Excited!

70.3 Ironman - I am still planning on crossing the finish line on 8/19/2012
This is something that I never thought I could do.  I went on my first run since high school in March 2010 and ran a half marathon in October 2010.  I had people inspire me along the way and I hope that I can inspire you to do something (doesn't matter what) because you saw that this IS POSSIBLE. 
I have yet to meet a person that I did not think they are cabable of doing the same events that I am doing!
I posted this because I am really excited about the Ironman, I thought about it while I was swimming tonight :D

I'm Still Alive!

I have not been posting very much because I have not started an official training program for my Ironman 70.3 yet!  I have been working hard on getting my swimming to a comfortable level and I have finally done it.  I was so uncomfortable in the water, at first, and I knew I would get to a comfortable level but I did not know how long it would take.  I started feeling less confident everytime I went to the pool and because I would be worn out after 25-50 yards!  The half-marathon was on October 9th and I finished about 6 minutes ahead of my goal time.  Now that I have been able to focus more on my swimming instead of running, I have gotten so much better in the pool!  I now believe that I could go one mile in the pool if I needed to.

I will post the occasional update to give you an idea on what I am focused on and my accomplishments.  I will post my offcial training plan around late Feb or middle of Mar and start posting more!

Get out and do something today!

A rest week with a 10 mile run at the end!

I have to get ready for a wedding so I am keeping it short! :)

I went to the HammerFest Bicycle time trial on Monday to help out and ran 5 miles on Tuesday when the temperature went up.  I went swimming on Wednesday out at Castle pool with the Masters group and felt pretty good; on Thursday I was not feeling so well and skipped the 5 mile run to rest.

Today was awesome because I did 10 miles with the Team 13 group for the YMCA Half Marathon and I was very happy with my pace.  Check out the workout here.

Still very excited for the Half Marathon.

Swimming, Running, Swimming, Rest!

Wednesday 9/7 - Swim
Thursday 9/8 - Run - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113105871
Friday 9/9 - Swim
Saturday 9/10 - Rest

This is the first day of rest from exercising in awhile!  I went to the YMCA 10k to cheer on friends and other participants and had a great time talking with everyone there.

Two of my running partners/friends did awesome today at the 10k!  Jesse got 3rd in his age group and Ellen was in the top 10% of her age group!

Ellen has been a friend for about a year.  I met my friend Pam while volunteering for the SIC last year and Pam introduced Ellen and I while at Team 13; all three of us were around the same pace.  Ellen got faster and I am finally catching up!

I met Jesse about a month ago at Team 13 training and we have been running about the same pace.  We have been sticking together on all of the runs and it makes the time go by faster, we always sprint towards the end and he always beats me; but, we both pass someone at the end.


Next weeks training schedule

Sunday - Breakfast ride with Pam and Tour d'ville; Southern Indiana Tri Team meeting at 7PM
Monday - Swim
Tuesday - 5 mile run
Wednesday - swim
Thursday - 5 mile run
Friday - swim
Saturday - 10 mile run!!!!!!



I am most excited about the breakfast ride and the 10 mile run.  The breakfast ride starts at The Feed Mill in Poseyville and has a few different routes to choose from, we will probably ride 30 miles and feast when we are finished!
I am excited about the run because I want to continue to keep my pace around the 8:50min/mi; running that pace for 10 miles will reassure me that I can finish under 2 hours in the October Half.  I have to finish the half marathon in 9min9s miles to stay under 2 hours.

Nice 5 miler with Team 13 with 60 degree temps!

Here is a link to my run - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112482109

I started out a little slow/sluggish feeling but I got out of that after the first mile.  Even thought I felt like I started off slow; I am starting off way faster than what I ran a mile in last year.  After every run I finish I get more excited for the half-marathon to get here so I can get my sub-2 hour time!  I have put way more training into running this year than last and I am working out almost every single day. 


Rest Time!

I may actually take a day off from doing any type of cardio or exercising activity on Saturday, 9/10.  The 10k is this Saturday so the long Team 13 run is not scheduled and I do not plan on running; we will see if I can stay true to that!  I have made arrangements to go on a decent bike ride this Sunday if the rain holds off.

Rain, Wind, Burgers, and Pasta!

The temperature dropped drastically on Sunday.  I had a small group ride planned with a few friends and that got rained out.  The rain had stopped long enough for the ground to dry a little so I jumped on my bike and rode 8 miles.  I had a pretty good short ride and it was nice to get out of the house for awhile.

Sunday was my sister's birthday so the family and I went to Olive Garden for lunch.  After lunch, Ashley and I had planned to ride to her dad's house for his labor day cookout.  My friend Rocky rode with us to her dads house and we enjoyed some burgers after a very windy ride!

9 Miler with Team 13

I am feeling great after my nine mile run this morning.  We started by going down hill and then greeted by steep hills occasionally through the route.  At about 3.5 miles in, I experienced a cramp but I was able to run through it and it went away.  I started to feel really good at mile 6 and I picked up the pace by just a little.  I started to drag at mile 8 but then picked it back up so I could have a strong finish.

I finished with a 9 minute and 8 seconds pace per mile; to finish the half within my sub-2 hour goal, I need to run 13.1 miles at a 9 minute and 9 second pace or lower.  Just last weekend I complete 8.87 miles with an 8 minute 50 second pace and it was much cooler.  I imagine that it will cool down for the October half marathon and I will be able to keep up a sub 9 minute pace for the entire race.

Check out my workout here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111485451

I think after the half marathon is over, I will continue to increase my mileage and run up to the full marathon distance of 26 miles for a personal accomplishment; I will have to evaluate my feelings on that in a month though :)

Today, I started thinking about competing in a full Ironman competition already.  I imagine that I would be ready for a full Ironman by mid-2013; the Louisville Ironman is close so I hope I am ready to sign up for it after my half Ironman in Aug 2012.

Time to buy a wetsuit!

I want to spend time with Ashley tonight so I am going to make this short! 

I went swimming at the pool tonight and had a pretty good workout.  I am very excited for my 9 mile run tomorrow morning because I want to see if I can pull off a sub-9 min pace like I did last weekend!


I underestimated the temperature at which you need a wetsuit; 60 degrees doesn't sound to bad!  I asked around and I guess I will be COLD at 60 degrees in Lake Michigan.  I really did not want to spend anymore money but I guess this is money I will need to spend eventually.  I will have to stop by Get Wet soon and take a look at what they have.

4 Mile Run and raising easy money or charity

4 miles - 37m32s
I ran 4 miles this evening and I felt pretty good; a little slower than I would have liked but it was warm!

Here is my workout link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111155554

Raise money for charity by exercising!

If you are doing any type of physical activity then you should check out http://www.plus3network.com/; it costs you nothing and raises money for a variety of causes that you get to pick!  Anyone can sign up for Plus3; you will be prompted to chose a sponsor when you sign up.  I chose Pedro's as my sponsor because the charity they donate money to is Bikes Belong.  I have been using Plus3 for a few months and I have raised around $7 for all of the exercising that I have done; over a year I expect to raise around $28 which is pretty significant.


The swim was cancelled?!?!

Apparently, the coast guard issued a small craft advisory for Lake Michigan during the 2011 Steelhead Ironman 70.3 and the swim portion was cancelled :(  I am sure that a lot of athletes were upset because of all the work they put into their training.  The important thing to remember is that there will always be other competitions and 69.1 miles is no joke!

I thought about how I would feel if my swim portion was cancelled while I was at work today; I think everyone would be upset.  If the swim portion got cancelled then I am sure it is too dangerous to swim in and it was for the safety of the athletes.  I would still be excited to get to the finish line and I would still be proud of my accomplishment!

Wednesday is a swim night!

The swim portion of the Ironman 70.3 is 1.2 miles; that is the same distance as swimming 84 laps in a 25 yard pool.  Tonight, I did 48 laps, in 47 minutes, which is more than half way there!  I took anywhere from a 5 second break in between each lap to a 15 second break if I had water in my goggles; my average break in between each lap was closer to 10 seconds and the breaks are included in my time.

I always start out quicker than I should when I first start swimming so after a few laps I feel like I am using too much energy and I feel like stopping.  I have gotten to the point that I can push myself enough to do a few more laps; by then, I feel like I could continue doing it all day and it is a matter of my body being strong enough to do it.  I could tell my technique was slipping towards the end of my work out so I really focused on finishing strong and went about 10 more laps before it was time to leave.



Ironman 70.3 triathletes at the starting point of the Steelhead triathlon!





I suppose I need to start looking for an outfit to wear for the event.  I am not 100% sure what type of outfit to get yet, I will have to do some research and start asking other triathletes from the Southern Indiana Tri-Team.

After about 15 laps in the water, I start to become more calm and patient; it reminds me of mowing the grass.  When I am mowing the grass I am just pushing the mower with very little thought, in regards to mowing, and I start to think of random things. 

During my swim tonight I thought about several things:

*What if I train and I cannot make it to the finish line in time? There is a time limit of 8 or 8.5 hours, I am not 100% sure.

*Ideas for a recent task at work

*Ideas for a small business that I may want to start some day

*Why is there water in my goggles when these things are stuck to my face like a vacuum cleaner?

I was probably crying because I know this will be a tough workout, lol - OR - it's because I bought some cheap goggles from WalMart, looks like a trip to Get Wet is in the future.

*I just lost my technique for a minute, better tighten up and I hope Heather did not see that!
Heather is my coach

*Only about 10 more minutes until I cool down and go home

*I am excited to eat the hibachi leftovers from Ashley's birthday dinner at Zuki's

What do you think about during a long chore or workout?  Post below!

Music currently playing:      Cake - Long Time

Team 13 at Wesselmans - 4 miles

Here is a link to my latest workout!  I ran 4 miles in 34 minutes and 34 seconds with the Team 13 group that I am volunteering with.

The run was much more enjoyable because I had friends to run with.  I met all 4 of my friends because we all ran around the same pace and we have all been friends for around a year+ now!  My friends have always pushed me to the next level and we all build off each other. 

I am very excited for the half-marathon this year because I want to get a sub-2 hour time!  I will see how my pace holds out on Saturday during my 9 miler; that will give me a better idea if I can keep up a sub-2 pace.

I will be swimming tomorrow night!  Excited to get in the water and swim some laps.


Song currently playing: Take Over Control - AfroJack

Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - I am coming for you!

     

     For about six months, I had the goal of completing an Ironman 70.3 around mid-2012.  An Ironman 70.3 consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run in consecutive order.  I registered for the Ironman 70.3 Steelhead on August 29th 2011 and the event is August 19th, 2012.  I plan on posting all of my training activities, plans, and thoughts I have during my training on this blog.  This first post is to share some of my fitness history and motivation. 

      I hated running in high school and I never thought I would enjoy riding a road bike or swimming laps.  I saw a sign that needed volunteers for a marathon and I just felt like helping out so I signed up; this motivated me to take my first run, which lead to wanting to cycle, and ultimately swimming because I wanted to compete in a triathlon.

     I had no idea how long a marathon was and amazed to find out it was 26.2 miles!  Learning that people were capable of running 26.2 miles made me want to do it.  I went out for my first run about two weeks before the marathon; I felt like I was going to die after the first .25 mile and only made it .5 mile instead of the full mile I intended.  I ran a second time and finished a mile; it continued to get easier because I did not feel sick after I ran anymore.  Over the next 75 days, I fulfilled my volunteer roll at the marathon, met someone who I consider to be a very close friend, and increased my mileage to three; I felt like my progress took a long time even though I knew I was in much better shape than when I started.

    

      I signed up for the YMCA Team 13 Training which prepares you for the Evansville Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles).  Team 13 is a 13 week program that helps you meet your goal of 13.1 miles and introduces you to a lot of information and great people.  I recommend the Team 13 Training program to anyone that wants to complete a Half-Marathon; the volunteers remember what it's like to be in your shoes.

 It isn't if you think you can complete a Half-Marathon; you will never be able to imagine the finish before you train for it.  You have to ask yourself, do you want to finish?  If the answer is "yes", then you should train.

My first Half-Marathon with a finishing time of 2:14:33

     After finishing the Evansville Half-Marathon, I had the desire to go farther and signed up for the Southern Indiana Classic (SIC) Full Marathon and training program as soon as they opened registration.  During the first run I experienced a common pain for someone that over trains or does not stretch/warm-up before running.  I took a few weeks off running and experienced the same pain when I returned so I knew that completing the marathon in April 2011 was not going to be a possibility.  I still completed the SIC Half-Marathon which is an accomplishment that I will always be proud of.

     I picked up a road bike while training for the SIC because I wanted to start riding, it looked fun!  I got up to 60 miles and I love to ride.

My wife would ride faster if she stopped taking pictures of me :P This was one of our first few rides together My wife would ride faster if she stopped taking pictures of me :P This was one of our first few rides together

     I got the run and the bike, I need the swim!  I found the Southern Indiana Triathlon Team which led me to the U.S. Masters swim team.  The Masters coach started me on exercises right away and I saw progress.

     Fast forward to now, I signed up for the Ironman 70.3 Steelhead in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  I paid for my registration and even booked a highly rated bed and breakfast for Ashley and myself for a few nights.