Day 12 and 13

Yesterday started off with a speed day in swimming. I warmed up with a 300m easy pace, then  moved into a 10x100 set. I managed to keep my times bellow 1:28 on all but one. It was pretty good for me. After, I went home and hit the bike. I had a 10 min warm up, followed by 4 sets of 4:30 at RPE3 and 2:30 at RPE5. It felt great giving the legs a hard blow.

Today is an off day. Well actually i'll be playing softball all day in a tournament. Wish me luck!

See you tomorrow.

Day 11

Today started off pretty well. Got up and hit the ground running. The plan called for an hour of easy running. I ran my first 6 miles at an 8:00 min pace, followed by one at a 6:30 pace. Talk about emptying the legs out. I then can home this afternoon and got on the bike for and easy 30 min run through the gears.

My diet has been a little off these days but I should be able to go shop tomorrow and get restocked on healthy food.

See you tomorrow.

Day 10

Started today off with a fantastic swim. I warmed up with 5x50m, along with some breathing exercises. I then did 2x500. The first one was supposed to be RPE4 and I managed to hit 1:31for my 100m splits. The second one was RPE6 and I did 1:25 splits. Not too bad if you ask me. I still have a ways to go with my swimming though. Tomorrow is running and yesterday's bike session.

See you tomorrow.

Day 9

Today started off with another rough morning. I didn't get out on my run until almost 7:30. I have just lacked energy these last two mornings. I did manage to get my 30 mins in, well actually 31:15, and hit four miles. I was also supposed to have a 90 min. bike ride today but sadly that will not be happening. I will push it back until Thursday and it will get done. I just ran out of time with school started to wrap up. Tomorrow is a nice morning swim.

See you later.

Day 8

Ill be honest. I did not want to get up this morning. 5 o'clock came way too early and there was a complete lack of motivation in my body. Somehow I manged to get up and get out of the house by 5:30 though. I ran a solid 40 mins at a 7:55 pace. I decided to pick it up a little today even though my plan calls for me to keep taking it easy for another week. At almost 5 miles, I was pretty content.

Swimming this after was long. Started off with 4x100m to warm up, followed by 4x400m. My 100m split times were pretty consistent at 1:27. I finished the day with 2x150m of pulling. The shoulders are a little worn out but they still feel great

I did notice this evening that my left hip is a little sore, almost pulled. In addition to that, the left knee is achy per the usual. Oh well. I have a run in the morning. Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

Day 7

Happy Easter!

I was able to rest up a little yesterday and eat some great food today while home in KC. When I returned, I immediately hopped on the bike for an hour ride. I was suppose to take it nice and easy but I ran through my gears every ten minutes or so. I did stay inside on the trainer while doing so because rain was threatening the area. Hopefully my next ride will be outside!

See you later.

Day 6

I never believed that I would be doing this. It was not a matter of determination, I just didn't think triathlons were for me. I remember promising a friend in high school, John Carr, that I would complete an Ironman; a promise that seemed hard to keep. Never did I believe that I would become so passionate and dedicated to a goal, a long ago-made promise.

At some point in the beginning of 2010, something changed. A burning desire to push my self, mentally and physically, rose up within me. Crazy as it may have seemed, I was embarking on a journey that to this day is far from over. The thought of finishing a full marathon was my initial drive, but a training regiment that may have been too intense made me lower my goal to a half marathon. I never realized just of hard running for 13.1 miles would be. I had wrestled for 10 years, I felt I could do anything.

After 6 months of training, hours on my feet, and miles of footprints I completed the Waddell and Reed half marathon in Kansas City. The feeling was incredible and at that point I knew what I had to do. That same weekend, I signed up for my next half marathon in Tulsa. Following that one and taking 5 mins off my time in 4 weeks, I was ready to embark on my first triathlon journey.

No ever told me how much it was going to cost to be a triathlete. Between the cost of equipment and the time invested, I was struggling at times to manage the training and being a student. I pushed through and was able to make it work .

Training was intense at times but the drive inside of me grew with every day I was in the water, on the bike or in my running shoes. I knew that the glory of crossing that finish line was going to be amazing. It was a feeling that I could not wait to achieve.

That's all for now.

Day 5

Today started off a little rough. Let's just say that I stayed out a little too late last night and drank a little too much. Thus, my workouts were pushed to the afternoon. 

I first had a race-specific swim which started off with a 400m continuous warm up. The second 50 of each 100 was only kicking. that was then followed up with 8x100 EBEH (easy,build,easy,hard). The swimming was not too bad but I could definitely feel the effects of the night before.

I got home and waited about 30 mins before doing my easy trainer ride. It was a 45 min ride with the first and last 15 mins in the small gear and the middle 15 in the high gear. The ride was very easy. I was thankful that Armageddon was on TV to keep me going.

Tomorrow is an off day so I may get on and talk about some of my gear and what not.

See you later.

Day 4

Woke up today and hit the Rec by 6:30. Today's workout called for a 60 min run at RPE 2-3. I figured I may adjust that a little bit. I ran 8:10 miles for the first 50 mins then walked the last one. After it was down, I had run over 6 miles and felt great. My heart rate was slightly erratic but that is okay.

As you can tell from the time of this post I need to start sleeping more. 6 and a half hours of sleep for a week really catches up to you by Friday. Tomorrow is a swim/bike so hopefully I will be up for it. I am looking forward to Saturday being an off day.

See you tomorrow.

Day 3

The third day of training was all about the swim. Following class, I headed out to the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center. My warm up consisted of 3x75 of front stroke, with the finally 25 of each set being back stroke. Following that I had 3x400 which progressed in intensity(RPE 2, 3, 4). I then had a cool down of 150m. The core 1200m took me roughly 18 minutes.

This week is nice and easy. It makes for a great transition back into training while allowing my body to continue recovering from last week. The knees are a little achy but everything else has been great.

Day 2

Started the day off with a run at the Student Rec Center. It was a little chillier than I would have liked this morning so I figured 30 minutes around the indoor track wouldn't be too boring. I did some intensive stretching on my calves prior to the run because they were sore and tight from yesterday. The run was supposed to be RPE 2-3 but I was hoping to run the soreness out of my legs. The first two miles paced at 7:35. Not too bad if you ask me. I then slowed it down to a 9:15 pace. No need to trash the legs when just getting back into the training mode.

I followed the run up a few hours later with an easy 60 minute bike ride on the trainer. The ride called for RPE 2 and to keep the bike in the low gear. I was without a trainer however so I took the Jamis onto the rode. The ride was very easy, just a few laps around the neighborhood. More then anything, it stretched out my legs and let me enjoy some fresh air. I cut the ride a few minutes short because my rear tire kept falling out alignment and rubbing the frame and brake pad. This will be taken care off before the next ride.

Overall, it was a pretty good day.

See you tomorrow.

Day 1- Part 2

Hit the swim portion of my workout pretty hard this afternoon. After a quick buzz cut at the barber, I felt like I was gliding through the water. I warmed up with 200m front, 200 kick, 200 pull and 200 front, and followed that up with a 1500m go. It felt great to get back in water a weak after the Half. The calves tightened up just a bit but I managed to keep them from cramping.

I would have to say it was an excellent Day 1. I capped it off with a delicious dinner of whole wheat spaghetti, potatoes and green beans. A little under 200 more of these and I should be ready for my next Ironman 70.3.

See you tomorrow.

Day 1

Woke up this morning at 5 AM. It sure does feel good to get back on the early routine. Sleeping in last week and staying up late really threw me off. I managed to take my pre-workout drink and get out the door by 5:40. The first workout for the day called for a 40 minute run at RPE 3. I had some issues keeping my heart rate down for most of the run. I wanted to run faster but the called for RPE 3 forced me to keep it slow, roughly 9 min/mi pace. Not to mention the fact that I managed to hit some hills early on. I finished 4.43 miles in 41:03 mins.

This afternoon calls for swimming. I will probably head out around 2 PM and try and finished the workout within 40 minutes. 

Go Faster

As some of you may know, I spent the last 6 months preparing for my first Half-Ironman. I had never completed a triathlon, and had manged to cross the finish line of a few half marathons since October. I am not sure what propelled into the sport, but I knew an Ironman (or half of one) would push me physically and mentally in ways that nothing else ever had.

It took some use getting used to working out at 5 a.m. but I grew accustomed to it. It was perfect time to get a run or swim in, with few people around and no traffic. The training began to transform my body. In March, I had officially lost 45 pounds since January of 2010. I hadn't seen 205 pounds since my senior year of high school.

Well to make a long story short, I trained for a few thousand hours, spent a few thousand dollars on equipment, and finished my first Half-Ironman in Galveston, Texas on April 10th, 2011. My time was 6 hours and 10 minutes. The feeling experienced when I ran across the finish line was unlike any felt before. I knew at that point that this is what I wanted to do. Triathlons had found a place in my heart and I wanted to see how far I could go.

This blog is intended for you to follow me along on my next journey and to hold myself accountable. I know that even if no one reads this blog, I will still be putting my thoughts into words and that will be very beneficial.

And in case you are wondering, my goal for my next Half-Ironman is to finish below 5 hours, and lose another 20 pounds.

It starts again today.