pick a career you don't have the aptitude for.
2- You may pick a career you don't fully understand and once you pursue it and learn the ins and outs its a little harder to turn back and decide again.
3- You may pick a career that isn't suited for your personality.
4- Sometimes your life leads you down a road that prevent a career before you even know it.
5-You may pick a career that DOES work out with all of the above but by the time you are entering the "real world" we will have no idea about the economy so we don't know if that will be an option.
I will case study myself. Go figure. I remember when I was young I was aked by my mother what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember standing in the hallway outside of my room in the house where we lived at the time and telling her either a preacher, or a fighter pilot, or a cowboy.
I had a love for jets as a kid so I was probably thinking about one of my many toys when I gave that answer. The truth that no one would have told me at that age is that that is a highly competitive field because they aren't that many jobs available. Next, to be competitive you have to have a lot of things going right for you and many of those skills are learned when young. Honestly it was about that time that I went off track. I speak about this particular job with good understanding as one of my two best friends from high school and my high school girl friend both did puruse this job for the Air Force, they both did ALL of the right things. In the end neither of them got it. Kera is a navigator and Nick is a pilot but of a KC-130 not a F-15 as he had dreamed. They both love what they do, but no one told them of the possible limitations when they were young. Of course as they got older they knew about the obstacles, but luckily it wasn't too late.
I think I answered preacher because my mom would like that answer. That one would work for most of my listed prereq's except that I really don't like people, CB says I have no emotions, and by the time I was older I had some interesting beliefs about organized religion. I am still religious, but don't agree with a lot of what I see or get told. This would probably be a problem for seminary.
Last in terms of being a cowboy my life had placed me in an urban area so training for that career wasn't an option.
I think its odd that I was never told these intricate details about career paths. I understand that at six decisions will change so it may not be worth getting into the details too deeply, but I think you see my point.
I grew up wanting to be a helicopter pilot from 3rd or 4th grade on. On my own I did the research, I knew I would need a college degree to fly for the military. I knew my estranged grandfather was an engineer and was successful so I figured that I would be one too. I even took two engineering classes in high school. At the time it seemed to make sense. When I was a senior in high school I started struggling with math; not because it was hard, but because I got bored too easily. It got worse in college, I was diagnosed with ADHD (I have since been told I do not have ADHD, but something else). I knew the military did not like to accept people taking vitamin r, as they called it, so I decided not be medicated. Without medication the classes were too much so I changed my major to something with less math- Criminal Justice. I pursued this and did well in my classes, then the year before graduating I was told by a recruiter that because I had been diagnosed with asthma I could not join the military. This crashed everything down and I had to reevaluate.
This is an example of how effect being whatever you want to be. I could even go on from there to what led me to my current career location.
Next week I turn 28 and I still have no idea where I want to be and what I want to do when I grow up. I guess the next few steps will be trying to decide where I want to be and how to get there.
Any suggestion for finding new directions?
-Tyler Durden
Have you ever had so many things on your mind you didn't know where to start? Or so many topics you don't know which to write about?
Than is how I feel today. I was thinking about fitness, sorting life out, figuring out how to plan, making that plan, a product review, and more.
I could not decide where to start and I feel like I have many meaningful things to say and I know that if I take one road and not another I will forget. I remembered that I had seen a quote yesterday (above) and saved it in blogger. I decided to start I would go back the the saved post and just go from there.
That quote is one of many from the movie Fight Club that resonates with me. I remember being raised with elementary teachers and my mom and other adults telling me I could be anything I want to be when I grow up. THAT SHIT IS A LIE!
There are several thing that never get said to young children or even older children.
1- You may pick a career you don't have the aptitude for.
2- You may pick a career you don't fully understand and once you pursue it and learn the ins and outs its a little harder to turn back and decide again.
3- You may pick a career that isn't suited for your personality.
4- Sometimes your life leads you down a road that prevent a career before you even know it.
5-You may pick a career that DOES work out with all of the above but by the time you are entering the "real world" we will have no idea about the economy so we don't know if that will be an option.
I will case study myself. Go figure. I remember when I was young I was aked by my mother what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember standing in the hallway outside of my room in the house where we lived at the time and telling her either a preacher, or a fighter pilot, or a cowboy.
I had a love for jets as a kid so I was probably thinking about one of my many toys when I gave that answer. The truth that no one would have told me at that age is that that is a highly competitive field because they aren't that many jobs available. Next, to be competitive you have to have a lot of things going right for you and many of those skills are learned when young. Honestly it was about that time that I went off track. I speak about this particular job with good understanding as one of my two best friends from high school and my high school girl friend both did puruse this job for the Air Force, they both did ALL of the right things. In the end neither of them got it. Kera is a navigator and Nick is a pilot but of a KC-130 not a F-15 as he had dreamed. They both love what they do, but no one told them of the possible limitations when they were young. Of course as they got older they knew about the obstacles, but luckily it wasn't too late.
I think I answered preacher because my mom would like that answer. That one would work for most of my listed prereq's except that I really don't like people, CB says I have no emotions, and by the time I was older I had some interesting beliefs about organized religion. I am still religious, but don't agree with a lot of what I see or get told. This would probably be a problem for seminary.
Last in terms of being a cowboy my life had placed me in an urban area so training for that career wasn't an option.
I think its odd that I was never told these intricate details about career paths. I understand that at six decisions will change so it may not be worth getting into the details too deeply, but I think you see my point.
I grew up wanting to be a helicopter pilot from 3rd or 4th grade on. On my own I did the research, I knew I would need a college degree to fly for the military. I knew my estranged grandfather was an engineer and was successful so I figured that I would be one too. I even took two engineering classes in high school. At the time it seemed to make sense. When I was a senior in high school I started struggling with math; not because it was hard, but because I got bored too easily. It got worse in college, I was diagnosed with ADHD (I have since been told I do not have ADHD, but something else). I knew the military did not like to accept people taking vitamin r, as they called it, so I decided not be medicated. Without medication the classes were too much so I changed my major to something with less math- Criminal Justice. I pursued this and did well in my classes, then the year before graduating I was told by a recruiter that because I had been diagnosed with asthma I could not join the military. This crashed everything down and I had to reevaluate.
This is an example of how effect being whatever you want to be. I could even go on from there to what led me to my current career location.
Next week I turn 28 and I still have no idea where I want to be and what I want to do when I grow up. I guess the next few steps will be trying to decide where I want to be and how to get there.
Any suggestion for finding new directions?
The Winds of Change
This blog has gone through some changes over the last year . It started out as a place to for my to track my day to day battle with weight loss, to find support, and to have accountability.
After a few months it became my own personal beginner triathlete forum where I got support for racing and training. Over the last few months between my personal life and my training it has become sporadic posts with whats been up and monthly race reports.
I have been trying to make some changes in my life and career since May and the end of my "official" and planned season brings an increase in time to train the rest of my life. I enjoy my training. Exercise has always made me happy- before I was ever on the high school track team, before college summers spent running 10 milers, before now; I used to just go run when I was upset or overwhelmed. Today, my training in part still does that. When doing any other swim workout other than a long swim, I think about nothing but swimming. When I run my mind becomes cleared off all external stresses. When I am on long rides I often zone out and pray. The only problem with this is upon my return I am catapulted back into real life. Sometimes it feels like being slammed into a wall upon my return.
I have decided to put concentrated work into training the rest of my life. I am sure it is clear through some of my posts that I battle with depression from time to time, sometimes very deep. It is spawned by long term effects of events in my life. I am going to TRY to take charge of these things and make changes.
If I was able to take charge of my health and fitness I feel I should be able to take charge of this too. I am planning to begin using this blog as a medium for brainstorming and hopefully to get feedback from my fitness friends. I have no real friends here in my area as all I have done since moving here is go to work. My work tends toward being filled with people who want to have misery for their own company; I do not want to speak to them about many of these topics. I feel that having a Jedi council of the bloggers I have had some my longer relationships with will be of great help. I know that this direction will lose followers and also attract some negative feedback from those who do not understand what I have gone through or agree with the changes I want to make. I thank all of my true friends for the feedback in advance.
I realized that much of my personal turmoil stem from my career and the life style it forced. The truth is I hate workingfor with inmates and I loathe the criminal justice system. When I was in school all of the CSI shows made everything look so sexy. Truth is it is not, and it a very small percentage of people who get the really cool jobs and I have come to the conclusion most of the people in these positions probably had some combination of upper middle class up bringing, a special skill, political or family connections, and good credit. Unlike TV ex-strippers and ex-cons do not get these jobs.
I have been reading many lifestyle and business blogs lately, many of them very extreme, and am going to try my hand at some of their concepts. It is my goal to be content with 90% of my life.
After a few months it became my own personal beginner triathlete forum where I got support for racing and training. Over the last few months between my personal life and my training it has become sporadic posts with whats been up and monthly race reports.
I have been trying to make some changes in my life and career since May and the end of my "official" and planned season brings an increase in time to train the rest of my life. I enjoy my training. Exercise has always made me happy- before I was ever on the high school track team, before college summers spent running 10 milers, before now; I used to just go run when I was upset or overwhelmed. Today, my training in part still does that. When doing any other swim workout other than a long swim, I think about nothing but swimming. When I run my mind becomes cleared off all external stresses. When I am on long rides I often zone out and pray. The only problem with this is upon my return I am catapulted back into real life. Sometimes it feels like being slammed into a wall upon my return.
I have decided to put concentrated work into training the rest of my life. I am sure it is clear through some of my posts that I battle with depression from time to time, sometimes very deep. It is spawned by long term effects of events in my life. I am going to TRY to take charge of these things and make changes.
If I was able to take charge of my health and fitness I feel I should be able to take charge of this too. I am planning to begin using this blog as a medium for brainstorming and hopefully to get feedback from my fitness friends. I have no real friends here in my area as all I have done since moving here is go to work. My work tends toward being filled with people who want to have misery for their own company; I do not want to speak to them about many of these topics. I feel that having a Jedi council of the bloggers I have had some my longer relationships with will be of great help. I know that this direction will lose followers and also attract some negative feedback from those who do not understand what I have gone through or agree with the changes I want to make. I thank all of my true friends for the feedback in advance.
I realized that much of my personal turmoil stem from my career and the life style it forced. The truth is I hate working
I have been reading many lifestyle and business blogs lately, many of them very extreme, and am going to try my hand at some of their concepts. It is my goal to be content with 90% of my life.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Lake Logan International Distance Triathlon
This was a great weekend and a great race. CB an I had plans to stay at a favorite hotel near our old alma mater. It would have been about an hour past the race site, but we though it would be worth it to stay in our favorite room. However, the good rooms were booked (why stay in a riverside hotel in western NC if you can only get a room with a parking lot view?) so Thursday I had the epiphany and started looking for a cabin rental closer to the race. This was a little daunting since it is summer vacation season, but none the less I found one and at got it reserved at the last minute. Quaint two bedroom cabin for $129 a night right on a creek. Having the kitchen really made pre and post race dieting even easier.
This being my second oly in a row I am really starting to enjoy this distance. Short enough to hammer, but long enough to enjoy my time on the course. I say this as opposed to a sprint where when I finish it seems like I just started. Plus a short sprint has 4 times the prep time (travel, warm up, set up, etc.) on race weekend than I actually spend racing. Olympic distance seems to have a better return on the time investment. What is even better is that this race was a great benchmark. Not only was it my largest race to date, but it was a serious step up in competition. Interesting enough was that it was not the normal competition for this serious, since this was a qualifier for US Age Group National Championships it brought out a higher level of athlete- I didn't see a single mountain bike or cruiser on this race. There were even several members of US Pro Tri and some other pros. The race winner finished in 1:50 just five minutes faster than Andy Potts at the Philadelphia Triathlon.My overall time was 2:42:02. This is a 4 minute 20 second improvement on my first race and I feel this was a more difficult course.
The Swim 35:33 Grade A
AG 16 of 21
This was a large improvement over last time. The wetsuit helps, but I also think the improvement in form, as well as the confidence building and sighting practice from open water swim class made a great deal of difference. I swam crawl the entire way with the exception of four misplaced frog kicks. Sighting was great. I was directly on line the entire time. This is the only time I have second thought about racing. It is during the swim I consider why I am doing this or consider quitting. In fact it is during the swim I think about a lot of things, such as my rescue squad, past role models, the rest of the race, swim class; I have a lot of time on my hands. I enjoyed this swim much more, but it was still tough.
T1
Once you grabbed the dock and hoisted yourself out of the water it was a long run to transition and then it was an equal distance to my rack. I started off in a jog, got my wetsuit half off, goggles and cap off then by the time I was actually in transition I had to walk because I was still gassed from the swim. This was my first time taking a wetsuit off in a race. This is not easy, but I didn't have any real problems. Once you leave transition there was a 50 meter gravel road you had to run to get to the mount line so I elected to put my shoes on in transition adding a little more time. They had set up a grass lane after we left for the swim, I might not have done that had I known.
AG 16 of 21
This course was not the flat course they advertised. It wasn't awful, but I wouldn't call it flat, maybe rolling except for a few serious climbs. I kept a 22 mph average speed until mile 17 where I started to bonk. I got it back up to 20 mph until mile 24 where the last climb slowed me to an average speed of 19 mph for the bike leg. Although I was going faster than my last oly, I was passed like I was sitting still several times. I got chicked a few times too :). As always the climbs were my strong point and this is where I passed. Even on the last climb that killed me I was still passing people. I was doing it while sitting and spinning and getting "eat shit and die" looks from the guys stand up mashing. Overall, I probably should have gone a little easier to save it for the run. This course also reminded me I want to change to a double from my triple.
T2
In and out, except I left my bike shoes on coming in thinking about the gravel road.
AG 13 of 21
I realized on my way out I forgot my Garmin. I decided at this point to push, but have fun. I probably would have pushed harder had I had it. In the first mile me and another guy were almost next to each other so we decided to embrace it and run next to each other. We encouraged each other and cheer for others. We were both cussing the lie of a flat run course. It was three miles uphill and then three mile back down. In fact according to map my ride it was about 500 feet of elevation gain over the 3 miles to the turn around. My new partner and I decided once we hit the turn around we would hit the gas- and we did. Taking our 8:45 pace to closer to 7:30. Shortly after the turn around I noticed two blister one on top and one underneath my left foot- I kept pushing. At mile 5 I got a cramp and had to slow down till it passed. Once it was gone I hit the gas again and took down two guys in my age group I saw. I tried to push as hard as I could until the end. Sadly it wasn't hard enough for a pukie.
Overall, I was 15 of 21 in my age group, 149 overall of the 400 finishers (oddly this event was sold out at over 700, supposedly over 900 athletes with relay members, I don't know what happened to all of them ???). I thought I would fare better given the level of competition at previous races, but I did not do as well as I had hoped. I am still HAPPY and had a GREAT time!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Down to the short rows.
Almost anyone raised in the rural south or a part of the south that was formerly rural knows this saying, however I am curious to know if the saying is known throughout other parts of the country.
It is hump day in the last week of my official tri season. This morning was another open water swim class and then a 3 mile recovery run. I had a short brake then some power work on the trainer for 4 minutes (tabata). Tomorrow will be my last official training day and then Saturday I will be racing at my region's USAT age group qualifier- Lake Logan International Distance Triathlon.
I have a funny feeling about this race. With nearly 1000 athletes it is my largest race to date. I feel under-trained and do not feel I will do as well as I would like. However, I am very relaxed and do not feel very competitive. I am looking forward to going out and enjoying the race and the weekend overall.
If I didn't feel under-trained maybe I would feel more competitive. For several weeks I have actually been leading the series field in points but was sadly dethroned this weekend. My series used the same formula as USAT for races and while I average about 7200 points on a sprint and 7500 on an oly, the guy who dethroned me is getting over 9000 a race on a sprint. He is much faster than me and clearly deserves top spot.
After this Saturday things will change. I am looking at changing my off season training. I will put a large amount of focus on my swim. I also am going to experiment with an unconventional training program and may resume terrible Tuesdays.
Except for one 5k the race calender is clear. I am looking at a few possible marathons and if possible may sneak in another tri from my series to see if I can up the points by getting a higher point race than my first one.
It is hump day in the last week of my official tri season. This morning was another open water swim class and then a 3 mile recovery run. I had a short brake then some power work on the trainer for 4 minutes (tabata). Tomorrow will be my last official training day and then Saturday I will be racing at my region's USAT age group qualifier- Lake Logan International Distance Triathlon.
I have a funny feeling about this race. With nearly 1000 athletes it is my largest race to date. I feel under-trained and do not feel I will do as well as I would like. However, I am very relaxed and do not feel very competitive. I am looking forward to going out and enjoying the race and the weekend overall.
If I didn't feel under-trained maybe I would feel more competitive. For several weeks I have actually been leading the series field in points but was sadly dethroned this weekend. My series used the same formula as USAT for races and while I average about 7200 points on a sprint and 7500 on an oly, the guy who dethroned me is getting over 9000 a race on a sprint. He is much faster than me and clearly deserves top spot.
After this Saturday things will change. I am looking at changing my off season training. I will put a large amount of focus on my swim. I also am going to experiment with an unconventional training program and may resume terrible Tuesdays.
Except for one 5k the race calender is clear. I am looking at a few possible marathons and if possible may sneak in another tri from my series to see if I can up the points by getting a higher point race than my first one.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Open Water Masters Class
After two failed attempts to make this class I did it and I am glad. After waking up shortly after four, I grabbed my pre-packed swim bag and headed out the door. Then i turned around and went back in to grab my towel and the wetsuit still sitting on the floor. I made the hour trip south to a house on a dead end road in Huntersville, NC. I was early so I sat in the car until someone else got there. I had no idea where I was going. It was so dark i could not even see any water around.
Almost in concert the rest of my classmates arrived and I followed them down the side of the drive way to a dock behind the house. Turns out the house was directly on the lake. I introduced myself to the 6 women who were my classmates as the instructor arrived. Then I introduced to myself to the instructor and we talked about why I am there. I noticed no other wetsuits so I asked about the water temp as i pointed to mine and they laughed.
We laid out pull buoys and paddles, then jumped in the 91 degree lake (I checked).
First off the instructor gave us a safety briefing that she was going to stay to our left in the kayak and then she pointed across the lake and said. "See that dock with the green roof swim to it as your warm up". My sighting sucked but I kept up with the group.
Then she said now scull to the dock with the black roof.
Once there she began explaining to us proper form at the beginning of the stroke and about aggressive hand entry- while making us tread water. Now swim back across the lake to the house with the red boat and practice the entry.
At this point I was getting very tired. I got there just in time to hear swim down three docks to where we started. I missed what we were working on I was so far behind.
Once we were back to the dock we tread water for a moment. I honestly can't remember what she talked about. We grabbed pull buoys and worked on our pull going back across the lake.
I was late again and just caught the directions. Use the pull buoy as a kick board and kick for thirty second, then place it between your legs and then pull 30 strokes without sighting, then repeat. I missed what the point was, but thought it was neat that until I got tired I was dead on without sighting. I also noticed that when kicking I got left behind, but when pulling I caught up and even passed part of the group.
Once back we put on paddles and then went across again, tread water, and returned. This was my first time with paddles and thought they are a little hard to use. I think they are more fatiguing than swimming without.
Once we took them off we swam out to the middle to practice our turning around the kayak. Then on to another dock. I stalled for a moment and she asked if I needed help getting the paddles off, I said no I needed to catch my breath. She responded by whispering to me "don't worry there's only 8 more minutes"
During the next short swim she pulled the kayak up to me to watch my stoke. As she told me she was watching me I swallowed water and stopped- go figure! At the turn around she stopped me and said "you are doing just what I thought you were, you have perfect form above the water but once you get halfway through your stoke your elbow collapses backwards. You also do not have an end to your stroke. You need to keep pushing until you get to your hips, right now you are just taking your hand out of the water"
I worked on this on the last turn for the day, and when I got there she told me that it was perfect. I honestly could feel more power on the end and was keeping up with the group.
When we got out she told me I had a very powerful pull and that will be my strength.
Overall I really enjoyed this, it was a great workout, the instructor gave me good feedback, and it was really fun to swim with a group. There was not time for socializing but it was nice to be around others for once.
Lesson Learned: Strong pull but it can be better. I think that if it is good enough to gain on swimmers who were 100 yards ahead of me, that once I get a solid kick too I will be doing very well. This class also did a lot for my general comfort level plus sighting became instinctual. I can't wait to try it again next week!
Almost in concert the rest of my classmates arrived and I followed them down the side of the drive way to a dock behind the house. Turns out the house was directly on the lake. I introduced myself to the 6 women who were my classmates as the instructor arrived. Then I introduced to myself to the instructor and we talked about why I am there. I noticed no other wetsuits so I asked about the water temp as i pointed to mine and they laughed.
We laid out pull buoys and paddles, then jumped in the 91 degree lake (I checked).
First off the instructor gave us a safety briefing that she was going to stay to our left in the kayak and then she pointed across the lake and said. "See that dock with the green roof swim to it as your warm up". My sighting sucked but I kept up with the group.
Then she said now scull to the dock with the black roof.
Once there she began explaining to us proper form at the beginning of the stroke and about aggressive hand entry- while making us tread water. Now swim back across the lake to the house with the red boat and practice the entry.
At this point I was getting very tired. I got there just in time to hear swim down three docks to where we started. I missed what we were working on I was so far behind.
Once we were back to the dock we tread water for a moment. I honestly can't remember what she talked about. We grabbed pull buoys and worked on our pull going back across the lake.
I was late again and just caught the directions. Use the pull buoy as a kick board and kick for thirty second, then place it between your legs and then pull 30 strokes without sighting, then repeat. I missed what the point was, but thought it was neat that until I got tired I was dead on without sighting. I also noticed that when kicking I got left behind, but when pulling I caught up and even passed part of the group.
Once back we put on paddles and then went across again, tread water, and returned. This was my first time with paddles and thought they are a little hard to use. I think they are more fatiguing than swimming without.
Once we took them off we swam out to the middle to practice our turning around the kayak. Then on to another dock. I stalled for a moment and she asked if I needed help getting the paddles off, I said no I needed to catch my breath. She responded by whispering to me "don't worry there's only 8 more minutes"
During the next short swim she pulled the kayak up to me to watch my stoke. As she told me she was watching me I swallowed water and stopped- go figure! At the turn around she stopped me and said "you are doing just what I thought you were, you have perfect form above the water but once you get halfway through your stoke your elbow collapses backwards. You also do not have an end to your stroke. You need to keep pushing until you get to your hips, right now you are just taking your hand out of the water"
I worked on this on the last turn for the day, and when I got there she told me that it was perfect. I honestly could feel more power on the end and was keeping up with the group.
When we got out she told me I had a very powerful pull and that will be my strength.
Overall I really enjoyed this, it was a great workout, the instructor gave me good feedback, and it was really fun to swim with a group. There was not time for socializing but it was nice to be around others for once.
Lesson Learned: Strong pull but it can be better. I think that if it is good enough to gain on swimmers who were 100 yards ahead of me, that once I get a solid kick too I will be doing very well. This class also did a lot for my general comfort level plus sighting became instinctual. I can't wait to try it again next week!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Live Happy
Today I was going to write about my first open water masters swim class, however after my swim and run I was paged by the chief of my rescue team that an associate of the team had passed away yesterday evening so this changed my focus for the day.
We were not best friends, but he was a man I had a great deal of respect for.
He was placed in hospice yesterday and I made plan to go visit him Friday, but sadly I do not have the chance now.
It got me to thinking. He was not an old man at 50, I last saw him in October when he was in a class I was teaching, there were no visual health problems. We conducted a swim test and he did fine. We did some open water swimming and he had no problems.
Although I may wine, bitch, and celebrate when I write on this blog, but in really life I am generally stoic. I am not sad, I will not shed tears, but I will mourn respectfully with the belief when its your time, its just your time.
MOST IMPORTANTLY this has given me some inspiration for self reflection, I have thought about how my grandfather had a heart attack at 40. This reminds me that life is finite. This reminder leaves two thoughts resonating. First and most important in general, live a life that leaves a legacy. Secondly but more directed toward my current situations, do things that make you happy. I feel that I have done a lot, but will continue to do more, in the first area though rescue, ems, law enforcement, swat, church and more. However, in 10 years if I have a similar turn of fate to my grandfather, then it would be a shame that I lived the last 15 years of my life unhappy.
I hope anyone who reads this today will take a moment of self reflection and then hug a loved one.
We were not best friends, but he was a man I had a great deal of respect for.
He was placed in hospice yesterday and I made plan to go visit him Friday, but sadly I do not have the chance now.
It got me to thinking. He was not an old man at 50, I last saw him in October when he was in a class I was teaching, there were no visual health problems. We conducted a swim test and he did fine. We did some open water swimming and he had no problems.
Although I may wine, bitch, and celebrate when I write on this blog, but in really life I am generally stoic. I am not sad, I will not shed tears, but I will mourn respectfully with the belief when its your time, its just your time.
MOST IMPORTANTLY this has given me some inspiration for self reflection, I have thought about how my grandfather had a heart attack at 40. This reminds me that life is finite. This reminder leaves two thoughts resonating. First and most important in general, live a life that leaves a legacy. Secondly but more directed toward my current situations, do things that make you happy. I feel that I have done a lot, but will continue to do more, in the first area though rescue, ems, law enforcement, swat, church and more. However, in 10 years if I have a similar turn of fate to my grandfather, then it would be a shame that I lived the last 15 years of my life unhappy.
I hope anyone who reads this today will take a moment of self reflection and then hug a loved one.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
From Beginner Triathlete
"Beer is a plant-based beverage that offers anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Marathoners who drank 1 to 1.5 liters of non-alcoholic beer per day for three weeks prior to a marathon and two weeks after the marathon experienced less post-race inflammation and fewer colds. Non-alcoholic beer offers a wise way to enjoy the natural high of exercise along with positive health benefits"
Monday, July 25, 2011
Big Week
In February I began talks with a coach to plan this season. I signed up for a 6 month training plan. During the 6 months I have had many a missed workouts because of work and other real lif issues. I have had the flue, had an injury, had surgery, raced two sprints, raced my first oly, dropped to three races from the schedule for different reasons, and learned a lot.
Today begin the last full week of training in 6 months. Next week is taper and then my last tri of the season. This week still holds hard workouts, but in typical fashion I will be making up yesterdays workout in addition today. I opted not to run 8 miles in a lightning storm. I am looking forward to a good week. That will make one swim, one long brick, one core workout, and one strength workout today. I plan to make every workout count this week!
I am already thinking about what to do with my time and where to take my training. I know nothing about maintenance, but i would like to put special attention into my swim, and a little extra love on the bike, a marathon might be nice too.
Today begin the last full week of training in 6 months. Next week is taper and then my last tri of the season. This week still holds hard workouts, but in typical fashion I will be making up yesterdays workout in addition today. I opted not to run 8 miles in a lightning storm. I am looking forward to a good week. That will make one swim, one long brick, one core workout, and one strength workout today. I plan to make every workout count this week!
I am already thinking about what to do with my time and where to take my training. I know nothing about maintenance, but i would like to put special attention into my swim, and a little extra love on the bike, a marathon might be nice too.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Just Checking In
It has been almost a month since my last post, I am still out here.
I thought when having my surgery I would bounce right back and have some fun time off. In fact, the opposite happened and I had to take extra time off. I was out for a week, returned for one, day and was out 4 more days. Oddly, my doctor said I should have be fine. However, I was unable to eat anything solid for 11 days, and had pain so bad I was sent home from work for not having any focus. Once I had feeling in my face again, it felt like it was in a vise grip Very concerned, CB and I did some research and everything we read sounded just like nerve damage.
I went back to work last week and it was a rough week. I had to catch up on all the things that I was behind on. I still haven't finished.
Over the course of surgery recovery, my weight dropped to near 170. However last week since I had not been cleared to train yet, doc said not to get my core temp up, I spent my free time focused on two new business ventures (things are tough without help!) and CB was working late with a summer camp so we ate out everynight and my weight subsequently came back to 181 over a week.
Due to lack of training I did not race as schedule Saturday. I am glad because I swam for the first time yesterday and my jaw was killing me when I got out. Seems like the water pressure did a number on me. I think that would have made racing tough Saturday.
I now have 3 weeks to concentrate on my last race of the season- Lake Logan International Distance Triathlon. This is a qualifier for age group national championships.
Even though I spent many hours devoted to writing business plans, researching marketing, trying to put together a list of leads, etc. I was also thinking about fitness. I spent some time researchin swim workouts and am going to try to add some workouts from crossfit endurance to my training for a little boost. I also signed up for an open water masters class that runs through the summer on Wednesday mornings. I am looking forward to that. Hopefully that will at least get me accustomed to open water swimming and the extra workouts will get me faster :)
Last note- last night since my swim sucked. I went out for a 10 mile TT on the bike. I got it in 29:44 and 40% of the course was climbing. One more goal for the year checked off!
I thought when having my surgery I would bounce right back and have some fun time off. In fact, the opposite happened and I had to take extra time off. I was out for a week, returned for one, day and was out 4 more days. Oddly, my doctor said I should have be fine. However, I was unable to eat anything solid for 11 days, and had pain so bad I was sent home from work for not having any focus. Once I had feeling in my face again, it felt like it was in a vise grip Very concerned, CB and I did some research and everything we read sounded just like nerve damage.
I went back to work last week and it was a rough week. I had to catch up on all the things that I was behind on. I still haven't finished.
Over the course of surgery recovery, my weight dropped to near 170. However last week since I had not been cleared to train yet, doc said not to get my core temp up, I spent my free time focused on two new business ventures (things are tough without help!) and CB was working late with a summer camp so we ate out everynight and my weight subsequently came back to 181 over a week.
Due to lack of training I did not race as schedule Saturday. I am glad because I swam for the first time yesterday and my jaw was killing me when I got out. Seems like the water pressure did a number on me. I think that would have made racing tough Saturday.
I now have 3 weeks to concentrate on my last race of the season- Lake Logan International Distance Triathlon. This is a qualifier for age group national championships.
Even though I spent many hours devoted to writing business plans, researching marketing, trying to put together a list of leads, etc. I was also thinking about fitness. I spent some time researchin swim workouts and am going to try to add some workouts from crossfit endurance to my training for a little boost. I also signed up for an open water masters class that runs through the summer on Wednesday mornings. I am looking forward to that. Hopefully that will at least get me accustomed to open water swimming and the extra workouts will get me faster :)
Last note- last night since my swim sucked. I went out for a 10 mile TT on the bike. I got it in 29:44 and 40% of the course was climbing. One more goal for the year checked off!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
True Recovery Day
After my surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, I was emailed my weekly schedule form my coach. It is time trial week. I have a time trial scheduled in every discipline. I was able to get in my swim TT in and two other normal workouts before surgery.
For the first time, i have been forced to take true recovery days. Often when I take a recovery day I still work, mow grass, or do an y number of activities. Even when I had the flu I tried to sneak in some workouts.
The last two days have been OFFICIAL recovery days. I have done nothing. I have laid in the bed, done web design, and slept. Oh, and taken my weight is Vicodin. I am sure that this break is good for my body in terms or training; i know the break is good for my body in terms of recovery from surgery, but it is killing my mind.
I am itching for two things- a cheese burger and a brick workout.
Does anyone else ever crave workouts when they are forced to rest?
For the first time, i have been forced to take true recovery days. Often when I take a recovery day I still work, mow grass, or do an y number of activities. Even when I had the flu I tried to sneak in some workouts.
The last two days have been OFFICIAL recovery days. I have done nothing. I have laid in the bed, done web design, and slept. Oh, and taken my weight is Vicodin. I am sure that this break is good for my body in terms or training; i know the break is good for my body in terms of recovery from surgery, but it is killing my mind.
I am itching for two things- a cheese burger and a brick workout.
Does anyone else ever crave workouts when they are forced to rest?
Friday, June 24, 2011
Accountability 06/23/11
06/20 Morning weight: 184
06/21 Morning weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
06/23 Morning weight: 177
Goal: AM swim (again) and PM 40 mile ride.
Results: Overslept again. Once I woke up I reported to the pain cave and did about 55 push ups. After work I needed to finish mowing the backyard and get in my 40 mile ride. I weighted my options and given I knew I would not have much time to mow Saturday before CB's bday party I decided to mow for an hour first and then go ride. An hour turned into an hour and a half. This meant I would be returning from my ride about 10pm. Since I intended to get up for a 200m swim I decided I should do a short workout on the bike instead. On the trainer I did a 10 minute warm up, 3 x 3 minutes trying to work to threshold (without any way of telling), tabata sprints in a hard gear, tabata right leg only, tabata left leg only, then tabata sprinting in an easy gear. I followed that with a few sets of core work (I can't remember what now), then 4 sets of 2 pull ups, 1 set of 3 pull ups (max), 1 set of 4 neutral grip pull ups, and last 3 back bridges for 15 seconds each. I cool down with stretching with a strap.
Diet: diet bar, grapes, steak, mushrooms, rice, water.
06/21 Morning weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
06/23 Morning weight: 177
Goal: AM swim (again) and PM 40 mile ride.
Results: Overslept again. Once I woke up I reported to the pain cave and did about 55 push ups. After work I needed to finish mowing the backyard and get in my 40 mile ride. I weighted my options and given I knew I would not have much time to mow Saturday before CB's bday party I decided to mow for an hour first and then go ride. An hour turned into an hour and a half. This meant I would be returning from my ride about 10pm. Since I intended to get up for a 200m swim I decided I should do a short workout on the bike instead. On the trainer I did a 10 minute warm up, 3 x 3 minutes trying to work to threshold (without any way of telling), tabata sprints in a hard gear, tabata right leg only, tabata left leg only, then tabata sprinting in an easy gear. I followed that with a few sets of core work (I can't remember what now), then 4 sets of 2 pull ups, 1 set of 3 pull ups (max), 1 set of 4 neutral grip pull ups, and last 3 back bridges for 15 seconds each. I cool down with stretching with a strap.
Diet: diet bar, grapes, steak, mushrooms, rice, water.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Accountability 06/22/11
06/20 Morning weight: 184
06/21 Mornign weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
Goal: AM Swim and AM Track workout
Results: Wednesday is my 2nd shift day so theoretically if I get up at 05:15 I can fit more in my day. My body didn't agree. I overslept again and got up with 20 minutes to get ready. Since I only had 20 minutes I went to teh pain cave and did 60 bicycle oblique crunches and 20 full body crunches.
I planned to get my speedwork for my lunch, but I had a lot of work to do so my lunch kept getting pushed back until before I knew it it was 8 Pm and time to get home. Since I had brought my running clothes to work I made a decision to stick to my challenge and get it in. I changed at work and once I got back in town instead of going home I went straight to the track.
The workout was a ladder of 400, 800, 2x1200, 800, 400 at a 7:30 pace (10k). The first two went well. Durign the 400m I had to slow myself down. The first 1200 sucked because i could not hold the pace, the second 1200 was worse. I took a minute rest before the 800. The first half was good but I slowed dramatically. For the last 400 I started steady and sped up every 100m; I made a point to not check pace until I hit the finish line. At that point it was 6:23. 400's good- longer intervals still need work. 6 weeks to the next olympic distance race.
Diet: eggs, banana, grapes, hummus, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, grilled chicken, peanut butter, fluid recovery drink.
06/21 Mornign weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
Goal: AM Swim and AM Track workout
Results: Wednesday is my 2nd shift day so theoretically if I get up at 05:15 I can fit more in my day. My body didn't agree. I overslept again and got up with 20 minutes to get ready. Since I only had 20 minutes I went to teh pain cave and did 60 bicycle oblique crunches and 20 full body crunches.
I planned to get my speedwork for my lunch, but I had a lot of work to do so my lunch kept getting pushed back until before I knew it it was 8 Pm and time to get home. Since I had brought my running clothes to work I made a decision to stick to my challenge and get it in. I changed at work and once I got back in town instead of going home I went straight to the track.
The workout was a ladder of 400, 800, 2x1200, 800, 400 at a 7:30 pace (10k). The first two went well. Durign the 400m I had to slow myself down. The first 1200 sucked because i could not hold the pace, the second 1200 was worse. I took a minute rest before the 800. The first half was good but I slowed dramatically. For the last 400 I started steady and sped up every 100m; I made a point to not check pace until I hit the finish line. At that point it was 6:23. 400's good- longer intervals still need work. 6 weeks to the next olympic distance race.
Diet: eggs, banana, grapes, hummus, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, grilled chicken, peanut butter, fluid recovery drink.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Accountability 06/21/11
Goal: AM Swim, PM brick
Reality: I overslept through the alarm clock. Actually, I don't think it went off, but CB says it did. With oversleeping there was no swim, but with my quest for a morning workout I completed 55 push ups. After work I came hope and completed a brick. It sucked. I wanted to quit and my legs had no turnover. I averaged 10:30 miles- slowest in over a year- but I completed the workout.
Diet: Breakfast bar, grapes, carrots, hummus, banana, salad, grilled chicken, Fluid Muscle Recovery Drink.
Setbacks: 2 diet Mt. Dew and 1 Diet Dr. Pepper.
Reality: I overslept through the alarm clock. Actually, I don't think it went off, but CB says it did. With oversleeping there was no swim, but with my quest for a morning workout I completed 55 push ups. After work I came hope and completed a brick. It sucked. I wanted to quit and my legs had no turnover. I averaged 10:30 miles- slowest in over a year- but I completed the workout.
Diet: Breakfast bar, grapes, carrots, hummus, banana, salad, grilled chicken, Fluid Muscle Recovery Drink.
Setbacks: 2 diet Mt. Dew and 1 Diet Dr. Pepper.
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