It Takes A Village

Last week's workouts:

Wed:  Run 4.7 miles

Sat:  Run 10.0 miles (second long-ish Saturday run in a row where I felt better than I have for at least a year - good pace, low heart rate, physically comfortable, etc.)

Reached 10,000 steps each day, and sprinkled core workouts here and there

My wife went out of town last weekend to run a race with some friends, so I was thrust into the role of single parent.  My kids are 14 (almost) and 9 now, so this is hardly the job that it was when they were 6 and 1.  That said, I was done at the end of the day between a full-time job, homework, dinner, laundry, the dog, sporting events, etc.  I don't know how I would manage to have a full time job, be a good parent, AND get a quality workout in each day, although I know people who do it, and I admire them!

Because of my “other duties as assigned," I only got 2 workouts done last week.  I made a conscious decision to bag a few workouts in order to go to a band concert, attend the monthly STL Tri Club meeting, play catch/kickball with my son, shoot baskets with my daughter, and to take the kids out to dinner after their final basketball games of the winter season.  I don’t regret those decisions one bit, because I’m their Dad and it’s my job.  Plus, I’m still in the “off-season” and I’m not always going to have the time to do all of these things come summer.  Some of the sights from last week:

Festival of Bands 

Busy day at the NG playground for some hot kickball action 

Shooting baskets with Emily 

Torturing the kids by making them drink a green juice with their dinner

Spending time with my puppers 

KJBL action (Adam's #33)

Emily's last game EVER with the Running Rebels - next stop KHS

So last week got me thinking - while I am the one who has to put in the quality training sessions to successfully complete Ironman Louisville this summer, the journey to the finish line requires help from an entire village of people (but not The Village People). 

This was something I thought about before registering for the race, and having the support of my wife was critical.  She was extremely supportive and told me to go for it.  The fact that she is a marathoner and aspiring triathlete certainly helps, because she knows what it is like to train.  She's also a realist - she knows there will be times where my training schedule is annoying, and she plans to 'get over it."  Perhaps some well timed laundry, date nights, or pedicures, or trips to Europe will help smooth things out.

Certainly there will be times where I will come home from work, eat dinner, go ride/run, and then pass out only to wake up and be out of the house by 5am the next day.  There will be baseball games that I cannot be at or miss part of due to an 80-mile ride + run brick that needs to get done.  There will be Sunday afternoon long runs to acclimate to the heat.  There will be a few weekends of tune-up races that will interfere with our summer plans.

The inconvenience of Ironman will also impact the kids.  They know their Dad will be gone or missing parts of their activities.  They also will have to deal with me trying to drag them out of the house for part of a run (for their own good!) although I'm not sure if they realize this part yet.  My friends and coworkers will have to hear endless babble about swim intervals, brick workouts, mechanical failures, races, etc. because it will be all consuming for the next 6 months.  My boss will be impacted as my schedule flexes to accommodate weather, pool, and training schedules.  My training partners will have to deal with swerving to avoid the gallons of sweat I will produce.  This doesn't take into account the bike techs, shoe fitters, dietitians, members of my triathlon club, friends in Floyds Knobs, and others who may be helping me to achieve my goal.

So as the beginning of the training calendar nears, I am cognizant of the stress this journey will place on those around me, and I am appreciative of their support and sacrifice.  I pledge to honor them by crossing that finish line on August 24th sometime short of 17:00:00 with my arms held high, a smile on my face, and hopefully I'll be singing this song (one of my new favorites):

Plans Are Firming Up

Training last week:

Monday:   Rest
Tuesday:  Trainer drills (1 hour)
Wednesday:  Rest
Thursday:     Rest
Friday:   Run 10 miles
Saturday:  Swim 1,000 meters, elliptical 5 miles
Sunday:  Travel

Last week was a blur and I cannot remember what my excuse was for Wednesday and Thursday.  My Friday run was one of the best that I have had in a long time, so I'm not worried about the mid-week stuff.  I have been consistently getting my 10,000 steps a day in outside of my workout, which has involved lots of flights of stairs at work.

Now on to more important things.  Like John "Hannibal" Smith says on the A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together.  My race plans are settling in, and I'm looking forward to getting this season going!  Here are my distance race and triathlon plans for this year:

3/9      Quivering Quads trail half marathon
4/5      Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon
6/15    RecPlex Spring Triathlon
7/12    Ironman 70.3 Muncie
8/24    Ironman Louisville
10/10  Bourbon Chase 200-mile relay

I may possibly add the QuarterMax triathlon in Innsbrook, MO on 6/28 - we'll see about that one.

I'm really looking forward to Muncie because we'll have 7 Honey Badgers (and maybe one of my brothers) racing this year.

Until next week.

Just Chillin'. Literally.

Last week’s training:

Mon:     Run 4.2 miles

Tue:      Bike 20 miles (trainer)

Wed:    Swim 2,050 yards

Thu:      Rest

Fri:       Traveling for work

Sat:       Run 4 miles ("race")

Sun:      Bike 17 miles (trainer)

Training beings:  52 days

Ironman Louisville:  191 days

It's February, so in less than 2 months, formal training for Ironman Louisville begins!  I am still working on my base in all three disciplines, although the intensity isn’t there yet.  Part of me thinks I need to stop the “fun runs” and start pushing the pace a bit, but I’m sure this period of lower intensity will benefit me when the tough summer mileage comes along.

I focused last week on trying to knock out the mileage I need for the Icy Iron held by my tri club.  I’m done with the swim and bike mileage, and need about 8 run miles to complete this cycle (finish all 140.6 miles of the ironman over 5 weeks).

On Saturday, Amy and I joined some other Honey Badgers to run the Stan Musial Veteran’s Memorial Bridge Run (6K).  As part of the opening of the bridge, this race was held along with some bike time trials and other ceremonies.  Here is my GoPro summary of the race:

In other news, it’s still freezing cold and snow-packed, so I haven’t been running outside very much.  Looks like the temps will break over the next week, so I’m hoping to get back out there.  There are 4 weeks left until my first trail half marathon (Quivering Quads), so I guess at some point I should get out there and do some trail running.  I think that’s going to be a really long day.

Nothing says “Brentwood – City of Warmth” like a fountain totally encased in ice (left)

Why?

Last week’s training:

Monday:               Run 4 miles (indoor track)

Tuesday:              Bike 20 miles (trainer)

Wednesday:         Swim 2,000 yards

Thursday:             Run 6.7 miles

Friday:                 Rest

Saturday:             Bike 18 miles (trainer)

Sunday:               Nothing (bad, bad, bad!!)

Nutrition was great last week with the exception of the Super Bowl and an awesome lunch with Amy at Blues City Deli on Friday (which was well worth the calories).  I've been sticking to my plan of walking the 9 flights of stairs in my building at least 3 times per day, and I've been managing to log 10,000 steps outside of any planned workouts.

Some of my recent bike orders have been rolling in – a quick release kit for my Garmin 910XT, a bike cadence and speed sensor that will link to my Garmin, and my aero water bottle have all arrived or will be here in a day or two.  I still need to decide on components for extra hydration, tubes, tools, etc. for the back of the bike, and whether I want to use an aero helmet.  I’m not in too much of a hurry to get these installed as it is snowing like crazy outside right now.

I had someone ask me the other day why I wanted to do a full Ironman.  Part of the answer is that it’s the next logical step in my progression – 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, sprint tri, Olympic distance tri, half Ironman, Ironman.  Another reason is that I enjoy the journey of race planning, training, and then race execution with my training partners.  I also just want to see if I can successfully finish this race.  For me, “success” is defined as being an official finisher (time of 16:59:59 or less).

Another reason for tackling the Ironman is to provide a positive role model for my kids in that hope that they won’t have to fight the same battle against their weight that I have for most of my life, and to show them that it takes hard work and dedication to achieve goals – things aren’t going to be handed to them.  Despite what we see in some of the activities and sports the kids are involved in, life doesn’t come with a participation trophy. 

 

Finally, I am chasing the goal of Ironman to raise money for cancer research.  I teamed up with Miles for Melanoma after my wife was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma last fall.  My fundraising goal is $1406 (for the 140.6 miles of the Ironman) and I am well on my way to reaching this goal.  If you would like to donate, here’s a link to my fundraising page.

That’s it for this week.  I guess this was a bit rambling, but this is what has been on my mind lately.

30 Weeks To Go

Yesterday marked 30 weeks until Ironman Louisville.  This seems like forever and tomorrow at the same time.  It is forever in the sense that the formal training calendar hasn’t begun yet and it’s 10 degrees outside today.  It is tomorrow in the sense that I have to get myself ready for 140.6 miles in 30 weeks!

Age groupers starting the swim 

Training last week was minimal because we had to head out of town for a funeral and the weather in Ripon, Wisconsin featured a high of 2 degrees and a low of -17 degrees.  Needless to say there was no outside running happening.  We were also pretty busy during the trip, so there was no trip to the hotel gym either.  I did spend about 45 minutes walking the hall of the hotel one night in an attempt to register as many steps as possible on my FitBit. 

Monday:           Nada  (last minute errands and shopping for clothes for our trip)

Tuesday:           Zilch   (decided to play Monopoly with my son instead of ride after work)

Wednesday:      Swim 1,800 yards

Thursday:          Zero (in Wisconsin)

Friday:              Nil (in Wisconsin)

Saturday:          Nope (got home after midnight, son's Pinewood Derby, and daughter's basketball tournament)

Sunday:            Bike 20 miles

Needless to say that these excuses need to STOP.  This won't be a problem once formal training begins, but may, at times, be a struggle while in the base phase.

Okay - back to the FitBit.  I have been using the FitBit since November and I really like it (except that you don't get any credit other than "active minutes" for time in the pool or on the bike).  The iPhone app works well, and I don’t even notice that I’m wearing it.  In fact, the only time I take it off is while swimming.  The daily step goal that I have established is 10,000 steps per day, which is a challenge on work days.  I found that my step totals on work days are typically 2,000-3,000 (unless I work out).  Yikes – that’s a lot of time on your rear. 

In order to get 10,000 steps outside of my scheduled workout, I have been making a point to get up and move around at least 3 times per day.  At the same time, I wanted to find something that will help in terms of the Ironman, so I’ve been using these 5 minute breaks to walk the down the 9 flights of stairs from my office to the underground tunnel that connects some of the buildings on our campus and back up again.  If this continues, I should have huge quads and calves!

Does anyone else use the FitBit?  If so, let’s connect through the app and compete!

One last note (not sure if I mentioned this before) - two more Honey Badgers (my running/multisport team) signed up for IML so I now have more training partners.  Hoping to pick up one more soon.

Here’s to a more productive week!

Gearing Up the Bike

This week's GoPro test video:

It's mid-January.  The days are short, the nights are long, and the temperatures are low.  As far as training goes, there's not much to see here this week (oops).

M:   Rest (Adam's birthday)

T:    Bike - 18 miles (trainer)

W:   Rest (school meeting)

T:    5.6 miles (Forest Park loop)

F:    Rest (lazy)

Sa:  Run - 10 miles (Tower Grove park)

Su:  Bike - 12 miles (Grant's Trail)

I'm guilty of missing a few workouts this week, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.  However, I was able to complete the latest cycle of the Icy Iron put on by my tri club (scoring a gift card to my local bike shop).  In the Icy Iron, you must complete the Ironman distance in swimming (2.4 miles), biking (112 miles), and running (26.2) over a specific six week period.  Despite the holidays and a confirmed case of Influenza A, I was able to complete the cycle, logging  3.84 swim miles, 135 bike miles, and 50.85 run miles.

One of the highlights of the week was Sunday when the temperature was good enough (and my schedule was clear) to allow me to get on my tri bike for the second time ever for a quick 12 mile ride.  (I have been riding my road bike on the trainer this winter).  

For Ironman Louisville, I will be riding a Cervelo P2.  This bike and I just seemed to click while shopping the different models.  When you're 6'5", there's not a lot of options out there for you, and it didn't take me long to settle on this beauty.

From my two rides, I can tell that we still have work to do to get to know each other better.  My feet were a bit sore in the new shoes/pedals, and my neck and shoulders need to get better acquainted with the angles on this bike which are a lot more aggressive than my road bike.

One of the important things I need to do as I get ready for training and race season is to determine what gear I will be using.  I have already settled on Shimano TR52 shoes and Shimano 105 pedals.

I'm still researching the hydration system I'll use and whether I want to use an aero helmet during the race.  I might rent Zipp wheels for race day, but am undecided.  For the hydration system, I'm looking at the Xlab Carbon Sonic system which is made specifically for the aero seat post used on the Cervelo P2.  For the front, I'm considering the Profile Design Aero HC.

For the helmet, I'm thinking about the Giro Air Attack or the Louis Garneau Vorttice Black Knight if I really want to push it.  I have a tendency to look down while riding, so a helmet with a tail probably isn't a good idea unless I can break that bad habit.  Does anyone have opinions on helmets?  (Gretchen - I'm looking at you...I think you ride with an aero helmet, don't you?)

Finally on the nutrition front, I have been clipping recipes or ideas from some triathlon newsletters or magazines that I receive.  I will pass along those that are good or have been helpful for me.  We tried the mushroom and swiss frittatas this week, which are essentially mushrooms, onions, eggs, and rice cooked in a muffin tin.  They were quick to make and reheat well from the freezer.  Variations on this will probably be a staple for me this summer.  Here's a link to the recipe.  

Until next week!

A Tough Week for Training

Wow – last week flew by and it’s time for an update.  After the great snowmageddon of St. Louis on January 5th, the temperatures plummeted and we had a few cold days and a bit more snow.  Since then, the temperatures have rebounded, stores were able to re-stock their eggs, milk, and bread, most of the snow has melted, and people around here have stopped losing their s*&@ over road conditions and school closures.

 

On the training side, the weather made last week tough so I spent most of the week indoors:

Monday           18 mile ride (trainer)

Tuesday           4 mile tempo run (indoor track)

Wednesday     1 mile swim

Thursday         rest

Friday              20 mile ride (trainer)

Saturday          8 mile run (Forest Park)

Sunday             1 mile walk

Total = 52 miles

Ideally Sunday would have included a bike ride and/or swim, but I was completely and totally exhausted for some reason.  I thought a walk with the dog would have helped, but it didn’t.  I remember having days where I felt like this during training last summer for Ironman 70.3 Muncie – sometimes you just have to listen to your body, rest, and live to fight another day.

In other training news, we’ve been working on “cleaning up” our nutrition.  Last week included a number of vegetarian meals, juicing, quality snacks, etc.  The week did end with a few treats at a trivia night and a piece of my son’s birthday cake on Sunday, but overall it was a good week. 

While I still have a number of “gear issues” to address before racing season starts (aero helmet, on-bike hydration system, etc.), I have been working on getting acquainted with the GoPro I received for Christmas.  I am continually amazed at the quality of the video you can get from this tiny device as I think back to the old shoulder-mounted home camcorders.  The GoPro unit fits in the palm of your hand, can be mounted virtually anywhere, and quickly downloads for editing.  Here are the results of some of my testing:

You can’t watch a few of these from a mobile device due to copyright issues on some of the music.  I haven’t found a legal way around this yet – sorry about that. 

I’ve purchased a bike mount for the camera so that I can take some video and/or stills during training to help document the journey.

The GoPro was also a deciding factor in signing up for the Quivering Quads trail half marathon in March.  I’m not as interested in running the race as I am in running the race with the GoPro.  This course should make for some interesting footage, I hope.  Seems like misplaced priorities, but a number of people from my running group swear this is a good time.