Weigh-in Wednesday
I tipped the scales at 191.4 lbs yesterday, but this morning I weighed 189.0 lbs. Guess its going to be hard to tell what my weight will be consistently for a while.
Thursday Thanks
I’m giving thanks for sleep last night. With a little help, I got to sleep and stayed to sleep for quite a while last night. Almost 7 hours! Throughout this whole process, sleep has proven to be invaluable. The strength of my workouts and my performance depends greatly on how well I sleep.
Yesterday I had to skip my Wednesday swim. I hadn’t slept well for 3 nights. My coach told me to listen to my body and adjust my plans accordingly. Well, last night my body was screaming for rest. Not just in the way of soreness or physical fatigue. Mental and emotional fatigue as well as a great need for sleep lead to my decision to skip my swim. I can work through the physical issues but when I’m with down mentally, emotionally and physically, its time to take a rest. I was reassured by my coach that I did the right thing and he adjusted the rest of my training plan accordingly.
Todays Training
Conditioning – 50′s Challenge
*I’ve gotten better at this, but its still grueling!
Let’s finish the week strong!
Somehow, I missed an entire day! This past weekend was indeed a blur. I needed yesterday to recover mentally, but I’m not sure that worked. I’m still kind of drained.
Last weekend was our first endurance weekend which meant 3 workouts on both Saturday and Sunday. The workouts lasted anywhere from 20 min to 3 hours. I had time to rest in between workouts, but really it was not enough. I haven’t slept so much in years. I was constantly sleepy. Between the workouts and the sleep, I feel like there was no weekend. I didn’t add it all up yet, but I put in some incredible mileage this weekend.
I love my new bike set up. The fit is just about perfect! The nose of the seat can get a bit irritating, but I think I’ll just adjust it down a bit. I’m very encouraged about how long I can stay in aero position now (and how fast I am while in aero). I’m starting to feel very strong on the bike. Like my good fried Stu told me, “It’s all about comfort”. Seems to be very accurate!
There was no Motivational Monday, so I would like to post a bit of motivation today. It’s quite timely as we just lost another legendary coach to cancer yesterday. I watch Jim Valvano’s ESPY Speech often to remind me that there are people fighting tougher battles than what I’m pursuing. Great perspective and great words to live by, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”.
Click the quote to go to the speech.
Todays Training
Bike – 40min strength
Run -20min cooldown after the bike
For the tunes today, here’s a little Norwegian Recycling – Miracles
A friend of mine sent this to me last year and its become my go to song for long runs. Enjoy!
I want to congratulate my friend Chris Flores over at FLO Fitness. His fitness blog just hit 5,000 views! If you haven’t stopped over to read his stuff, check him out! FLO Fitness Blog here!
He is a pioneer and a welcomed leader in the fitness community. We are lucky to have him and his crew over at FLO.
Have a great Tuesday! Let’s give it everything!
Keeping my eye on the goal gets harder as I get closer to achieving it. The winter months aren’t doing me any favors either. I’ve always struggled emotionally during this time of the year. A weird kind of depression type “funk” starts to seep in and committing to an active lifestyle becomes increasingly difficult. Just goes to show how many various elements contribute towards achieving accomplishments such as Ironman (or weight loss, or body building, or anything).
I’ve said, for a while now, it takes an amount of “mental investment” in your activity to get out if it what you want. Well, maybe I should add “emotional content” (see Bruce Lee in ‘Enter the Dragon’) to the list as well. It’s obvious now, from the increased difficulty I’ve been having due to these depressing times, that its necessary for me to find the appropriate mood for tackling my training. How I should go about that remains a mystery, but part of my Friday Focus is finding the mood appropriate for adding an increased emotional content to my workouts. If I couple that with the mental investment I have in my training, I have no doubt that I will reach my goal.
Yesterdays Training
Conditioning – 50′s Challenge, 50 reps of 6 different exercises without stopping. It’s tough!
Todays Training
Bike – Endurance Intervals 55min
*did it this morning and it was tough. 15 miles and my HR was averaging around 155 bpm, which is pretty high.
Tomorrow starts our first “Endurance Weekend” and from what I read in the email Coach Woody just sent me, it looks INTENSE!
I will posting tomorrow if I’m not in a coma =)
It’s Friday! Let’s finish strong! LIKE A BOSS!
It’s Weigh in Wednesday…ugh! Hahaha! This week I weighed in at 193.5 with 16.5% body fat and 55% water weight. NOW….last week was significantly better; actually, just 1.3 pounds, but here’s why. I was 192.2 last week with 53% water weight and the body fat was 17%. (I don’t think the fat percentage is very accurate in the actual number, but let’s ignore that for the moment.) Let’s NOT ignore the two percent difference in water weight this week. That two percent accounts for a whole 3.87 pounds which would have my weight down around 189-190ish today. So, that’s why its important to have a scale that measures your weight, “body fat” AND water weight. This way you can tell exactly what you’re gaining and losing. We use a Tanita Sport Scale with two user profiles. You can pick one up anywhere like Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Amazon. They’re fairly inexpensive and will keep you off “the ledge” when you get an unexpected weight gain like I did today. =)
I’m also learning how important environment is for Ironman training. I’m very lucky to work in the Fitness Industry with an understanding boss and coworkers. I get to train at work when the opportunity presents itself and the hours are somewhat flexible. BUT!!! (You had to know it was coming) Living in the Bronx is not conducive to training. This morning I tried to get to work early so I could fit in a workout before work actually began. Well, that didn’t go as planned because I’m so dependent on public transportation actually being on time. I’m so jealous of people who get to roll out of bed and start training once they are ready. I have to wait an hour (or more) to get to work and then pounce once I get the chance to train during the day. It feels like there’s a great degree of luck involved at times, which creates a very uneasy feeling when I think about it. If you ever take on a challenge such as this, make sure you have a schedule and environment that allows for a greater degree of consistency. If not, the challenge may include finding the opportunity to train, not just the training itself.
Yesterday I got some solid training in though. 14 mile power bike intervals and then a 2.5 mile run immediately after. I am definitely getting stronger and faster. My hip pain is almost completely gone and besides the expected aches, I’m feeling “tip top”!
Yesterday’s Training
Bike – 14 mile power intervals
Run – 20 min 2.5 mile cooldown after biking
Planned Training Today
Run – 4 mile run plus speed intervals at the end. Really tough!
Swim – 3200yd paddle and pull bouy workout.
Today is going to be fun! Let’s give it everything! Not much week left to work with.
Saturday and Sunday were great learning and training experiences for me. Saturday, I learned that my hands need some SERIOUS protection from the cold! Running at 5am at 26 degrees (feels like 13 with wind chill), in the Bronx with no sunlight, is officially a BAD IDEA! As if I had to try it to realize that. Some people just need to learn, THE HARD WAY. Unfortunately, that’s what is necessary to get two workouts done in a day. I ran 11.74 miles Saturday morning, but I couldn’t find a pool Saturday afternoon for my 40 min swim. Very frustrating.
Sunday was an adventure! Timing is everything, like previous stated. Sunday, I did not wake up early to do my first bike. I waited until 2pm to do my long ride. BAD IDEA! The long bike was 3 hours, totalling approximately 45 miles. I was done around 5pm, but I had to wait 4-5 hours between my first and second workout. I didn’t start the second workout, which was a 90 minute ride, until 10pm. Made for a very long night. And a particularly short sleep because I had to wake up Monday morning and swim!
Monday morning I overslept and couldn’t swim because I had to drive 3.5 hours to PA for a bike fitting. See, this is why timing is so important. Every minute and hour must be accounted for. I missed my Monday swim all because I waited until 2pm for my first Sunday bike. Ugh!
The bike fitting was AWESOME though! World Cup Ski & Cycle in Mechanicsburg, PA is incredible. Lee is an outstanding bike fitter, more like a wizard. He got me and my wife completely dialed in and extremely comfy on our bikes. It was hard work though, it took 6.5 hours. I was hoping to squeeze in some family time while in PA but I had to do an “about face” if I was going to get home in time to get some sleep. The bike fit was very important though. Lee was able to point out and correct some fundamental errors in my bike setup. Seat height, handlebar height, aero bar position, seat fore/aft position, and so on. He even pointed out some manufacturing problems with the bike itself. One the folks at Fuji weren’t even aware of! Apparently the bikes made with the aero seat post pointed “off center”. We thought it was only my bike, but Lee had another bike (same year, make, model and components as mine) and it had the same EXACT “off center” problem! It looked almost deliberate, but of course Fuji had no idea of this being a problem and no one has ever reported this problem in the past. I’ve uploaded a picture in this post. This is the value of going to get your bike fit though! You get to learn all of the intricacies of your bike and how it interacts with you. Definitely worth $80 for the fitting at World Cup!
Quick training recap of the long weekend.
Saturday: 11.74 mile run – almost froze my fingers off
Sunday: 45+ mile bike around 2pm and then a 25 mile bike that evening
Monday: No Swim because I overslept. Ugh!
Today, I’ve got a 60 min bike in the morning.
Here’s the tunes for Tuesday! Listened to this on the drive out to the bike fitting. Great song that makes me think of my dad!
Let’s have a great week! It’s a short one!
The only easy day was yesterday!
Last year, my 2011 resolution was to find the positive in all things, including the negative. Trying to keep a positive frame of mind was instrumental in all of my accomplishments last year. My 2012 addition is a resolution to try harder today than I did yesterday. It has less to do with actual physical effort (or accomplishment) and more to do with a level of commitment. There will always be fatigue (both mental and physical), obstacles, injuries and the frustration that comes from dealing with all that. We all know the easiest thing to do is quit and next easiest is “trying” (or giving the illusion of trying). I feel like if I said I tried harder today than I did yesterday, I will make it past all things that get in my way.
Today was tough to say the least. A 55 minute bike. It was a 15 mile endurance interval workout. My hip was still sore, but a lot better. Actually waking up and getting to the bike trainer was the hard part. Once I was on the bike, I did quite well. I lowered my seat a bit in effort to take some pressure off my hip and it worked. I felt so strong and my hip didn’t hurt much. I’m so pleased with the forward position my tri bike is giving me. I feel like I’m positioned where I should’ve been the whole time! Ah, the curse of having long legs and a short torso! Ironman won’t come easy. I will have to try hard everyday, but I’m resolved to try harder.
Yesterdays Training
Conditioning – 6 exercises, 50 reps each without stopping. Incredible workout!
Todays Training
Bike (a.m.) – 15 miles, 55 min endurance intervals.
It’s tough to stay strong all the way through the end. Fridays aren’t easy. We’re tired from the rest of the week and looking forward to two days of rest (in this weeks case, three days). Let’s dig down deep and finish like a boss!
“The more we sweat in training, the less we bleed in battle.” – U.S. Navy Seals
Thursday Thanks was an opportunity to thank those who inspire me to push myself hard. The list is quite long and to name specific individuals in this particular post would be difficult.
I would like to recognize the many clients and Fitness Center members I’m blessed to know and work with. Particularly those who consistently try to raise their game, no matter how little.
It was recently proposed that I only identify with the hardcore athlete and exercisers because of how hard I’m training these days. I can’t describe how angered I was by this misrepresentation. It was being assumed that I could not identify with the struggles of those who’s best efforts were minimal compared to mine. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. I celebrate and give thanks for all who’s best efforts are more today than they were yesterday. No matter what the form those efforts take. Those are the people who inspire me and push me. They give me the confidence of knowing that no matter what I’m currently doing, I can always do more or do better. No matter how bad I want to quit or not try, there’s someone out there who went farther or pushed harder than they thought they could. Whether it be a mile, 20 minutes, 100 miles or a race PR. It was truly the best they could do on that day and they tried to do better than they did yesterday.
So, all of you taking it to THAT level, THANK YOU!
Yesterday, despite my hip pain, I ran my 8.5mi endurance and interval run. It was tough. I did not think it would be wise to do my swim though. So, I saved the swim for later today.
Yesterdays Training
Run – Treadmill 8.5 mile endurance interval run. 65 minutes
Todays Planned Training
Conditioning – kettlebell and body weight challenge
Swim – Wednesdays 3200 yd sprint and pull workout
Only about 52 days left!
Who’s idea was this?! Wait. Nevermind.
What an interesting proposition though. Weigh myself one day a week and concentrate on the rest of my fitness goals for the remaining 6 days? This gives me the chance to focus on the tons of other stuff I’ve got to do. Instead of being obsessed with or distracted by my weight constantly. Works for me!
Today I tipped the scales at 192.2 lbs. It’s not a bad weight for me actually. Body fat percentage can be a bit lower, but I think that will be taken care of by the remaining 52 days of training. I think I will be flying into Aukland at somewhere around 185 lbs. For my last marathon, I weighed 181 lbs the night before and 179 the morning of. So I think I’m right on track. PLUS, thanks to my coach and his resistance training programs, I feel like I’m carrying a bit more muscle at this weight, which is definitely a good thing.
A quick “injury report” update. My hip is feeling a bit better. I got through my power bike and cooldown run very well yesterday and without much discomfort. Focused a lot on flexibility and foam rolling after my workout, which felt incredible. And I actually slept last night, so I think that helped as well. I did wake up sore this morning, but I think that was to be expected. After describing the injury to my coach, he was convinced it was little to be concerned about (that and he’s convinced I’m playing football on the side).
Today I’ve got a new run lined up, which ought to be very interesting. Combined endurance run with intervals at the end. Should be tough! Then another session in the pool this afternoon. It’s all about the “pull” while I’m in the water today. My arms will be sore when I’m done tonight.
Yesterdays Training
Bike – 15 mile high resistance “power intervals”.
Run – 20 minute cooldown run (2.5 miles)
Todays Training
Run (a.m.) – 8 miles; endurance + intervals
Swim (p.m.) – 3200 yds; sprints and pull bouy with paddles
I’ll end today with a quote:
“There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity & accomplishment.” -Norman Peale
Musically speaking, I’m all over the place. I’ll listen to anything from Jazz, Musical Scores, Rap to Gospel. A person would be hard pressed to find some country in there, but I’m sure if you did some looking, one song might pop up. No guarantees though.
Last couple of runs, I’ve been listening to Skrillex and Dubstep songs and remixes. DON’T ASK ME WHY! For some reason I like it. Interesting level of creativity and it gets my mind going. And during a long or intense run, that’s more than welcome. As far as an individual song I’m listening to, its neither Skrillex or Dubstep, but it is a remix of sorts. It’s the “Lose Yourself” cover performed by The Selected of God Choir. If you haven’t heard it or listened to them, YouTube them! (Click the link) I like it a lot. They did the cover for the Chrysler “Imported from Detroit” campaign. It’s well done.
As far as training goes, I think I might have picked up my first injury. My right hip flexor is very sore after my workouts this weekend. I guess it was bound to happen eventually. I’m trying to stretch and ice a lot, but its very painful. It has been keeping me from sleeping for the last two days too. I’m sure I can work through it. Just kind of sad for this to happen with only 52 days left until the race. Sometimes we have to take a few steps back so we can make a giant leap forward. I’ll be talking to my coach and figuring something out later today.
Yesterday’s workout went very well. 2700 yd swim in the pool feels almost easy now. It’s strange actually. I feel prepared to tackle the swim now, even when injured, which makes me question the severity of my injury. I’m hoping its minor. A favorite quote passed along to me by Rich Mejias over at Leverage Fitness in NJ, “A setback is just a step back for a comeback”. I’ll be keeping that in mind while dealing with this.
Well, I’m off to tackle todays work day and workout tonight. Power Bike Workout today, followed my a 20 min run. I’ll be fit to do it. Bring it on!
This year I had the very unique opportunity to ring in the new year in a climate with radically warmer weather. The warm and sunny weather in St. Petersburg, FL was a far cry from the cold and gray NYC weather I’m accustomed to. The best part was, I was able to take full advantage of the chance to train hard. In this particular instance, I was so glad to have my Ironman Coach, Alun Woodward. I thought being on vacation was going to threaten my Ironman training, but Woody was the one who saw it as an opportunity. It was a hardcore training block of running. Since we didn’t have our bikes to ride or wetsuits to swim in, running was it! Four workouts in total, and it was fantastic. Speed intervals on the beach, two recovery runs and a long run through the downtown area. Woody’s imagination and creativity made my vacation and my training so much better.
Since I’ve been back home its been training as usual, but a bit more stressful. I think I enjoyed the laid back Florida culture a little too much. The weather has been surprisingly mild here in NYC, but I’m sure the cold weather is coming soon.
The real challenge to training isn’t really the weather, although it is tough. It’s the time. The actual hours in the day. To fit in a “two a day” workout on Saturday and Sunday, I’ve got to do my morning workout early enough in the morning so I have enough rest and daylight to do my afternoon workout. It’s a lot harder than it sounds. The other challenge is family and friends. I honestly haven’t been able to juggle my personal life, work and training very well. The one that’s taken the hit has been my personal life. So thanks to all of my friends and family who understand why I’ve been finding it hard to keep in touch. I truly appreciate your understanding and patience.
Well, that’s it for now. Woody has ramped up our training and the tough weeks are among us. I’ll be posting more about the workouts soon!
Today is “Motivational Monday” so here is a quote:
“Remember, races such as these don’t test your character, they reveal it.” – A friend
There will be themes to the rest of days in the week. I might stray a bit from them, but this will be the basic structure.
Motivational Monday – I’ll share motivational quotes and videos
Tuesday Tunes – Playlists and songs that help me get through my workouts
Weigh in Wednesday – I’ll track my weight, but feel free to submit comments about your weight loss (or weight gain) endeavors
Thursday Thanks – I’ll give thanks to all who have inspired me and helped me get through the week of training
Friday Focus – Talk about what I’ve been focusing on mentally and physically. Resolutions, revelations, epiphanies and so on. Feel free to leave comments about your own!
Spiritual Sunday – For those who know me, you know I have a strong faith that helps me with my training. Sundays I’ll give a slight glimpse as to how this plays a role. Share motivational scripture and thoughts on how having faith helps with training.
I had to take one day off from the blog. So it ended up being Saturdays. Hey, even He rested one day. 
Keep an eye out for polls coming up too! Voting on stuff like “M-dot tattoo” location, feelings on mp3 players during races, and more.
Let’s get it done in 2012!