Weekend Update

Not as much cycling as I would like this week with some events going on but feeling a lot better about my running.  Not so much speed but able to go longer and longer without feeling the need to walk.

For the week:  2 hours 35 minutes running with a long run of 1 hour 20 minutes.  37 miles on the bike.  Was hoping to sneak a swim in on Wednesday but with a very sore foot, took a day off to be safe.

The upcoming week:
Monday:  20 minute easy run.
Tuesday:  1 hour 25 minute run.
Wednesday:  get into the water and do something, not sure what yet.
Thursday:  30 minute run; 25 miles on the bike.
Friday:  20 miles on the bike or perhaps 27 depending on the weather.
Saturday:  run 25 minutes of intervals.
Sunday:  25 mile bike.

Mid-week Update

Long run completed on Tuesday.

Glad John and I decided to go instead of letting the weather stop us.  We had a line of severe storms come through with very high winds but we waited it out and did just over 7 miles.  A little soreness in my left foot but feeling better this morning.  Will have to keep an eye on it.

Short run today as well as a ride.

Hopefully I can do it in my now smaller Fat Cyclist jersey, which luckily they could exchange and should be here soon.

Training Update

Feeling really good about my training.  Not into full Ironman mode for a few more months but still building a nice base.

For the last week had a total of 62 miles biked and 3.5 hours of running.

The coming week's schedule...
Monday:  20 minute run, just a leg stretcher.
Tuesday:  1 hour 20 minute run; still building up to longer and longer runs.
Wednesday:  may try to work a swim into the week.
Thursday:  30 minute run and 25 miles on the bike.
Friday:  12 mile bike.
Saturday:  25 minutes of running intervals.
Sunday: off.

Not quite as much biking as usual as the number of Louisville Bicycle Club rides is really shrinking.  Might have to get the trainer out soon.

The Not So Fat Cyclist

Well, I guess all this training is paying off...

A couple days ago, I got this sweet cycling jersey in the mail.  If you haven't heard of him, "Fatty" publishes this blog.  A great read and he does tons to raise money for cancer.

I pre-ordered it about 3-4 months ago and selected my usual jersey size.  However, it's absolutely huge on me.  But since they made them only from pre-orders, I guess I can return it but won't be able to get a replacement.  I didn't realize I had lost that many inches in my chest and waist.

On a positive note, I ran about 3 miles and biked 25 today.  Felt very good.  Instead of hitting the cupboard for everything in sight when I finished the run, I tried some Hammer Recoverite and it seemed to reduce my hunger substantially as well as provide some good nutrition.

Biking and running scheduled for the weekend.  Stay tuned.

Tuesday Update

Ran about 7 miles today in about 1 hour 10 minutes.  Feeling pretty good, even with the hills of the two connected parks where I run.

I have noticed, however, that my caloric needs are going through the roof.  My running app says I burned a bit over 1200 calories today.  I need to really think about what I'm eating when I'm done working out.  Hammer makes a recovery product but I haven't tried it yet.

On a positive note, I'm swimming in most of my clothes.  Trying to hold off as long as possible on buying anything new though.

Off day tomorrow then run and bike on Thursday.

Time to Refresh

As you can see I haven't published anything for about 10 days.  My main issue was trying to keep it interesting without it being a "look at me, I love gear and can afford a sweet bike" self-absorbed fest.

After speaking to a few friends, they said, "Post your training schedule" and talk about a how a regular guy can try to complete an Ironman.

So here it goes...

Why an Ironman?  Why me?  How do I have time to train for it?

I wanted to try an Ironman just because.  I want to see if I can do it.  After volunteering at Ironman Louisville (sometimes called IMKY), I saw so many people like me doing it.  I'm not implying that they didn't work their asses off to finish IMKY but they weren't the pros you see on NBC when they show the Ironman from Hawaii.  They had full-time jobs, they had kids, they had bellies in some cases and so on.  If they could do it, why not me?

So how do I fit in it?  I'm incredibly lucky to have a job that allows for a tremendous amount of flexibility and a wife that understands that I would rather be on my bike than almost anywhere else.

The plan for this week.  Remember that I'm using a time-based training program for running as to get a good endurance base built.

Monday:  run 20 minutes.  Meant to be a stretch out your legs exercise, not a hard run.
Tuesday:  run 1 hour 10 minutes.  This is my long run for the week.
Wednesday: off.
Thursday:  run 25 minutes, bike 25 miles.
Friday:  bike 12 miles.
Saturday:  run 25 minutes with intervals.
Sunday:  bike 25 miles.

I'll update every couple days with thoughts from the workouts and other items.

Back to the drawing board

Well, after unboxing the Garmin Forerunner and playing with it for a bit, I starting thumbing through the manual.  Battery life, 10-11 hours.  Well this future Ironman has no chance to finish in 11 hours so my lovely wrist based GPS watch will die during the marathon.  Back to Amazon with you!

Going to continue shopping for a bike computer that will handle cadence and fit my odd shaped handle bars.  Not sure if I'll use anything on the run.

Training today:  short easy run and plans for a 25 mile ride later.

Workout Results and Charts

Would this be of interest on the blog?  As I said, I've been using an iPhone app called MiCoach to build a better running base.

Here is my run from yesterday. What do you think?  Let me know in the comments.

Accessories, Accessories, Accessories!

So now that I've entered the race and have a tri bike, my attention has turned to nutrition and accessories.

Bike Computer? Wrist GPS? Aero bottles? Rear aero bottle cage?  The list is pretty extensive so I won't list them all.

For a computer, I decided to go with a Garmin Forerunner 305 to wear on my wrist.  The price is reasonable, about $150; I'll be able to wear it in the water and it provides cycling and running data.  The cadence sensor is also nice as I'll be shooting for 90 rpm during the bike portion.  Other accessories will come later.

As far as training goes for the weekend, I rode 12 easy miles on Friday night, did 25 minutes of interval running training on Saturday and a pretty hilly and fast 25 bike miles on Sunday morning. 

Next entry in a few days.

October 1, 2010

This is the first post on my new blog.  I'm not terribly witty but I hope you'll find the story of a regular guy trying to complete an Ironman length triathlon interesting.

So how did I get here?  Early in 2009, I was diagnosed with extremely high blood pressure.  As in, holy crap, you might keel over any second high.  Even though I was playing ice hockey on a regular basis, I was still a big guy.  Most people wouldn't have called me fat per se, but at 6'4, 279 pounds, I was definitely a big guy.  I had done some running off and on but had never really stuck with it.  A month or so later, after being placed on some HBP meds, I bought a proper road bike and began riding with the Louisville Bicycle Club.  Thank goodness for patient ride captains who stayed with me and encouraged me.  Simply put, I fell in love with cycling.

Shortly thereafter, I re-connected with an old high school friend, who also happens to be a serious triathlon race director.  We got talking and I decided that I wanted to try a triathlon.  It took me a while but I did a few sprint length races, including the Motor City Tri in Detroit.  I found tris hard but so much fun.

Fast forward to August 29, 2010.  I volunteered at Ironman Louisville as a finish line catcher.  I saw so many "regular" people finish this race that I started thinking about a crazy idea, "could I do an Ironman?"  2 days later, when registration opened, I entered.

Now I had to decide HOW I was going to get this thing completed.  Did I need a proper tri bike?  What about nutrition? What about a training program?  What was I going to wear?  Dozen of questions were going through my head.  I started surfing tons of websites, reading books, and leaning on a couple local Ironmen that I knew through the LBC.

So step 1, was to surf over to Beginner Triathlete and check out one of the many training programs they had available.  I settled on an endurance based 20 week program that required about 12-15 hours per week.  Of course, I wasn't going to sit on my couch until April.  I was going to keep riding with the LBC and also found a neat GPS-based running application for my iPhone called MiCoach.

I told MiCoach that I'd be doing a half-marathon on January 1, just so it would get me running on a regular basis to start building some running skills.  So adding that to my regular cycling, I thought I'd be building a nice base.  This of course leaves swimming.  Very soon, I'll be investigating some swimming plans to start building that too.  I'm a decent swimmer but want to get beyond decent for the Ironman.

Other decisions I made...

I found a killer deal on a 2010 Kestrel Talon tri bike so that's what I'll be using for training and the race (link).
I'm going to take my time at the transitions, changing into sport specific clothing at each stop.
Hammer Nutrition will be my training and race nutrition.

I don't have a clever way to end this post but I plan on adding updates every few days with training and other updates.