disclaimer: I really did start this the next day after my previous post! However, I'm just getting back to finishing it up now, on 5/8. In the future, I won't make any bold statements about when I'll be posting, I don't want to disappoint all you faithful readers. All 2 of you are still out there, right?
Biking is fickle. One can put in approx. 1,400 miles in 4 months, but not go anywhere. That's literally and figuratively how I've felt with my biking. Literally, because most of that has been done locked into my trainer. So while I'm getting saddle time and my ass is making a new BFF, I've been stuck in one spot looking at the same scenery (unless I've been prepared enough and stopped by a Redbox to pick up a new movie). Figuratively, because all that time in the basement spinning, spinning and more spinning I thought it would translate into Lance Armstrong-like comparisons once the rubber met the road this Spring. (not literally, but you know what I mean)
I was excited to finally get the bike outside and see/feel what all the trainer rides have done for me. I felt like I was getting stronger, was able to pedal harder for longer, used higher gears (or is it lower, i.e. harder?) and actually noticed more muscle mass in my legs. It didn't quite translate into all that once a real ride came about. My first ride I thought I'd just keep fairly simple, just get used to actually moving forward, clipping in and out of the pedals again and needing to actually pay attention to my surroundings. It was a fairly uneventful ride, but once I got done I could feel the difference in my legs between an indoor trainer ride and a real ride outside. I'm not sure I could've run a 5k at that point and here I am training to run a full marathon in the IM after just 112 miles on the bike?! This first ride was pretty flat, just getting outside miles, so it was a little disconcerting to have weak legs at the end.
Issue #2 came on ride #2. The hard thing, at least for me, with a trainer is it's hard to simulate hills. Maybe I'm not torquing enough tension onto the roller? I thought I had some pretty good workouts on the trainer, but once I got outside and actually rode up some hills I realized there's no substitution for the real thing! I went on this ride with Tim, another Ironman-wanna-be-in-training. He's younger, in better shape than I am, but still being a competitor on the inside, I thought we were fairly equivalent in our biking abilities. The route he choose had some moderate, at best, climbs. I don't know if I just attacked the hills wrong, was in the wrong gear starting out or just plain wasn't ready for my workout, but it felt like I was struggling with every single incline! Tim and I would be riding along side by side (when car traffic allowed), but as soon as a hill came along I quickly resumed my rear position, and not by choice. I realized after this ride that I need to work on hills, I need to focus on the quality of the ride (make sure hills are part of the route) and not just quantity (time). Anyone can ride on roads that are like pancakes as long as their ass can withstand it, but I'll need to be able to deal with non-pancakes.
So, that's a brief recap of my first couple of rides outdoors a couple of weeks back. I'm happy to report now that I'm not feeling quite so down about the biking thing. I've had a couple of decent rides since then, another one with Tim that had some moderate-to-hard climbs that I did better with (he still dropped me going up), and a couple of workouts that I just did hill repeats on (rode up and came right back down only to ride right back up again! Yes, on purpose). I think it'll come, just gotta give it more time.
Another #s update: I didn't blog about my weight in March because I didn't lose any. Didn't gain, but didn't lose either, a little disappointing. April saw things drop a little again so that's good - dropped 4 more lbs so I'm currently sitting around 176, down 17 after 4 months.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
April (is for Fools)
It's a new month so I guess that means it's time for my monthly post. Oops again.
April was a good training month. Felt like I had a breakthrough in the pool and became more efficient with my stroke; finally was able to get the bike outside a couple of times, but not nearly enough (thanks Ma Nature); and my running has gotten, dare I say it, speedy (for my standards anyway).
April #s: 497.6 miles
Swim: 30,750 yds, 17.5 miles
Bike: 395.5 miles, 22 hrs 40 minutes
Run: 84.6 miles, 13 hrs
Cumulative #s thru April: 1,757.7 miles (yikes!)
Swim: 109,175 yds, 62 miles
Bike: 1,397.5 miles, 78 hrs 20 minutes
Run: 298.2 miles, 45 hrs 25 minutes
Opened my "racing" season yesterday with the Lake Minnetonka 1/2 marathon. This was my first time doing this race, and despite it's main sponsor (Wells Fargo), it fit good into my schedule and a good chance to gauge how my training has been. After looking at the course profile I knew it wasn't going to be the flattest course, but it wasn't killer hilly either, just a lot of rolling type hills. I went into the race with somewhat high expectations. A lot of my training runs leading up to this event were feeling pretty good and at a pretty decent pace, 8:00-8:30/mile. My PR for this distance was 1:51 (8:30 pace) set 4 years ago and I was hoping to PR this time around. Race morning brought with it chilly temps in the 30s and 20+ mph headwinds so there was actually a windchill factor too (did I fail to mention this was MAY?!)!!
I started out with CC, who had already done 4 miles previously so she could get in her 17 total needed. The first mile was on the slower side @ 11:00, but most of that was due to normal race congestion and bottlenecks at many of the corners. After that it was my plan to speed up and race the event and shoot for a 1:45-1:50 finish so I started increase my SPMs (strides per minute) and weaved through the crowds. I settled into a comfortable pace and just ran my race.
At mile 5, after taking out that first mile anomaly, I figured out I was running 8 minute miles. Mile 8 came along and was still holding steady right at 8s, mile 10 same thing and I knew I was going to do it. If I had know the course a little better I may have kicked it in a little more, but I was pretty happy I was able to maintain a comfortable, consistent speed. The final 3 miles breezed by and I hit my time goal, crossing in 1:48, a new PR for 13.1 miles!!
This race, but more importantly the results, have proven the training is working. Who knows, maybe some more PRs will fall yet this year! Now, I just need to make sure I keep at it and don't stagnate. My running is getting there, swimming feels better, biking though...rethinking my first 4 months of this discipline. That'll be tomorrow night's subject (yes, I'll blog 2 days in a row!).
April was a good training month. Felt like I had a breakthrough in the pool and became more efficient with my stroke; finally was able to get the bike outside a couple of times, but not nearly enough (thanks Ma Nature); and my running has gotten, dare I say it, speedy (for my standards anyway).
April #s: 497.6 miles
Swim: 30,750 yds, 17.5 miles
Bike: 395.5 miles, 22 hrs 40 minutes
Run: 84.6 miles, 13 hrs
Cumulative #s thru April: 1,757.7 miles (yikes!)
Swim: 109,175 yds, 62 miles
Bike: 1,397.5 miles, 78 hrs 20 minutes
Run: 298.2 miles, 45 hrs 25 minutes
Opened my "racing" season yesterday with the Lake Minnetonka 1/2 marathon. This was my first time doing this race, and despite it's main sponsor (Wells Fargo), it fit good into my schedule and a good chance to gauge how my training has been. After looking at the course profile I knew it wasn't going to be the flattest course, but it wasn't killer hilly either, just a lot of rolling type hills. I went into the race with somewhat high expectations. A lot of my training runs leading up to this event were feeling pretty good and at a pretty decent pace, 8:00-8:30/mile. My PR for this distance was 1:51 (8:30 pace) set 4 years ago and I was hoping to PR this time around. Race morning brought with it chilly temps in the 30s and 20+ mph headwinds so there was actually a windchill factor too (did I fail to mention this was MAY?!)!!
I started out with CC, who had already done 4 miles previously so she could get in her 17 total needed. The first mile was on the slower side @ 11:00, but most of that was due to normal race congestion and bottlenecks at many of the corners. After that it was my plan to speed up and race the event and shoot for a 1:45-1:50 finish so I started increase my SPMs (strides per minute) and weaved through the crowds. I settled into a comfortable pace and just ran my race.
At mile 5, after taking out that first mile anomaly, I figured out I was running 8 minute miles. Mile 8 came along and was still holding steady right at 8s, mile 10 same thing and I knew I was going to do it. If I had know the course a little better I may have kicked it in a little more, but I was pretty happy I was able to maintain a comfortable, consistent speed. The final 3 miles breezed by and I hit my time goal, crossing in 1:48, a new PR for 13.1 miles!!
This race, but more importantly the results, have proven the training is working. Who knows, maybe some more PRs will fall yet this year! Now, I just need to make sure I keep at it and don't stagnate. My running is getting there, swimming feels better, biking though...rethinking my first 4 months of this discipline. That'll be tomorrow night's subject (yes, I'll blog 2 days in a row!).
Friday, April 8, 2011
It's A Numbers Game
March #s:
Swim = 22,275 yds or approx. 12.7 miles
Bike = 22 hrs 5 minutes or approx. 397.5 miles
Run = 13 hrs 55 minutes or approx. 94.4 miles
Cumulative:
Swim = 78,425 yds or approx. 44.6 miles
Bike = 60 hrs 5 minutes or approx. 1,002 miles
Run = 35 hrs 20 minutes or approx. 213.6 miles
Whew, that makes me tired just typing and thinking about those cumulative numbers! I guess that's why you need to break down the training into sizeable chunks and not look at it as 1 whole.
Now that it's past and I look back on March, I'll just say good riddance. It's not that it was a terrible month, but I was definitely good out of the gates in January and February, but lost some mojo somewhere along the way in the middle of March for a couple of weeks. I'm happy to say I was able to find it again and have been going strong again for the past couple of weeks. I haven't yet, but if you go back and reread an earlier post I think I alluded to thinking that this IM training wasn't going to be too bad and didn't know what all the whining (that's too strong of a word, but it fits to give you the picture) was about from some others when it came to getting through it mentally as much as physically. Well, I guess this is where I insert my apology to those who have come before me and warned me this might happen. There were a few days when I just didn't want to get in the pool and justified any excuse not to - "getting up at 5 a.m. is too early, I'll go during lunch", "gas prices are too high and the pool's too far away", "swimming is such a small part of the overall race I can afford to miss a workout or two", etc., you get the picture. This really did only seem to be affecting the swim portions, you can see that in the totals comparing month-to-month. I think the main reason behind that is because biking in my basement and running are easy enough to do and don't require commute time. That's a pretty lame excuse.
A lot of my March workouts were also done alone. This didn't help. As introverted and comfortable with just being with myself as I am, even I need social interaction. I got to thinking about this during one of my longer spin sessions on a Saturday morning. It started out with just thinking how hungry I was at the time and how nice it would be to have someone there who would have a nice, big, hot breakfast waiting for me once I got done (and no, before you go all "equal rights" on me, I don't think the only place for a woman is in the kitchen...they're also allowed in the bedroom). Kidding, I'm just kidding!! Anyhoo, back to my thought...it would be nice to have a meal waiting and actually wanting (needing?) to have a conversation. From there, I delved back into my "reasons" for not currently having a girlfriend - not enough time to pursue a relationship, not enough $$, I'm focusing on the kids, I'm putting myself first, etc. Once again, lame excuses. I want someone there I can talk to, I want someone there in Madison I can share this experience with (outside of family and platonic friends), I want someone there I can show off to/for.
I think part of my problem is that I'm not truly grown up and I'm still "stuck" in my younger years. Let me explain. I'm 42 years old. Because of this active, athletic (if I can be presumptuous enough to call it that) lifestyle, I feel younger than what I envision a 42 year old should feel like. Because I feel younger than what I think I should, I'm inadvertently attracted to women who are younger and not necessarily my peers. The problem is, the younger gals aren't attracted to the older guys, but I don't "see" myself as an older guy. When looking at online dating profiles of people in my age range, 38-45 yrs, almost all the time I would've guessed they were older. If I'm thinking my peers look older than what they are and I'm dismissing them because of that, then I've been fishing in the wrong lake. I asked a close friend for an honest opinion of how old I look and no, I wasn't expecting to hear something in the 20s (and didn't). She came back with maybe a year or two older than what I actually am. So, here I am, an older looking guy looking for a younger looking gal just because he feels younger on the inside. Am I really that shallow? I think I'll need another long bike ride to get to the bottom of that, good thing the workouts are getting longer (or is it?).
Swim = 22,275 yds or approx. 12.7 miles
Bike = 22 hrs 5 minutes or approx. 397.5 miles
Run = 13 hrs 55 minutes or approx. 94.4 miles
Cumulative:
Swim = 78,425 yds or approx. 44.6 miles
Bike = 60 hrs 5 minutes or approx. 1,002 miles
Run = 35 hrs 20 minutes or approx. 213.6 miles
Whew, that makes me tired just typing and thinking about those cumulative numbers! I guess that's why you need to break down the training into sizeable chunks and not look at it as 1 whole.
Now that it's past and I look back on March, I'll just say good riddance. It's not that it was a terrible month, but I was definitely good out of the gates in January and February, but lost some mojo somewhere along the way in the middle of March for a couple of weeks. I'm happy to say I was able to find it again and have been going strong again for the past couple of weeks. I haven't yet, but if you go back and reread an earlier post I think I alluded to thinking that this IM training wasn't going to be too bad and didn't know what all the whining (that's too strong of a word, but it fits to give you the picture) was about from some others when it came to getting through it mentally as much as physically. Well, I guess this is where I insert my apology to those who have come before me and warned me this might happen. There were a few days when I just didn't want to get in the pool and justified any excuse not to - "getting up at 5 a.m. is too early, I'll go during lunch", "gas prices are too high and the pool's too far away", "swimming is such a small part of the overall race I can afford to miss a workout or two", etc., you get the picture. This really did only seem to be affecting the swim portions, you can see that in the totals comparing month-to-month. I think the main reason behind that is because biking in my basement and running are easy enough to do and don't require commute time. That's a pretty lame excuse.
A lot of my March workouts were also done alone. This didn't help. As introverted and comfortable with just being with myself as I am, even I need social interaction. I got to thinking about this during one of my longer spin sessions on a Saturday morning. It started out with just thinking how hungry I was at the time and how nice it would be to have someone there who would have a nice, big, hot breakfast waiting for me once I got done (and no, before you go all "equal rights" on me, I don't think the only place for a woman is in the kitchen...they're also allowed in the bedroom). Kidding, I'm just kidding!! Anyhoo, back to my thought...it would be nice to have a meal waiting and actually wanting (needing?) to have a conversation. From there, I delved back into my "reasons" for not currently having a girlfriend - not enough time to pursue a relationship, not enough $$, I'm focusing on the kids, I'm putting myself first, etc. Once again, lame excuses. I want someone there I can talk to, I want someone there in Madison I can share this experience with (outside of family and platonic friends), I want someone there I can show off to/for.
I think part of my problem is that I'm not truly grown up and I'm still "stuck" in my younger years. Let me explain. I'm 42 years old. Because of this active, athletic (if I can be presumptuous enough to call it that) lifestyle, I feel younger than what I envision a 42 year old should feel like. Because I feel younger than what I think I should, I'm inadvertently attracted to women who are younger and not necessarily my peers. The problem is, the younger gals aren't attracted to the older guys, but I don't "see" myself as an older guy. When looking at online dating profiles of people in my age range, 38-45 yrs, almost all the time I would've guessed they were older. If I'm thinking my peers look older than what they are and I'm dismissing them because of that, then I've been fishing in the wrong lake. I asked a close friend for an honest opinion of how old I look and no, I wasn't expecting to hear something in the 20s (and didn't). She came back with maybe a year or two older than what I actually am. So, here I am, an older looking guy looking for a younger looking gal just because he feels younger on the inside. Am I really that shallow? I think I'll need another long bike ride to get to the bottom of that, good thing the workouts are getting longer (or is it?).
Thursday, March 3, 2011
March Means Spring (I hope!)
Who's ready to get outside and have this winter be over?! Lord knows I am! I'm a little excited to take the bike off the trainer and test out what the past 2 months have done for me on the open road. I've had what have felt like some pretty strong bike workouts lately so things continue to progress in the right direction. I'm getting tired of running indoors too. I try to avoid the dreadmill, but the short tracks aren't much better as once you get into a rhythm on the straightaway it's time to take another corner or dodge a bluehair. The workouts are getting longer and this is the first week where the training plan is throwing double workouts at me every day (except for the recovery day on Friday). I've made it through Thursday so it's just about buckling down and getting through the weekend now. Gotta earn that cookie!
Speaking of heading in the right direction, a new month means stepping on the scale. February was stellar in that regard and I dropped 11 lbs, down to 180.3! I haven't been that light in 3 years. That was a pretty big drop though and I don't necessarily want to keep up that pace. If I do, that would put me right around 114 lbs by the time the Ironman gets here and I just don't think I'd look healthy at that weight. Seriously though, I'd probably be good to drop just another 10 lbs total over the next few months as long as it's the right weight. I don't want to sacrifice muscle mass just to get to a golden # so I have to be smart about it. I've incorporated some good suggestions from 2 friends who are knowledgeable in the nutrition area so they've become my go-to resources in that realm. Thanks Alicia and Emily!
Here are my February training #s:
swim - 27,500 yds or 15.6 miles
bike - 19 hrs and 10 minutes or approx. 345 miles
run - 10 hrs and 20 minutes or approx. 68.3 miles
for a monthly total of 428.9 miles
Cumulative through Feb:
swim = 56,150 yds/31.9 miles
bike = 33:35/604.5 miles
run = 18:30/119.2 miles
total = 755.6 miles
On the parental front, not only did Conner draw this picture freehand (using the one on the right as a guide), but he told me tonight one of his art class drawings was chosen to be on the cover of his school's yearbook! The real honor is that the editor of the yearbook (the Art teacher) was going to just use something generic, but she was so impressed with his drawing (of the district mascot, a tiger) that she chose that instead! He's always been a craftsy, artsy kid, but with these latest accomplishments I hope he realizes how good he really could become. Stick with it Son (and get that college scholarship)!
Well, even though tomorrow's my off/recovery day it doesn't mean I can stay up all night. Sleep is part of training too. Off to bed.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
I Cheated
What a difference a week makes. Training this week was a total of 2 hours shorter than last week and I could tell. Last weekend involved a 3 hour Saturday followed up with a 2 hour Sunday. I got through it, but I was beat! After this weekend's workouts I'm feeling much more energized and attribute that to 2 different reasons - the main reason being because I didn't do quite as much, but also because I think all this training is paying off and I may actually be getting better/faster/stronger. Let's hope this way of thinking continues. This past week was a backdown, "recovery", week and now it's on to 3 more weeks of increasing mileage so at least I'm going into it with a healthy dose of confidence.
So, I've cheated a couple of times the past couple of weeks. First, I jumped on the scale mid-month. I know, criminal, right!?! After a couple of pretty intense workouts I was curious as to how I was doing considering what January's weight-loss results were and I succumbed to the temptation. I won't post results, but let's just say things are still moving in the right direction. The second cheat was just as dramatic, I had a Mountain Dew. This wasn't because I "needed" one, but again was just curious. I had gone 5+ weeks without and wanted to see if it still tasted the same or what I thought of it at this point. To be honest, it didn't taste as good and certainly didn't make me crave another one.
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Yesterday the boys had their annual Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This is Conner's last year so he wanted to do well. Last year he went for Best Design (sacrificing speed) and ended up winning that award so this year he went for speed again to try to qualify for districts, something he did his first year. Last year Devon finished 5th in the pack and was able to advance to the next level. After an afternoon of racing, 72 heats w/ 3 cars per heat (thankfully, they never went head to head in the same heat), the results were in. With the top 5 going to Districts both boys knew they had a decent chance of that because they each dominated their heat races (results are based on each car's average time after 6 runs). Without further adieu, Conner ended up in 6th place and Devon got 5th. Devon gets to move on, but this might have been it for Conner. He has the slightest of chances of still getting to race though if someone in the top 5 can't make it as he'd be the first alternate. He took it well, wasn't too jealous of his younger brother. Here are their cars (the orange one is D's, the black is C's)-
So, I've cheated a couple of times the past couple of weeks. First, I jumped on the scale mid-month. I know, criminal, right!?! After a couple of pretty intense workouts I was curious as to how I was doing considering what January's weight-loss results were and I succumbed to the temptation. I won't post results, but let's just say things are still moving in the right direction. The second cheat was just as dramatic, I had a Mountain Dew. This wasn't because I "needed" one, but again was just curious. I had gone 5+ weeks without and wanted to see if it still tasted the same or what I thought of it at this point. To be honest, it didn't taste as good and certainly didn't make me crave another one.
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Yesterday the boys had their annual Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This is Conner's last year so he wanted to do well. Last year he went for Best Design (sacrificing speed) and ended up winning that award so this year he went for speed again to try to qualify for districts, something he did his first year. Last year Devon finished 5th in the pack and was able to advance to the next level. After an afternoon of racing, 72 heats w/ 3 cars per heat (thankfully, they never went head to head in the same heat), the results were in. With the top 5 going to Districts both boys knew they had a decent chance of that because they each dominated their heat races (results are based on each car's average time after 6 runs). Without further adieu, Conner ended up in 6th place and Devon got 5th. Devon gets to move on, but this might have been it for Conner. He has the slightest of chances of still getting to race though if someone in the top 5 can't make it as he'd be the first alternate. He took it well, wasn't too jealous of his younger brother. Here are their cars (the orange one is D's, the black is C's)-
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
I Need Jillian Michaels
28,650+14:25+8:10=326.7. Seriously, it does.
Remember in my previous post how I said I was looking forward to Tuesday because it was weigh-in day? Well, let's just say I won't win any Biggest Loser contests. I dropped a whopping 2 lbs. 2!! I'm doing the workouts, honest I am! Actually, it's not that big of a deal. I was expecting to see a lower weight, but I'm feeling better and noticing physical changes. I'm chalking up the lack of weight loss to the belief I'm gaining a little muscle mass. I'll take that trade-off I guess. Muscle will make me faster, right?
So, the above equation. Figure out how that makes sense? Alright, here's how - those are my January totals for my workouts:
28,650 is how many yards I've swum. This equates to 16.3 miles. An argument could be made that this could be even longer since I've been doing a majority of my swims in a pool that's measured in meters instead of yards.
14:25 is the number of hours:minutes I've spent on my bike. In past races I usually average 20-21 mph. I don't have anything hooked up that tracks my actual trainer miles so I'm just using an average of 18 mph. At that rate it equates to 259.5 miles.
8:10 is the hr:min I've spent running. Between the treadmill and counting laps on the track this is pretty close to 50.9 miles.
So, 16.3 miles swimming, 259.5 miles biking and 50.9 miles running equals 326.7. Pretty obvious, huh?
Makes me wonder how many miles I'll have to do if I want to lose 5 lbs in 1 month. Yikes!!!
Remember in my previous post how I said I was looking forward to Tuesday because it was weigh-in day? Well, let's just say I won't win any Biggest Loser contests. I dropped a whopping 2 lbs. 2!! I'm doing the workouts, honest I am! Actually, it's not that big of a deal. I was expecting to see a lower weight, but I'm feeling better and noticing physical changes. I'm chalking up the lack of weight loss to the belief I'm gaining a little muscle mass. I'll take that trade-off I guess. Muscle will make me faster, right?
So, the above equation. Figure out how that makes sense? Alright, here's how - those are my January totals for my workouts:
28,650 is how many yards I've swum. This equates to 16.3 miles. An argument could be made that this could be even longer since I've been doing a majority of my swims in a pool that's measured in meters instead of yards.
14:25 is the number of hours:minutes I've spent on my bike. In past races I usually average 20-21 mph. I don't have anything hooked up that tracks my actual trainer miles so I'm just using an average of 18 mph. At that rate it equates to 259.5 miles.
8:10 is the hr:min I've spent running. Between the treadmill and counting laps on the track this is pretty close to 50.9 miles.
So, 16.3 miles swimming, 259.5 miles biking and 50.9 miles running equals 326.7. Pretty obvious, huh?
Makes me wonder how many miles I'll have to do if I want to lose 5 lbs in 1 month. Yikes!!!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
A Plastic Hiccup
The first few weeks of training were going really well and smoothly. I was getting the workouts in, feeling pretty good while doing them and beginning to wonder that maybe this whole thing won't be as bad as some have said it could be. I still feel that way, but had my first little hiccup the other night. I do need to back up and say I was beginning to feel some shin splints starting to set in again. I've had this problem in the past and think it may have almost developed into a stress fracture last summer so I was a bit nervous this time around again. When I say stress fracture, that is completely self-diagnosed as I never went and had it professionally looked at. Why go to a doctor only to have them tell you bad news? I kid (sort of). So anyway, I took a week off from "running" and for those run workouts just did a brisk walk, as fast as I could before I would feel pain in my shins. I still wanted to do the workouts, just not at the point of doing more harm than good. It all worked out and my last 3 runs have been pain free. Well, back to my hiccup. My swim workouts are starting to get longer now and Friday's plan was for 3200 yards (not too huge, but longest yet) with the main set being 2x1000. Heading to the pool the doubt, undesire, feeling of just wanting to sit home on a Friday night, started creeping in. I got to the club, got in the pool and got through my warm up sets. At that point, just 900 into the 3200 I almost got out and went home. I was beat and tired after just 900! Granted, I didn't really do myself any favors pretty much all week and was going to bed later than I should've been so that played into being run down by the time it got around to being Friday (kind of like tonight and posting a blog at midnight!). I hadn't missed a workout yet though in the first 4 weeks and didn't think I would be bailing on one within the first month! I was a little disappointed in me for allowing myself to think along those lines. I quit wallowing and told myself to suck it up and headed down the lane for my first 1000. I got through it and actually felt somewhat good at the end, but I did end up cutting the workout short anyway. I didn't do the 2nd 1000 so I finished up with the 300 cooldown and called it an evening. I'm going to have to buckle down and make sure this doesn't become a habit! This coming Friday's workout calls for another 3200 so I'm making the vow right now I'll be in the damn pool until I complete all 64 laps! On the bright side though, I was able to follow up Friday night's disaster with good double workouts on both Saturday and Sunday - a long ride followed by a short run on Sat. and then a long run on tired legs followed by a short ride that still felt good on Sunday. Ended week #4 on a positive note!
I'm looking forward to Tuesday. On my first day of training I stepped on the scale to see what I was at. I'm curious to see what 9 months of solid training will do to me and how my body might change. On that first day I weighed in at 193.4. I don't think I necessarily "look" that heavy, but I am what I am, can't really deny that. I haven't been on the scale since and have told myself I'm only going to weigh myself on the 1st of each month, which is Tuesday, (and the morning of the IM and that night after I'm done, just out of curiosity to see how much 140.6 miles makes me lose). I used to step on the scale every time I was in the club, but I don't want that to be the main focus of my workouts. I know I've lost lbs., feel like I have, so that's the main thing I guess, not how much. In the end though, I think a good race weight for me will be in the low 170s so if I can eventually get down to that ballpark I can only think it would be a success. From an Actuary standpoint, more like 160s down to 150s is where I should be just based on my height. I don't think I've been that since high school so we'll just leave those numbers in the past! I'm realistic about any weight loss too though. I expect this first month to probably be the biggest drop and then it may not be quite as dramatic the following months. We'll see on Tuesday!
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Hold on, gonna switch gears and get off the training subject so prepare yourself! Set? Okay. I was in Cub Foods the other night picking up just a dozen or so items. I paid for them and as I was packing them in the my reusable canvas bag a mother and daughter were behind me getting their items rung up. Now, I don't consider myself the "greenest" person on the planet, but I do try to do my part despite driving around in a 10 year old SUV - I recycle, try to avoid using plastic bags, if I'm not in a room the light isn't on, I adjust my thermostat in the house, etc. Well, as I'm bagging my stuff, the girl (we'll call her in the 9-12 yr old range) starts bagging their items in a plastic bag. That's fine, if you want to use them, use them, I'm not going to scold you. The mother gets done paying, comes around the end and just mentions to her daughter that she normally likes to use paper bags because they can hold more. She takes the plastic bag that her daughter has 1/2 filled, places it still 1/2 filled in a paper bag and starts packing more groceries in. So, now she's wasted a plastic bag. Wait, it gets better. As she tries to pick up the paper bag and move it, she tears one of the handles off. So, what would you do at this point - A) take bagged items out and pack them in a new bag, B) take extra items out and go back to using the plastic bag you were in the beginning and pack that, C) just pick up and carry the paper bag (which still has the plastic bag in it) with a hand under the bottom? Well, she didn't do any of those 3. Instead, she picks up the paper bag, with said plastic still in it, and places that whole thing in another plastic bag, just so she could carry it with handles!! So, in the end, she used 3 bags where 1 would do. And that, my friends, is why no matter what those of us do to try to help out, it will never all get solved. There will always be someone counter-balancing your good deeds with their misguided ones (sometimes deliberately, sometimes just out of ignorance). This could be said for many things beyond just what happens in a grocery store. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm all "holier than thou", but c'mon Lady, use some common sense!
Okay, I'm done ranting. January ends tomorrow, February is a short month and Spring is right around the corner as soon as March gets here! Things are looking up! Good night.
I'm looking forward to Tuesday. On my first day of training I stepped on the scale to see what I was at. I'm curious to see what 9 months of solid training will do to me and how my body might change. On that first day I weighed in at 193.4. I don't think I necessarily "look" that heavy, but I am what I am, can't really deny that. I haven't been on the scale since and have told myself I'm only going to weigh myself on the 1st of each month, which is Tuesday, (and the morning of the IM and that night after I'm done, just out of curiosity to see how much 140.6 miles makes me lose). I used to step on the scale every time I was in the club, but I don't want that to be the main focus of my workouts. I know I've lost lbs., feel like I have, so that's the main thing I guess, not how much. In the end though, I think a good race weight for me will be in the low 170s so if I can eventually get down to that ballpark I can only think it would be a success. From an Actuary standpoint, more like 160s down to 150s is where I should be just based on my height. I don't think I've been that since high school so we'll just leave those numbers in the past! I'm realistic about any weight loss too though. I expect this first month to probably be the biggest drop and then it may not be quite as dramatic the following months. We'll see on Tuesday!
----------
Hold on, gonna switch gears and get off the training subject so prepare yourself! Set? Okay. I was in Cub Foods the other night picking up just a dozen or so items. I paid for them and as I was packing them in the my reusable canvas bag a mother and daughter were behind me getting their items rung up. Now, I don't consider myself the "greenest" person on the planet, but I do try to do my part despite driving around in a 10 year old SUV - I recycle, try to avoid using plastic bags, if I'm not in a room the light isn't on, I adjust my thermostat in the house, etc. Well, as I'm bagging my stuff, the girl (we'll call her in the 9-12 yr old range) starts bagging their items in a plastic bag. That's fine, if you want to use them, use them, I'm not going to scold you. The mother gets done paying, comes around the end and just mentions to her daughter that she normally likes to use paper bags because they can hold more. She takes the plastic bag that her daughter has 1/2 filled, places it still 1/2 filled in a paper bag and starts packing more groceries in. So, now she's wasted a plastic bag. Wait, it gets better. As she tries to pick up the paper bag and move it, she tears one of the handles off. So, what would you do at this point - A) take bagged items out and pack them in a new bag, B) take extra items out and go back to using the plastic bag you were in the beginning and pack that, C) just pick up and carry the paper bag (which still has the plastic bag in it) with a hand under the bottom? Well, she didn't do any of those 3. Instead, she picks up the paper bag, with said plastic still in it, and places that whole thing in another plastic bag, just so she could carry it with handles!! So, in the end, she used 3 bags where 1 would do. And that, my friends, is why no matter what those of us do to try to help out, it will never all get solved. There will always be someone counter-balancing your good deeds with their misguided ones (sometimes deliberately, sometimes just out of ignorance). This could be said for many things beyond just what happens in a grocery store. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm all "holier than thou", but c'mon Lady, use some common sense!
Okay, I'm done ranting. January ends tomorrow, February is a short month and Spring is right around the corner as soon as March gets here! Things are looking up! Good night.
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