November 29, 2010

Be Iron Fit!

Like I said on my last post a triathlete buddy of mine who lives in Phoenix Arizona told me a book is sweeping through his tri club! Everyone is using the Iron training program from the book Be Iron fit by Don Fink. He said veterans who have qualified for Kona have been using it & breaking their PR's. He said the veterans are feeling that they are under training, but on race day they kill it!

I just looked through it. It has 3 levels of plans.

1) The just finish plan. This plan starts with 3 hours of training a week. 1 hour for each for each sport. This plan averages 7 hours per week & peaks at 10 hour in weeks 23-28!!!!
Week 28 looks like this
Mon- off
Tue- 45 min swim & 1 hr bike
Wed- 1 hr long brick
Thu- 1 hr bike
Fri- 45 min swim
Sat- 3 hr 30 min bike
Sun- 2 hr run
Very doable!!
2) the intermediate plan. An average of 10.5 hrs & maxes out at 15 hours in week 27.
3) the competitive plan which is the hardest plan for those who want to be competitive & not just complete an Iron averages 12 hours & maxes at 20 hours in week 27! I was training more hours on most weeks in sprint training than all but a half dozen of the weeks in this plan!
Mon- off
Tue- 1 hr swim
Wed- 1:30 brick
Thu- 1 hr swim & 1:30 bike
Fri- 1 hr swim & 1:30 run
Sat- 6 hour bike/ 1 hour run
Sun- 1:30 Zone 1 bike/ 3 hour run. Again, very doable!

Even for the competitive plan the longest workout during the week is 1.5 hrs. The weekend has one or 2 long bricks.

I can't wait to start!

November 27, 2010

My new Ironman book

A friend of mine told me about a book that is really popular with his triathlon club out of Phoenix AZ. It's called be Iron fit by Don Fink.

My buddy said a lot of Ironman veterans from his tri club have done the Ironman workout schedules from this book & they've PR'd while working out less than they normally do for a race of that distance. Sounds like the kind of plan I want to try for my 2011 Ironman!

The book arrived in the mail today! I think I'll try the competitive plan that has an average of 12 hours of training a week, & a maximum week of training of 20 hours.

November 26, 2010

The secret to Ironman training

Today I was struggling with the motivation to do my brick. A brick is a bike followed immediately with a run. Perhaps it's the freezing temperatures outside? Regardless, there's nothing this little beauty can't cure. An extra cup of coffee-or 4- can get my engine running!

This is my grandfathers coffee pot. He used it daily since the 50's. I've been using it heavily since I got it 5 years ago, especially now that I've fallen in love with endurance athletics.

November 25, 2010

Ironman just for the fun of it!

Just like most triathletes, the minute I finished my 1st triathlon in 2004 I began dreaming of completing an Iron. At the time a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike & 26.2 mile run seemed unattainable to me. In persuit of the big Iron dream I started biking & running longer & longer every weekend until I was riding my bike from Santa Fe to Albuquerque & then back on most weekends.

In 2005 I was scheduled to attempt my 1st Iron, but got in a bike wreck a few weeks before the race & was unable to race.

In 2006 I was training heavily for another Iron, but ended up qualifying for a slot to the 70.3 world championships & raced that instead.


In 2007 I was finally able to show up & attempt my 1st Iron distance triathlon. I didn't make the final bike cut off & got pulled from the course at mile 96 of the bike.

By 2008 I'd been training exclusively for Iron distance triathlons for 5 straight years! I was completely burned out with having to do 5-6 hour bike rides followed by a 45 minutes runs on my 1st day off of work, then upwards to 3 hour runs on the next. But because I still hadn't completed my dream of becoming an Ironman I signed up for Ironman Arizona 2008. To be honest the entire year of 2008 I was miserable having to do the training necessary to finish an Ironman, but my dream of crossing the finish line kept me focused & able to force myself to complete the long grueling training days. In 2008 I averaged 19.5 hours of training a week. As I look back it was amazing I was able to finish the 2008 Ironman Arizona at all. Since I was so burned out with training the long distances, I wanted to make ABSOLUTELY sure I finished the race by the cut off time, so I pushed myself WAY to hard, & didn't allow myself nearly enough rest & recovery. I ended up so overtrained & stressed out because of the miles & miles of training I was forcing myself to do without enjoyment I ended up looking to food for comfort. I ended up on race day weighing 237 pounds! Only through the grace of God was I able to finish in 14 hours.

Now after 2 years of not having trained for any races longer than a sprint I finally have gotten over my loathing of really long training days. Now, I actually miss the long days of cycling & running. There's nothing better for stress relief than a long peaceful bike or run! Just me & the road. It's an amazing feeling of freedom.

This time training for an Ironman in 2011 will be different than the last time. I'll actually be able to enjoy the training, I won't have the burn out I had before, & I also have learned from my mistakes of overtraining. This time I know I need to put more emphasis on sleep & recovery. Less is more. I'm really looking forward to this next year of training & am absolutely pumped about being able to race an Iron for no other reason than the enjoyment of it!

November 24, 2010

Putting up the Christmas tree

Today we put up the Christmas tree, the kids were to excited to wait until after Thanksgiving.

Cody is upset because Rion grabbed his shirt and almost pulled him over. I think Rion is going to be our tough brute who always gets into trouble. We were just recently able to get him to stop biting his big brother. He never tried to bite his sister, just his big brother.

November 22, 2010

IMAZ 2011!

My mother in law had to go to the emergency room today so I didn't think I'd be able to register for the 2011 Ironman Arizona. & from what I hear IMAZ sold out withing hours of opening for registration. Thankfully I had a buddy of mine register me. Thanks to my amazing friend Justin , I am now registered for the 2011 Ironman Arizona! I'm so excited!!!

Thanks Justin!!!

My tap dancing boy

My 3 year old son was watching my daughters tap dance practice. Apparently the music was making him feel jiggy because next thing I knew he was busting a move! Once I got the cam corder out & started recording him he saw & got embarrassed. It was darn cute though.
Sometimes the videos I post from my phone don't play on the Facebook feed, so you may need to go to my blog to see it.

November 20, 2010

weight, triathlon, and things

Up until July of this year I had kept below 200 pounds for a year & a half by using Dietpower.com In early July I got down to 184 & had a screaming 6 pack!

In July I got burned out with cycling, running, & logging all my food, so I took some time off of training & logging. Bam! Back up to 220 in 5 months! I'm now motivated to train again, like I said in my last post, I'll be registering for Ironman Arizona on Monday, if I'm unable to get into that race I'll be doing the Redman Iron distance tri. My goal is to break my Ironman PR of 14 hrs. I finished in 14 hrs while weighing 235, so I should be able to get below 13 hrs if I can get back to my best racing weight of 195. So after a 5 month lay off, I'm back into working out!

I'm still burned out with logging my food. I just can't seem to make myself do it. So I'm going to try & eat a palm sized portion of protein, & a palm sized portion of carbs every 3 hrs. If I get hungry I'll allow myself raw veggies between meals. & for breakfast & post workout I'll eat the palm sized protein & a double portion of carbs. I can't remember where I saw this diet, the Dr OZ show or something along those lines. I'm 2 days into the new diet and enjoying it so far. The great things about this diet is there's no logging. I always have the palm of my hand with me so I never have to worry about not having the proper measuring cups or food scales with me! Almost feels like effortless dieting compared to logging! Things are looking up again!

My 2 big races of 2011 is the Memorial Hermman 70.3 in April. I'm hoping to break my 70.3 PR of 5 hrs 30 minutes, dare I dream of 5:20? & a late season Iron. Hopefully IMAZ, but if not than it'll be Redman. I'm hoping to go 13 hrs or below for the Iron. My Iron PR is 14 hrs.

November 18, 2010

Beautiful triathlon

Triathlon is amazing. The people is what made me fall in love with the sport originally. When I 1st started racing I'd finish a race in the bottom 10 percent without fail, & I found the last person finishing in a triathlon gets a MUCH bigger applause than the person finishing in 1st place. The support in triathlon is unbelievable.

When I 1st got into triathlon I dreamed-no I obsessed about finishing an Ironman. In 2008 I finished Ironman Arizona in 14 hrs. After IMAZ I was burned out cycling & running such long distances, so I switched to sprint distance triathlons. For the sprint tri's I didn't have to train as much, & the races were fast & intense!!! Now, I'm getting the Ironman itch again, so I'm going to start pushing out some more 6 hr bike rides & 3 hr long runs. As I've continued to compete & train in triathlon I realized triathlon is the prefect sport to be in. There's every distance of triathlons, & difficulty of courses out there imaginable. & I've never found an unfriendly person in this sport. I love it!

On Monday at noon registration opens for IMAZ (Ironman Arizona). I'm going to attempt to register. IMAZ is an immensely popular race & it usually sells out within 30 minutes of the registration start time, which amazes me because a slot to IMAZ is $575. If I'm unable to get into IMAZ, I'm going to register for The Redman Iron distance triathlon. The Redman race isn't nearly as popular so it doesn't sell out as quickly. The Redman's race directors are just as great, the race has a great course, a great RD, lots of support, & only costs $400. Either way, Later this year I will once again be an Ironman! Oh ya, sounds awesome just saying it!

In 2008 I set a PR of 14 hrs, my goal this year is to break 13 hrs! Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

November 17, 2010

OCD driven!

There's a big difference between training & working out. I'd struggled with my weight something horrible until I found triathlon in 2005. That's when I started training, & that has made a huge difference in the way I view my health & my body.

Since August I've been struggling to find a goal that made me excited to train. It's no coincidence that since August I've gained a TON of weight. A lot more weight than I'll admit on my blog! The problem was I couldn't think of any goals that excited me enough to get me to train in a rampant OCD driven kind of a way. The entire 2010 year I was obsessed with winning the 2010 South West Challenge Series & finishing multisport races in the top 10 overall, consequently I had a stellar year in 2010. My problem began after I'd won the 2010 SW Challenge Series & finished my 10th race in the top 10. I'd lost a goal that drove me. I tried looking for new goals to get my engine running, but nothing made me the least bit interested.

Yesterday I was scrolling through trifind.com & noticed the 2011 70.3 World Championships race was being held in Las Vegas Nevada. I'd heard that the 70.3 series has almost doubled & has increased in popularity ten fold, so I started scrolling through a list of 70.3 world championship qualifying races. One of the ones that peaked my interest was the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas triathlon. Everything about this race seemed to be in my favor & screaming for me to race it!
- Because of my build & genetics I am a poor hill climber but can CRUSH a flat race: the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas is one of the flattest half Irons in the world!
-It's an early season triathlon, & I seem to be a more competitive athlete in the early season than most of triathletes because of my willingness to train in any weather or temperatures. Last year I rode 3.5 hrs in 19 degree temperatures when a cold front blew through New Mexico.
- There are still slots available, so I can still buy an entry.
- It's a race held at sea level, & Santa Fe's elevation is 7000 feet. Very few athletes train at that elevation, so I'll have a huge advantage at sea level.
- I can dream of qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships for a 2nd time. There's something about a goal that appears way out of my reach that kicks in my absurd OCD goal driven engine, & I've found it: To race in The Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas & try to win a slot to The 70.3 World Championships in September 2011 in Las Vegas Nevada!

To be competitive I need to lose approximately 30-35 pounds to get to my best race weight of 195 pounds.

Watch out Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas, HERE I come!

November 13, 2010

My son getting down!

this is my favorite picture/video of all time. Cody & I were plying cars, his favorite game, and apparently he was having a great time because he suddenly started dancing uncontrollably! Hilarious!

November 12, 2010

Anotomical adaptation day 1

I had a couple tri buddies who I admire & trust contact me about my issues with triathlon burnout. They both gave the same advise, & they were correct! They told me to put away the stop watch, stop following a triathlon training plan & just go out and train for fun & by feel. I tried it for a couple weeks & they were dead on. I could go out and train daily without dread! But I have to say I still wasn't having a GREAT time like I had for previous 5.5 years. I was just doing it because I needed to do something to keep myself from getting fat. I realized I needed to do a different sport for awhile when a buddy offered me a free entry to a triathlon in December and I immediately felt dread!

Every time I think about getting into bodybuilding again I get motivated like I used to be about triathlon. So today I started body building again. I'm starting out with a short stint of anatomical adaptation, once I feel like my body is ready I'll start two 6 week phases of hypertrophy, which is the time when the serious muscle gain happens.

Today I also went to the UNM physiology lab & got my body fat tested. The results that I got were really bad! I am back up to 222.2 pounds at 19 percent body fat. Aahh! But I'm not that upset about the results because I know this is my starting point. I'll start dropping fat gradually from this point on. & I'll be packing on muscle quickly- I have a great metabolism for bulking up. My short term goal is 220 pounds at 10 percent body fat. I'll be continuing biking & running a few times a week for fun & to be able to finish any triathlons I may enter later on next year, but my main focus will be on muscle gain! I'll keep you informed on my progress. Thanks for tuning in!

November 09, 2010

2010 SWC Series results

The 2010 South West Challenge Seties results are now posted at http://www.southwestchallengeseries.com/


PLEASE check their points tabulations against your own records and notify them IMMEDIATELY of any discrepancies, questions, or errors. They are tracking thousands of athletes and mistakes are inevitable.
 
It is best to notify John LeRoy: jleroy@q.com
It would be advisable to also cc Mark Balsiger at: mbalsig1@elp.rr.com

They also have the 2011 South West Challenge Series schedule done & it will also be posted soon at http://www.southwestchallengeseries.com/