Today...I CAN!

Spring break week for me usually means I am in Florida basking in the sun on a beach.  This year, we decided it was in our best interest to stay home and relax on spring break and spend our money on house updates this summer.  So that left me here to train and relax.  However, we did head to the Dells on Sunday and Monday and had a really nice time with the Conway's.  I also have to share a funny story at the Dell's.  After a good day at the water park, we went to the Moosejaw Restaurant.  As we were waiting for a table, I was holding my daughter.  I was wearing my Live Uncommon pullover and it has my name on it.  As I was standing there, I here the people at the table right behind where I was standing start reading off information that pertained to me.  Things like, where I worked, Live Uncommon Race team, Bettendorf Middle School.  I was like what, "did they take my wallet?, how did they know this about me?"  As I turned around, they did not say hi or hello.  Instead, I see the guy looking up the information on my shirt on his phone.  He must of thought that I was someone important with the Live Uncommon gear and my name on it.  Kind of freaked me out at one moment, knowing he got all that information, just from my shirt.  On the other hand I was proud to know that one more person knows what Live Uncommon is about and what I am about and what we stand for!  Kind of a fun story!


That leads me up to today.  I decided I would try and put some brutal miles/workout in this week since I was off work and especially since it is nice out!  Who needs Florida with this weather?  (ask me that again next December!)  Anyway, I feel like I have accomplished the killing myself part of working out.  Since Tuesday morning, I have put in almost 70 miles in biking, swimming and running.  Most importantly, I have accomplished some things I have not done before make this and "I CAN" week!  On Tuesday morning I set out on my first solo run for the first time this year.  I struggled mentally but did pretty well training wise, finishing 6 miles with a 7:44 pace.  I did get a swim in, the biggest yardage to date after my run and still felt pretty good.   On Tuesday, I also decided I was going to meet Jeff Paul and the Trek Store riders  for my first outdoor ride.  I was not sure what to expect on this ride.  I did know it would be an interval workout of some sort.  We ended up doing hill repeats on the bike.  It was a good ride for me.  I was able to push and stay up with the front group for the most part.  It was also good because I was able to ride amongst other riders, getting me used to having people around me while riding.  I felt really good after this ride.

After that ride, my sister was nice enough to grill some steaks out and enjoy a nice bonfire!  Nothing like a great meal after a healthy day of working out!.

I will admit, I slept in a little on Wednesday, knowing I was going to have a big day again.  I started in the pool on Wednesday.  I wanted to get a good quality pool swim in.  I was able to do this with my biggest swim yet.  I was able to rip off 3500 yards/2 miles.  I even did the dreaded 200's during this workout and was able to hold a 3:05 or under pace for all of them.  I really felt good, again, eclipsing some old marks for yardage.  Once again proving, I CAN do a lot of things given the time and courage to get out and do it! I also snuck a little lift in after this, and I will admit the quality of it was pretty low but did get in six lift.  Mostly because I wanted to get outside and enjoy the day.  However, I really did not get to get outside, but did get some much needed errands done.

At 5:00, I decided I would go ahead and go meet some bike riders over off of Ben Butterworth parkway for a ride.  I had been told it was a 40 miler, which scared me to start with but I figured I could handle it. There were two groups, an A and B.  I was a little late getting there due to a accident so I ended up with the B group which was a good thing.  I did all I could to hang with the B group.  We took off and headed west ( I think?).  We headed out into the country on some very isolated but good roads.  One guy in the group kind of took me under his wing when I had told him I was a newbie and that it was really my first long ride I have done outside.  As we talked he thought we maybe would only go 34 miles or so.  Well, to me mentally, I was thinking this is good.  But as we got going, I realized, it was going to be 40 miles.  It was a good thing or as John Byrnes would say, it was a "character builder".  As we rode we did some very close pace riding.  Wheels only about 6 inches from the guy in front.  The pace riding reminded me of Indian runs.  The last guy up to the front and block the wind for a bit, then the next guy moves in.  I was pretty happy as I kept up with these guys for the most part.  We were consistently riding over 20 mph as we trekked through the country side.  Finally we had made it back to the bike path on the river and that is where fatigue set in for me.  It was about mile 34, the wind kicked up in our face and I was struggling.  But, I knew I had to get back to my truck or walk and that was not on option. I pushed through the pain and made it back.  Funny thing was, I was at 39.27 miles when I got to my truck.  Nope, that was not enough, mentally, I had just worked my ass off and I was going to go 40 miles!  So,  I went past my truck enough and turned around to get my 40 in.  Just one of those silly things for me, no reason, just needed to see forty!  For the first ride outside, I went 40 miles and ended with and 19.1 mph pace.  Which I will take considering the wind was pretty strong last night.  Never thought I could do 40 miles, this early.  Once again, I CAN ride 40 miles and finish with the group.  This is a big hurdle for me, when I push myself, I CAN get things done!  I came home and hydrated up with a nice meal and water and sat with the family and enjoyed a peaceful bonfire, in MARCH!  Crazy!  As I knew today I was going to finish out my last of the tough days for working out.
Today, I set out to Meet Katie G., one of my Crazies Group runners.  I had decided since I was going to run a 5k, the CASI St. Patrick's Day Run, I was going to do some mile repeats, two to three of them.  We met at the Y at 7 and had plans of running to the Bettendorf High School and jumping on the track.  I was a little unsure how I would perform on this due to my long ride last night.  The warm up run to the high school was much needed to work some of the lead out of my legs, and my hamstrings were very tight.  Made it to the track and stretched a little more to make sure I did not pull anything.  We set out on the first mile and mentally, I was challenged here.  Took off at a good pace and I was not sure I could hold it.  Fortunately, I ran the fastest mile I have ever run today, 5:48.  Much to my surprise as I have had such a heavy load of training the last few days.  I was really stoked by this.  We walked a lap and jogged a lap in between and set out on the next mile.  This one was tough too.  We headed out fast and again, I was not sure I could hold.  I ended up with a 5:57 this time.  Two miles under 6:00, felt awesome.  I have never run a mile under 6:00 before, let alone two of them.  My fastest mile I can remember to this point was 6:34 last year.  I am pretty excited about that.  I still have a lot of training to do, as I really have not hit a track workout yet and I am much faster than last year at this point. You can see those miles below on lap 3 and 6.

Katie and I then finished up with another 3 miles or so back to the Y for a total of 7 miles.  Even the miles back were at a good pace.  Although, when I got to the Y, I was done and ready to stretch as I was tightening up.  We stretched a little bit and re-hydrated.  What a AWESOME way to start my day.  Doing two miles under 6:00, something I did not think I could ever do and I DID IT!

I finished out my morning with a swim in the pool.  My arms were exhausted this morning in the pool.  I decided that I should probably just drill this morning.  I did various sets, equaling up to 1600 yards after the run.  My arms loosened up by the end and I feel pretty good now.  I ended the swim with a nice relaxing hot tub soak.  That hit the spot!

As I am writing this, I still can't believe what a great start to the day this is.  Two awesome miles for me, a nice cool down swim.  Scrambled eggs, pineapple and coffee on the deck while soaking up some sun.  Maybe it is better that I am not in Florida, look at what I have accomplished this week.  What a great week of training I have had!

On to some rest now.  I have a soccer game tonight that I will play in but might scale it back a bit just to prevent injury!  From that point on, I will rest my body in preparation for the St. Patrick's Day 5K.  I am hoping for some good things from the race.  Not to mention this is the first race in the Revolution Race Series.  This will be the big event for the Live Uncommon Race Team.  Which leads me to my donation page.  If you have not donated, I would love to have your help in helping me accomplish my goal of $700.  You can get to my page with the link on my blog here or this address:  http://liveuncommon.org/default.aspx?function=displayparticipant&id=311&eid=4.

This week I have accomplished some small goals that will all help in my training for this summer.  I have many more to accomplish, but after this week, I know I CAN do anything I want and CAN accomplish things that used to be dreams.  Get after it and see what YOU CAN get done!

Many New people and a good week!

Been a few days since I have posted anything.  Kind of a nutty week at work being the end of the third quarter, which is hard to believe, and grades being due and the week before spring break!  Kids always seem to run the crazy the week before break as everyone is needing this break!  But, it is all behind me now and a week off will do the mind & body good!

I first have to start out with some things I was able to do at school that I normally do not get a chance to do.  We have a tremendous art teacher at school, Mr. D, that I will be fortunate enough to work with next year.  If you know me, I am intrigued by art and wish I was a lot better at it than I am but I still love it.  Anyway, he was gracious enough to send out an invite to come to his class for a "Zentangle" lesson.  I will have to say, I have not been that relaxed while at school in a very, very long time.  First, to get 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to be quiet, like pin drop quiet, for 42 minutes is nearly impossible.  But he did it.  We had some nice relaxing music and basically doodled, in an organized manner, for 42 minutes.  The best thing is that you don't have to be a good "artist" to do it either.  If you get a chance, just google "Zentangle" and it will give you a better idea of what we did.  I was so impressed, I went to talk to my wife after and encouraged her to go.  She did it too and really liked it as well.  You can see the outcome below.  I actually did a much bigger one the same day, but didn't take a picture of it.  Mine is on the left and my wife's is on the right.  Pretty fun once you get started!

I could not help myself with this either.  Aaron M. had a really cool wax museum project for his students.  There was some awesome projects that went on and really showcased some talent we have in our school.  One of the girls did a history on Barbie.  One of her future Barbie's was a Mr. Maurer Doll.  As you can see in the picture, this will probably be one of the biggest selling Barbie's of the future.  I about peed my pants when I saw this.  I think the scowl on the face makes it, probably because he is surrounded by HAIR!!  Good Stuff!  On to the training....

This week of training has been a good one for me.  My swimming has finally taken back some shape and I am feeling comfortable again. I am relaxing with my stroke and it seems to be pushing me in the right direction.  I swam with Aaron M. and he really pushed me in the water on Monday.  I swam some 100's with him and that really made me push myself and concentrate on form.  Aaron has really made some nice strides in swimming.  I am looking forward to some more swims with him as we continue to train for our summer events.  Wednesday's swim was a good one too.  I completed a ladder and I was able to keep my rest intervals consistent and my stroke consistent.  Friday, I decided I needed to do a timed 600 swim just to see where I was at.  I was pleasantly surprised with a 9:41.  I think I can really make some improvements on this time between now and my tri's.  I have a sort of renewed energy from a couple of weeks ago, especially about the swimming.  This is big for me as I am feeling comfortable with my training mentally and physically.

My biking for the week was on par.  I don't feel like I am making any huge gains on this but I am not hurting myself either.  I am just excited to have a break in the weather and get outside to see what I can do outdoors.  Ultimately, that will tell the tale of how my trainer rides have been helping.  At this point I have got in 54 miles on the bike this week and hoping to get one more in  before we leave in the morning for the Dells.  I am pretty sure I can do it, I am not getting up early to do it either!  I will keep plugging away at the bike and hopefully get outside soon to see what I really have been doing.

Running is still coming along pretty well for me. I still can't help to think that I would not be anywhere close to what I am doing right now without the groups I have been running with.  There is so much inspiration and energy within these groups.  For instance on Thursday, it was pretty windy in the morning and I really did not want to run.  As we got out, we had a large group and we navigated our way through Bettendorf trying to avoid the wind.  Next thing you know we had almost 7 miles done and ran one of the fastest miles we have run all year.  Then today we went for a ten mile run and had 7 of us.  I was not dreading the run as much as the course we were going to run. The actual course is really awesome, running along the river, crossing bridges (actually did not get to this morning because the arsenal bridge span was open).  Really a beautiful course in the morning with the sun rising.  The dreaded part is this hill on Middle Road in Davenport.  Going down is awesome, going up, not so much.  This thing is a conversation killer and lung burner.  But in the end, we did it and did it well!  And after we were able to pick up the pace to finish out a nice ten mile run.  After we were able to sit down at the local Starbuck's and enjoy some good conversation and coffee.  I am excited because right now my training pace is about at what my race pace was last year and I still have some really good training in front of me.  I am hoping to set some PR's this year.  I don't think I would be anywhere close to that if it was not for this FANTABULOUS group of runner's.  It was also nice to meet some people that we talk to with social media but have not met in person.  I am also excited to see more people get out as the nice weather start to roll in.

This week has been a good week of training.  However, I am going to try and push some limits this week as we are on spring break.  o I will have a little lore time to put in and get after it.  I plan on spending a little more time on the bike and in the pool.  Running may have to be on my own but I think I will be alright, although I think there will be a few crazies around for me to run with. I will take Monday off, maybe, depending on how the Dells trip goes.   I am looking forward to the week off, with some good training, some good rest and NO WORK!  To all of you leaving on Break, Have a BLAST!  To those staying around, if you want to train, shoot me an email or GOOD LUCK with it all.  YOU CAN get out and make the best of it!

What a week!

This has been quite a week, to say the least.  There were many emotions that went into this week and many work hours.  Everything from from working out to work to family!  It started out with a very awesome man in my family passing.  Jaybird, he was such a great father and family man.  It was a very hard to watch his family deal with this part of life.  Taken so sudden at the young age of 53.  Sunday and Monday we spent remembering all the great things he stood for.  I think the hardest part was watching his daughter grieve and watching my daughter learn about death and what it is all about.  Tough thing to learn, however, I am not sure we ever learn it.  I have a very tough time at these and tend to be pretty emotional and my daughter has picked this up as well.  This is the way we started and sometimes these events make us realize that life is to fragile and we need to make sure that every minute we are here, on earth, we should make the most of it.  Making every effort to enjoy those around us and enjoying life as we know it.  I am pretty sure the after life will be awesome but I know what I have right now is awesome as well.   I WILL enjoy this and make the most of it!

Then came Valentine's Day!   It is a nice day to remind us of how much we love those that are significant in our lives.  Although, we should really do this everyday, it is nice to have the reminder to take the time to do this.  Especially after the reminder of how precious life is on Monday.  I think the best was my girls giving me a Valentine!  They were so nice and I appreciated them so much.  I love the innocence of their love for their dad!  I thought you might like to see them as well.  Not to mention my amazing wife.  We had a pretty mellow day but our love in unconditional and I will forever cherish that!

Work was another story.  Conferences this week and had some coaching issues to deal with that did not make things very easy.  Plus I am trying to get our FUN (Fitness Uniting w/ Nutrition) week up and rolling.  That was a little stressful but I WILL overcome many of these problems and keep trucking forward!

On to my workouts.  The last few weeks I have spent working on fitting weights into my schedule.  I feel like I did a good job of getting that worked in and building a base on weights.  I know deep down, I cannot leave that behind so I was trying to figure out a way to make sure I keep this in my workout regimen.  I will keep my Tuesday and Thursday tuns with the group of CRAZIES.  I will not give that up, they are to valuable at this point.  My big problem is that I would like to say I will ride my bike at night when I get home from work, but I know I will not on a consistent basis.  So, I have changed my plan.  On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I WILL get up a little earlier and get biking, swimming and weights all in before 6:15 a.m.  On those days I will ride for 45 minutes, then head out to the Y by 5:00 to get  a swim in for 30 minutes and then weights for 30 minutes as well.  I will continue to get my long runs in on the weekend.  My weeks will be heavy on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays but as long as I listen to my body, rehydrate, I BELIEVE I CAN make this work.  I started this Wednesday and continued on to today.  So far, I feel pretty darn good.



Today I started off with a high cadence ride.  My goal was to ride 45 minutes at a high cadence of over 100 rpm.  I was able to accomplish this, with the exception of my first couple of miles because I was warming up.  As you can see below I was pretty consistent and stayed over 100 rpm.














After the ride I shot off to the Y and had a pretty good swim.  I did a ladder workout to swim.  Didn't start off that well as I forgot my goggle at home.  I had to barrow from the Y, I hope I don't have some funky eye disease come tomorrow!  I started with a 600 yd warm up then did the ladder with 20 sec rest in between all of them.  I went as follows: 25yds, 50 yds, 75 yds, 100 yds, 150 yds, 200 yds, 150 yds, 100 yds, 75 yds, 50 yds, 25 yds  and the a 150 yd cool down for a total of 1750 yds. Felt pretty good all the way through.  However, I did cramp at one point, which only means one thing, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

I went ahead and got my lifts in as well.  Today was a good day, not to mention I had the day off!  Great way to begin a four day weekend for me.  I then headed off with a great meeting with LIVE UNCOMMON.  I am excited, we are launching the REVOLUTION next week at school.  I hope we can help make some difference in getting kids active and leading a healthy lifestyle!

After the crazy week, don't take everything for grant-it.  Live life everyday and don't let those little things that get in our way of life bother you, figure out how you can get around or over them and continue forging ahead and make every day count!  See how you CAN make a difference, EVERYDAY!

Week of Change & Feeling Good!

This was a very busy week for me at work and trying to introduce a change in my workout.  I had four basketball games to supervise, a soccer game at 10:20 at night, I worked an extra job on Wednesday.  I think I can successfully say that I was able to complete both and feel good about myself.  I finished the week off with a 15.7 mile run this morning and now I am sitting by the fire with a cup of coffee and couldn't feel better!  Life is Good!

Last week I decided I would get some more weight training into my workouts and I was able to complete these with some consistency this week.  Thankfully during the week, I had another group that really wanted to lift too.  So Todd C., Lisa R., Curt S., and myself all got in some serious core workouts.  I can feel my abs still today, which is a good thing, they are a little sore.  I am in hopes to continue this type of regimen next week.  And hopefully this will provide me with some sort of base that I will be able to continue as I train to complete the triathlon.

On the running side of my training, I really feel like I have made some strides in the right directions. I am way above and beyond where I was at last year at this time.  Again, and I am sure people get tired of hearing it, but the groups I run with provide me with such support and accountability is so AWESOME. They are always there and make running enjoyable.  On both, Tuesday and Thursday, we were able to really run some nice six to seven mile runs.  Tuesdays run started very slow and non-conversational and ended with a 7:32 mile on mile six.  Thursdays pace started out pretty fast and stayed that way and most of all my heart rate was in the target, that is key for me.

My biking probably suffered the most this week.  I was able to get in a great hill workout on Monday on the stationary bike, which I don't really like but it is a good workout.  Wednesday, i was able to get a spinervals workout in before heading to the Y to get my weights in.  I decided to take Friday off of the bike due to a busy week and big run I knew I had today.  I had a soccer game on Wednesday night at 10:20 which tends to throw a loop in the training schedule.  My legs were just tired and I did not feel as hydrated as I should have been so I decided rest was best.  Which I have more to talk about rest in a bit....
Today I joined the Leadville runners again and we had a huge group of SEVEN this morning.  John, Rick, Aaron, Curtis, Katie, Ben,  and myself set out at 5:30 to get our miles in.  I really felt like I had a good run this morning, I was able to pick it up at end the and push a little.  We completed 15.7 miles in 2:26.  I believe this was Curtis's longest distance and again, I think the group (especially John and Rick) are so supportive that completion is inevitable with them.  Great job to Curtis, I know the feeling!  The wind was a little chilly this morning , otherwise a really nice morning once the sun came up.  It was kind of a refreshing feeling and seeing the warm sun.  I can't wait till spring!  Again, a great job to the group this morning, Awesome run!

As I mentioned before, rest is best.  I have talked in my blog about how much running and working out with groups are such a benefit to you, and make you feel accountable.  Also, some of the friendships you create are pretty powerful.  My friend Aaron, had some knee issues (see his post) this week and was feeling pretty bad.  One thing to understand is that Aaron is very competitive and when he sets goals, watch out.  As he was willing to continue working, ignoring his knee injury.  I felt like I needed to say rest it, even though I was a little hesitant.  I did not want to say the wrong thing and it is always easier to tell someone else to rest, rather than doing it yourself. I did relay my message and I think he took it to heart.  I was worried what he would think and then I was able to read his post about it.  It made me think a lot about the people I am surrounding myself while training and how important it really is.  Not that I am some savior or anything.  Sometimes you need that outside help to say "it is okay",   to make yourself feel alright about certain situations.  After a couple of days of rest Aaron was able to rejoin us today and had a good run.  Good Luck to him in the Indoor Tri-Melon tomorrow in Muscatine.

On to some rest for the day and enjoy those around me, mostly my family this weekend!  Sorry, I kind of rambled on again today but it had been a few days since I had blogged.  What CAN you accomplish this weekend?