September

I worked out 40% of the days in September.  100% of those workouts consisted of trail running.  I don't know that I'll ever ride my current bike again.  I just don't appreciate like I did.  It's a human feat to create a piece of equipment with intricate parts working in coordination with each other, but I'm still displeased.  I'm not sure that's a healthy mindset.  My displeasure stems from knowing what could be but isn't.  And maybe that's an issue we all have in some form or another.  So at this moment, I'm not sure Ill do a full triathlon.  I've done two international tris and I enjoyed them.  I liked training for them.  I probably need to think about this some more.  I have decided to continue to trail run.  Eventually, I'd like to run a 50k ultra on a trail.  In fact, I've daydreamed about hosting one myself.  Races are becoming more popular, so losing money on the deal doesn't seem like such an issue.

I've heard this before, but thought it was interesting enough to post.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/10161854/Exercise-can-alter-your-DNA-study-claims.html

Vegetarian?

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1691919#DISCUSSION

Just got back from Spin.  I tried to keep it one gear above the instructor throughout the class and succeeded.  My little app told me I burned 1200 calories again...I'm not so sure.  Although I did eat like a horse when I got home if horses eat a lot.  Speaking of horses...

Yesterday when I was running, there were so many flies.  I had to continuously wave my hands in front of my face to keep them from going in my mouth.  No less than thirty flew in.  I started thinking how badly it would be if I didn't have arms and hands.  Horses must hate life or they don't have a lot of nerve endings around their faces, so its not such an annoyance. Maybe they have more around their butts and that's why they're always swishing their tails.  Maybe we evolved to grow appendages simply because we were annoyed by other organisms.  Funny stuff.  It would be cool to see a horse grow some arms.  Something to hold on to while we're riding.  I look forward to an age when we can grow things like that instead of waiting for the painstakingly slow process of evolution.  Of course, I guess it would still be evolution, but on hyperdrive.

I got lazy there for a sec about posting.  So I've been doing a lot of Spin classes.  According to my heart rate, age, weight, and time lapsed, it's burning between 1100 and 1300 calories per session.  I can't believe that's accurate, so I'm going to go with the low estimate.

Today I ran 6.8 miles.  It was 102 outside at noon while I was running, which increased my heart rate substantially.  I think that might be the hottest it's been while I was running and the sun at its peak made the climbs particularly hard.  But, it just kept focusing on form, relaxing all other muscles, and telling myself it was a beautiful day for a run.  I think it helped.  Haha.  

It took me about an hour and half to complete the run.  My total elevation gain was just under 2000 ft.  My average pace was 14 min.  Pretty slow.  :)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9309637/

Started yesterday.  It didn't start off with a bang.  I thought I had been eating sugar-free chips, but they had evaporated cane juice in them.  I ate them anyway.  I held out today though and tomorrow should be good too.

I did a short stretching session yesterday up in Pinetop.  I'm going to go to Spin tomorrow and then I'm going to use that yoga Groupon on Thursday.  As I get more into a routine I'll post my schedule and grocery list out in advance just in case Brooklynn decides to jump in on this thing.  :)

I miss my grandma.

Well, today I'm thankful for my job, which allows me the flexibility of working from home.  Without that flexibility, I wouldn't be able to do this.  Doing this triathlon is important to me because I feel like those in healthy positions are fundamentally more in control of their own lives.  Is the inference there that I feel out of control?  Not necessarily...just a little like I'm riding the wind.

Two more things

I've been gearing up for the first month.  Went shopping today for wheat/sugarless foods.  Got a Bikram yoga Groupon.  Nerd.

Wore my toe shoes all day.  Took the kids to the laundromat, carwash, AZ Mills, park, and the grocery store.  They were hilarious/sweet as usual.  Of course, they aren't perfect, but they're pretty close.  Especially when Ande does her butt dance and Bastian kisses his sister.  Not in a gross way.

Ok.  Here are the things I forgot:  Keep your gear very very very accessible.  Like middle of the room accessible.  You have to trip over that stuff to keep you going after the initial kick has worn.

Put a towel in your car.  Your seats will hug you for it later.

I can't remember the rest and I know it's all obvious, but it took me time to figure it out nonetheless.  I'm passing it on either way.

Equipment

All of this crap I post is stuff that I've learned by trial and error.  I'm really a beginner as far as multiple sport races go, so if any of you see anything that is wrong, could be better, or just have any advice, please comment.

So I'm going to make up my own schedule.  Most of the places I've looked do training sessions in weeks.  I've got a year and a half baby.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=441

I'll incorporate that schedule as time nears.

So...equipment.  Starting at the top.  A visor is nice.  It keeps the hair out of your eyes, the sun out of your eyes, and still allows you to release heat.  I haven't used sun glasses too much because they usually end up bugging me.  I do use my phone to listen to music and to track my workouts.  I run with a 72 oz. Camelpack with water.  Inside the bag, I keep toilet paper for the occasional emergency, Chapstick, and a headlamp.  On long runs, I use spandex under my shorts to save myself from chafing.  I haven't read too much about those spandex like socks that reduce muscle shaking and soreness nor do I use them.  There is a mountain of data on shoes and I won't get into that.

This is schedule I'll put in place just before the rigorous schedule:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/Scott%20Herrick/halfim/preparing_for_your_first_half_ir.htm

Beathing

Twitter and Facebook have decreased our attention spans to about three sentences or less, so I'll make these blog posts short.

As I was running today, I was thinking about breathing, esp. when your heart rate gets up around 160.  Long deep breaths increase energy flow and gives me something to focus on besides the terrain and any aches n pains.  Yay, for ADD.

My detox/edification for April

Starting April 1, I have decided that my baby steps are going to be adding in stretching/yoga, and cutting out sugar.

The following article gives nine good reasons to cut out sugar.  I'm going to try and cut out the wheat too, but I'm not going to kill myself trying because I eat a lot of sandwiches.  Until I find a good substitute for a tunafish sandwich, I'm going to stick with bread.  Any thoughts for substitutes??

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-03/9-reasons-avoid-sugar-if-your-life-depended-it?single-page-view=true

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/todays-wheat-making-you-gain-weight

Injury prevention

So here's what I'm starting with, and of course, yours will differ from mine, but after reading for years about this stuff, it seems like the answers usually fall within a small range of considerations.  However, there's also competing information, so often times a straight answer can only come from trial and error on my own.  

Several of my toes are numb, my hips often feel a little pain at the beginning of my runs, and the arches of my feet feel like they're not supported enough.  I don't have any pain while swimming or biking.

I never stretch.  I rarely go for low impact runs.  I used Vibrams on a long distance run without having trained for that and the lingering effects are what gives me the arch pain.  I know that stretching is vital to being injury free.  I'm just too lazy to do it.  So, as my first thing to "edify" for the first month, I'm going to stretch daily.  I might even try to get into a yoga class.

The second thing is strength.  I don't know much about physical therapy.  It seems to me that their purpose is to provide function and form.  If that's true, then extrapolated to our own situations, we should be focusing on form and function constantly.  Function to me, means strength.  Even if you have the heart and lungs of triathlete, you'll injure yourself without the strength.  Like I've said, I don't really enjoy lifting weights or watching workout videos, but there's only so much strengthening you can do without resistance training.  So, I have this weighted vest that I haven't used in a while.  I'm going to commit to wearing it twice a week for an hour for the first month to build strength and I'll do it while walking to focus on my form.

I've decided to post pics of my before, but only after six months of working out so that I have something to compare them to.

The Race

Here's the link to the race. Obviously we can't sign up yet because it's still early, but I recommend scrolling down to the bottom and subscribing by email because it looks like it fills up fast. It's not cheap btw. So start saving now if you're committed to do it. 

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/ironman/arizona.aspx#axzz2NUD9Z2ul

 I also went to this site to start reading up on training schedules just to get a feel for what I should be doing.

 http://www.beginnertriathlete.com

 And lastly, I'll be signing up for a few sprints and maybe a marathon or two just as a way to pace myself. I'll post those links as I come across interesting races.

The pep talk

Please share this with your spouses and anyone else that you think might want to participate.

The goal is to be ready for an Ironman Triathlon in 18 months, to be in the best shape of our lives, and to feel committed to our new way of thinking/being. 

I recommend seeing a doctor before embarking on the process, mostly because I’m not a doctor, a nutritionist, or a physical therapist.  I take no responsibility for your lives or choices.  That’s not the lawyer in me talking; it’s common sense.  If you feel pain that is not related to building endurance/strength, then you shouldn’t be doing this. 

The first period will be the detoxification process.  Don’t kill yourself on first two weeks of this journey.  Like the Ironman, this is an endurance test.  So if you decide that as part of your detoxification that you need to give up coffee, wheat, cigarettes, alcohol, cooked food, negativity, meat, soda, the news, sugar, or calories, then maybe just choose coffee.  You’ll have plenty of opportunities to give up anything else later.  Lets take baby steps because the last thing you need is to feel like a failure three days into the program. 

To balance the detoxification process, the first month will also focus on creating new habits that edify.  This is also a double-edged sword.  Don’t try to do them all at one time.  Just choose one thing to add.  Obviously these things are subjective just like the detoxification process. For example: daily affirmations, gratefulness, eating fruits or vegetables, having daily vitamins, supplements, eating meat, having two glasses of wine, drinking coffee, reading, or doing something creative.  I can’t tell you what you should cut out (detox) or what you should add (edify).  Whatever it is you believe, is probably right. 

So let’s say you’ve decided to cut out sugar and add in a glass of wine before bed because you believe sugar is poison and wine helps your heart and puts you into a deeper sleep.  That’s excellent.  Stick with those decisions and you’ll feel like you’ve conquered something that in turn builds your self-esteem exponentially throughout this process.  It’s the upward spiral.  We need these little victories to help us with the really difficult process of sticking with the exercise program. 

The exercise program that I think has helped me out the most has always been something that is closely connected with nature, makes me feel like I’ve really worked hard, or that is done with others.  I have a hard time putting in a movie and doing P90X or going to the gym and lifting weights, but if those things work for you then do them. 

My exercise program is going to alternate between strength training and endurance on a daily basis.  You’ll soon realize that it’s difficult to do a leg workout at the gym and then go for a long run the next day.  When you do leg strengthening, the next day you might want to do another strength day or if you have access to a swimming pool, do a nice long slow swim focusing on your upper body.  The nice thing is that there’s an odd number of days in the week, so that one day where you do leg strengthening followed by another day of upper body strengthening, you’re still on schedule. 

Scheduling is another double-edged sword.  Try to be flexible.  Just like in life, which is the ultimate endurance test, the persons who adapt and are flexible are then ones who survive and evolve.  Plan, but don’t quit if you can’t follow your plan.  Just readjust and move on.  Always keep notes, so that you know how long you’re running, how many more pushups you’re doing, or how many Speedos you’ve ruined.  Not only will you find the statistics motivating, but they’ll also keep you on course when you’ve had to readjust your schedule. 

So if you’ve actually made it this far down into my ramblings, then you might also be serious about giving this a try with me.  If so, I’d direct you to the blog below I set up that will have my grocery shopping list, my schedule, and my detoxes/edifiers. 

Good luck to us!  In 18 months, I hope we’re a tighter knit group of people who thrive off each others’ energy and looking like our bodies feel. 

About the blog: The older posts are towards the bottom. This writing may be the first thing you see when you open it, scroll down to see the previous post if you want.  

http://triathlonoctober2014.blogspot.com

Preparing for the rest of my life

I'm tired. And that concerns me. I'm nearing the middle of my life and when I wake up, I'm tired. I think it has to do with the food/beverages I'm eating, the work I do, the quality of my sleep, how much I exercise, what I do with my free time, and probably most importantly, the way I think about all of these things: stress.

I've ran a few races, two of which were marathons and I'm ready to really make the changes I want to make and to motivate me to get there, I'm going to compete in a triathlon eighteen months from April 1, 2013. So the purpose of this blog is to document my progress, to give those that want to come along on the journey with me an idea of where I stand, and also to motivate myself by keeping this public. Peer pressure works wonders.

So, while this is not actually day one, it is the preparation phase. Over the next two weeks I will compile my goals, schedule, reading materials, and maybe, just maybe some before pics. Although, I'm still not so sure of myself yet, so I might have to wait on those poor images...................