Power, Endurance and Beer: Traits of a Clydesdale

Everyday has failed

2010-01-11T14:06:00.003-06:00

So I have already failed at updating everyday but such is life. I have already dropped 5 lbs and weighed in at 232.8 this morning. Missed a few runs this weekend becuase of the cold weather. Will make up for the eventually. Running tonight should be decent temps.

First Run cut short

2010-01-06T11:32:00.002-06:00

So my legs were in enough pain that I had to cut my 7 miler short. I only made it just over 4.25. I have a tempo run today and wanted my legs to be able to handle as much of that as possible. I will make up the milage distance on friday with a loosen up run. I am getting worried about how I am supposed to run 14 on saturday. Not sure how well that will work but I will give it a shot.

I am looking for a new computer, any reccomendations?

Pain!

2010-01-05T13:08:00.002-06:00

So first run back after being sick and out for a few months. Weight is much higher than it was but I guess my brains didnt get that message and slow down. My pace was much faster than it should have been and caused some serious leg pain. I fought with myself to push through it which wasnt easy but I made it. I need to dress a bit warmer for these runs but that will be easy. The Stick has been my savior. I have been using it every 45 min or so to help my quads and hammies recover for tonight. Hopefully I am able to slow it down a little and be in a little less pain after.

On another note. I have decided to try My Fit Foods (www.myfitfoods.com) and am loving the food and portion control. This could be a real big help in the end if this ends up working out for me. They will also give free meetings with a nutrionist which I will probably take up just to maximize my training a bit more.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

First day!

2010-01-04T11:29:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! So I weighed in this morning and well lets just say it is not where it should be but being sick during the holidays certainly did not help. My stats this morning:
Weight - 237.8 lbs
Body Fat - 25.3%
Water - 54.2%

Needless to say these will all be changing and hopefully drastically in the coming weeks as I kick of training today with a 7 mile run. 2010 is going to be a hard year but nothing worthwhile was ever easy so it is time to sack up and just do it.

Here goes nothing.....

Getting ready to head north

2009-12-17T18:59:00.003-06:00

So work was crazy today and I didn't make it to the gym. I am pissed about that but now I am packing up and getting ready for a nice vacation up in ma and me for the next few weeks. I will be going to the gym up there or running I have no choice. Hope everyone had a good day.

I'm Back!!! Or at least I will be soon...

2009-12-16T12:04:00.000-06:00

Well it has been over 19 months since I last posted to this blog and well alot has changed. I have moved around a bunch for work after graduating from Notre Dame and I am now living and working in Houston, TX. I have hit a snag in my training and decided it was time to change things up again and I need to start blogging again. I know that there may not be anyone out there that reads this but I am fine with that. I just need to start putting my training into words. I will offically be forcing myself to do this at least every other day starting on the new year, but I am going to work on getting into the habbit now.

I havent really been able to workout much since the Chicago Marahton this year which I am happy to report was the best race I have ever had. Everything clicked, it was amazing. The month of October was crazy for me, between traveling to two Notre Dame football games, the Chicago Marathon and partying like I was still in college again I ended up getting pretty sick. First I cam down with H1N1 which had me sidelined for a week. This was followed by a nice hearty cough which developed into pnemonia. After I beat that down and still had the cough turns out I managed to get bronchitis as well. Talk about one hell of a trifecta. I have finally started to beat the cough that developed from all this and have been getting back to the gym at least 4 times a week. Granted I freak people out with the coughing that can occur while I am working out.

With all of this behind me for the New Year I am ready to really kick off what I am hoping to be one of the best and most challenging race years of my life. I am currently looking at about 7 marathons and a handful of half marathons as I find some more. My tenative schedule is shown below, if you have any reccomendations let me know.

3/14 - Rock and Roll Dallas Half
3/20 and 3/21 - Seabrook Trail Half Marathons
4/11 - Big D Marathon Dallas
5/1 - Beaumont Marathon
6/26 - Rock and Roll Seattle Full
10/10 - Chicago Marathon
10/31 - Marine Corps Marathon
11/14 - Rock and Roll San Antonio
12/5 - Rock and Roll Las Vegas

With this race schedule it looks like I will probably run in the ballpark of 2500 miles. I am planning on taking up yoga 2 days a week to help with my flexibility. Somehow I also plan on building in strength training, cycling and swimming too. It will all work out.... I hope.

With all of this I am going to be having fun with trying to have some sembalance of a social/dating life. This will be an interesting, difficult but worthwhile challenge. I dont know how much if anything I will write about it in here but who knows it could provide for some interesting comments.

Anyways, if anyone actually still checks this thank you. I hope that some people may start reading it again to give me some accountability, if not it will still be a great way to track my training. I do plan on trying to link this to my trainingpeaks.com account and potentially even my facebook account but we shall see.

Have a great day!

Where have these past four years gone...

2008-05-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

So I just finished my last undergraduate final, what the hell!?!?! I never thought this day would come. I have been dreaming about going to Notre Dame since I was like 8 and never thought the time would actually come to go to school here. Especially after getting denied the first attempt to come here, but I tried again and got in and now I am going to be receiving my diploma from the greatest university on the planet and I still cannot believe it. Like all great things in my life I am going to commemorate this with a new tattoo, I wish i had a scanner so i could share the potentials that I have been designing. But for now let the week of partying before graduation begin.

Cheers!

Update

2008-04-16T07:53:00.000-05:00

So I should have posted this a week or so ago but hey I have a new PR in a half-marathon. I ran in the Holy half Marathon here on campus two Sundays ago and PRed by about 12 minutes with a time of 1:48:19. So that was very exciting and has really spurred my training to a new level especially my run, I think I can go faster so we are working on that. Training is going really well and I am almost about to lose my Clydesdale status which I am not sure is a good or a bad thing, dont get me wrong I would love to be lighter but I am not going to be able to compete with the guys in my age group. Meh, just compete against myself then I guess.

Anyways, with 11 days left of classes in my undergraduate career I am going nuts and trying to finish all the work I have. Which is the reason I am on here avoiding it.

Some questions I need help with

2008-03-27T08:17:00.000-05:00

So I am debating a few things right now and could use some advice. I am looking at running the Flying Pig Marathon on May 4th but that same weekend is the Kentucky Derby which I could be going to as well. The training to be ready for the marathon is not going to add too much other than some distance to the Sunday runs. The second question is Clydesdale or not... I am down to just over 205 right now and by race day could easily see my weight down in the mid to high 180's but I could easily add the weight needed to stay at Clydesdale level by adding some weight lifting and adding the muscle. So I am looking for some advice on both of these subjects. Any help would be great.

Why hello everybody

2008-03-20T08:33:00.000-05:00

How have you all been? I have been very busy with all sorts of different crazy stuff this past monthish. I cannot believe I let it go over a month without posting, oops! So here are a couple updates on everything that my last posts have brought up but did not conclude. First, it is a bummer but I did not make Team EvoTri, not even the first round, oh well. My second update is on the back injury, the bulging disk is no longer as bulging. For the most part I am back to 100% with only minimal stiffness when on the bike for extended periods of time but that will get better the stronger I get my back and core which is a major part of my current mission. I am in full training mode right now for the Patriot Half in July, I bought a training plan on Trainingpeaks.com and have been sticking to it almost 100%, I have had to move a couple workouts around for scheduling purposes with tests and pool closings.

I am feeling strong and feeling ready to really rock out this season. The rest of my season is still in flux because I still don't know where I am going to be located starting July 14th when I start work. Oh well, such is life. I am thinking about doing the Chicago Marathon because no matter where I am a flight should not cost too much to get there.

We are supposed to be getting some big snow and rain storms here this weekend which is going to really mess up my brick tomorrow, long bike Saturday, and long run Sunday, but again such is life. Even if it is life spent on the trainer. Hope you all are well i am going to try to update more often, ideally daily but that has yet to happen so goal for now is like 3 times a week. We shall see how that pans out...

So about kicking it into high gear...

2008-02-13T11:09:00.001-06:00

Doctor's orders, no workout till PT guy gives me the a okay. GOD DAMN!! Probably going to listen for today, try lowering bike seat to see if that helps. First meeting is tomorrow so I will have a better feel if I am going to stay in the running for EvoTri.

Time for a Change and hopefully an Evolution...

2008-02-12T14:45:00.000-06:00

So with this weather royally pissing me off and messing with any sort of real variety to my training and thus not sure what types of improvement I am making. I know that I am more than likely improving but I would love to see it on the real thing, not just on my spinner. I am also having huge issues getting up in the morning to hit the pool or run or anything becuase I am still working out the details of a training plan.

So...

Here it is, I am kicking it back into gear. I am going to try out a plan from training peaks using the two week sample that it has and hopefully by March 1st I will have a coach and be a member of team EVOTRI. I have made and submitted my video which will be at the end of this entry for anyone to take a look at and let me know their thoughts. This weekend is the deadline and the first round will begin. It is by popular vote so I hope that I am able to reach enough people to make it. I am going to get to bed earlier so that I am ready to go in the morning for what ever workout I have planned.

And with that here is my video and let the change begin...

Stress Fracture?

2008-02-06T15:22:00.000-06:00

So I decided to finally get to the doc today to get an update on what may be wrong with my back. We were able to rule out anything that would need surgery, slipped disk etc. It leaves two options a stress fracture in my back from god knows what, or my leg muscles are too tight causing the muscles in my back to strain which makes it very hard for me to stretch, kind of a catch 22 huh?

So I am on a light next couple of days with massive amounts of stretching to pray my back feels better. We shall see. That and hopefully I will rock out and finish up my EvoTri video.

Until then...

Training Program Woes

2008-01-21T07:57:00.000-06:00

I am trying to figure out my newest training program and not sure what I really want to use. The one last year worked well, I was able to finish and that was fantastic but I am not sure if I want to use it again this year or pay for a bit more intensive program to really improve my times. I have the time to work pretty much unlimited during almost any day due to only taking 12 credits, and not caring too much about classes, not that I am not gonna pass them just I do not need to work uber hard in them. That and I have about 2 months completely free before my race... I really am thinking about shelling out some cash and really drilling this one out of the park. See how much time I can shed off my time from last year. I will keep you posted.

Have Mercy

2008-01-19T19:55:00.000-06:00

So yeah 4 hours on an indoor trainer is hell as is let me tell you this little story...

So the cycling team decided to have a nice trainer party today becuase we are also having a rave tonight in which we will all be getting slightly, no, completely bombed. We were planning on the four hour tid bit but I did not know about the dvd that would be featured as the center portion of this adventure. We began just spinning and watching Ren and Stimpy for a little over an hour and a half and then it was decided to put in the dvd "Have Mercy" a spinervals specialty. it is ranked a 10 out of 10 on the intensity scale. Add that to the fact that I have only spun for about 2 hours max lately and the fact that this ridiculousness is about 2 hours long... I knew it was gonna be fun. So included you get to see the HR, cadence and speed (which is completely inaccurate becuase its not calibrated).

But anywho a few hours later I am continuing this entry and am fairly intoxicated. The ride was good and i am not sure how I will feel about it tomorrow but we shall find out and that is a post for another time. Adios muchachos.

So yeah

2008-01-18T08:36:00.001-06:00

I am sorry to anyone who actually tries to read this on a daily basis, not sure if anyone actually does, but first week of class nuttiness has caused me to get a little lax in the blogging area. My workouts have been kicking ass. Been running in the morning and spinning in the evenings. Not running this morning becuase those muscles need a break and the fact that I was out at Club Feve until 3 last night does not help in the whole get up and go run attitude. But is was a good time, had a couple drinks, danced a little (well if you can call what I was doing dancing), played some shuffle board, and caught up with a crowd i rarely see anymore, my friends who go out and party and drink. So all in all a good time. planning on getting a solid spin in this afternoon and relaxing tonight. WE have a cycling team party on saturday which I will be attending and drinking a fair amount so trying to plan a long cycling team spin for earlier that day. prepping my video to try to join team EvoTri I will post it here when I finish it up . Adios everyone

Qiuck Post

2008-01-11T17:14:00.000-06:00

I am in the middle of packing my car for my last trip out to South Bend to my final semester at Notre Dame. This is so surreal I don't even know what to say. I did not have a chance to workout today but have been busy so its an active day off. Prob wont get a workout in tomorrow but possible if we make good time getting out there. Anyways back to packing I go...

So yeah about this posting everyday

2008-01-10T09:38:00.000-06:00

So as you can tell posting everyday has begun. I assume that once I get myself back to school I will have a much more set schedule and will be able to hit this blog up everyday even better than now. As for how training is going so far this week, it is going well. I am already seeing fat loss according to the scale, weight loss not yet but that has to do with me upping my water intake again so that I am staying more hydrated and am able to have better workouts. I am trying to decide what plan I am going to use for my training or my half ironman, right now it is kind of haphazard just get some volume in to begin as I build up my wealth of knowledge on plans again. Any suggestions are always welcomed.

New Year horrible off season

2008-01-09T08:01:00.000-06:00

So my off season fell apart and well I know I can make all sorts of different excuses but none of them are even going to begin to justify it to myself. I know i screwed up, I did not make the time or the effort to keep myself at the fitness level I was at. I am now officially registered for the Patriot Triathlon on July 5th of this year, it is a half-iron distance tri, out of Freetown, MA. I raced it last year and am looking to really improve my time. I know the spring holds a lot of interesting opportunities for me: I am now on the cycling team at school so that means I will have the opportunity to race about 8 weekends this spring if I want to. I also am looking for a marathon to run in the April to May time frame, there is a half marathon run on campus in the spring along with countless 5Ks which I am sure I will run a fair amount of. And lastly the biggest opportunity, I graduate this spring and move on to an actual career. I already have a job so i do not need to worry about that which is wicked nice, and I also know that I have about 2 months off before my half ironman in which I am going to have nothing else to do except train (very giddy about that). I am planning on being much better with this blog, updating on a daily basis even if it is just something as simple as today's workouts are gonna suck or something like that. For now I am off to the gym shortly to build my stamina back up which I do not think will take to long, the hardest part is going to be burning off the weight I added, about 10 lbs. So for now I will catch you later, maybe even running outside it is gorgeous out again today.

Hi everyone, its been a while

2007-12-05T16:07:00.000-06:00

So I haven't updated lately because well my life has been go, go, go for the past few weeks and even the little things like sleeping have taken the back seat to Lab Reports, Problem Sets, tests and review sessions for Finals. My training has been greatly reduced but I am getting it in when I can, it has been hard to really find the motivation without being signed up for any races yet. I know that Ironman opened up a new race in November in AZ but after my debacle with attempting to sign up for IMFL and dealing with the anger and crapola that caused, I decided Ironman would have to wait a year. This really does make more sense in the end. In a little over six months from now I will be starting a new job and working some crazy hours in an area that I don't even know yet.

So this brings me to my "plan" for next season. I have two races that I know I am doing for sure: The Holy Half Marathon here at Notre Dame, they haven't released a date yet and the Patriot Half Ironman in Freetown, MA on July 5th. I am looking for a Spring and Fall full Marathon and a possible fall Half-ironman. And maybe throwing in some Shorter 5Ks or 10Ks or half marathons. I will also be racing for the Notre Dame cycling team starting in February, thats going to be some cold races.

So in recap, training is slowly beginning again but far from full swing. I am also pretty much a TTW challenge dropout now because of how poor my training has been with sickness injury and time, but congrats to everyone who has kept it up. I also hope to be updating more.

Oh yeah, what I am doing with all the money I saved not being able to register for Ironman, season pass to Sunday River, ME for when I am home to get back on my snowboard and really shred it up. I have to get my legs back into great shape again quick, they are pretty solid right now but not ideal.

And its all down hill from here...

2007-11-18T21:19:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was my last Notre Dame football home game as a student. It is a very depressing thing or that to really be true. We have ad such an abysmal season and finally got a home win to go out on a.. well I want to say high not but we only beat Duke, so I will just say we went out on a mid-range note. I stayed in the stadium as long as I could after the game, there were definitely tears in my eyes I wont lie about that. I was standing there looking around the stadium and realized how fast the past three years at this amazing school have been, how much I have grown and how everything really revolves around football. I remember last year after the last home game the thought was okay whens the next season start, last night standing there I wanted to think that but the thought was more whens the next time I will be able to make it out here for a game. And I could not come up with an answer. I have a job lined up for after graduation but I don't know where I will be with it and I don't know what will be going on in my life in 6 months really. That is scaring the crap out of me. The fact that my there is nothing to look forward to really in my college career anymore that it is all down hill from here, is something I never thought I would have to deal with. It has seemed so far off. Even when I got the job or when my friends have been getting engaged or married, I was denying that the real world was coming soon. And know here I am sitting with the real world at the door step and for pretty much the first time in my life I am kind of afraid to start this next chapter. Which is really uncharacteristic of me, I always am willing to jump right into things and go full blast, doing a half-iron man and full marathon in my first endurance sport season as an example. But here I am doubting myself and it is a weird feeling. I have a feeling this whole confusion about the next step in my life also has something to do with my turmoil that is my race season next year, well at least thats not helping. I have been defining every plan that I have made for the past year with my training and without a race my training has gone out the window and so has my structured brain too.

Well I am scared right now, I know that I will make it out in the end, I always have and refuse to quit so I know I will make it no matter how battered and bruised I come out in the end. The issue is just getting control of my scattered brain right now. Thinking about my future career, future relationships (if any haven't had luck in that department in a while), future opportunities to grow; well just the future in general has made me start to go nutty. I think I need some of the therapy I used to get when in a situation like this, good old mountain therapy. Go push my limits screaming down a hill attached to my snowboard fo some reason has always helped clear my mind and settle everything back down. That will have to happen soon...

Active.com can burn in hell

2007-11-04T12:48:00.000-06:00

While attempting to register for IMFL today on the last page of registration where you hit submit so that they can charge your credit card, I hit submit and the page times out. I try to go back and hit submit again and it punts me out of the system and asks me to login again. I login again and try to register again from the beginning and guess what its god-damn full! ACTIVE.COM CAN GO BURN IN A FIREY HELL. I know there may be community fund slots but being a college senior graduating in May I barely have enough money to allow myself to register and train never mind and extra 500 sitting around to give to charity. There goes all of my goals for next race season, all of the planning I had done to get myself ready to compete at that distance, out the window say good bye. F%&K!

Off Season Shape up challenge update

2007-10-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

So the off season shape up has become kind of hindered for me over the past week and continuing into this week. Last week was midterms and because of the raised stress level and lack of time my workouts were spotty at best and my choice of food was well not all that good. Follow that week with my 21st birthday last Friday and a night that I do not remember and you have some idea of what that means for attempting to work out the next day with a home game that day too. So that lead to tailgating and more drinking and poor eating decisions. Sunday was rough, finally getting my hang over from Friday and Saturday combined put me on the couch most of the day other than going to teach youth group. This week is my fall break and I am back home away from my gym, my bike and most of my workout equipment and I have a cold that is dangerously near entering my chest and not allowing me to go run. I hope this week to go on a few runs and take is some what easy to let my cold go away and my knee heal from messing it up a few weeks ago but the home cooked meals just are not always the most healthy decisions which is not a good thing. Anyways, the plan for this week is to plan out my training schedule for now until at least Christmas break, if possible now until Ironman Florida which signs are in a few weeks for. ANy race or training recommendations for next year would be appreciated as it is my first full ironman.

TTW Off Season Shape Up

2007-10-08T13:39:00.000-05:00

Okay Everyone here is the stats for me and this off season shape up challenge.
BMR - 2060.7 cal
Weight - 206.2 lbs
Body Fat % - 16.5%

And here are the before photos, I should post some from Jan 1st of this year when I was at 250 too but I cannot find them.

Next years race season...

2007-09-28T13:57:00.001-05:00

Any recomendations for races for next year?

Quad Cities Marathon Race Recap

2007-09-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

So I apologize to anyone who was looking for a race review for the past couple days but life has been crazy with having way too much work due in one week and some other things going not so well in lab.

But yes I have offically finished my first full marathon and cannot be any happier. It was an interesting weekend to say the least. Driving out there through all the corn fields solo was kind of nice to be able to get myself mentally prepared for the race because I was not really ready for what was to come with school and everything hitting pretty hard right now. The expo was nice and I ended up winning a $300 gift certificate for laser hair removal or skin rejuvination. Not sure what I am going to get with that, I was thinking about some sort of design on my body somewhere. Any ideas?

Race day: The blessing before the race was great, the priest said the Irish blessing may the road rise up to meet you... and so on. It was the perfect thing to say before a race like that. I was keeping a great pace, I was looking at somewhere between 4:10 and 4:20 and then it got hot. It reached 90 degrees air temp and 110 pavement, so I found out after I crossed the finish line. I knew it was going to be a hot day so at every water station I was taking 2 cups tyoically 1 H2O and one gatorade. I made sure that I was taking my Endurolites every 40-50 minutes, but thinking back I may have missed one which could be a potential reason for what was to come. I was taking my gels every 30-40 minutes, Amino Vital is quite tasty. I was running really well and everything felt great and then it got hot. Out on Arsenal Island is where things started to unravel. I was at about mile 19 when I got cramps in my hamstring and calf of my left leg which I stopped and quickly streched out and kept moving. Then at mile 19.5 I got cramps in both of my hamstrings and calfs and almost fell over because of it. I stereched it out and started running again, mile marker 20 is only .2 miles from the finish and there was a woman standing there with a sign that said 20 miles of body 6.2 miles of heart and as I read that I realized it is really what it came down to. All I had to do was just keep my body moving forward and I would be back at that point crossing the finish line today. So I started the out and back that would get me to that finish line and was plagued with cramps up and down both my legs casuing me to stumble off the side of the road multiple times. I made the decision to not even try to run from mile marker 25 to mile marker 26 so that I would be able to run across the finish line. I started my run as soon as I hit the marker and it probably was not even that much of a run but it was getting me there faster I knew that much. I was about 100 ft from the finish line when my body decided it did not want to run anymore and everything cramped up, legs arms chest back talk about a party. I told myself I did not care how much it hurt I was going to cross the finish line in a sembalance of running. As soon as I crossed the finish line I fell over and a medic caught me and pulled me into a chair and started to question me about how much I had been drinking and what hurt. I looked down at my left calf to see it shifted and cramped on the inside of my leg, not where it was supposed to be and all I could manage to tell him becuase of pain and the emotion of crossing the line was a MEH and a point at it. His response, Oh Damn! and he helped me strech it out.

As soon as I could walk again I walked over and got my finishers medal and then stumbled over to find a place that was quite enough I could call my family and tell them I am alive and I finished. They had been amazing and sending my inpirational text messages all day long, which was quite helpful considering I did not have anyone there for me. After hanging out for a bit I walked over to my car to make the nice long and boring drive back to Notre Dame. As soon as I got on the highway other than getting on and off of it to get gas I did not touch the gas or the brake I was using cruise control the entire time and just using the coast button to slow down and the accelrate to pass. It was fantastic. I did not even know my offical time until over a day later and did not care all that mattered was crossing the finish line. My first big step towards preparation for Ironman FL in 2008.

Offical Time: 4:46:22

Quad Cities Marathon

2007-09-23T05:19:00.000-05:00

I am running in the quad cities marathon today, it is my first marathon and I cannot be more excited. I will let everyone know how it goes either tonight or tomorrow.

I love long runs

2007-09-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

So I had a very sucessful run this morning, I was able to knock off 18 miles without an issue. I felt fantastic afterward other than some minor leg fatigue because I decided to run the last 4 miles about a minute faster than the first 14, go smart decisions. One more long run left and then it is taper time which is a very scary reality that is going to be very interesting. I booked my hotel room so this is becoming a reality, exciting! Okay time to run and get on with other things. Good luck to the Ironman Wisconsin people.

Blog comeback

2007-08-29T19:53:00.000-05:00

So it has been a while since I have updated because of the hectic life that has begun yet again. I am still keeping up the marathon training even though I had a rough weekend with a botched long run. I just wasnt feeling it so I had to cut it short. This weekend is 18 mi I should be able to do it I am really not all that worried about it. Okay time to get some homework done.

Later. Hope everyones tapers are going well and good luck with your upcoming races.

Also congrats to all the new ironmen from this past weekend.

Holy Crap

2007-07-29T11:24:00.000-05:00

So I am sitting at work today, yes I am working on a Sunday, its not too bad double time but anyways. I am thinking about my interview tomorrow which could be the first interview that starts my career with GE and that is kinda freaking me out. I do not feel old enough to be starting a career. And I am slightly nervous which is a completly new feeling going into an interview. I do not know what I am going to do.

Anyways marathon training is going well had a nice 10 mi run this morning and it felt pretty solid after working out some kinks in the first half mile (wierd quad twinge, shoe tightness.) I bought another pair of the same shoes to start rotating shoes in and be ready to swithc my shoes and socks at the 13.1 mi marker of the race to feel fresh even if I am not all that fresh.

Where did the summer go?

2007-07-24T06:36:00.000-05:00

Warning this entry is really scattered kinda how my head is right now.

So I am sitting here pretending to work thinking about this summer and am shocked as to how fast it has gone. It really feels like I started working here only a couple days ago and now I only have 14 days left including today, well really like 13 because my last day is aparently a softball tournement. I really cannot believe what I have accomplished this summer, an International Tri, a Half-Ironman and marathon training, who the hell could have ever predicted this. Certainly not me. I am approaching the infamous 200 lbs mark right now something I have not been below probably since early high school sometime.

I cannot wait to get home in just under 3 weeks now, getting to see everyone I have not seen for an exteneded period of time in a long time will be really nice. Hopefully get the old beach crew together to just catch up and have a few drinks, something we have been doing together for a very long time which is just hillarious.

I am sad that the Harry Potter series is now over I finished the last book on Sunday and now do not know what to do with myself. once all of the movies are done I will truly be at a loss.

Since noone really reads this I can say this without anyone really finding out, I met a really cool young lady the other day it just sucks that I am leaving so soon and met her this late so nothing can really happen at least not yet. Oh well thats just my luck right?

I have to start packing up my apartment and figure out what I am going to do with all of my crap and how I am going to fit it all in the car considering it was a tight fit coming here and then I had to buy stuff to live in an apartment. Such is life I guess.

Okay that is all for now maybe more will come later who knows depends on how busy we get today in teh Jet Engine Factory.

ya so i havent been around

2007-07-14T19:45:00.000-05:00

Ya so alot had been going on since my racew which was fantastic I wanted to post a race report but the time for that has really come and gone. I finished my first half-ironman ever in 6:33:36 and that set of numbers is something that will stick with me forever. I rode in the MS 150 last weekend which was a blast and something that anyone can really do. I have decided that the next step along my road to becoming iron is to run a marathon. And what better time to train for one than when I am in great physical condition with a solid base already. The marathon I will most likely be racing in is the Quad Cities Marathon on September 23rd. 10 weeks from tomorrow. People keep asking me if I will be ready and I just look at them smile and say the plan will get me there I have to trust it. It really isnt about the race anyways, it is about the training. Putting in the long hours and early weekend morning when I have friends who are finishing their last beer as I hit the pavement to go run. Its about loving what I am doing not just for the physical changes but for the mental changes. I have written alot that I have changed and tonight I realized that alot people outside of this world of endurance sport just dont get what it takes and what it means to each one of us individually. Cest le vie.

So here are my next steps goals and stretches:
Finish the marathon, stretch - 4 hours
192lbs, stretch - 185lbs

Have a good one everyone, I am trying to update more but my computer is broken so I am updating from my friends right now.

Today is the day

2007-07-01T03:26:00.000-05:00

Today is the day, now is the time. Give it all you have got and show them all what you can do!

646

2007-06-30T17:06:00.000-05:00

My race number for tomorrow. Drove both the run and the bike course, fairly shaded which was nice. The bike is pretty flat but had some decent long hills. The run is up and down not too bad but it has its own crazyness, miles 11 and 13 have two big hills right after the marker, what a way to close it out eh? Well getting up super early to make it over to the race and get ready. I will try to update tomorrow let people know that I am alive but if not call me I might answer.

Wrapping my head around it all

2007-06-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

So I have not updated since last week but there is a very valid reason, I have no idea what to say because this race is so close and 6 months of my life have been dedicated to making this all possible. This past weekend was a race simulation weekend pretty much. Saturday started with a nice 4 hour bike ride covering just over 71 miles, and then a 50 minute 2000 meter swim. The rest of the day I had planned to just relax and try to plan out what I was going to do to get my bike back home for the race but that didn’t happen. I ended up going to the water park the Beach just north of the city and had a great time, it helped me keep my mind clear and not really focus on the race. Sunday kicked off right with a great 2 hour 12.5 mile run. I felt great afterward and everything just went to happiness especially because of the whole runner’s high I was kicking with from miles 7-11.

This week I have been beginning a taper and that has been extremely hard because all I have wanted to do is run or bike as hard as I could and let loose. But I have restrained myself and held back. But yesterday and today have been a much higher intensity because starting tomorrow I will not have my bike until the day before my race. I am nervous about not having my bike for that long but I figure running and spinning on the bikes in the gym.

With 10 days left till race day I do not know what to think really, my head is spinning and I am trying to wrap my head around that everything is coming down to this one day, this one race to kick start the rest of my life. This training has really changed my life and I cannot be happier. Crossing that finish line will not be the end of something in my life but the breaking open of something brand new that I never knew I could be possible but something that I know cannot see how I lived without it.

This is a quote that I have heard from the movie “Any Given Sunday” a few times but it had been a while and then I heard it again in a GYGO podcast and it really kicked me into high gear. Here it is:
“I don’t know what to say, really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives. All comes down to today, and either, we heal as a team, or we're gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play. Until we're finished. We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And, we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell... one inch at a time. Now I can't do it for ya, I'm too old. I look around, I see these young faces and I think, I mean, I've made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I've pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who's ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know, when you get old, in life, things get taken from you. I mean, that's... that's... that's a part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losin' stuff. You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game - life or football - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying! I'll tell you this, in any fight it's the guy whose willing to die whose gonna win that inch. And I know, if I'm gonna have any life anymore it's because I'm still willing to fight and die for that inch, because that's what living is, the six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You've got to look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes. Now I think ya going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. Your gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team, because he knows when it comes down to it your gonna do the same for him. That's a team, gentlemen, and either, we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys, that's all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?”

Race Report plus a few days

2007-06-13T19:59:00.000-05:00

So I have been slacking on getting more entries up and on here. The race went really well even though the timing seems to be extremely messed up, according to the official race results everyone had close to 12 minute T1's I find that highly unlikely considering I know mine was just over 2 minutes because I fell on wet grass.

The Swim:
First time ever swimming in open water was right before the race began as a quick warm up. First time swimming with a swim cap was then as well. Both new sensations were not as crazy as I thought but I would have killed to have a wet suit. This was a training race so i knew all I wanted to do was get out of the water and move on to the next part of the race. I was number 75 and they did a time trial start so I started 75th out of however many people competed about 200 I would say. As I am in my second lap around this 0.75km course I look back to see where I am in respect to everyone and realize holy crap I am only third to last. Ooops I think I went a little too easy and I wish I had a wet suit. Other than getting kicked in the head and inhaling this nasty lake water which as you can see from the pictures following died my nice new tri top from white to brown. The swim went really well i did not have to stop and my sighting was solid never very far off. As I am coming out of the water there are bleachers placed in the water to climb out on because there was no beach to this lake. And go me I miss a step and slam my right quad right into the bleacher, I felt that for the remainder of the day.

T1
How depressing is it that when you are finally getting into T1 the first bikers are returning for their T2, granted they were the sprint racers not the international but come on thats just like damn. Everything went smoothly changing quickly into my bike gear, I should have dried my feet off though because the wet sock sensation meant cold feet for the first couple miles. I get suited up and go to run to the mount line turn out of my row of bike stands and boom down I go flat on my face up faster than I knew what happened though. The only advantage to being in the very back of the pack transition was pretty empty and easy to navigate.

Bike
HOLY SHIT! I rode the course the day before and knew it was nice and hilly but god I did not think that it would be soo bad. During my training ride I hit about 50 mph going down one of the hills, that was probably the most fun I had. During the race I could not get my computer to work so that was just pissing me off. Something is wrong with my magnet in front or something. But I was again training so I walked up one of the huge hills at the half way point just to not blow up and die. It took me a little bit longer than I wanted to because I couldn't pace that well without a computer. But I hydrated well and used some succeed caps to replace my Na and K. I avoided cramps and felt pretty good other than my quad.

T2
Wow that was quick. Before I knew it I was out and running, almost with my helmet on but I remembered to take it off before I left. the only issue that I had was because of how far back i was bikes were everywhere so I had some trouble getting my bike into place.

Run
It was soo nice to have some friends there to cheer me on when I was heading out of the run. I was able to convince JinJoo and Lindsay to come out and spend the morning watching a triathlon and cheer me on so I didn't die. I took water at all 4 of the water stations to make sure I was solid and took Gatorade at one and another succeed cap. The turn around point did not seem like it wanted to come but when it finally did I was soo happy. There were some other runners on the course still and they were very encouraging telling me I was almost there and to keep going. It was really nice. Some of the athletes who had already finished were actually back out on the course and were cheering people on it was a really nice thing. I finished the run strong and feeling pretty good.

Over all I am feeling great today. The only issue that I had this week was Monday and coughing up phlegm and stuff because of inhaling that water. So my morning swim was cut short but the afternoon run felt good and at a quick pace. My swim this morning was super strong I was averaging under a minute for every 50m for a full 1500m.

So there is my race report the fans were not that may but the other athletes were very cool and encouraging. The fat rabbit racing group who put on the race was a little disorganized but the race shirts were technical brooks shirts and really nice. If you have any questions let me know and I can try to answer them for you about the race.

Quick Race Report

2007-06-10T18:07:00.000-05:00

SO it went pretty well, almost last out of the water, bike course was very hilly and the run wasn't too bad. All and all I would call it a success more detail and pictures to come tomorrow.

Nerves

2007-06-09T20:57:00.000-05:00

So I am packing up my bag and getting ready for tomorrow and I am shaking with anticipation and nerves trying to wrap my head around what I am about to do in under 12 hours from now. From not being able to swim 50 meters in January to tackling a 1.5 km open water swim tomorrow morning. I will probably post at some point tomorrow afternoon with a minor race report and than a full one on Monday. Thanks to everyone who has stood by me, maybe they haven't completely believed me when I told them what I was doing but they were there. And to the people who have been there and completely believed and new that I could get this far, thanks so much more you do not know what it means to me. Time to clear my head, get some sleep, and wake up ready to fly.

First race weekend

2007-06-09T06:09:00.000-05:00

So I am up getting ready to go scout out the race area and pick up my packet. I am a little bit nervous about tomorrow but not too worried i think the nerves will calm down soon. I have developed a little bit more of a race plan but will have a final one as of this afternoon when i get back from scouting. Good luck toe everyone racing or just intense bricking this weekend.

Race Info

2007-06-07T21:02:00.000-05:00

Cincinnati International Triathlon & Sports Festival

Race Strategy as of right now: FINISH!

Oly Tri

2007-06-06T13:08:00.000-05:00

So how about deciding to registar for an Oly distance this coming Sunday. I did spur of the moment decided I need the open water practice and the tranistion practice to be as efficent as possible. this is going to be an interesting experience to say the least.

This past Saturday I went to a party and felt completly out of place. I guess my mind set about partys and everything has drastically changed since I began this training, I mean ya they can be fun but everyone seemed to be there just to get hammered and that was all. There was not any music and I dont know it was just wierd but a good friend went outside and talked with me for a bit which was nice even though she decided to call me a socially inept person. I think if there was music and more life the party would have been more fun but I did have my last beer before raceday and of course I shotgunned it; demolishing everyone as usual. I left at like midnight becuase I just was not having that much fun.

Anywho I need to keep working and plan my training around this new race, i plan to train through it so not race intensity but close to it. Wish me luck or even better come cheer me on I will post race details later.

One month to go...

2007-06-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

So ya here it comes, 5 months of training down and 1 month to go before the race, all I have to say is this is getting crazy. I bought the shoes I am going to be running the race for because I ran all the way through my old ones and that killed my knees and feet so I am glad to be in some new shoes. They are the Brooks Adrenaline if you were curious. My training is going really well right now and I am having this strange nervous/excited feeling throughout the entire week, even when just sitting at the desk or playing with chemicals in the lab. All I can think about is this race and now I am looking at planning the rest of my season I have no idea what I will be able to do because registration is closing all around for every race that I look at.

Today my brick went really well I was able to keep above an 18 pace the entire time (95 minutes) and then the run was 4.75 mi in 45 minutes so not as fast as I wanted to be but breaking in new shoes did slow me down I think. It was really fun today to get comments like you are crazy and how can you be smiling going along like this, all I could say is that I love what I am doing and can no longer see myself doing anything else.

I am currently listening to and catching up on the GYGO podcasts so I am going to get back to that but as for now train safe and race hard.

RIP Blazeman, you will never be forgotten

2007-05-30T20:58:00.001-05:00

From Ironmanlive: Ironman Loses Its Warrior Poet

Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in May, 2005, Jonathan Blais did the unthinkable when he finished the Ford Ironman World Championship later that year.

He finished in Kona despite an arm and hand that were barely working. His “log roll” finish has become an inspiration for hundreds of Blazeman Warriors, who do the same at many races to help raise awareness, and money, about the terrible disease.

Until his arms gave out last year, Blais would spend up to 18-hours a day answering e-mails from ALS patients around the world. Even without the use of much of his body over the last few months, his spirit has fueled the “War on ALS.”

Blais passed away at approximately 8:30 PM on Sunday, May 27, 2007. Our thoughts and prayers are with his parents Mary Ann and Bob Blais and the rest of his family through this difficult time.

“He was a great son, brother, uncle and friend,” says Mary Ann. “We shall miss him more than you know. He lost this battle in hopes others may win the war.”

We’ll have more details here on Ironman.com as they become available.

You Know Your a Triathelte When...

2007-05-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

I found this in a facebook group and thought it was hilarious because even as a rookie I can see myself fitting many of these statements

When asked, how old you are you answer 20-24.

When asked how long your training was today you answer: three to four hours.

Your traning is more limited by available time then how far you can run.

Your first thought when you wake up is how high your rest HR is.

You go for a run eventhough there's a thunderstorm and you enjoy being wet and dirty.

You think it's natural to do your 'business' behind a tree in the woods.

You take part in the corporate challenge to improve your base speed.

You go for a 5 km cooldown run after a 5 km race just so that you can call it a training session.

You consider work, regeneration time between training sessions.

That something hard between your legs is usually a pull buoy

You have a water bottle when you drive your car.

You've forgotten how to drink out of cups.

You spend your 2 weeks annual vacation at a training camp.

You know inside out how much Protein each energy bar has.

You seriously consider applying for citizenship in Tonga, Jemen or Tschad so that you can participate in the olympic games.

When people praising you for being able to run 15 miles you're feeling insulted.

In the summer your legs are smoother than your girlfriend's.

In the winter your legs are still smoother than your girlfriend’s

You need a picture for a job application and you only have race pictures.

You use running T-shirts to clean your bike.

That charming "cologne" you wear to work is chlorine

You take more showers in a locker room than at home

6:30 am is sleeping in

the dog runs and hides when you get the leash!

You think there are only two seasons during the year, racing and off.

You shave way too many body parts for a guy.

You can't change the oil in your car but you can completly rebuild your bike in 45 mins

You spend more £ on training and racing clothes then work clothes

You spend 7 days going to 8 stores in 4 towns before buying a pair of running shoes but you take 1 afternoon to go to 1 car dealership and walk out with a new car 4 hours later.

when you see some lady watering her flowers and ask her if you can borrow the hose for a minute so you can fill up your water bottles.

You clean your bike more often than your car

You've been stung be a wasp or bee in your mouth but carried on running or cycling because "your split times won’t go down by themselves"

Your car smells like a locker room.

You have everything needed in your car to be Swimming, Biking or Running with 5 minutes notice.

When asked to mow the lawn in 90 degree heat, you say that its too hot to do that (and you mean it) and then an hour later you go on a century ride because its so nice out.

You tell your co-workers that you are going to "do a long brick" on saturday and just expect that they know what you are talking about.

When a co-worker asks if you are racing this weekend, you say "yeah, but I'm just running a 10k, so that is not REALLY a race".

You consider you bike saddle your "couch"

You consider Clif Bars as one of the four food groups

you are sick to your stomach at 2:00 in the morning and check the back of the Pepto Bismol bottle for caloric content and grams of carbohydrates, fat and protein.

you have plenty of water bottles, safety pins, and t-shirts.

You like going swimming the day after a race with the permenant penned number still visible on your legs and arms because the feel like a medal.

you have trouble keeping lunch under 2000 calories.

you usually wake up at 4:00 in the morning but do not get to work until way after 9:00.

you have a £4000 bike strapped on top of your £2000 car.

you have no trouble pushing a day's caloric intake to over 8000 calories.

you're always wet! Either sweat water, pool water, sea water, shower water, bath water or its p*****g down outside!

Instead of Marie Clare, People and Cosmo, you have piles of Runner's World in your bathroom.

your car has at least one Power Bar wrapper and two sets of work out clothes!
your kids idea of playing is a bike and run race followed by power bars, water bottles and awards ceremony.

your laundry continually smells like someone locked the cat in overnight...

you leave your apartment or house in the morning with your swim bag on one arm, bike on one shoulder, a change of clothes in another bag, and your running stuff in another bag in case you can get away at lunch for a workout.

you wave at other cyclists, because all triathletes are friendly and if they are not, they are probably purist cyclists trying to get into triathlons and they do not know that triathletes are friendly.

You have not one, not two, but three permanent chain ring scars on your right calf.

You are walking along a street and you signal left.

you can't decide what tee shirt to where to your next race.

you have far more pairs of shoes in your closet than your non-tri wife does in hers

the one "suit" you own has orca written on the chest.

You wear your heart rate monitor during sex....

...and you keep within the right HR zone

you hear T2 and don't think of the film....

when "foreplay" is 15 minutes on a turbo trainer

your living room has the "swim pile" and the "bike pile" and the "run pile" and the "weight room pile" and you pick and choose kind of like a cafeteria on your way out the door.

your kitchen cupboards are organized into "protein", "carbs" and "etc"

you bring bottled water to a party so that you're properly hydrated for the next morning's long run, everyone else at the party also brought their own bottled water because you don't have a social life outside of triathlon. Oh yeah, and they all showed up by 7pm and left by 10pm.

your company announces mandatory unpaid shutdown days - every other Friday thoughout the summer - in order to cut costs and stay in business, and your response is "Great - now I can do two long workouts on the weekends and still have an easy day."

......but you dont!

your 8 year old comes home with the school record for the mile and says, he took it out in a nice pace he could hold.....everyone else died.

you fill your kids' water bottles with Cytomax instead of blue gatorade.

you can ask your mom and your sister and all other girlfriends for shaving advice.

no wait, they ask you for advice!

you say that you went to a race last weekend...and somebody responds "running or biking" and you are again forced to explain....

your co-workers catch you with a 'King Sized' meal deal from Burger King, and you can smile and tell them that you will have no problem working this off on the way home.

you wear your bathing suit under your work clothes to make a fast transition from work to swim on your lunch hour.

you show up at the neighborhood pool on your bike in a speedo and embarrass your teenage daughters.

Your idea of fast food is a power bar and SIS Go

somebody hands you a cup of water and you have to restrain yourself from pouring it on your head.

You catch yourself about to blow a snot rocket while walking around the office.

you forget that talking about daily LSD [Long Slow Distance] and speed weirds some people out.

you have no FRIGGIN idea what to do with yourself on your off day.

You feel like you took the day off because all you did was swim 3000 meters then go for a short run.

At any given moment you know exactly where your heart rate monitor and your swim googles are, but cannot remember where you left you car keys. (turns out 90% of the time they are in your bike bag)

Ice baths!

When non-racer friends tell you they ran/rode you automatically calculate their pace to see if you're still in better shape.

Cars pass you on the road when you're driving and you either drop back to get out of draft zone or speed up to attack!

You have no trouble converting mph into kmph

You've stopped buying high-heels because your feet are too swollen from long runs to fit in them anyways.

While your less athletically-inclined girlfriends are gorging themselves on plates of lettuce, you're occupying yourself with a plate of pasta and chicken (white meat, of course.)

Having a period has become less of a nuisance since menstrual cramps don't feel that bad when you're hunched over a bike.

You've stopped wearing dangly earrings because they just get in the way when you're ripping off your clothes to squeeze "just one more" workout into your already cramped schedule.

Your girlfriends are insanely jealous of your tan legs. Until they realize that the tan stops at your bike shorts.

You've given up trying to go on training runs/rides with your boyfriends because they don't take it too well when you kick their butt.

Your best girl friend gets a new bike and tells you that it's a really pretty shade of blue. You get a new bike and can tell her the chain ring ratios.

When checking out guys on the street/at the mall your friends notice eyes, hair, build. You notice if they have shaved legs, if they have runners/bikers legs, and if they're wearing a race t-shirt.

The Difference a Day Makes

2007-05-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

All I have to say is wow. This past weekend was a shit training weekend or so it felt so last night before bed I resolved to just put it behind me sleep till I wake up naturally today and hit the ground running. That is exactly what I did. I went out for my run this morning because the pool is closed so swimming can't happen today and I felt great, everything was clicking, other than a little knee pain I felt probably the best I have in a long time running out there today even though I did sweat off 7 lbs! somehow I didn't become dehydrated like yesterday, I think I was more mentally prepared to attack my workout today and that helped a lot. Time to go grocery shopping. Later kids.

Rough Weekend

2007-05-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend is rough on me in two respects my training has not gone as planned and I really want to be at home on the Cape with the rest of my family and friends. It has become a tradition in the past couple years and missing it really sucks. The only good part about my training this weekend was my swim, I felt extremely good and efficient and my time showed it. Other than that my bike was at a really slow pace and I could not figure out why my body did just not want to get up to speed and go, it just plan refused to. My run today was not planned well and I tried to go 11 miles in the hot midday sun got dehydrated and had to turn back only doing about 6.5. Hopefully this will all get put behind me and this weeks training will be back to normal. That would be really nice considering five weeks from tonight we will know if I have what it takes to finish a half-ironman. The past 5 months of training have flown by and there are obvious changes in how I look and preform but I just cannot believe that it has been 5 months. It is all or nothing now, just have to find my rhythm and hit it in stride.

It is a possibility that I have found my marathon for this winter, the Disney Marathon in Florida. I was talking to Katie the other day and she is possibly interested in joining me for it which would be great to have someone training for the same event close by so that the long training runs do not have to be solo like they have been for this race. I also have tentatively signed up for the MS-150 charity ride the weekend after my race. Could be a mistake depending on how I feel but I think I should be able to live.

Okay for now I am going to go stretch and take something for me knee its kinda bugging me right now.

Still Sore

2007-05-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

My legs are finally sore from this weekends workouts. I tried to go out for a ride today because I didn't want to just sit around but it just was not meant to be. On the first climb I could already feel the aches left over from Saturday in my hamstrings and my computer for some reason was not working, I should have turned around and packed it in there. But I didnt. I headed down to Ault Park where apparently today they decided to reseal the pavement which meant getting splashed with tar from the road the entire time I was there. I just cruised back toward home after only a half hour and pray tomorrows ride will be better. I can't decide where I am going to go, Loveland, another park my boss mentioned, or leave right from the office. We shall see.

Night

Quikie

2007-05-20T21:06:00.000-05:00

So now that I get up at 5 every morning I am trying to get to bed earlier to get as much sleep as possible. That is why this update will be quick. Today was nice and relaxing, after waking up I took my time to stretch and try to plan out the run I was going to take. I also finally decided to get my GPS for my watch working to keep a more consistent pace and distance. Today's run was 90 minutes of hills up and down it was a blast I love feeling the burn in my quads and knowing that I am working for every step that I take. I thought I would have about a 10 minute pace but it turns out I was feeling good enough to push it down to a 9:30 pace which means 9.5 miles in 90 minutes and I am happy with that. Training is ramping up again this week as we inch closer and closer to race day. Anyone have any advice for this rookie I could use some?

BTW congratulations to all of my friends who graduated from Notre Dame, it is going to be weird without you there next year.

Wow

2007-05-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

So this week has been pretty crazy, moving in on Sunday starting work on Wednesday and needing to adjust my life to fit my training in. This will cover all of these topics in some fashion. I have already posted about the apartment, I still enjoy it, I have met some of the people that live around me by just being out on the porch and through orientation at work. Schools represented, Clarkson, Michigan, Michigan State, University of Dayton, and of course Notre Dame.

Starting work was very surreal, I still am having issues with wrapping my head around the fact that I am actually working for GE. On Wednesday we had our orientation all morning and then were dispersed to go meet with our mangers and get a feel or where we would be for the rest of the summer. The group of people in my orientation were wicked cool, and of course our orientation leader and my coop buddy, Nicole was great. After dealing with getting our badges so that we could get through security, going and having a drug test, and ensuring all of our paperwork was filled out we went out to lunch at Friday's. Nicole decided to make it a point to be the mom of everyone and tell us all to behave and we should not in anyway shape or form be the intern that breaks up relationships, then she continued to say that if we do have the need for summer loving make sure that you wrap it. I do love bluntness. So after lunch I went off to go meet my manager, it turns out I have 2 managers and then a person I report to daily, it is kind of confusing but I am going to try and figure out the ranking sometime next week hopefully. I am working in the Fuel and Oil Lab, which may sound kind of dull but it is wicked BA, I am being brought in on a bunch of different projects and really able to get my hands dirty. I have to remember a bunch of chemistry but that is not too bad because it leads to fun reactions like dissolving a silver ball bearing cage that costs a couple thousand dollars in Nitric Acid to try and figure out what is embedded in the silver coating that should not be there. I really do not know how much I am allowed to talk about with what I do, so I should figure that out too before I go and say much more. The guy I report to everyday is great, he wants to get me involved in as much as possible and make sure that I get introduced to the highest people I can be, he has been there for 20+ years so he knows almost everyone.

The plant has a fitness facility with a pool which is super because I had not really swam since I began finals week, but somehow my splits have actually dropped a little still need more endurance though. The gym is nice but it feels like a gym at an old peoples home, there are soo many white hairs trying to work out, which is great for them to still be active but it makes me feel really out of place. Luckily I have met some people that are going to workout there so I will have some people to lift and talk with while I am here. I am getting up at 5 everyday to drive over to workout in the AM before I have to be in at 730 but the nice thing about that is I get out at like 4 so there is plenty of daylight for long post work workouts.

Ironically, I guess you could call it I was sitting on my little balcony watching the sun come up this morning catching up on the blogs that I read before heading out for my workout today which I will describe in a bit, and I read this entry by IronWil. It got me thinking, in reality even though my race is only weeks away now I have really only begun my journey. When I was like 14 when I went to watch the Boston Marathon be run I said that I really want to run in that someday, people thought I was a little crazy, this pudgy little marshmallow of a kid, become an endurance athlete, sure. Back then i didn't do anything to prove them wrong I figured they were right and well I might as well not even try. About two years ago I watched the Kona Ironman on TV and said someday I am going to go race there, again people looked at me like I was crazy like there was no way I would ever be able to get there. Last summer I had knee surgery and said I am going to turn my life around and get to where I have always wanted to be, a true athlete someone people who used to know me will go wow you did that! In 11 and a half months since my surgery I have really come a long way, I have, but there is soo much more I want to do. I have changed who I am but I also realize that with this sport where most of the competitors are called crazy and weigh 60 lbs less than me, I am going to continue to change I am going to continue to be my own catalyst and I am going to do all of this not to rub it in the faces of the kids who called me fat, or the people who never believed I could do something like this (although that will be a plus), but I am going to do it for myself to show myself that I have what it takes to change from what I was, a marshmallow of a kid, to what I will become a powerful iron catalyst. Training has really changed my life in more ways than I would have ever thought possible, I am more confident in everything that I do from how I carry myself when I am walking to answering a question in work or class, I have this surety that I haven't had before. I am by far more healthy and less stressed, while everyone was stressing over finals, I thought that I should be too but I realized that in the end it will turn out okay I just need to do everything I can to prep for it just like my training. Those are just two things but I am sure anyone who has known me for a long time probably sees some of the other things I do. I love what I am doing and cannot see how I never found this love before.

So, I said I was going to talk about today's training. I had 3 hours of riding and an hour of swimming on the schedule for today but I knew that I was not going to be able to get over to the pool so I have been making up for that with extra time over the week. I am going to have to move any of my weekend swims to the week sometime to make sure I get them in because I won't on weekends. So in three hours I decided I wanted to go for 60 miles my goal pace of 20 mph, even if it took more than 3 thats fine I wanted the distance though to see something similar to my race. I went riding on this bike trail that is on old railroad tracks that runs for like 80 miles up into Ohio, it was the recommended place by the local bike shop. I reached 30 miles out where my turnaround would be and said ya know what its nice out lets go for an extra 20 you have time and lets see what we can do. Probably not the smartest idea I have ever had considering I planned for 60 so I brought food and water for 60. I kept a great pace for the 56 miles that is my race distance and thats when it began to hurt and things went wrong. I was going at about a 17.75 mph pace right up till then and right after I passed 60 miles I knew that was the distance I should have done, huge cramp in my left hamstring because I had to change my hydration strategy to keep going that entire distance. So after getting off and stretching for a bit I drank most of the Gatorade that I had left and continued on. I could tell I was becoming dehydrated and hungry because I could not concentrate on anything for the life or me, but I did come up with the idea of possibly tubing down the little Miami river sometime this summer with the interns. With 17 miles to go I get another massive cramp this time in both hamstrings. So again I am off my bike stretching this time I have nothing to drink left so I am SOL. I get loose enough to get back on and just decide to cruise the last 17 miles into the parking lot but go figure the last 10 miles were all up hill, not a big grade but just up the entire time. Needless to say I am kind of hurting right now and have not even looked at what my workout for tomorrow is because I do not want to know right now.

Well that is all for now, hopefully I find something to do tonight. Later everyone.

New Apartment and HILLS!

2007-05-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

Well I am pretty much all moved into my new apartment here in Cincinnati, it is going to be really weird getting used to a new area and finding my way around. The one extremely exciting thing is the HILLS, they are everywhere. I am used to running and cycling on pretty flat terrain, as I drove into the city I was in shock at being back in an area where there are hills and not just horizon to horizon flatness. After moving in I was pretty tired but could not wait to go out and run the hills and see if I was able to live. It was a blast other than taking a wrong turn and ending up running in a neighborhood where I probably should not have been, it made me pick up the pace though. My favorite part of the run is when I took a left hand turn and look up to see what is ahead of me and I cannot even see the top of the hill. I was smiling and laughing the whole way up that the people I passed must have thought I was tweaked out. I am thinking about going out for a ride in a little bit because spinning this morning on my trainer, even though it was out on my porch just did not satisfy my craving to actually be training hard again after a very light week last week. Well I am going to go figure out what is going on for the net couple days fill out the paper work I need to do in order to start work with GE Wednesday and hopefully go attack some more hills.

Later

I am Senior now?

2007-05-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

After posting last night instead of studying intently and getting ready for my exam this morning, I started to think about the fact that after this test I will be a Senior in college. Not just in college at the University of Notre Dame! It has been my dream since I was about 8 to go here and well I didn't get in the first try, I was able to transfer in to start my sophomore year and it has been a dream come true. The back of our transfer orientation shirts really sums it up, it is a quote from the movie Rudy "I have been ready for this my whole life." This has been the most indescribable experience I have ever had in my life and it truly has put me on track for becoming the person I want to be. With one year left under the golden lady, unless I decide for grad school to delay the real world, I am going to have to truly make the best of it. So while it is kinda depressing that I only have one year left, the rest of the feelings that I have about my senior year are like what I think I will have when I am warming up for my race in under two months, nervous, scared, excited, and confident that I will leave everything on the course and hope that it gives me back even more in experience, wisdom, knowledge and accomplishment.

Okay enough about my other thoughts, now it is time to talk about training. The past two mornings I have been wicked congested so I have not even bothered to go after the pool, like I had planned, instead I hopped on the elliptical and just stayed loose. I am planning on waking up tomorrow morning and running for about 45 minutes to an hour just to get back into it and probably if the beach does not happen go ride for an hour or two, depends on how many hills I am looking to do. I really should not be complaining about hill after reading the blogs of people like Kahuna, IronWil, CurlySu, RuralGirl and Everyman, who competed at Wildflower this weekend and by all accounts the course designers decided it would be fun to see how many people they could make walk a bike up a hill. From reading their entries though it has made me want to go to Wildflower, no matter how intense those hills are the community that goes with that race seems to be something that must be experienced and enjoyed.

Tonight I am looking into getting a coach and also at figuring out what are the other races that I am going to compete in this season, possibly an additional Half in the fall, still to be determined, a Full Ironman is on the most likely list for next year, I figure I am going to treat this sport like I have every other one in my life, Go Big, or Go Home. I know is may sound cliché but it makes me push myself to find new boundaries of what my body can do and then find ways to exceed them, and that is a beautiful thing. Hope everyone has had a good week.

Finals Week

2007-05-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

Even with only two tests this week my training has gone to hell. Trying to balance out closing up shop around here for the next three months, getting my car ready to make the trip, and studying for finals has left very little time to actually get my workouts in. Luckily, my workouts this week were scheduled to be fairly light anyways so I will make up what I can after my last test tomorrow between packing and a relaxing day at the beach on Friday. There is a chance that the beach is close enough for me to ride to which would kill two birds with one stone and is a possibility. Moving to Cincinnati this weekend will make the next weeks workouts rough to, having to find new routes and safe areas to go is not going to be easy, I hope i am able to find some running, and tri-clubs to tag along with to get a feel for the area.

I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone by and how quickly my first race is coming up. Not training this week really has me feeling the pressure of letting down my friends and family who are going to come to watch. I know this is not a good mind set but it is really hard for me to avoid right now. Okay time to hit the books again, hopefully sometime soon I will be updating with a successful workout.

-Catalyst

Light Day

2007-05-06T22:50:00.000-05:00

It was nice to have a light day after a pretty heavy week. Swam a mile in just under 40, still working on getting that time down. I was able to swim with the Masters program here which was pretty cool got a couple of good pointers and words of encouragement. I ran 3.5 miles this morning in under 30 minutes which I am extremely happy with, I seem to be improving everywhere right now and cannot complain about that. I should probably have spent more time studying and packing today but whatever no tests till wednesday and not moving out till saturday. Getting up early tomorrow and not working out will be weird, I have to bring my car in to get it all ready for this summer and the long drives that go with that.

Hope everyone had a good weekend,

Catalyst

Quick Comment

2007-05-05T18:06:00.000-05:00

I hate crowded pools! Tried to go for a light 40 minute swim today to relax and just do something and had to get out of the pool after 20 because people were just being idiots and trying to cram 4 people into a small lane. I know in the race its going to be crowded but I am not going to be trying to relax. Anywho, I probably should pack or study some more tonight, haven't decided which yet.

Later,
Catalyst

First Brick, First Entry

2007-05-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

This is my first entry to a blog that will hopefully be updated on a fairly regular basis. This is my rookie season and I am currently only scheduled for one race and am trying to find another few and possibly a marathon. My first race is the Patriot Half-Ironman in Freetown, MA on July 1st and I cannot wait. I have been training for this race since the 1st week in January. Having knee surgery last summer where the majority of the meniscus in my right knee was removed due to a severe snowboard crash the winter before. Rehab and training has really pushed me to the next level and now I can't imagine life without training, my friends call me pshycotic because of the schedule I keep in college waking up at 6 am or earlier to workout is just beyond the thought of most people.

With the race only a few weeks away today was my first brick. I was extremely nervous going into it not sure if I was going to be able to actually complete it but I did with a pretty solid pace for myself too. 90 minutes of riding, followed by 30 minutes of running. I feel surprisingly loose and not tired for having finished only a few hours ago.

This coming week is finals week for this semester so I am hoping that I will be able to stay on top of my training. I also move to Cincinnati next weekend so that means finding new routes and hopefully new people to train with. Anyone who happens to read this that is in that area let me know. Also anyone who has advice for a rookie especially for transitions and making sure I don't get DQed in my first race. Any help would be great. Thanks.