18 Weeks Until Rev3 - Swim workout #2

Whew doggies! I slept terrible last night and was beyond tired and sore this morning. I hate to really fight the urge to skip, but finally at 4:40 I got up to get this done!

I am glad I did because I feel much better. I need to work on my mindset to fight through not wanting to get up and be lazy. I know the first few weeks will be the hardest, but once I get my groove back I will be fine.

I hit up the pool again today since my bike is in the shop. This week will be run and swim focused. I was sore from the run yesterday so decided to skip the planned run and swim instead to be safe and not risk injury. I will run tomorrow instead of a bike workout and be right on track.

Here is what I did today. Most happy with the 6 x 100 where I swam each one faster. I was enjoying see my times go down each lap.

My biggest focus right now are my feet and keeping them up on the surface of the water. My feet sink big time. Every lap that is all I am focusing on. I hope to get this fixed over the next few weeks and then move to another aspect of my swim that needs work - rolling!

WU: 500
MS1: 100, 200, 300, 200, 100, with 20" rest between each. Count strokes on all ODD number laps, as a tool to help you focus on form. Set Total: 900;
MS2: 6 x 100 (20"), negative split Set Total: 600;
MS3: 8 x 25 (20") Hard, but keeping the same stroke counts you've held consistently above. Set Total: 200.
CD: 100-200 easy. Total: 2400
Coach Notes: Technique Focus: head position -- neutral head position, not looking up or down; breath straight to the side, to 9 or 3, with no head lift. Think "one goggle out," minimizing head roll.

Ironman Journey Resumes after 3 month of Nothing, Rev3 Cedar Point Here I Come

Alright, I have hit the highs and lows of motivation, training, and nutrition the last six months. I hit an all time high of fitness from Nov - Jan. I hit an all time low from Feb - May doing nothing and being a mess.

Back in October of 2012 I started this journey to complete my first 140.6 triathlon.

I am back. I have 19 weeks to get ready for Rev3 Cedar Point.

Last night I attended swim clinic to find what I need to work on after a long time of no swimming.

Today I hit up the pool for a technique swim

My training has completely changed due to me not following my plan set by my coach. I am now on a 20 week Ironman plan. These next four weeks are just about getting back in the groove.

I will have another 4 week block and then a 12 week intense, locked in training block to get ready.

Today I did the following

Warm Up - 100 free, 100 pull, 100 kick hard, 100 paddles

Drill Propulsion Progression
MS: 2 x 50 (15") Swim Golf; 2 x 50 (15") for each of the six Propulsion Progression Drills; 2 x 50 (15") Swim Golf. Focus Swimming: 2 x 50 (15"), focus on front quadrant: lead hand is extending until recovering hand is about at your ear. 2 x 50 (15"), focus on catch: think "finger tips down. 2 x 50 (15"), focus on catch: think "over the barrel." 2 x 50 (15"), focus on best form you can maintain. 2 x 50 (15") Swim Golf.

I wrapped up with 100 kick, 100 paddles, and 200 free set.

Total: ~1800

I will be sore tomorrow. I was sore this morning.

Here is Ironman Journey Episode 6





You can catch the first five episodes here -http://coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com/p/1406-triathlon-video-journey.html

Out Season: Week 14 - Mixing Things Up During Test Week

Alright, another crazy, tired, nonstop week of action. I have not updated my training every day like I normally do as I simply don't have the time. So here is a brief catch up of all things training which as you will see is SO not what the plans call for on the last week of November Out Season.

I will say that I have hit a wall with motivation which is why I have chosen to mix things up. Why did I not just wait one more week you ask when OS is done? I feared that waiting one more week would lead to complete disconnect. That cannot happen. So I made the change this week.

Monday - Swimming!

Since I did not race Sunday due to ice and snow I wanted to swim. I jumped in the pool and knocked about 1500 yards. I can tell it was my 2nd swim in 5 months. I need to get back to the basics and build the endurance up slowly.
Warm Up - 200 free, 200 kick, 200 pull
Main Set - 10 x 50 every 60 seconds
Cool Down - 100 kick, 100 swim with paddles, 100 pull, 100 free
Total 1500 yards

Tuesday - no training due to very poor sleep.

Wednesday CrossFit - I decided to give this a try. I needed something different and a new challenge. This was a great group of people and look forward to finding a way to make this happen more in my training.

Part 1)
Dynamic Effort Bench Press
On 45sec interval 3 Reps for 9 sets
50% of 1RM (3 sets at close grip) (3 at med grip) 3 at wide grip)
learn something with this speed!

Part 2)
5 Rounds
On the 2 minute Interval
5 Deadlifts (335/225) (255/175) (185/125)
15 Medball Cleans (30/20) (20/14)
scores are the time it takes to complete each round. score your fastest and slowest.
rest 5 min
50 ball slams for time
Part 3)
Banded Good Mornings
3X25 FAST

Thursday - I could barely get out of bed from Crossfit. Holy smokes I have not been this sore in a LONG time. I can barely walk. Instead of testing my bike today, I decided to hit up the Tuesday workout I missed just to loosen my legs and back up. I am glad I did not test as my legs and mind were not ready.

Tuesday workout done today

MS: 3 x 8' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

There you have it. 3 workouts. 2 not part of the plan, but 2 that I really enjoyed. I plan to do my run test tomorrow. It will have to be on the TM as it will be sub zero here in Iowa. My goal is to break 20 minutes despite not running in two weeks! We shall see what happens. My bike test will happen Sunday to wrap NOS! Here is to Getting It Done! and doing what you need to do to stay the course.

Out Season: Week 5 - 4 x (3 x 45) Workout, AdvoCaare, and TR

Today was tough for me mentally. I woke up at 3:30 when my daughter decided it was time to start the day. My legs were very sore and tired and I was just not ready to get going. I had to force myself out of bed and was ever so glad I did so.

Today was a tough bike workout. I started with the typical warm up that I have to get me going at 5 am i the morning.

5’ easy, 3’ standing @ big gear/low cadence, 2’ easy, then 12’ at Z3/80-85%/Mod Hard, then 3’ easy.

I then got into the workout which called for

MS: 4 x (3 x 45/45) @ Vo2/Zone5/Very Hard. Take 2' easy between each set of 3 x 45/45's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

If you have been following my blog and training log, then you know I am working on converting to Virtual Power using TrainerRoad. I did the test on Tuesday to establish my zones. I plugged them into Endurance Nation, but not sure why my stuff did not load properly.

Here are my power zones















I don't know why the zones did not show up as 1,2,3,4,5, but I can still figure it out. Today as I rode I paid attention to TR and hitting my Power Zones as opposed to HR on my watch. I still recorded the workout on my Garmin and you can see that below.

During my 45 second intervals I had to hit at least 243 power. You can get a better visual of my workout at Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/114527

This was a good workout and actually it knocked out the soreness in my legs. I was able to hit all marks except I think two intervals. I then finished riding in Zone 3 to wrap things up.

Name	Time	kJ/Cal	TSS	NP	Power	Target	Heart	Cadence
Workout	01:01:01	599	79	176	163	239	126	77
Sweet Spot 1	00:03:00	25	2	136	138	179	116	63
Anaerobic Capacity 1	00:12:05	121	14	167	167	329	117	78
Anaerobic Capacity 2	00:00:45	11	1	215	242	391	126	97
Anaerobic Capacity 3	00:00:45	11	2	219	243	389	131	97
Anaerobic Capacity 4	00:00:45	11	2	221	241	387	132	96
Anaerobic Capacity 5	00:00:45	10	1	205	233	389	129	95
Anaerobic Capacity 6	00:00:45	11	2	224	248	389	136	98
Anaerobic Capacity 7	00:00:45	11	2	224	250	389	139	99
Anaerobic Capacity 8	00:00:45	11	1	216	243	391	130	97
Anaerobic Capacity 9	00:00:45	11	2	226	250	391	140	99
Anaerobic Capacity 10	00:00:45	11	2	220	246	389	139	98
Anaerobic Capacity 11	00:00:45	11	1	214	242	389	134	96
Anaerobic Capacity 12	00:00:45	11	2	223	245	389	143	97
Anaerobic Capacity 13	00:00:45	11	2	220	245	389	143	98
Anaerobic Capacity 14	00:14:00	142	17	168	168	325	136	79

This was a great workout once I got done. I had to muster up the mojo to get going. Like I tell my girls that I coach sometimes you just don't feel like practicing, but you have to do it anyway. I had to live by my words this morning and was quite happy that I did so.

I still need to work on creating better workouts. For some reason I thought I had the intervals dialed in to my  power levels, but when I started the workout the power goals were super high like 300. But at least I had the intervals put in correctly so I could see each one individually and not massed together like my bike test.

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow!

What I have found to be the hardest thing so far is still eating. I cannot stay mentally focused to stay away from junk food. Tis the season I guess. I did buy everything I need to do the AdvoCare 24 day challenge to work on weight loss. I have this ready to go after Christmas. No need to do it now when I know I will be eating good over the holidays again. If you are interested in the 24 day challenge or any AdvoCare product please let me know and I would love to help. I am training this season with AdvoCare and I can tell such a huge difference in how I feel during training and afterwards and am so glad I took the plunge to this company after avoiding it the last few years.

Have a great day!

Out Season: Week 4 - Sunday Long Run Wa-HOO!!!

Today I made sure that I got my long run in. I missed out on two run workouts last week and one this week. I knew that I could not let another slip away. Especially with the monster eating workout I took a whole new level this Thanksgiving.

My plan was to get up early and run, but I woke up around 5 am and decided not go run because if my kids woke up early(which they always do) then my wife would have to get up early. If mamma is not happy, then nobody is happy. I just had to ensure that I stayed focus all morning to get the run in. Ava finally went down for a nap late morning I headed outdoors. It was a warm 32 degrees which was perfect running weather.

The plan for today called for

MS: 2 x 800 (3'), 1 x 1600 all @ TP/Z4/Hard. Remainder of run is how you feel, but try to accumulate more HMP/Z3/Mod-Hard time.

Creating a 75 to 90 minute run from this run, where personal and physical bandwidth allows, is recommended. Simply settle into a pace between LRP/Zone 1/Easy and MP/Zone 2/Steady.

I decided from the start to aim for a 65-75 minute run. I have not run this long in a super long time. Two weeks ago I ran 60 minutes and that felt like eternity.

Today I loved running. Once I get out on the roads I just love it. I can turn my mind off and just run. I find the time to be a great stress release and an opportunity to clear my mind. I love it that I don't overheat in this weather so that always helps.

I also decided to avoid the track today. I warmed up and when I hit a somewhat flat road I took off for the 800's. This is they key. The track makes it feel like work. Running without the track is the key.

You can see I started off with a 12 minute warmup.

I hit my first 800 at a 6:51 pace which is way faster than  my Z4 zone of 7:12. This pace felt easy. I need to retest for sure. Maybe I was just feeling good today, but 6:51 did not feel tough at all.

My second 800 I was at 6:58 so a bit slower, but still felt quite easy in terms of pushing myself.

Next was the mile which is what I feared a bit. I ran the mile in 7:06 and this included a few little hills to challenge myself a bit. I held on strong and found a good groove.

The remainder of the run I just found a nice groove of around 8:30 - 8:40 and just cruised. I felt good and it felt good to be out running. At one point I did have my left foot feel like I stepped on lava. A burning sensation and my foot hurt the last few miles. Being a few miles out I had no choice but to continue running. I need to keep an eye on my foot. It is quite tender even now when I do anything besides walking. This foot is the same one that has dealt me stress fractures in the past.

All in all I felt great. I feel good afterwards and knowing that I can run for 75 minutes and not feel terrible is a great sign that I am not as out of shape as I think. I just need to be smart and allow the small bones, ligaments and joints to catch up to the training to avoid injury. A day of rest tomorrow might be best for my foot. I have to be smart so I don't end up in a boot again.

I also have been battling with a toe issue. The last few weeks my toe has been red and swollen. It hurts to the touch, but while training it has not been an issue. As time has gone on it continues to get more red and bruised. I thought it might be a blood blister and tried popping it, but nothing happened. Yesterday after my brick workout my toe felt weird and I checked it out to find it had popped or busted open.

I know pretty gross right? It has opened up even more and this weird stuff oozes out from it. Probably time to get it check out. The good news is that as long as I don't touch or squeeze my toe there is no pain so maybe the worst is over.

The joys of training. Time to get things ready for the real world tomorrow. I am planning on staying off my foot and hope that the pain goes away. In the meantime I will stay positive and happy with my run. It was a great mental boost.

And yes, I fear the weigh in tomorrow. It could be scary!

Out Season: 5K Test - Are You Kidding Me?

I have been mentally preparing for this day. My running has been terrible since June. In triathlons it has progressively gone worse until Pigman. Back in April I ran a sub 20 minute 5K and was just killing my running. From that point things began to fall apart.

I am out of shape and overweight. I was more nervous for this run than the bike test because I knew it would hurt more and that the results would speak to the issues at hand.

This morning I took my AdvoCare, mentally prepped and headed out. It was chilly out this morning, but it was perfect weather to test in my mind.

Here is a breakdown of the morning

WU: 15' including 4 x 30" at 5k pace.

You can see I ran a bit longer to get to the starting point. I had a place in mind to start and I wanted to be there. The extra minutes did not do much in terms of wearing me out, but just took more time than planned.

MS: Run a 5k Time Trial. Find a relatively flat course (or track) for your test. Goal is to hold a pace you can sustain for the full duration of the test without blowing up and without having a lot left to kick at the end. The ideal course is one you can test on repeatedly.

Now you are probably saying, "Isn't a 5K 3.2 miles?" Why yes it is! My stupid watch decided that it was going to pause during the run. I started the watch and took off. I made myself not look at the watch so I would not be so worried about distance and time. Instead I would just focus on my breathing and trying not to barf. When I hit a point I mentally mapped out to look at my watch where I knew I would be close to the end it read .38 miles. I blew up! I was so mad. I hit start and kept going until I got to one mile. This mile is .38 from the start and .62 from the end. I was cruising around 6:30 pace at the end but that was fueled by anger. I was not running this pace the whole time. I was more around 7:05 - 7:15 if I had to guess.

During this run my legs were shot. I had bile brewing in my gut and I prayed I would not puke. However, like I always do after the first few miles I hit a groove and was able to push. I have always been this way. I have not pushed my body this hard in a long time. My brain was screaming at me to stop, but it felt good to challenge myself. I did not enjoy the feeling of burning legs, lungs, and bile, but it was a great feeling to know I was tough enough to keep pushing harder.

CD: Walking, jogging as needed, etc.

I walked a bit before jogging home. In all I ran about 6 miles. It is the same old course I have ran with the CRAZIES for over a year so I know it is 6 miles.

So, where does this leave me? I posted my situation to my coach. Time will tell if I have to retest which I am thinking I will need to do. The problem is that my legs are already sore. Mentally I have to find that drive to push myself again and soon. Perhaps this weekend I will give it another go. Or maybe I can use the data that was recorded. I want to do this right so I know that means testing again. BARF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall, I really surprised myself by the time I was running. I did not think even low 7's were possible at this stage of my training. This gives me hope that I might be a little better off than what I thought. I look forward to getting some better data and watching my progress develop.

Out Season Training Begins - Bike Test From......

Today I begin my Out Season training plan. The four weeks was the preseason and in reality it was not much of any season. I fell apart mentally. I jumped in hoping I would mentally get prepped and primed, but it never happened. As I stated in the video I posted earlier, I flipped the switch this weekend after gathering with some amazing people who either paced or ran Leadville. It was just what I needed.

This morning I had the bike test.

WU: 15' easy, include 4 x 30" Spinups. 3 x 1' (1') Hard, to get your heart rate up and work up a sweat.
 MS: Then time trial 40' Hard-Very Hard, as if racing. Take average heart rate for the test. This is your LTHR.
CD: Easy spin.

I was nervous to do this test this morning. I know I am not in the best shape. I know numbers don't lie so I realized doing this test makes things real.

I felt great afterwards. It was good to challenge my mental toughness. I wanted to stop at the 25 minute mark. My legs were shot. The key to this was to keep a stable pace and not shoot up and down. I think I could have pushed maybe a tad harder, but my legs were shot when I finished. This is a good start to the season.

I also weighed myself this morning as I have done for about 1.5 years. Sad to say that I weighed in at the most I have ever weighed since I started charting once a week back in June of 2011. It is time to get things under control.

All those small details I have let slip over the last few months are catching up. Just like taking care of all those small details lead to success.

The key today will be staying awake! I am tired and have a long day ahead of me.

Rest tomorrow and then a run test on Wednesday. That should prove interesting!

Getting It Done: Fresh RE-Start - Bike Test of OS

Ironman Training: Day 22-23

If you read my last post on training you know that Monday did not start off as planned as I missed my swim workout after being up all night with Ava.

Today I was up and ready. I took my AdvoCare rehydrate, O2 gold and right before leaving my Catalyst.

I met up at the Y to see Chad, Curt, John, and Emily. I am not in the best of shape so John and Emily took off and I knew it was too fast for me. Chad stayed behind and we ran our loop. It felt good to be running, but to say it was easy I cannot claim that. I need to get my fitness dialed in.

Time to quit making excuses

Time to stop losing mental focus

Time to study my goals and begin the path to attain them

It felt good to be out running. I always feel so much better afterwards. Today I have been tired I won't lie. Part dehydration and part being out of shape.

My training called for a 40 minute Level 2 run. After missing last week I figure an extra 10 minutes would not hurt too much.

Parent teacher conferences tonight. Last night I was home at 10 after practice, parent teacher conference for Ava, Lego Robotics practice, and helping a guy with a flat tire.  Tonight I should be home by 8pm. I will be jumping on the bike tomorrow morning and sticking with the plan.

I will be back where I want to be soon. It takes time and a plan to do it right.

Ironman Training - Days 15 - 21 - Week 3 Preseason

Here it is

I did not do a thing during my third week of preseason. I mentally did not have it in me. I started off the week with best intentions. I brought all my training gear to Des Moines, but with Ava up all night before leaving at 4 am last Monday it just set the tone. I was tired and worn out Monday. I stayed up late preparing for my presentation and slept in Tuesday.

The rest of the week was a blur. It might have been the busiest week of my teaching career(this week might win out though!). I did not have time. I could HAVE made time, but I really felt like all it would have done was wear my body out.

A big fat 0 for training. At first I was very angry with myself. I was disappointed in my dedication to my fitness and the sport. However, I have moved on. Anger gets you nowhere in life. It happened for a reason. I am okay with it.

This week I am refocused. Today was going to be my day in the pool. Well, Ava was up ALL NIGHT! I overslept my alarm and I am now off to missing a training session. I have a plan to get it all back and will do so later this week.

Life is crazy. Parent teacher conferences two nights as a teacher. Two nights of parent teacher conferences for my children. Lego Robotics practice Monday night. Girls basketball practice after school on days without my teaching parent conferences. Life of kids and getting them from point A to point B, homework, chores, etc. I have to make time.

Working out helps me. I know it does. I am much more relaxed and not so grumpy when I train. I will get back into things somehow, someway. I have a crazy 6-7 mile race coming up in a few short weeks so I need to prepare.

Life creates obstacles. The key is not to say blocked for long, but to learn how to move on. I will do just that.

Ironman Training: Days 12-14

Preseason Week 2

Friday

Friday I had to do my swimming workout that was supposed to be done on Monday.

It was another technique day, but focusing on a different set of techniques and drills. I did not feel very comfortable doing these so that is a sign that I have some work to do.

Warm Up (WU): 200-400 yds/m, your choice
100 free, 100 pull, 100 kick, 100 free

MainSet 1 (MS1): 4 x 50 yds/m “Swim Golf”, as #1, 2, 3 at moderate pace, #4 as hard/sprint.

•  Scores of 80, 79, 77, 70

MS2: 2 x 50yd/m of each drill in the Propulsion Progression

There were seven drills working on hand placement in the water and pulling on the backstroke. These were tough and thinking this much threw me for a loop.

MS3: Repeat MS1. How do the two Swim Golf sets compare?

• 76, 74, 74, 70 

MS4: 200-400 yd/m, your choice of distance. Count your strokes on the 1st and 3rd 25 of every 100. Swim only as fast as your ability to maintain and sustain your best form across the entire distance.

I swam 100 pull, 200 free(this was tough!!!), 100 pull, and 100 kick



I ended with 2000 yards in 34:50. Not bad considering I overslept and did not get in the water until 7:15.


Saturday

Saturday I jumped on the bike for a 90 minute easy ride. I started off and 45 minutes later I had to stop as we had to pick up Aiden from a birthday party and Ava decided to wake up. I had Ava duty until Amanda returned. I jumped back on after about 20 minutes to finish up this ride

Sunday Workout #1: 60 Minute Run
EP to MP/Zone 1-2/Easy to Steady. Include 5 x 20" Strides. Rolling course. I felt great this morning. I was back to shorts and shirt. There was a light rain and I just took off and it felt great to be out all alone. I did not see a single person. I had my headphones on and just practiced my presentation and thought about other things.

I compared my distance compared to last week when I ran 60 minutes. Last week I ran 61 minutes get 6.38 miles. I ran a 9:35 pace and did not feel good while running this slow.

Today I ran a 9:16 pace for 6.52 miles in 60 minutes. It felt easy. My clean eating and AdvoCare has helped to improve my fitness over the last week. The training plan provided by Endurance Nation also has me on track. I have had to overcome a lot of habits that I did this year. I am running for time and not distance which just throws my brain for a loop.

I feel good after two weeks of preseason. The workouts are short and to the point. Nothing unnecessary to just be training. I train, I move on.

I look forward to week 3. I will have to be disciplined while in Des Moines. I am never good while on the road. This will be a good test for me.

Ironman Training Day 11: Bike Strength Assessment

Preseason Week 2: Bike Assessment
Day 11: Bike Strength Assessment

Another day on the bike. I had to go back to back due to not training on Monday. Today called or another 60 minute ride. 60 minutes works perfect in my morning allowing me time to get my AdvoCare product in me and giving me time to train before starting my day.

Today called for

2 x 9( 3 minute rest interval between) at about 70-75%/Zone 2-3

The first set I had to go 3' intervals as 90/100/110 rpms

The second set I had to go 3' as 90/80/70 rpms

My focus was to assess my comfort zones at these different cadence levels. I knew going into this where I would, but it helped to actually gauge five levels and actually think about it.

You can see from the data that my HR picked up each time I increased from 90/100/110 with my HR picking up from 123 @ 90, 143 @ 100, 154 @ 110. I hate riding with high cadence. I find it uncomfortable and not enjoyable. I like to grind and as a result you can see the second set went better(well I think it did). At 90 my HR was at 137, 80 cadence my HR was 137, and at 70 cadence my HR was 137. But I maintained a steady HR while in lower gears.

I know I need to work on higher cadence. This will be something to focus on during the winter for sure.

Another good session and put me in the right frame of mind where I am thinking about my workouts. Before I would just do a workout and move on. Now, I am actually making connections with the data. I don't know what it all quite means yet, but at least I have the ball rolling.

Have a great day!

Ironman Training Day 10 - Interval Session on Trainer

Preseason Week 2

Bike Workout: 60 Minute Interval Session

The workout today was an interval session.

It called for 8 x (2' @ Level 4/ 90-95%, 2' @ Level 2/70-75%, and 1' @ Level 1/60-65%)

This was tough. I did a 10 minute warmup to get the legs going at 4:50.

The first few sessions felt fine, but by the 4th session I found the 2 minute hard session to be challenging. Part of this is mentally toughening up a bit and pushing through. Part of it is that my bike fitness is pretty poor right now(as it should after the long break).

This was a good workout. I feel like I have a direction and purpose so it helps me keep track of where I am, where I am heading, and where I want to be.

My focus today was smooth transitions between levels and working on my high end fitness.

A great start to the day. It feels good to getting the bike done in the morning. I did not want to get up, but I will be happy with this decision tonight.

I am on day 3 of the AdvoCare 10 Day Cleanse. Feeling great and actually much better with less caffeine and less junk in the body. My cravings for my comfort foods are still there and that proves to be the toughest. I will write up a post about the cleanse soon so if you are interested in knowing more I can share everything that I know and the resources that I have.

Have a great Wednesday. Life is busy, but take time to step back and remember what is important. I lost focus on the important things in life yesterday and I need to remind myself of this very thing.

Ironman Training - Day 8 & 9 - Rest and Run

Preseason Week 2
Monday: Rest due to horrible night of sleep

The plan was to swim on Monday, but I opted to take the day off. Amanda and I were up all night with Ava who was just having one of those nights. Not sure what was all going on, but she was not happy. I decided to let the body rest and not push it on such little sleep.


Tuesday: 40 Minute Run
Zone 1 - Zone 2 with focus on strides going uphill and downhill

Today I met up at the Y with Chad, Brian, and Curt. It was great running with people again. They all agreed to run along with me. I had a 40 minute run planned. I was up and ready to go with my AdvoCare supplements. The run is starting to come around. We ran at a nice leisure pace, but it was already about 45 seconds faster from when I ran last week. We headed out for 20 minutes and turned back around.

My Garmin watch is starting to not work. It quit running for about 30 seconds before starting up again. It has been through a lot the last three years so I know that I need to start looking for a new one. I will hold out as long as I can for now.

Slowly getting back in the swing of things. With the 10 Day AdvoCare Cleanse and training I hope that my body will be back to normal soon.

Have a great day and continue working hard to GETTING IT DONE

P.S. if you did not see my previous blog post, then you have to check it out. A student of mine created an EPIC Theme Song for me and my other YouTube series titled, "Nerd Factory". Be sure to check it out.

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/QRM6uEftfeU

Ironman Training Day 7 - Bike Trainer

Preseason: Week 1
Bike Ride - Long 90 minutes

Today I was to perform a 90 minute ride completing the following:

Easy/Steady ride at conversational pace at 65-70%/Zone 1/Easy, some 70-75%/Zone 2/Steady. Include 30’ in one gear of choice (middle of rear cassette).
Pick it and stick it. Use your legs to keep tension on the chain at high speeds, use your body position and/or standing to move the bike at low speeds.

It was way too cold out this morning for me to even consider going outside so I just rode on my trainer. Therefore the whole pick it and stick it idea did not really work as planned. However, my legs were sore from my 60 minute run yesterday and riding the bike for 90 minutes proved to be a challenge even at a steady easy level.

I felt good the first 45 minutes, but my legs were tired by the end and I did not find this too be easy. Getting back to shape is not easy when I was at such a different level of fitness a month ago. But, this allows me to train right and move in a different direction and pace which will hopefully pay off down the road.

So  I was able to finish 28 miles in 90 minutes.

Tomorrow I begin a 10 day cleanse and will continue to work on building up my endurance and work on technique.

A weekly recap will be coming soon along with my next Getting It Done episode.

Ironman Training: Day 6 - Long Run

Preseason Week 1
Saturday Long Run

Typing right now is quite difficult as my hands are frozen and my fingers barely move. It was a tad chilly this morning. I like it cool, but not this in early October

I am glad I threw some tights on as I thought about not doing so before checking the weather. I also put on a long sleeve and a pair of gloves. A hat would have been nice, but I survived.

Today the plan was the following

EP/Zone 1/Easy to MP/Zone 2/Steady. Include 5 x 20" Strides at end. Rolling course. 60 minutes
My goal was to maintain any endurance built up. I had to laugh at this because I have no endurance after my layoff.

I did feel much better on the run today. Had it not been for my asthma kicking in the whole run, this would have been quite easy. My cardio felt great and my legs felt good for 95% of the run.

This morning I took some AdvoCare Spark with Arginine and O2 gold. Right before I left to run I took some AdvoCare Catalyst and headed out the door. Supplements don't solve all problems, but I cannot help but think that they don't play a part in getting back to fitness and helping with recovery and overall fitness. If you are interested in AdvoCare I would to talk with you about it. I don't have all the answers, but I know people who do.

It felt good to be out running. I put on my headphones and listened to some rap mixtapes and was just in my own world.

I kept things nice and easy as the plan states. It is hard not to push, but this is not a short race prep. This is a 9-10 month plan so I have to keep things in perspective to avoid burnout and injury. The hardest part is knowing the time I was putting in towards the end of my training and now I am doing about 1/3 of that. I know volume will come with time. The one thing I am doing now which I never did before was take this time to work on assessments and skill development. This will pay off in the long run.

I was able to pick up pace as my run went on and it did not feel more difficult. My HR stayed steady and it felt good to be back on the roads.

Off to a day with family. Have a great weekend.

Ironman Training: Day 5 - Swim Drills

Preseason Week 1
Week 1: Swim Assessment

Today I remembered my goggles, but like an idiot I forgot my pen and my watch to record my data. I will do my best to use what little brain power I have left today.

Today was my first time back in the pool in a long time!

It felt great to be back in the water. I forgot how much I love swimming. It was rough today, but I enjoyed getting back at it in the pool.

Today I started out with the swim assessment workout provided by Endurance Nation. I have decided to fork over some money and get some guidance with my training. I will give this a try and see where it takes me. I am excited to try something new and hopefully learn more about myself and training.

Warm-Up - 200 - 400 yards
I did 400 yards - 100 free, 100 pull, 100 kick with board, then 100 fast. I was gassed one the 100 fast. I did the first 50 alright, but I could not believe how tired the last 50 felt. I have lost a ton of ground.

Main Set 1 - 4 x 50 yard Swim Golf (this is where you take your time and # of strokes to get a score)
Sets 1-3 @ moderate - 75, 75,76
Set 4 @ hard - 72
**This is where I needed my pen and watch. I am trying to remember and had to look at the clock far away so these may not be the most accurate.**

Main Set 2 - 10 set drill progression working on technique
2 x 50 of each drill. I ran through this twice - golf, touch and go, hand lift, 3/4 wait for it, right arm, left arm, single switch, triple switch, hand lift, golf

By the end of this I was tired. I could tell my body was out of shape.

Main Set 3 - Swim Golf again
Sets 1 - 3 @ Moderate - 75, 74, 72
Set 4 @ Hard - 70

I did see improvement after the technique work. I don't know what this all means yet, but I take it as a good sign.

I ended with 200 cool down of 100 pull and 100 free.

This took me 50 minutes to get in the 2000 yards.

I felt pretty good considering. I took AdvoCare Spark and Arginine Extreme before so that helped quite a bit.

Long bike ride assessment and long run this weekend. Slowly getting back to the grind.

Have a great weekend.

I am working on a new training video. If you have any topics you would like for me to cover please leave a comment and let me know. I am not an expert, but would like to share things of interest. Thanks

Ironman Training Day 3 and 4: Rest and Ride

I did not workout yesterday. I had a bike workout scheduled, but decided not to ride. I woke up tired. I went to bed the night before tired. I opted to just rest and not force things. I have a long journey ahead of me and there is no reason to begin by pushing the body when it is not ready.

My body is undergoing some changes which makes things a challenge. As I work on cutting back on caffeine and a lot of the junk food(except after school!!!) my body is hitting several walls a day. It will take some time for the body to get back on track with being healthy and not relying on junk to get through my day.

I have decided to tackle a 10 day cleanse using Advocare. I ordered the goods last night and will begin this cleanse when the products arrive. I think this will help me focus and jump start my train of thought to forming good habits.

I thought about riding last night when I finished up school work around 9 pm, but decided to just call it a day and be happy with decision. It was a good decision as I was able to actually talk to Amanda for the first time this week. I cannot believe how busy life gets. I feel like we just brush past each other as we tutor, coach, hand off kids, take kid here, take kid there, etc.

I woke up this morning ready to go. I took some Advocare Catalyst and a bottle of water and jumped on the bike. I have not been on the bike in a long time.

This morning I completed the next ride workout. It called for a 60 minute ride with 2 x 8 minute intervals with 2 minutes at 60 cadence and 2 minutes at 80 cadence. The goal of this workout is strength and therefore I was performing at a Level 2/3 during 80 cadence.

About 10 minutes into the ride my butt started to hurt. I am going to have to start over with building up my seat tolerance. I did not feel too bad on the bike, but 60 minutes felt like a long time. I watched an interesting documentary on Netflix about happiness. It provided some food for thought, but did not do much to pass the time quickly.

Tomorrow I head to the pool to complete the workout from Monday that I was supposed to do.

What I Tweeted One Year Ago And How It Is Coming True

This was a Tweet I posted one year ago on October 1st, 2011. What is crazy about this idea is that at this point I was toying with the idea of doing triathlons and wanting to do an Ironman when I did not even know how to swim. All I had was a much too small $100 hybrid bike.

What is even crazier is that exactly one year later I am beginning my Ironman journey. I had forgotten all about this tweet. Think about it, how much do you remember sharing? I could not even tell you what I posted online yesterday let alone a year ago.

Who would have thought that exactly one year to the date I am taking care of that urge. What is it about October?

I use this new website that I have found to be incredibly interesting. It is called http://memolane.com/

You can add whatever you want to your account and each day you get an email from the site with things from your past. It is very clever and really makes you remember all the daily things that go on in your life that you forget. Check it out.

This video  really struck a chord with me. In addition to this tweet the video below was also posted.(you can see it in blue in below the tweet up top)

Ironman Training Day 2: My First Run

Today is day two. I was up and ready to run. As I was preparing to run my 40 minute run at Level 2 this morning I kept thinking that I could go ahead and run 6-7 miles like I normally. I had to convince myself that I need to stick to the plan and not jump the gun. I was playing this battle in my mind for about 20 minutes.

Once I started out running, I knew that this mental battle was not worthwhile. There was no way this body could run 7 miles. It was weird that as I was running I felt like I was running at a pace like I used to run, but when I checked my watch I was SO MUCH SLOWER. I could not believe it.

After about 1.5 miles my legs were shot. My legs were struggling. I could not believe how far out of shape I have become taking the last 5-6 weeks off.

It was a beautiful morning. I did enjoy my run despite struggling and realizing how much I lost.

I came home and had to create a video. I was not going to make any the rest of the week, but I needed to get this on video to compare my fitness as I continue down this path. Check it out!

Getting It Done Episode 4: My First Run Recap