Grey Hairs & Popping Joints

I’m not going to worry about uploading my workouts from last week. I managed to do some but not all. I did go on a bachelor party trip Thursday thru Sunday which kinda leads us to this post. Getting older sucks. I know I know…there are good things too, but this past weekend definitely made me realize that I am definitely not capable of throwing down as I was back at Auburn. Was it really that long ago? Sure doesn’t seem like 7 years. We went pretty solid all 3 nights we were gone. The drive home was ridiculously long. The bad part is that I’m more exhausted today than I was yesterday. Oh well, guess I’ll keep this little experiment in the back of my head.
There are only 19 days until my next race…crap. I really need to get a move on with my training. I haven’t been as consistent as I hoped I would be by now. Starting today (with the exception of swimming this morning b/c I pretty much threw that idea out the window when we were on the road yesterday) I’m going to make it to all of my scheduled training.
I feel pretty good about the biking leg of the race, but the running legs have me a little worried. I was going pretty solid with my training a month out from the Mercedes race. I haven’t really run since I crossed the finish line. The distance isn’t bad at all when you look at them individually (3.1 mile run/12 mile bike/ 1 mile run), but I get a little worried that my legs aren’t going to be ready for the transitions. I’m going to have to start running a little after my bike rides. I want to be able to average an 8 or 9 minute mile. Not positive if I can do that right now, I’ll have to jump on the treadmill and see just how fast I can run 3.1 miles. An 8 min mile is a pretty good clip for me right now. My end goal is to hammer out one mile in under 6 minutes (haven’t done that since high school soccer) and be able to keep that pace up for a 5k.
I’ll be sure to be better about posting.

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “You know son, I thought I was wrong once. It turns out I was wrong about that” ~ Dad

Catching everyone up...

Sorry I'm not more consistent with updating the blog. Here is what's been happening since we last talked...


Wed 3/11 PM Bike

Good News….no bruises or cuts. Could it be that I have finally gotten the hang of clipping in and out of my pedals? I sure do hope so. I’d hate to be the one that causes a pile up entering the transition area during a race. The ride was about the same as Monday except I added a climb every couple of laps. I went for 40mins and logged 9.4 miles (avg speed 14.1mph). I’d like to try and get my avg up to around 16-18 mph. Thursday is a rest day…hooray!!!

Friday 3/13 AM Swim

The plan on Friday’s is to only swim for ½ the time b/c my biggest run and bike days are on the weekend.
WU: 300m
Drills: 200m (single arm l/r, over rotate, fist)
Kicks: 8x50 on 1:20
Main Set
4x100 on 2:20 rest til bottom

total 1300m

Saturday 3/14
Rained all day. I also had to fix some food for an engagement party

Sunday 3/15
lazy morning + Wedding in the afternoon = no training. (I’m good at finding excuses huh?)

Monday 3/16
AM Swim

WU: 400m
Kicks: 300m (hard/easy on Coach)
Main Set:
200 on 4:15
250 on 5:45
300 on 7:15
Rest to top
Pull 250 on 5:45
Pull 200 on 4:15
Pull 100 on 2:45
6x50 rest :10 between

Swimmers Golf: 200m (scores: 89, 82, 83, 85)
CD: 100m

Total: 2600m


PM Bike

The rain didn’t stop in time for it to dry up at all. I put the bike on my trainer and was able to ride for about 53 minutes (only 8.5 miles). Riding on a trainer is not fun. Sure you can watch TV while you do it, but the bike doesn’t give at all like it does on the road so you get a little sorer in “fun” places. It is extremely monotonous. I kind of lack focus when I’m on the trainer. They do have these DVD’s called spinervals that I’ll have to try sometime.


Tuesday 3/17
Happy St. Patty’s Day!!

Wednesday 3/18
AM Swim

I cut today a little short so I could leave work a little earlier. This way I can get my ride in earlier and have a little down time for my birthday.

WU: 300
Drills: 200 (50 ea. fingertip, over rotate, single arm l/r)
Kicks: 6x50 (rest :10 b/t)
Main Set: 6x200 (dropped to 150’s after 1st 2 intervals)
1&4 on 4:35 (rest to top b/t 3 & 4)
2&5 on 4:25
3&6 on 4:15

Total: 1800m


PM Bike
No injuries today either…2 for 2! Could it be that I’m finally getting the hang of the clipless pedals? Sure do hope so. Yesterday afternoon was perfect outside. I rode for 70 minutes and logged 15.8 miles. Still not the speed I’m looking for, but it is a little difficult to keep up a good speed when you have to turn so much. The courses for the Magic City Duathlon are finally up on the race website. It doesn’t look too bad. It should be real flat and fast. One weekend before the race, I’ll go out and ride the course.

Back in January three other guys and myself entered the “scale back Alabama” campaign through our work. The goal is to each lose 10lbs in 10 weeks. I was doubtful that I was going to hit my mark at the official weigh out today, but turns out that over the past 10 weeks I’ve dropped 14lbs! I’m a little psyched.

Eric’s Quote of the day:

“I sure don’t know why they call this stuff Hamburger Helper, it does just fine by itself” ~Cousin Eddy, National Lampoon’s Vacation

So far so good...

This week has been fairly productive in regards to training. I swam Monday morning and rode my bike that evening (Heck yeah daylight savings). I ran/walked Tuesday afternoon but didn’t fit in my strength training. The only bad move was not getting up in time for swimming this morning.

The training plan that I’m following right now focuses on time rather than distances. This being my first year, the main thing I need to do is build a solid base. As the season progresses, I’ll focus more on intensities. During my runs, I’m using a heart rate monitor to help me with my “pace.” The goal is to keep your heart rate in a certain zone, Zone 2, while you are running. It gets to be difficult keeping my HR in Zone 2 when I run outside. I took Tucker with me yesterday, and if you have ever met my dog, you can understand how that probably added to an increased HR.

Here is how the week has played out…

Monday AM Swimming
WU- 300m
Drills- 8x25 (2 ea. fingertip, catch up, fist, over-rotate)
Pulls- 4x200 (build by 50)
Kicks- 6x75 (fly down/free back)
Main Set- 2x300 (on 7:20 & 7:15)
CD- 100m

Total: 2350m

Monday PM Biking (48 mins)
Rode loops around the Hoover Freshman Center. Over the 48 mins I covered 10.7 miles which gave me an average speed of 13.38mph. It was a pretty good “easy ride.” I’m still trying to get comfortable on the bike. I focused a lot on cornering and turning. I have the clipless pedals that your shoes attach to. It gives you a lot more power, especially climbing hills. These bad boys have taken a lot of getting used to. On one of my first rides, I fell over b/c I couldn’t get the other foot clipped into the pedal when I pushed off to start riding. The other night when my 48 minutes was up, I started coasting back to my car. I was a little psyched about having a good ride. I unclipped my left foot and started to slow down. As I was almost to a complete stop, I thought to myself, “Wow, I didn’t even fall over today..” then gravity started to take its all too familiar effect. I started teetering to the right…the side that still had my foot clipped in…I struggled to free myself, but the effort was futile. There I lay halfway on my side and my left leg wrapped under my bike. I got up and just kinda give a wave to anyone that happened to be watching. Now all I need to do is lay the bike down in the middle of a ride to accomplish the “bust-trifecta.”

Tuesday PM Run (24 mins)
OK, So it was really more of a walk. I took Tucker around the neighborhood. This will probably be the only time that he tags along with me.

Wednesday AM Swimming

DNF

Wednesday PM Biking (64 mins)

Hopefully the rain will hold off so I can go back to the Freshman Center and ride tonight.

Eric’s quote of the day…“Do you know what’s so bad about real life? There’s no danger music.”

Finally...

I was able to drag my butt out of bed this morning to my masters swim group. I had to cut it a little short b/c I had to make up some time at work that I missed yesterday due to heating problems at my house (more on that later). Here was what today consisted of

Warm-Up: 300m
Drills: 200m (fingertip, over rotate, single arm (l&r), fist)
Pulls: 6x50 on 1:20 descending 1-6 (get faster with each 50)
Main Set: 6x__ (these sucked)
-Odd on 2:15 for 600 (6x100)
-Even on 1:45 for 450 (6x75)
Cool Down: 100m

Total: 1950m

I missed 500m of kicks and breathing exercises.

I have a core workout “scheduled” for tonight, but I might not be able to get to it. I’ve been working on getting a good training plan put together. My goal is to finish it this weekend so that I can get going on Monday.

Now for a rant…every change of season means we have to call our Heating & Cooling guys to come and put a Band-Aid on our system. They are so quick to tell you some kind of crap-reason, which I inevitably fall for, as to why it is doing or not doing certain things. Hopefully, this wire is what has caused most of the problems in the past. Oh well, I guess that is what warranties are for huh? Anyone looking to start up a Heating & Cooling company let me know. I’ll go in on it with you; we will make a killing.

A little more off topic…I know that everyone has those days where a song will get stuck in your head. Sometimes it’s the last song you hear before you get out of the car, before you go to bed, or for others, it is the first song you hear in the morning. For a select few (me included), a chain of events can send your mind wandering down a rabbit hole and eventually to a vague song that is catchy yet annoying as hell. I’m not even sure what led me to start singing this song in my head. Everyone knows the blockbuster hit movie The Addam’s Family. It was so good that they even made a sequel. I’m not sure which movie one it came from, but MC Hammer did a song that is just awful called “The Addam’s Family Groove” (available on iTunes & youtube for your listening and viewing pleasure). I’m sure Hammer was thinking that this would be the song to propel him back to stardom along with “2 Legit 2 Quit,” but it is probably one of the stupidest songs ever. Right up there with the song from the Zeigler commercial (I’m sure you can find it on you tube. CAUTION: THIS SONG WILL GET STUCK IN YOUR HEAD, JUST ASK MH).

Sorry for the randomness of today’s post. I think I have a case of AD… hey look a bird? Happy Friday!

Hello, my name is Slacker

I didn’t go to my swim class this morning. I had all my stuff set out and ready to go, my alarm set, and the full intention of going when I laid down last night, but when my alarm went off around 430, I just couldn’t do it. I’m a bit disappointed in myself, b/c I wanted to start the week and the month off right. Oh well, I’ll just have to get home and jump on the bike trainer and do a good workout tonight.

After slacking this morning, I read an article that delved into focus and perseverance when it comes to training. It was a short article about two Navy SEALs that competed in the Ironman race this past year. It talked a little (wish it would have gone into more detail) about how they had to find time to do their tri training and still do all the crazy training that comes with being a SEAL. When I was reading it, I starting laughing at myself; laughing at my ridiculous excuses for skipping a workout; laughing at how I “just don’t have the time today.” If these guys can push themselves to the limits at their job and then still do some training, then there is no doubt in my mind that I can’t push myself a little harder or find time to do some training.

At the end of the article, the SEAL was asked to give a couple of tips for success to those of us training for a triathlon. The article calls it the “Triathlon Training/SEAL Mentality” (we’ll still acknowledge that training to be a Navy SEAL is far more challenging than training for an Ironman).

1. Eliminate self-limiting thoughts. More often than not, people have preconceived notions about what is possible for them to achieve. They sell themselves short. Abolish thoughts that hold you back from achieving your true potential.
2. Optimize your skills. Everyone begins at a different place and each of us are dealt a different set of genetic cards. Use that to your advantage and optimize your assets.
   Be willing to spend the effort and energy to be successful. Anyone can succeed if they are willing to work at it. Too many people want to reap rewards without the sacrifice that is necessary to achieve any goal.
3. Enjoy the journey. If you can enjoy the pursuit of excellence, you've got it made. Aiming to enjoy only the end result makes it impossible to endure the necessary sacrifices to achieve any goal really worth having.
4. Be a student. The more you understand about what it is you're trying to do and how to do it, the easier it is to be successful. Be a student of your passion.
5. Persevere. There are many things that can get in the way of successfully achieving any goal. You have to be willing to figure out how to get over, under, around or through those obstacles. Keep trying.
6. Develop mental toughness. It is not the physical challenges that keep men from successfully surviving the SEAL training, it is mentally giving up. You need to start believing that you can do it, you can be successful. Others have been successful before you, you can do it too.
7. Be prepared to suffer. When you are training for an event as large as a 140.6-mile triathlon, it is a long haul. There is going to be bad weather, aching body parts and times when you are just plain tired. Know that some stress, followed by rest, will make you stronger physically and mentally.
8. Take strength from others. This tip is particularly valuable for race day. Right when you are thinking things are really bad for you, look around. You'll see that others are suffering too. Knowing you're not the only one and that other people will suffer generates energy, if you're willing to accept it.
9. You must want success. Doing something that is difficult requires that you want to be successful with every fiber of your core. The intense desire to succeed helps you overcome obstacles that crush other people.
10. Avoid over-training. It is easy for highly motivated people to over-train. Achievers are often rewarded for doing more and working harder. While you must work hard and do the prescribed work, you must also rest in order to reap the benefits.

I’ll leave you with a quote that is displayed at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado that, to me, sums up the Triathlon Training/Seal Mentality…“the only easy day was yesterday”.