WOW, What a week of Turn Around!

It is really hard to even think about where to begin on this post? I think in my best interest, I will start with my family!  A big THANK YOU to my wife Mary and my girls for putting up with all my training hours and time away from them.  I appreciate your patience!  Next, I will thank all my training groups, especially all my LIVE UNCOMMON teammates!  You are AWESOME, your words of wisdom and advice is much appreciated.  When my training doesn't give me the results I like, you are always there to let me know, I am on the right track.  Last week, I did not live up to my expectations, but you were there to let me know to train through it and get back at it.  I went from being pretty confident in my training, to a low that I had not expected and now with all your help, I am back with confidence, with the understanding I still have a lot of room to improve!

This past weekend, we traveled to Ogden, Iowa to compete in the Bluff Creek Triathlon.  Live Uncommon teammates Josiah Campbell, Aaron Mauer and Jeff Paul traveled on Saturday to prepare for the race.  We met close friend and training partner Brian Tritt up there as well.  For Josiah, Aaron and myself, this was going to be our first Tri!  Poor Jeff had to endure all of our newbie questions for the weekend.  It was an interesting ride up there to say the least, some drivers need to be examined.  We picked up our packets and went to Pizza Ranch for a good pre-race meal. It was pretty darn good.  Jeff may disagree with me, he can explain that!!!

I stuck to my new motto after last week, Expect Nothing, Gain Everything this past weekend.  I have come to the conclusion, I am training pretty well.  I have not had a past history of failing to train correctly.  I went into Sunday's race knowing, I have trained right, I know what I am capable of, therefore, I CAN do it!  I went with that and had fun.  My first triathlon was an awesome experience. I could not have laid it out any better.

THE SWIM- This was going to be the toughest challenge, just getting out of the water in a decent time. The start was new too, 50 people all running to get the best position possible.  I felt like a Salmon trying to swim up river. It was a bit hectic, but I remember some sound advice I been given the night before, Just keep swimming.  I stuck to my guns and just kept swimming!  Before long I was in the clear, not to many people around.  I was nice and relaxed and sighting was not a big problem.  I was surprised, the first time I truly sighted the turn, I was only about 30 yards away.  At that time I caught on to another swimming and drafted on his feet.  Just like that, I was out of the water.  In previous open water swim, I had a little trouble coming out of the water with a bit of dizziness, this time I had none!  I made it out of the water in 9:57 and was pleased with that.

T1 - This first transition went pretty smooth, considering the long run up the hill.  I didn't have to much trouble getting ready.  I had everything laid out pretty well.  Preparing certainly helps!

THE BIKE - The first part of the bike was a little hectic, trying to calm my heart rate down after the swim and just relaxing into the ride.   Everything was going well.  At about six and half miles, I had the unexpected happen.  I was transitioning from my upright position to  my aero bars.  A gust of wind hit me and blew my right onto the shoulder.  I had a started to panic a little, thinking my tires were going to pop.  As I tried to get back on the road....BAM, I was on my left side skidding across the pavement. Somehow when I came to a stop, I popped right back to my feet.  My right foot never unclipped. Everything seemed to be alright, with the exception of some road rash (pictures below). As I started to pedal, my chain had come about half off, but luckily my crank caught the chain, brought it back over the sprocket and I was off again. One funny thought I had after getting going...I could feel my left cheek and the burn.  I was thinking, I hope my pants are not ripped and my whole butt is not hanging out!  Funny the thoughts you have? Thankfully and luckily only a couple of people I had just passed came by.  I was able to pass them again.  At the turn around, I got a huge boost, the wind was at my back.  My mile pace picked up by over a minute.   I felt like I was just flying.  With about a mile left, my bike started to get a little loose on me.  I thought maybe my speed and the grooves in the road were causing this.  I made it back to the transition  and my time was about two minutes better than I thought.  I finished the 15 mile ride in 43.33.  After the race was over and I checked my bike out, my back tired was flat!  I must have punctured a small hole on my wreck.  I got LUCKY!!!  What is that saying...Got to be lucky to be good sometimes!

 My left leg, left cheek, left elbow!


THE RUN - The run started a little shaky, it took my legs a little bit to get going.  The first part of the run was slightly uphill.  Once I go to the flat, I had got my heart rate calmed and was moving pretty decent.  The entire course had a few more hills than expected but was not to bad.  I just settled into a nice rhythm and cruised in.  The run was much better than I thought it would be, I actually enjoyed the run.  I think I could push a little harder on that next time.  But this was a learning experience and I enjoyed every bit of it.  I finished the run in 22:18.

After seeing my finish time, I was pretty happy.  I finished with a time of 1:17.40.  I am not sure on my overall place, but this put me in first in the Sprint Clydesdale division.  I was very happy with my time, I was hoping I could finish under 1:30 so this is good. During the awards ceremony, the Live Uncommon team members of Josiah, Jeff, Aaron and myself lit up the awards stands!  Aaron won the Olympic Clydesdale, Josiah took 3rd in the Sprint Clydesdale, and Jeff won the overall Olympic Race.   What a great feeling coming out of the weekend with all these people who have worked their tails off  and earning their hardware.  Great job to you guys, way to finish!

I would be lying if I did not say I am pretty excited about the Quad City Tri...however, I have a lot more training to do.  I want to improve in a few areas.  Their are some differences in distance so again, I will go into the race not expecting much but having fun.

Some of the Live Uncommon member sporting some of their bling! (Sorry Jeff, they did not give him a medal, I did not get  a picture of him!)

 After last weekend, I was not sure where I stood with my training.  A week ago, I was down in the dumps having a little pity party for myself.  Actually the pity party was kind of the heeling process for me.  With the good people I have surrounded myself with, they helped pick up the pieces, got me fired back up.  I am very happy I made the choice to get back at it and so quickly!  I can't thank my friends and family enough.  I do know I CAN conquer fears and disappointments by getting out there and getting after it.  My first triathlon was a super experience for me.  Not just for my time or earning a medal (although it helps), but for the experience.  Many people out there trying to fit and make a difference in our world.  Not to mention spending the weekend with some good people.  I think I have rambled enough!

Get out their and see what you CAN do today, that you thought you couldn't do yesterday!

Toughest Week Ahead!

Really a pretty good quality week of training for me.   I feel like I got everything I needed out of the week.  As I prepare for my upcoming events, I believe I am mentally and physically ready for the challenges that lie ahead.  This week was pretty normal in training except on Wednesday I had to head indoors to the "DREADMILL" to do a track work out.  Not particularly fond of the treadmills in the first place but to spend my biggest track workout to date on one, was not my ideal workout.
For the treadmill I was scheduled to do 10 x 800's.  I knew I was going to be solo with this, so I had mentally prepared to handle this.  I went to the track first and lightning detoured my workout to the Y.  I got in and signed up a treadmill.  Normally when I go to the Y, knowing I am going to be on a treadmill, I will wear a long sleeve shirt to save on the sweat spray that comes from me.  I am a sweaty pig when I workout.  This time I had on short sleeve and the treadmills next to me paid for it.  Sweat was dripping from the treadmill, it was on the two treadmills next to me, it was on the belt, puddled in the cup holders.  Pretty disgusting!  I know it is but, it makes me think I am working hard!  Anyway, I got started on the workout and successfully nailed 10, 800s all between 3:06 and 3:12.  After number 10, I decided, what the heck, I will do one more for good measure.  I ended with 11 x 800's and 9.5 miles in 15 minutes.   Even though I had to head inside due to weather, I felt like I had a pretty good work out!

On Thursday night I was lucky enough to get outside and try my new Xterra wetsuit out.  I literally got it out of the mail and headed to the lake.  This was a brand new experience, open water, it is a bit different.  My swim was fine, I will be ok with that part.  However, I had a bit of equilibrium problem when I made it back to shore.  I would get a bit dizzy when I stand up and it goes away fairly quick but hope it does not cause to man y problems.  Secondly, I had a pretty good run that morning and my legs cramped on me several times.  I know that won't continue to happen on race day because I know I will be ready.

Today I was able to get my last big workout in before the taper starts this week.  I was able to get 20 miles on the bike using the spinervals dvd I have and jumped off and headed out for five miles on the road.  My legs really responded well today.  It did not take long to get them back on the run.  My transition was a bit longer than I like as I had to wait for the GPS to kick in on my watch.  I felt pretty good most of the run.  I saw Jon Byrne at about mile two, nice little inspirational hello from him helped me dig a little deeper!  After my run, off to practice for the Backwater Gamblers Show Ski Team, gonna be a great year for that too!

With a big week of 100 plus miles behind me, this will be my most challenging week.  Taper week!  I know it is much needed but I don't like them, feel like I am slacking.  I have my first half marathon of the year on Sunday the 13th.  Tuesday will be my last longer miles and then it will be nice and light from their on out.  5 days of resting?  That will be weird, I have not had a day of rest since April 20.  Hopefully this will make me nice and fresh for the race day.  I am pretty excited to race next weekend.  After a quick recovery on Sunday, I need to get right back at it for a couple days because my very First triathlon at Bluff Creek Tri is one week later.  I am really excited for that.  I will have some really good people doing that with me, should be a ton of fun!
So this week will be a challenge to cut back and hold my energy for race weekend!  I know I CAN do this, way to much training now to have any doubts!

P.S.  Backwater Gamblers Season has started, first show is May 27!

Week of Lows and Highs!

Last week was an interesting week for me training wise.  I had some really good conversations with some awesome team mates of mine, yeah, Live Uncommon Team Mates!  They are awesome and if you have not experienced them, you need to, wicked bunch of athletes, parent, friends and down to earth people!

I came off spring break last week with the a week of intense training, not my highest mileage training, but very intense.  Thinking that coming off that week, I was going to be unstoppable in my training.  However, I found quite different outcome than that.  After running the St. Patrick's CASI race with the Live Uncommon team, I was drained.  If you read my post, you know, I was a little disappointed in my outcome of that race but I also should have expected it.  I worked my legs like no other during my "vacation", really taking them to their threshold for three days straight.  Then I expected to race my best 5k ever, right out of the gates!  Kind of foolish of me but I do always want to do my best and don't like failure.  I did experience a little, but more importantly I learned from it.  I was way over training.  I was doing unneeded time in the pool, on the bike.  I needed more track workouts instead of long runs.  It was nice to sit back and look at what I had done and realize, OVER TRAINING!  Funny, just a couple of months ago I was telling another friend he needed to cool it a bit.  Needed to take my own advice!  So I did!!!

Last week, I decided to just run and cut way back on the biking and swimming, the two spots I was really killing myself on.  I only logged about 28 miles running and it was just what I needed.  I even took Friday completely off knowing I was going to run 15 on Saturday.  I felt pretty good coming out of the weekend and have put together a plan that should meet my distance running needs and adapt into the triathlon training as well.    I am feeling pretty good at this point and hopefully this will turn that over training into some Pr's and a better attitude towards training.

I am going to have to invest in some new shoes this week as well.  I am at 312 miles, since January, on my Brooks Ghost 4, love the shoes, did not last quite as long as I like but my frame, 5'11" 218 make it hard for shoes to hold up.  I will get the same shoes unless anyone has some better advice for me.

This past weekend , I was also able to get after another favorite of mine, BAREFOOTING!  Who barefoot in March in the Midwest?  This did and now I CAN say I have been barefooting in March  on the Rock River!  It was not bad at all, about 62 degrees and having a wetsuit, made it enjoyable.  Check out the picture  at the right!!!!  Need to straighten out the arms, but all is Good!

Kind of a random post but it is what it is!  Last week was kind of random, taking time off, realizing reality, checking my mental capacity and being smarter about training!  I am looking forward to being smart in this phase of my training now that I have a nice base to build on.  Thanks to all the people out there who listen to my training obstacles and allowing me to make that hurdle and continue on.  Get out there, train hard, train smart and see what you CAN do!  I AM!

P.S.  Don't forget to check out my Live Uncommon Race Team page and make a donation for 7, yes 7, FANTASTIC causes.  If you would like to donate, you can also write a check to Live Uncommon in my name.  Come on, YOU can MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Just click on my badge!

Training Blahs!

I will start with yesterday.  I had an awesome run with the CRAZIES!  We had a great group of seven running.  We started at a really nice pace and picked it up along the way.  Towards the ends, I felt like I just needed to go.  I kind of felt bad leaving the group but I just needed to do it for myself.  I took off and had some really nice last miles, for me anyway.  For some reason I felt like I did not run well last week, but I put in 28 miles running and felt good.  One of those mysteries I will probably never know, but I was satisfied with my run and that is important to me mentally.  The group is really making strides in the running category and I am excited for some warm weather to come and see what we can really do.

Today was a good workout as I pulled off the trifecta( according to Aaron M.) workout this morning.  Getting biking, swimming and lifting in all before 6:15 a.m.  I do not mind these workouts once I get going.
I jumped on the bike at 4 a.m., actually like 4:10 and rode at a high cadence for 15 miles.  I tried to keep the cadence over 100 rpm for the full time.  For the most of it, i was able, except the first couple miles of warm-ups.  High cadence is probably the least favorite of any bike workouts.  I am not really sure why, but it is.  Then, I quickly transitioned to my jammer and headed to the Y for a 1750 yards.  It was actually a good workout, I found a really good rhythm today.  I did 5 x 100 all under 1:30 and then 10 x 50 at 40 sec or below with 15 second rest intervals.  Overall I was really happy with the swim which adds to some confusion for me, which I will address later.  After swimming I hit the weights for a pretty tough weight workout too.  I was joined by Todd, Lisa, Curt and Jayme.  My chest will probably be sore tomorrow.  Here is the workout:
Group 1
3 x 15 Bench
3 x 10 Explosive Push Up
3 x 10 Burpee's

Group 2
3 x 10 Overhead Cable Chop
3 x 12 Reverse Swiss Ball Leg Ups
3 x 10 Straight Arm Pull Downs

Group 3
2 x 10 Box Jumps
2 x 10 Cable Rows
2 x 10 Weighted Sit Ups

Pretty good overall workout today.  I am looking forward to the run tomorrow as well.

Here is my mind set at this point in my training.  I really would like to get a triathlon in, just something I wanted to do.  However, I am finding that trying to squeeze all the different types of training in, is very hard on me, my family, and just finding time to relax.  I am signed up for the QC Tri and I will do it.  I have put way to much time in to not do it.  I am really liking the running at this point in time.  I may be at the "runners high" right now.  Maybe because I am seeing improvement, maybe because of the groups I run with.  Whatever the reason, I am really enjoying that, I always feel like I really accomplished something when I am done.
There is another Tri in May I may sign up for so there is something closer for me to train for instead of waiting till June.  Maybe that will bring that motivation back as well. I know I can do well in the tri, at least for me, I just need to get my mojo back.  Maybe once things settle down at work a little, it will come back.  Needless to say, work has been crazy this month.  So I ill quit whining, get back on the horse I rode in on, and start making things happen for the positive!  I know I CAN.  Here is to spring getting closer each day and the weather letting us get outside and enjoy it!