Here's wishing everyone out there a very merry Christmas - or happy Hanuka - or whatever else you may celebrate this time of year. As I sat to write this, I was going to give some simple, thoughtless, and generic stuff just like most folks at this time. But - I've never been one to be 'generic' or PC. So.... here goes...
As I have grown up, the activities surrounding this time of year continue to amaze me. As a guy with a "mixed" religious background and varying beliefs, I often feel conflicted this time of year.
While I grew up celebrating Christmas "real big" as a kid, as I have grown up and learned more about the history of Christmas and how it came into being, I am not so inclined to 'go big' as an adult. Most, if not all 'traditional' customs have nothing to do with anything in the bible and, in reality, are rooted in paganism. But I'm sure most of you know that already, so no shocker there. But it makes me wonder what people actually think when they say we have to "remember Christmas for what it was" and "put Christ back into Christmas" - since, well, it was never really there to begin with.
Also, as I learned more about the bible as I grew up, it seems to me that we are instructed more to remember and 'celebrate' Jesus's death and resurrection rather than his birth. Yeah, I get it that without the former, the latter could not have occurred. And I know that's what Easter is also all about. But the bible is very clear about how to remember his death Very little is mentioned about what to do to remember his birth. So again, going back to the scriptures, I am conflicted as to which one should be most remembered.
I am also a bit disgusted at how commercial it has become and how 'freaky' people get. It amazes me how folks can look me right in the eye and question me for not putting up decorations and then talk smack about their most recent shopping trip when someone 'cut them off' or does something else to anger them. If nothing else, shouldn't we be a bit more tolerant and forgiving this time of year if, in fact, this time of year is about the birth of our Savior?
Anyway - those are just a few thoughts that run through my little brain this time of year. Don't get me wrong - I love giving stuff to my boys and seeing their smiles this time of year. In fact, we rarely make it to Christmas day before having most things opened already. But we also don't go thousands of dollars on gifts. They get plenty - but really - the amount some people I know spend is ridiculous. At the end of the day, it shouldn't be about all that anyway, should it? If someone can be inspired to read the bible, do something good for someone else, or make someone smile - then, really, that's all good, right??
But regardless - I guess that's enough. As I mentioned at the start - I wish you all a merry Christmas to everyone who may happen to read this. And Happy New Year to you all as well. I sincerelly hope that 2012 brings you all the happiness, success, and peace you could ever want!!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Managing the Mind
As I go along in this "off-season" or, what I think is more accurately termed, "in between season", I am learning how to manage my mind. Let me explain. You see, in my professional life, I have always been very goal oriented - very focused and driven. And always eager to take on new challenges as I tend to get bored easily with the status quo. That has led me to live in 3 states and many different 'jobs' in the last 19 years. But only 2 companies. My drive has taken me from stepping stone to stepping stone as I have moved forward in my career, but not from company to company. The path has stayed fairly constant.
That being said - I have not had nearly the same success in my personal life as my professional life. Don't get me wrong - I have an amazing family with a great wife, 2 incredible kids, wonderful parents, an inspiring brother, etc. So that's not what I really mean. I am talking about finding 'personal' success in the same way as I have found 'professional' success. Finding something that drives me, challenges me, and motivates me to succeed.
I have always had issues with my weight ever since I can remember. And in the last 10 years, I blew up to over 300 lbs, lost some of that and bounced around the 275 mark for a while. I used to think my drive was to lose a ton of weight - get to some magical 'number'. But then what? But in the last 2 years, I have found I have a new drive. That of finishing an Ironman. And the "then what" after that? Well, do more, faster. After that, who knows. But at this point in the journey, I have a long way to figure that out.
But back on track - or rather - explaining how I got to my focal point. At some point around 3 or 4 years ago (don't remember which) I started attending group fitness classes and was drawn to indoor spin classes. This led to becoming RPM certified in 2010 but basically went nowhere after gaining certification. At the same time, I had a goal of doing a sprint triathlon which I did - also in 2010. And I was hopeful, all along the way, that my weight would just drop off as I trained and competed in these events. But alas, that was not to be the case.
I went into this year, 2011, with enhanced race goals which were all achieved as described in prior posts. And again, I hoped the weight would just fall off. And again, this was not the case. But as I ended my Augusta race and looked towards the remainder of the year, I knew that I had to change my focus - had to lose weight - in order to be more successful in any future race. And that becoming more 'race fit' would be imperative to reaching the ultimate goal of finishing an Ironman.
I initially thought that if I just stopped riding/running/swimming and did ONLY a workout routine designed to aid in weight loss, I would be able to start back up in January. Fresh, lighter, and ready to go. So I chose something that would help lose weight AND add strength, which, I figured, would only help as well - P90x. The only problem?? I don't really enjoy the workouts very much - I get bored - and I missed the crap out of riding my bike and (gasp!) running!
Going back to my work progression, I had (have) a "somewhat" unclear destination, but each "next step" has been very clear along the way towards my growth. I could never have predicted where I would currently be. But I could visualize each "next step" along the way. And each of those steps took me closer to where I am today. Some of those steps were harder than others, some just flat out sucked, and some were quite rewarding. But for now, my current 'step' isn't so bad.
But in this fitness/triathlon/etc. progression, my "next steps" have been mashed together haphazardly in hopes I would somehow just "make it" to an Ironman finish. This aint workin, so I need to change. What I have come up with is that the actual goal at the end of the road isn't what is most important as long as there is some goal - even it isn't realistically achievable (Ironman in less than 10 hours, perhaps). I have to focus on each stepping stone. And for now, that stepping stone is all about losing weight. I have to treat each day, week, month as if losing weight were my job. And that is where I have to 'manage my mind' as I tend to do with my career. Know what the future holds and work towards that. But focus on the now. Win today, then win tomorrow, and then the next day, and the next. And eventually that stepping stone will be cleared and the next set up to tackle.
So after numerous failures and adjustments so far this off-season, I am refocusing (I see my wife rolling her eyes as she has heard this before). Regardless, after reading a ton and getting great advice from great friends who are willing to share their expertise, I have developed a "base" weekly schedule based heavily on cycling (outdoors when I can, indoors on a trainer or class if not) and strength training 2x/wk. These will be modified week to week, but will be basically the same until February when I will change to race specific training in preparation for Kansas.
Back to the rolling of the eyes - I also know that I need accountability - so I will be posting at least every 2 weeks with progress reports that will include total weight lost, any improvements in a timed cycling route, obstacles/hurdles along the way, etc. There may be no one out there who is intersted, but just by posting, it will keep me honest.
So - until next time.....
That being said - I have not had nearly the same success in my personal life as my professional life. Don't get me wrong - I have an amazing family with a great wife, 2 incredible kids, wonderful parents, an inspiring brother, etc. So that's not what I really mean. I am talking about finding 'personal' success in the same way as I have found 'professional' success. Finding something that drives me, challenges me, and motivates me to succeed.
I have always had issues with my weight ever since I can remember. And in the last 10 years, I blew up to over 300 lbs, lost some of that and bounced around the 275 mark for a while. I used to think my drive was to lose a ton of weight - get to some magical 'number'. But then what? But in the last 2 years, I have found I have a new drive. That of finishing an Ironman. And the "then what" after that? Well, do more, faster. After that, who knows. But at this point in the journey, I have a long way to figure that out.
But back on track - or rather - explaining how I got to my focal point. At some point around 3 or 4 years ago (don't remember which) I started attending group fitness classes and was drawn to indoor spin classes. This led to becoming RPM certified in 2010 but basically went nowhere after gaining certification. At the same time, I had a goal of doing a sprint triathlon which I did - also in 2010. And I was hopeful, all along the way, that my weight would just drop off as I trained and competed in these events. But alas, that was not to be the case.
I went into this year, 2011, with enhanced race goals which were all achieved as described in prior posts. And again, I hoped the weight would just fall off. And again, this was not the case. But as I ended my Augusta race and looked towards the remainder of the year, I knew that I had to change my focus - had to lose weight - in order to be more successful in any future race. And that becoming more 'race fit' would be imperative to reaching the ultimate goal of finishing an Ironman.
I initially thought that if I just stopped riding/running/swimming and did ONLY a workout routine designed to aid in weight loss, I would be able to start back up in January. Fresh, lighter, and ready to go. So I chose something that would help lose weight AND add strength, which, I figured, would only help as well - P90x. The only problem?? I don't really enjoy the workouts very much - I get bored - and I missed the crap out of riding my bike and (gasp!) running!
Going back to my work progression, I had (have) a "somewhat" unclear destination, but each "next step" has been very clear along the way towards my growth. I could never have predicted where I would currently be. But I could visualize each "next step" along the way. And each of those steps took me closer to where I am today. Some of those steps were harder than others, some just flat out sucked, and some were quite rewarding. But for now, my current 'step' isn't so bad.
But in this fitness/triathlon/etc. progression, my "next steps" have been mashed together haphazardly in hopes I would somehow just "make it" to an Ironman finish. This aint workin, so I need to change. What I have come up with is that the actual goal at the end of the road isn't what is most important as long as there is some goal - even it isn't realistically achievable (Ironman in less than 10 hours, perhaps). I have to focus on each stepping stone. And for now, that stepping stone is all about losing weight. I have to treat each day, week, month as if losing weight were my job. And that is where I have to 'manage my mind' as I tend to do with my career. Know what the future holds and work towards that. But focus on the now. Win today, then win tomorrow, and then the next day, and the next. And eventually that stepping stone will be cleared and the next set up to tackle.
So after numerous failures and adjustments so far this off-season, I am refocusing (I see my wife rolling her eyes as she has heard this before). Regardless, after reading a ton and getting great advice from great friends who are willing to share their expertise, I have developed a "base" weekly schedule based heavily on cycling (outdoors when I can, indoors on a trainer or class if not) and strength training 2x/wk. These will be modified week to week, but will be basically the same until February when I will change to race specific training in preparation for Kansas.
Back to the rolling of the eyes - I also know that I need accountability - so I will be posting at least every 2 weeks with progress reports that will include total weight lost, any improvements in a timed cycling route, obstacles/hurdles along the way, etc. There may be no one out there who is intersted, but just by posting, it will keep me honest.
So - until next time.....
Friday, October 28, 2011
P90x and the Slow Carb
Well, I am supposed to be nearing the end of week 4 of P90x. Weeks 1-3 went by well and I mostly enjoyed the routines. I did the 'strength' days at the gym - push ups, pull ups, barbell work, etc - and 'cardio' days at home - plyometrics, kick boxing. And, honestly, I skipped the yoga. And this week - week 4 - has been 'recovery week' which is mostly yoga and ab work. And because of a heavy travel week, I have neglected to do all of the required workouts. And I feel it - I feel lethargic, lazy, and grumpy.
Considering how I feel now and the fact that I skipped some of the workouts, I am considering starting over on Monday with day 1 again. I really think I benefited from the workouts I did - but I didn't completely follow the program.
Now - the slow carb diet. As some may know, this is a diet found in the book, The Four Hour Body, which is similar to a "low" carb diet but with some key differences. With "low" carb, you can eat all of the butter, grease, fat, etc you want. And cannot eat high carb veggies like corn. With SLOW carb, you are pretty much limited to lean meats, ANY vegetable, and beans. Any kind of bean - black beans, white beans, navy beans, pinto beans, lentels, anything. No fruit, nothing white (including cheese). And eggs are okay. Fairly easy to do. And best of all, once per week you are allowed a "cheat" day where you can eat anything you want. The intent is to spike the calories and throw your metabolism a curve ball so it doesn't get into a rut and get used to what you are doing.
When I have maintained this diet for extended periods, I have had great success. But I have also been susceptible to 'cheating' while traveling for my job. It's easy to stay on course when I can set your routines at home and everything is predictable. But when I travel, things get off course and I find myself making excuses to 'have just 1 beer' or 'eat that 1 meal I shouldn't' or whatever. Then before I realize it, it is time for me to return to Birmingham and I have had several meals I shouldn't have had and I have blown the week.
All that being said, after 4 weeks of being on P90x and Slow Carb, I am going to have to punt and reset. I have lost some weight, but not nearly what I should have lost by now. And I know I have not put forth my best effort. The difference this time is that I am aware of this, am facing it head on, and dealing with it now rather than at the end of the year when I would realize I was nowhere close to acheving my end of year goals. In the past, I would have done just that - ignore for as long as possible and postpone any changes until it was too late. Not this time!!
I know that planning is essential to my success with the diet. When I have had the most success, I have planned my meals for the week on Sunday, had plenty of "ready to eat" soup on hand (thanks to my lovely and talented wife who generously will make whenever I ask), and have been diligent about making my breakfasts the night before. And I know I will just have to suck it up with the yoga for the exercise. I also am going to throw in some bike rides on weekends because - well - I like them and they are good for my sanity. I think by trying so hard to ONLY do P90x, I kept myself from doing the things I really loved - like riding my bike.
And with that - I shall close with the hope that my next post will be about results rather than punts.
Considering how I feel now and the fact that I skipped some of the workouts, I am considering starting over on Monday with day 1 again. I really think I benefited from the workouts I did - but I didn't completely follow the program.
Now - the slow carb diet. As some may know, this is a diet found in the book, The Four Hour Body, which is similar to a "low" carb diet but with some key differences. With "low" carb, you can eat all of the butter, grease, fat, etc you want. And cannot eat high carb veggies like corn. With SLOW carb, you are pretty much limited to lean meats, ANY vegetable, and beans. Any kind of bean - black beans, white beans, navy beans, pinto beans, lentels, anything. No fruit, nothing white (including cheese). And eggs are okay. Fairly easy to do. And best of all, once per week you are allowed a "cheat" day where you can eat anything you want. The intent is to spike the calories and throw your metabolism a curve ball so it doesn't get into a rut and get used to what you are doing.
When I have maintained this diet for extended periods, I have had great success. But I have also been susceptible to 'cheating' while traveling for my job. It's easy to stay on course when I can set your routines at home and everything is predictable. But when I travel, things get off course and I find myself making excuses to 'have just 1 beer' or 'eat that 1 meal I shouldn't' or whatever. Then before I realize it, it is time for me to return to Birmingham and I have had several meals I shouldn't have had and I have blown the week.
All that being said, after 4 weeks of being on P90x and Slow Carb, I am going to have to punt and reset. I have lost some weight, but not nearly what I should have lost by now. And I know I have not put forth my best effort. The difference this time is that I am aware of this, am facing it head on, and dealing with it now rather than at the end of the year when I would realize I was nowhere close to acheving my end of year goals. In the past, I would have done just that - ignore for as long as possible and postpone any changes until it was too late. Not this time!!
I know that planning is essential to my success with the diet. When I have had the most success, I have planned my meals for the week on Sunday, had plenty of "ready to eat" soup on hand (thanks to my lovely and talented wife who generously will make whenever I ask), and have been diligent about making my breakfasts the night before. And I know I will just have to suck it up with the yoga for the exercise. I also am going to throw in some bike rides on weekends because - well - I like them and they are good for my sanity. I think by trying so hard to ONLY do P90x, I kept myself from doing the things I really loved - like riding my bike.
And with that - I shall close with the hope that my next post will be about results rather than punts.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Augusta 70.3
Wow! It's been a while since I posted anything here - this is harder to actually keep up with than I had imagined. But now that my "season" is over after finishing the Augusta Half Ironman (70.3), I thought it would be a good time to reflect on that race, the entire year and look forward to my next journey and year in 2012.
As for this past year, I have mixed feelings about how I did. I started the year with huge ambitions and goals in terms of events and desired weight loss. I started out fast and felt great through spring dropping over 50 pounds and completing two half marathons (Mercedes and Talledega). But then came new stresses, fatigue, and possible burn-out as I got near my 1st triathlon of the season (Buster Britton). While I was able to complete Buster Britton, I was not happy with my performance. My training had slacked off and my nutrition was off - thus I had regained some of weight I had lost. I didn't feel very good about that race, but was determined to improve as I moved towards Chattanooga. That race is detailed in my previous post, so I won't rehash it here.
Then came Mountain Lakes, another sprint triathlon of 600 yard swim, 16 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. Even though I felt rejuvenated after Chattanooga, that didn't last long and I was again unprepared for Mt. Lakes. I actually never rode my bike between Chattanooga and Mt Lakes - all prep. that I did was on an indoor spin bike - and my nutrition and other trainings weren't much better. I ended up finishing the race in an embarrassingly slow time (swim, bike, and run - all of them) and at this point, I had serious doubts about my ability to finish Augusta.
I debated whether to drop out of Augusta and even made the offer to my brother (who was competing there with me) to do so. Fortunately he didn't take me up on the offer and I decided that although I was going to be heavier than I originally wanted, I was at least going to do everything I possibly could to get ready. I figured the worst that could happen (other than collapsing in death) was that I would not finish.
Five weeks prior to the start of Augusta when I "got serious" and trained my ass off by following the last 5 weeks of a 70.3 Training Plan I had downloaded from the internet. That right - I said five weeks! The bulk of my training was during this 5 weeks. And during this time, I trained between 7-9 hours per week, rode almost exclusively outside in a 'real' bike, and burned between 6000 - 9500 calories per week. I also re-found (is that a word??) my love of triathlon and became very focused on my original goal from the beginning of the year of completing a Half Ironman.
Now - the race report from Augusta. My brother got to the hotel about an hour ahead of me on Saturday afternoon and got checked in. Once I arrived, we went to the event hotel, registered and picked up our race packets, then attended the optional racers debriefing. We then took our bikes to the transition area and set up our bikes. This was the 1st race I have done where the bikes were set up the night before and I was hopeful of great security of the areas as there were more than $1M work of bikes in there! After that, we went to Bonefish Grill for a nice dinner - then went back to our room and chilled until we turned in.
Race morning, we were up at 5am to get ready and were out the door by 5:45am. I had 2.5 servings of a Protein Shake for breakfast which seemed to sit pretty well on my stomach as I did not have any issues with it during the race. I also never felt hungry and had good energy for most of the race as well.
About an hour prior to the swim, I had 1 pack of Gu while we were in transition setting up our towels, shoes, water bottles, etc. We then walked the 1 mile from transitions to the swim start after getting tired of waiting on the bus to drive us there. The walk was nice, I suppose, and gave a good warm up. About 15 minutes before the swim start, my brother and I put on our wetsuits and I had 1 more Gu and got in line. This was a Wave start swim and my time was 8am. My brother went out at 8:28am (he's MUCH older than me - heh heh heh!). Anyway, the water was 74 degrees and felt cold when I got in. We started from in the water rather than from a beach or jumping in from a dock. When the cannon went off, I let the faster people go on ahead and then I started out. I felt very good during the swim and halfway enjoyed myself as I came in at a respectable 33 minutes for the 1.2 miles.
After the swim, there was about a quarter of a mile 'hike' to transitions to get our bikes. Once inside transition, there was a station with people to help take off the wetsuit which I appreciated - although I fell on my butt as they were helping me! But it came off, nonetheless!
I was somewhat slow during T1 because I took time to dry my feet and re-apply chamois cream since I knew the bike ride would be 3+ hours. Once the ride started, I felt absolutely great and was riding between 20-22 mph for much of the flats - topping out at 41 mph on a downhill. I managed the hills as I normally do - slow but steady. That is, until around mile 40 where my feet were getting numb and there was a very slight, but long, hill that never seemed to end. The hill was almost undetectable (maybe 1 or 2% grade) - but it dropped my speed to around 15 mph for what seemed like forever. My initial thought was that my legs were going out and that I was on the verge of hitting the wall (something I had done a few weeks earlier on a training ride with a fellow triathlete back home) and I started to worry that I wasn't going to finish. And then the hill leveled off and all was good in the world again. During the bike portion, I ate 1 Gu pack every 45 minutes and drank 1 full bottle of water every hour. This worked really well and other than the numb feet and undetectable hill, I felt great! I ended up with a time of 3:08 for the 56 miles and was (still am) pleased with that effort.
Then came the run - ugh! My legs basically DIED during the run. Starting off it was all I could do to just move forward - then, once that felt 'normal', I cramped up almost constantly for the rest of the way. This led to a rather slow jog/walk effort that lasted 3:24 for the 13.1 miles. I think this is where my lack of training through the summer months combined with the fact that I didn't lose as much weight as I had hoped finally caught up with me. Not much to say about the run portion other than I was slow, got a couple of blisters and bruises underneath my toenails. Plus I learned that when my running shoes get wet, I don't really like it!! But - I never stopped and did finish the entire race in 7:17, not quite reaching my goal of 7 hours. But well under the 8.5 hour time limit!
After the race was over and I got my finisher's medal, my brother found me (who, by the way, finished in 6:19 in his first triathlon EVER!) while I was in line for food. After eating a bit of the post race pizza, we walked back to our hotel, cleaned up, and then went to get our bikes from transition. After that, we went out for dinner at Five Guys and had big, juicy burgers - and topped that off with a pint of ice cream each!!
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed racing Augusta and for now, plan on doing this race again next year. I am still debating on what next season will look like, including this race. But I do know that I will space out my races, do fewer of them, and split my training up so I do not burn out like I did this year.
Even though this season was a disappointment in terms of weight loss and finishing times for most of my races, I am happy that I ended up doing 2 half marathons and 4 triathlons - one of which was a half a frickin' Ironman! And I learned SO MUCH this year that will help immensly next year - from simple things like using a 5g paint bucket in transitions and how to tape Gu to a bike frame. To more complex things like how to swim in open water without freaking out to how to plan nutrition for a 3 hour bike ride. I also learned that I do still love this sport and cannot wait for next year to start again!
That being said - after taking one full week off from any exercise and eating whatever I wanted, I am back on my slow carb diet and started P90x today. My goal for the rest of the year is to drop as much weight (fat) as possible while building some good, lean muscle so that I can start next year in better shape and "more ready". And that's it - I will ride and run some on weekends, but just for fun - not for training. My training will be solely P90x until January.
As mentioned before, I am still deciding which races to do next year. I am leaning towards 1 race in late spring (April or May) and then another in late summer/early fall (September or October). And I am considering doing the full Mercedes Marathon in February as well. What I do know is that 2012 will not be the year I do a full Ironman. I know that I need a full year training and racing at peak physical condition under my belt before doing that and, well, I am hoping 2012 will be that year which would set me up for a full IM in 2013. Ahhh - so much to decide!
As I do decide on a plan, I will surely post something here. Have a great day!
As for this past year, I have mixed feelings about how I did. I started the year with huge ambitions and goals in terms of events and desired weight loss. I started out fast and felt great through spring dropping over 50 pounds and completing two half marathons (Mercedes and Talledega). But then came new stresses, fatigue, and possible burn-out as I got near my 1st triathlon of the season (Buster Britton). While I was able to complete Buster Britton, I was not happy with my performance. My training had slacked off and my nutrition was off - thus I had regained some of weight I had lost. I didn't feel very good about that race, but was determined to improve as I moved towards Chattanooga. That race is detailed in my previous post, so I won't rehash it here.
Then came Mountain Lakes, another sprint triathlon of 600 yard swim, 16 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. Even though I felt rejuvenated after Chattanooga, that didn't last long and I was again unprepared for Mt. Lakes. I actually never rode my bike between Chattanooga and Mt Lakes - all prep. that I did was on an indoor spin bike - and my nutrition and other trainings weren't much better. I ended up finishing the race in an embarrassingly slow time (swim, bike, and run - all of them) and at this point, I had serious doubts about my ability to finish Augusta.
I debated whether to drop out of Augusta and even made the offer to my brother (who was competing there with me) to do so. Fortunately he didn't take me up on the offer and I decided that although I was going to be heavier than I originally wanted, I was at least going to do everything I possibly could to get ready. I figured the worst that could happen (other than collapsing in death) was that I would not finish.
Five weeks prior to the start of Augusta when I "got serious" and trained my ass off by following the last 5 weeks of a 70.3 Training Plan I had downloaded from the internet. That right - I said five weeks! The bulk of my training was during this 5 weeks. And during this time, I trained between 7-9 hours per week, rode almost exclusively outside in a 'real' bike, and burned between 6000 - 9500 calories per week. I also re-found (is that a word??) my love of triathlon and became very focused on my original goal from the beginning of the year of completing a Half Ironman.
Now - the race report from Augusta. My brother got to the hotel about an hour ahead of me on Saturday afternoon and got checked in. Once I arrived, we went to the event hotel, registered and picked up our race packets, then attended the optional racers debriefing. We then took our bikes to the transition area and set up our bikes. This was the 1st race I have done where the bikes were set up the night before and I was hopeful of great security of the areas as there were more than $1M work of bikes in there! After that, we went to Bonefish Grill for a nice dinner - then went back to our room and chilled until we turned in.
Race morning, we were up at 5am to get ready and were out the door by 5:45am. I had 2.5 servings of a Protein Shake for breakfast which seemed to sit pretty well on my stomach as I did not have any issues with it during the race. I also never felt hungry and had good energy for most of the race as well.
About an hour prior to the swim, I had 1 pack of Gu while we were in transition setting up our towels, shoes, water bottles, etc. We then walked the 1 mile from transitions to the swim start after getting tired of waiting on the bus to drive us there. The walk was nice, I suppose, and gave a good warm up. About 15 minutes before the swim start, my brother and I put on our wetsuits and I had 1 more Gu and got in line. This was a Wave start swim and my time was 8am. My brother went out at 8:28am (he's MUCH older than me - heh heh heh!). Anyway, the water was 74 degrees and felt cold when I got in. We started from in the water rather than from a beach or jumping in from a dock. When the cannon went off, I let the faster people go on ahead and then I started out. I felt very good during the swim and halfway enjoyed myself as I came in at a respectable 33 minutes for the 1.2 miles.
After the swim, there was about a quarter of a mile 'hike' to transitions to get our bikes. Once inside transition, there was a station with people to help take off the wetsuit which I appreciated - although I fell on my butt as they were helping me! But it came off, nonetheless!
I was somewhat slow during T1 because I took time to dry my feet and re-apply chamois cream since I knew the bike ride would be 3+ hours. Once the ride started, I felt absolutely great and was riding between 20-22 mph for much of the flats - topping out at 41 mph on a downhill. I managed the hills as I normally do - slow but steady. That is, until around mile 40 where my feet were getting numb and there was a very slight, but long, hill that never seemed to end. The hill was almost undetectable (maybe 1 or 2% grade) - but it dropped my speed to around 15 mph for what seemed like forever. My initial thought was that my legs were going out and that I was on the verge of hitting the wall (something I had done a few weeks earlier on a training ride with a fellow triathlete back home) and I started to worry that I wasn't going to finish. And then the hill leveled off and all was good in the world again. During the bike portion, I ate 1 Gu pack every 45 minutes and drank 1 full bottle of water every hour. This worked really well and other than the numb feet and undetectable hill, I felt great! I ended up with a time of 3:08 for the 56 miles and was (still am) pleased with that effort.
Then came the run - ugh! My legs basically DIED during the run. Starting off it was all I could do to just move forward - then, once that felt 'normal', I cramped up almost constantly for the rest of the way. This led to a rather slow jog/walk effort that lasted 3:24 for the 13.1 miles. I think this is where my lack of training through the summer months combined with the fact that I didn't lose as much weight as I had hoped finally caught up with me. Not much to say about the run portion other than I was slow, got a couple of blisters and bruises underneath my toenails. Plus I learned that when my running shoes get wet, I don't really like it!! But - I never stopped and did finish the entire race in 7:17, not quite reaching my goal of 7 hours. But well under the 8.5 hour time limit!
After the race was over and I got my finisher's medal, my brother found me (who, by the way, finished in 6:19 in his first triathlon EVER!) while I was in line for food. After eating a bit of the post race pizza, we walked back to our hotel, cleaned up, and then went to get our bikes from transition. After that, we went out for dinner at Five Guys and had big, juicy burgers - and topped that off with a pint of ice cream each!!
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed racing Augusta and for now, plan on doing this race again next year. I am still debating on what next season will look like, including this race. But I do know that I will space out my races, do fewer of them, and split my training up so I do not burn out like I did this year.
Even though this season was a disappointment in terms of weight loss and finishing times for most of my races, I am happy that I ended up doing 2 half marathons and 4 triathlons - one of which was a half a frickin' Ironman! And I learned SO MUCH this year that will help immensly next year - from simple things like using a 5g paint bucket in transitions and how to tape Gu to a bike frame. To more complex things like how to swim in open water without freaking out to how to plan nutrition for a 3 hour bike ride. I also learned that I do still love this sport and cannot wait for next year to start again!
That being said - after taking one full week off from any exercise and eating whatever I wanted, I am back on my slow carb diet and started P90x today. My goal for the rest of the year is to drop as much weight (fat) as possible while building some good, lean muscle so that I can start next year in better shape and "more ready". And that's it - I will ride and run some on weekends, but just for fun - not for training. My training will be solely P90x until January.
As mentioned before, I am still deciding which races to do next year. I am leaning towards 1 race in late spring (April or May) and then another in late summer/early fall (September or October). And I am considering doing the full Mercedes Marathon in February as well. What I do know is that 2012 will not be the year I do a full Ironman. I know that I need a full year training and racing at peak physical condition under my belt before doing that and, well, I am hoping 2012 will be that year which would set me up for a full IM in 2013. Ahhh - so much to decide!
As I do decide on a plan, I will surely post something here. Have a great day!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon
I completed the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon this past weekend and while it was quite challenging - I was quite slow. I had dropped off the 'slow carb' diet for several weeks leading up to the race and my training had slipped as well. I was scared to death going in, but in the end, it was a great learning experience and I am glad I did it. It also refocused me and I am back on track towards Augusta.
A little history on the Buster Britton race I did in Birmingham last month, which was only a 400 yard swim where I FREAKED OUT once I hit the water. It took over 12 mins to complete that swim and I did most of it with the breast-stroke. I even had to hang onto the side of one of the rescue boats for a little bit (no penalty as long as you don't 'move forward'). I was hyperventilating, could not breath with my face in the water - totally sucked. Which made me DREAD the 1500 meter swim in Chattanooga.
After that experience, I did some drills in the pool where I would purposely make my goggles leak and try to fix it on my back, try to 'race' anyone next to me to get my heart rate going, and also think heavily about my race terrible experience during my swim sessions. This would 'jump start' my heart, like a quick adrenaline surge, but I would force myself, in that moment, to think about what my body was doing, and then, refocus my attention on my stroke and my breathing. I also practiced a lot of sighting in the pool since that caused me problems too. I know all that sounds hokey, but it seemed to work. I finished Chattanooga in a slow, but stress free 34 mins.
The transition out of the swim was difficult because in the Chatt race, you immediate go up about 2 flights of stairs, cross the street and into transition. I felt confident for the bike portion because that's what I like the best, so I wasn't nervous about that at all. However, I learned that a 13 mile bike portion (my last race) is much different than a 26 mile bike portion. In the short distance, I was able to go as hard as I could without regard to how I would feel later. But in this longer distance, I felt the need to 'hold back' and kept worrying about my legs during the run. This resulted in an embarrassing bike time of 1:41. The course was also much more hilly than I expected, even though I had seen the elevation in the course maps. Seeing on a computer screen is much different than riding it. I also struggled with keeping pace while drinking - I've always had probs with this, which typically results in me just not drinking much. But because it was so hot and b/c I knew I still had the run, I drank 2 full water bottles. I also had 1 tube of Gu, which I had forgotten to tape to my bike frame, so I had to actually stop, get off my bike and get it from my saddle bag. Again, embarrassing, but good to learn now than later. Another thing I worried about too much was drafting. In races, you are not allowed to draft and there are very specific rules for when you come up to another rider and how long you have to pass. In Buster Britton, I just screamed past people as fast as I could. In this race, for some reason, I was not nearly as aggressive and worried that I wouldn't be able to complete my pass within the 10 seconds. So I would hang back, analyze the speed, and then pass. And lastly, I wasted way too much time going too slow for the last mile leading into Transition. Everyone slowed as we got close, including me, but this was a RACE, so I should have known better. But again, better to learn now than later. I will have another opportunity to correct all of this in my next race in August. It's a sprint Tri about an hour from Birmingham with a nice flat, 13 mile bike route. As for the run, I have completed 2 half marathons this year (Mercedes and Talledega), so I wasn't all that worried. But I have never really run in the heat that was present during the Chatt race. I ended up running an embarrassing (again) time of 1:35 for 6 miles. Much of that was walking because again, I was not used to the heat! I was told after the race that the heat index while I was out there was between 100 - 105 degrees and I felt every bit of it. I also confirmed that I MUST lose weight before my next race and surely before Augusta. My goal is to NOT walk for Mountain Lakes or Augusta which is pretty do-able if I train right.
One part that did 'slow' me down was that I did stop to check on some dude that was sitting on some benches at about the 4 mile mark. He looked terrible and I stopped to offer support and to go get some help. He said someone else was already going for help, so I moved on - but I'll 'claim' the loss of about 5 minutes for that.
All in all, I learned a ton during this race which will help me as I move forward towards Augusta. I thoroughly enjoyed the race experience and am 'hooked' on doing these! My goal is to complete the full IM in 2012 and to be competitive during shorter races in 2012.
More 'history' to follow later - I just felt the need to go over this race since it was still in my mind.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Hello
Hello world! Just a quick note of acknowlegement as I begin this blog to track my journey from the 'couch' to completing an Ironman triathlon. A little bit of background will soon follow as well as my current status and future goals.
Thanks - and I look forward to the adventure.
Thanks - and I look forward to the adventure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)