Inspiration Stardust Dreams

Goodbye IS Dreams, Visit our new blog!

2009-12-31T08:32:00.002-07:00

As of tomorrow, Inspiration Stardust Dreams will be moved to a new location. We're mixing up our blogging a little bit and instead of focusing on...whatever we've been focusing on, we're going to make it a triathlon-specific blog. Theresa and I are both dreaming of completing an Ironman soon, and we figure the easy way to get motivated and gear up is making our blog more on the triathlon side.

The new address is http://teambabydinosaur.blogspot.com

I'd like to take this time to thank all of our readers over the past couple years. You guys have been awesome with your inspiration to us and motivation. I've certainly seen a lot of change within myself over the past two years and I can only hope that continues in the future.

On behalf of both of us, thank you. :-) We look forward to seeing you at our new blog!

Race #7 of the Season: Mile High United Way Turkey Trot

2009-11-29T17:07:00.005-07:00

Before I get into the race post, a picture of the ring that I promised ...

The ring! Blue topaz donated by my dad for the cause set simply. I love it.

Anyway, on to the race! Brandon and I did this same race last year. We were thinking about doing a smaller one, but decided "eh, what the hell" and did it again this year.

Last year: 4,000 people showed up.
This year: 9,000 people showed up (7000something finishers).

Last year: Race temp somewhere in the 40s.
This year: Race temp ended up cracking 60.

Last year: We pretty much quit working out for like a month at this time.
This year: We've kept plugging along somehow.

Last year: The race would be the longest one to date.
This year: I've cranked out over four several times and even cracked five once.

Last year: I had to walk during the race.
This year: No walking for me!

Last year: I felt fine.
This year: Ran through a head cold (which is still here ... grrr ...)

Okay, so except for that last one, this year was much better than last, including our times (which you'll see in a second). Given the warm weather, there was still snow on the ground, though.

Brandon standing in CO snow for the 11th straight month.

We got there about 90 minutes prior to race start so we could find good parking so we could get out of there pretty quickly after the race ended (race time was 10:15am; i had to be at work at 12:30p). As a result, we had tons of time to walk around and warm up.

Brandon and I with Gobbles the race mascot.

The typical "Brandon adjusts his iPod" warm-up shot.

Being silly.

Continuing the silliness. I also rocked out my new Zeal sunglasses this race (they were awesome).

Exiting the port-o-potties. Remember how I said 9000 people showed up for this race? Yeah, there was this row and another row with about the same amount of port-o-potties right next to it ... and none other except at the finish line. Yeah. Glad we got in line early.

Some guy dressed as a chicken.

Brandon channelling his inner warrior for the race.

T the Tree becoming a tree ... kind of literally (t the tree was my hockey nickname ... long story).

We finally made our way to the start about 15 minutes prior to race time. Given that it's our "last" race of the season, we decided to run it together. I kind of felt bad making Brandon run with me given that his running has been going a lot better than mine AND my body decided to get sick on me, but he insisted.

Given that this race is so huge, they don't have people at the mile markers yelling out your time. Which, given that it ended up taking us 90 seconds to even get to the timing mat at the start line from our place in the masses, was probably okay. Anyway, first mile was different for Brandon and I. He thought it felt bad. I thought the first mile flew by and was kind of surprised to see that first marker. I felt okay while running and I didn't lose my timing chip in the first tenth of a mile like I did last year, so that was a plus.

The latter half of mile two was when things started to get iffy for me. One thing that probably helped in the first mile and a half was we ended up running on the path in the park and NOT the street. However, halfway into mile two, we wound up back on the street which I'm sure changed the impact of my feet hitting the ground and blahblahblah. I also started heating up a bit (remember what I said about it getting to 60 degrees?). Regardless, if mile one felt great, mile two felt like crap.

Mile three wasn't that better. I was seriously concentrating on form so it wouldn't crumble into the ground and I was slowing my pace a little just so I could keep running. It crossed my mind to take a small walk break, but I know that once I make the decision to walk once, I've made the decision to turn what was a run into a walk/run. Sucks, but that's the way my body works. So, I kept on plugging.

Mile four was the most painful. I could tell Brandon probably wanted to pull away, but, wonderful fiance that he is, he stayed with me. I kept giving him one word answers to his questions (which were mostly, "You okay?" me: "yeah."). Still, I kept running. Felt marginally better once I saw the finish line. Was a lot happier that, unlike last year, I could actually SPRINT across the line this year ... though it was probably one of my worst kicks ever.

Last year: Got stuck in a logjam and had to walk across the finish line.
This year: Was able to actually RUN across the line!

Last year: Finished in 48:26 for a 12:06.5/mile pace.
This year: Finished in 40:52 for a 10:13/mile pace.

Last year: Finished one second behind Brandon.
This year: Finished one second ahead of Brandon.

To sum up, it's better to never just stop training and even if you have a head cold and haven't been putting in that many runs (particularly longer distance runs), you can still pull a decent time out of your behind.

Also, as Brandon and I are hoping to do a blog overhaul sometime between now and January 1, you might see even less posting than you do from us now ... particularly from him. Just to warn you.

Turkey Trot Preview

2009-11-28T20:02:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I haven't posted ring pics yet. If you're friends with me on Facebook ... go look at my profile. If not ... check back.

Anyway! I was going to post a marginally amusing Thanksgiving post about things you could do to help combat food overload (like use frozen turkeys as kettlebells - the bags already have handles!), but I got lazy and didn't follow through.

However, Brandon and I did run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (same one as last year) and it went a lot better than last year. Once I upload my photos (hopefully tomorrow), I'll get that race post up.

Take That, Snow!

2009-11-13T16:18:00.002-07:00

Just got back from one of the more satisfying runs I've had in a looong time. It was just under three and a half miles (3.37 to be precise) and not one of my faster runs, but it felt awesome, the weather was stormy and I beat the more serious snow by like 10 minutes. HA!

And yes, I'm engaged to Brandon now. :) I'll post a photo or two probably early next week. :)

Hi Everyone

2009-11-12T10:47:00.003-07:00

Hey...been awhile since I've blogged...so I'll kind of fill you in on the latest.

My theme for November is Explosiveness. It's time to hit the weight room again, regain the muscle I have neglected for a few months and also explode in other ways...like the pool and the pavement. Bottom line is, I'm going to be hard on myself this month. And make my body explode.

In other news, come January, our blog is going to have a different format. Instead of updating you on the mundaneness of our otherwise very boring lives, it's going to be more specific, with issues and whatnot that we come across. I'm hoping to update it nearly daily, so keep coming back!

And in other news, we are no longer boyfriend/girlfriend...we are engaged!!!! I'm sure pictures of the ring and whatnot will follow shortly.

Snow and Moonlight Runs

2009-11-01T17:47:00.002-07:00

So, as I blogged yesterday, I've done two fun runs this week. Neither of them were that long (and one wasn't even timed), but both were enjoyable.

The first was Wednesday. As you may have read/heard about, a big ol' snowstorm hit Colorado this past week. Well, I had either a run or a cycle penciled in for Wednesday as I was off work and it's a bit hard to ride one's bike in a snowstorm. So, I ran. It was cold and wet, but I ran.

Me all bundled up and ready to go!

The view outside. If you look closely, you can tell it's still snowing.

At this point, I shoveled a bit of the driveway so I had a path to the street and I took off. Given that the sidewalks were barely shoveled off but the roads had been plowed, I took advantage of the fact that pretty much no one was out on the roads and ran in the street. Not the safest thing and not something I would normally do, but in this case, it worked.

I did a short loop around the neighborhood; I felt great and warm and could have gone longer ... had I remembered a scarf/neck gaiter. The bottom half of my face kinda froze due to the snowflakes pelting it and the wind that kicked up every now and then. If I had something covering my face, I definitely would have been able to pull out a longer run.

Path I'd shoveled ALREADY almost recovered in snow.

Frozen me post-run. You can see my delightfully rosy cheeks ... and chin ...

In any case, the short run I managed was fantastically fun. It was also probably the best test of the Drymax socks so far as I apparently ran through some puddles and never noticed until I noticed my shoes were pretty wet when I got home. Oops. Still, my feet were bone dry!

The next run was what I'm for now terming the Team Baby Dino Annual Hallow's Eve Moonlight Run. (yes, i'm a nerd)

I came up with the idea for the run when Brandon and I were thinking of things to do on Halloween. Going out and drinking really wasn't an option as I had to be up this morning to be at work by 6. So, I thought that we could get black t-shirts, paint them with glow-in-the-dark paint, grab our cameras and run around the neighborhood, taking pictures of cool jack-o'-lanterns or whatnot in the process. It wouldn't be a serious run; just a fun way to enjoy the holiday now that we're too old to go trick-or-treating (boo).

So ... we did.

Us! Front of shirts.

The back.

So after taking a few pictures of our own jack-o'-lanterns, we were off. Sadly, there weren't that many good Halloween displays/jack-o'-lanterns, but we did get some fun pictures of us running.

Brandon ... who ditched his hat at one point.

Me enjoying myself.

Flopped in the snow.

Getting some snow resistance.

If you made me guess, we only did a couple of miles. I couldn't even throw a time out as we stopped at my brother's house at one point to take pictures of him and his girlfriend in their freaky costumes (they went to a bar). Still, it was a way to ENJOY running. Make it something we want to do more often.

As a result of this run ... we want to do it again next year. Make it the second annual version. We're also thinking of making our own shirts for the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot we're doing (four miles!).

Because if we've got to run, we might as well make it as enjoyable as possible, right?

Fun Runs!

2009-10-31T19:49:00.002-06:00

Yes, I know I haven't updated much here, but!, in the past week, I've pulled off two relatively short but totally awesome nonetheless runs.

One was Wednesday during the crazy-ass snowstorm that hit Denver (yes, during the snowstorm) and the second was, oh, just about 30 minutes ago.

I'll blog more tomorrow (with pictures!) with the tale of both runs.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Eat sugar, but not too much (if you must at all)!

A book for you all to read

2009-10-21T07:43:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading Born to Run, a book by Christopher McDougall. It basically describes the author's journey from trying to diagnose a foot injury to finding the Tarahumara Indians that live in a remote area of Mexico. These people are the greatest runners in the world, covering long distances without pain, injury, or suffering. With the help of a strange, reclusive man named Caballo Blanco, Chris discovers what makes these people love something so simple as running, and gets caught up in the greatest race the world never saw. From the Leadville Ultramarathon to Badwater, you can discover why we as humans today dread to run, and how to recover this lost ancient art.

I know that sounded like a bad book review on Amazon, but seriously, this was an amazing book. T and I discussed it at length. Do we over-analyze running? Is this really a simple thing that we are meant to do? Are we so absorbed by the comforts of society that we have forgotten how to run?

What I took away from it, if there was only one thing to take away, is keep things simple, in any sport you do. Focus on enjoying yourself when you're out there. The second you concern yourself with making running something you HAVE to do, it no longer is enjoyable.

Catching up...

2009-10-09T10:35:00.004-06:00

Sitting in Rapid City, I have a chance to reflect upon what has been a so-so time period of working out and where I'm at...and where I want to be.

This morning, I went for a run in Rapid City. It was 28 degrees when I started my run. Moreso, I'm fighting a cold right now. Nonetheless, I pushed myself through it and ended up doing 2.13 miles in 24:19. Not a good time, obviously, but you know what? I don't mind. Because that brings me up to my next point.

Everything I do in this next year is important. Every time I work out, every time I swim, bike, run, weightlift, play hockey, etc. I am doing something to my body. I'm changing it. Therefore, I have decided my theme for this next year will be called Breaking Down Walls. It's got numerous meanings, including what I just mentioned above. Another one is I want to push myself continuously. Every workout, I want to break down a wall. And obviously, we're both looking at doing an Olympic triathlon and a half-marathon. Yeah, breaking down those walls. :-)

Last week, I ran 5.23 miles in Wichita. It might not seem impressive, but consider this: I was fighting a cold that week (and still am), and I ran 13.02 miles that week. That is a record for me in terms of mileage in one week. I'm really happy about that. This week was a letdown due to a lot of circumstances, but honestly, I'm ok with it. Normally, I probably wouldn't be, but hey, we're breaking down walls. :-)

Born to Run and a New Personal Achievement

2009-10-08T13:57:00.003-06:00

I first have to preface this post in that I shouldn't be blogging and SHOULD be working on my WCHA season previews instead ... but I wanted to post this yesterday and didn't so I need to do it today. Yes.

Anyway, after reading an excerpt in 5280 Magazine and I'm pretty sure this one in Men's Health, I decided to pick up Christopher McDougall's book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

Long story short, it was AMAZING. McDougall, a writer for the aforementioned Men's Health, wanted an answer to a simple question - "How come my foot hurts?" He'd been told that it was due to running and the high stress that it puts on one's feet. In figuring out exactly why running hurts one's feet, however, he learned about the Tarahumara, a group of running people down in Mexico. The Tarahumara are basically the world's best ultramarathoners, having come to one such race (the Leadville 100) and kicked everyone's asses. They are also kind people, have very low injury rates and are pretty much perfect (so McDougall describes them).

Anyway, the book tells of McDougall's tale of finding the Tarahumara and then learning how to run and train like them, finding out that he can run further and longer as a result with no injuries.

McDougall winds his story in along with the basic history of ultramarathon-ing as well as the history of how our foot problems (due to running) came about. Basically, as humans evolved and moved upright, we were born to run and run long distances. Barefoot. The human foot was made to run barefoot and all the correcting crap we do to our feet with our running shoes and stuff basically makes it worse. In other words, since Nike came out with the first cushioned running shoe, runners started getting injured and injured a lot.

If you like running, a good story, history and a touch of anthropology mixed all together, I highly recommend this book. I just picked it up from the library, but I'm thinking it's one I may need to buy to have for the personal library.

___________
After finishing the book yesterday, I was motivated to go running around the park barefoot ... but knew I had to get in some miles. So, I decided to go for a long run. I tinkered with my form a little - keeping my back straight and my steps as light as I could make them ... and I did well. I tried to enjoy the run and not feel miserable and for the most part ... it worked.

I didn't have to walk until just past the 3.2 mile mark and only seriously walked when I got to this murderous hill near the end of the run (100 feet in elevation gained in under a half-mile). All in all, I did 5.12 miles in 1:00:16 ... which is the longest run I've EVER been on. EVER. It was the first time I've ever cracked the five mile mark. My quads started hurting a bit near the end as did my stupid buniony feet, but it also felt AMAZING at the same time.

So, that's where I am. Except for pretty much my total lack of bike riding lately (oops), I think I'm well on my way to early prepping my way for an Olympic distance triathlon next year and maybe even a half-marathon next December (2010, people) ...

Yay for Tim!

2009-10-05T19:09:00.002-06:00

This is just a quick post saying CONGRATS! to our friend Tim. Tim was Brandon's roommate in college and this past summer, he was training for his first marathon. He ran the Twin Cities Marathon yesterday and completed it in 3:54:27 ... for just under a 9:00 mile. For a first marathon? Hot damn. Mine, I just want to finish. So yes, we're both simultaneously jealous AND extremely proud of him.

Congrats Tim!

Race #6 of the Season: Autumn Color Run

2009-09-26T15:37:00.003-06:00

This recap is a week late, but for good reasons:

1. I hadn't uploaded pictures yet.
2. I've worked a whole ton.
3. It's been emotionally stressful (pretty much lost a long-time friend this week ... no, she's not dead ... she just apparently did a 180 in personality. yeah.).
4. The crappy, dreary, rainy, cold, gloomy weather hasn't helped either.

In any case, I finally uploaded pictures and the sun's FINALLY come out again, so yay, race update.

Anyway, this year's recap is somewhat similar to last year's recap ... right down to the crappy breakfast. We managed a better meal the night before (and our pre-race sushi for lunch instead!), though.

So, last Saturday morning, we woke up, I tossed on my winner underoos, got dressed and headed the 30 miles down the road from our hotel to the race site. Circumstances this year prevented us from pre-registering, so we got there with plenty of time to go do that.

After registering, we wandered over to the perma-restrooms (not the porta-potties), did our pre-race business and then warmed up, finding a sunny spot to stretch in.

Brandonpants ... chilling prior to the race.

Trying to stay warm!

Soon enough, it was time to hop the bus to take us 5K down the road to the abandoned drive-in race start. We got off the buses, looked over at the turkeys at nearby house that were gobbling away and then lined up ... about 100 feet back from where we normally start. We waited for the Boy Scouts to drop the flag and tell us we were off ... I love this start. Really.

See all the guys setting their watches? The green stomach you see ended up winning the race in 14:40.8. Yeah.

The usually-not-very-organized start was even less organized this year as we were to soon find out. Anyway, this race didn't feel that good. It's a small race that's been getting bigger and bigger every year and becoming not as fun, honestly.

In terms of pain, this race also didn't feel that good. I hadn't had a chance to get in much in terms of a halfway decent run (or two) the week prior and the ones I did get in sucked. I just kept watching people pass me and pass me and pass me ... and I had no hope at all for a decent time.

Still, I kept plodding along, passing a few people along the way. I never felt like I settled into a groove, however, and my sports asthma and crappy breathing kicked in near the end of the race. Since I parked right near the course this year, I was hoping to pick it up once I saw my car, but I couldn't manage a sprint until I was already in the "chute" (i use the term lightly).

I was crying as I finished, due to my breathing issues and just the overall crappiness that I felt. I waited for my breathing to subside and then walked to the car to change into flip-flops, stopping for a few pictures first.

The race fairy!

Me with said race fairy.

After changing shirts and shoes, we headed back to the park for some post-race snacks, grabbing a silly picture in the process.

We like oranges!

After food, we waited around the park a long time for our results, neither of us having any clue of what we finished in. Brandon had heard a time close to his, but also the news that they were having timing issues (... which was probably why our start was even less organized this year). After a while, we said, ah, screw it and went to the car to go home ... and realized the battery was dead. I remember my purse handle getting caught on one of my light steering wheel lever thingys and I thought I had put everything back to normal ... but apparently not.

So, we walked back to the park to find someone with jumper cables. In the process, we found out our times - I finished in 27:35.5 - 8:52.85/mi ... my second time under 9:00/mi this year.

I didn't believe it. Add the 50 seconds of wonkiness the race people were talking about? Yeah, I'd believe that. But, what the race people say goes, so I'll take it.

After finding out our results, we also found some nice EMTs who had jumper cables in their ambulance, so we bugged them to help jump me and send us on our way home.

As Brandon said, the race was our last official one of the season, even though we're planning to do some sort of Turkey Trot-type race on Thanksgiving. We'll see how that goes, though, as this week has been a struggle in terms of working out. Damn stress.

Autumn Color Run - My Course

2009-09-24T10:46:00.002-06:00

Earlier in the year, girlfriend and I decided the Autumn Color Run would be our last official 5K of our running season. We both like this run and last year it gave us our P.R's last year. Here's our last year's recap.

This year, running hasn't exactly been our cup of tea. For girlfriend, she's been struggling with it pretty much all season...for reasons we don't quite understand. As for me, I've done pretty well with it, but still have yet to get into that groove that I did last year. Nagging injuries have plagued me all season long and the week before this race, I thought I might be dealing with a muscle tear in my right calf. I took a few days off from working out though and I think that did the trick.

Regardless, we drove up to Buena Vista and Salida to accomplish what we had been dreaming about all year long. We dealt with some construction on 24 which didn't make either of us happy, but eventually we made it to Salida. We checked into the hotel and went to a little cafe to get something to eat. Then we stopped at Wal-Mart to get some stuff and went back to the hotel to relax and sleep.

Woke up very early and headed over to breakfast. Powdery scrambled eggs, paper-thin bacon, and raisin bran were my breakfast, along with water, milk, and a banana. We ate, changed into our running stuff, and packed the car, ready to head to Buena Vista.

We got there and registered. With plenty of time to kill, we hit the fixed bathroom that we found last year and began stretching and warming up. The sun was definitely warming the place up, but it was still very chilly. I also began thinking that this year wasn't my year to get a P.R. I just wasn't sure I could pull it off.

We loaded ourselves on the bus and headed 3.1 miles up the road to the turnoff where our race began. For whatever reason, they started us further back from the road this year. Don't know why they did this, but I digress. Someone said 3-2-1 and we were off!

I was in 1st place for maybe .01 miles, but still, I have officially lead a race in my life! I sprinted across the road so I could run down facing traffic and attempted to settle into a groove. I forgot how they really don't have mile markers for this race, so there's really no way of knowing where I'm at. Also, there's no water tables, which would have been kind of nice...not going to lie.

I saw the town and figured I would be close to my P.R., which is 27:17. I had to remind myself not to push it yet. I had been trying to catch this one guy the entire race who I would estimate was no more than 5 seconds ahead of me; yet I couldn't catch him. I saw the turn towards the finish and kicked it into high gear. And I passed the guy! I hit the finish line at full speed and quickly asked the time guy where I finished. He said they were at 27:15 but had problems with the timing. Oh great, I thought, another year of a botched time. And this year, I didn't keep track on my own. I started walking towards the turn and saw girlfriend booking it in. I cheered her on to the finish.

We both took in a lot of the snacks and pastries they offered us post-race and waited...and waited...and waited...apparently they had a big problem with the timing. The race director dude said he wants to go to chip timing or some other form of electronic timing. We decided to not wait around and just head home. Of course, girlfriend's car didn't start, so we had to try to get it jump-started. First though, we would see if the resluts were posted. And then we saw it. My time...25:57! I was shocked and amazed. Apparently they had major issues with timing, but that was the accurate time. I was blown away. Girlfriend finished in 27:35, which is her best time in the past two years. Happy, we decided to skedaddle. I decided to ask the ambulance driver if he could help us. He jumped the car and home we went.

A great way to close out my racing season.

Need to update!

2009-09-15T10:19:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone. Hope you are all doing well. I'm sure you are.

The fall must be a motivating season. I think I've kind of figured out how my mind works in terms of the 12 months and working out. Here's a breakdown of each month:

January - New year = new goals and motivation. Workouts are numerous and demanding
February - Start settling into groove, which means I get lazy
March - I hate this time of year and generally spend it moping and be even lazier
April - Holy hell! I gotta get to work! Race season is underway
May - Yay, nice weather outside! Bike and run a lot
June - Hooray, in full race season now
July - Ok, it's hot. But still working hard
August - Summer is over. I'm sad. Lazy time again
September - Fall! Leaves changing! Yay! Let's go embrace the outdoors!
October - Dude, season is over. Football and hockey are only priorities now
November - Oh crap, Thanksgiving is coming. I need to work out
December - Work out? Christ, I don't care

Yeah, that's the general breakdown. As you can probably tell, I don't do well in late spring or late fall/early winter. That's not going to happen this year. I plan on doing both an Olympic tri as well as a sprint next year, so I am staying in tip-top workout shape this time around.

Oh, and just so you all know, girlfriend and I are shooting for Ironmans a lot earlier than planned. 30 years old! Yeah, that's right.

Some thoughts...

2009-09-04T10:19:00.003-06:00

After some brief hiccups in training, both T and I are doing very well. We're both running and running well and we're both motivated. Let's face it...we have the Autumn Color run coming up and that's where we're both shooting for a PR there.

Anyway, in the past few weeks/months, running around the neighborhood has gotten quite boring. You can run any different route, go any which way, but at the end of the day, you still end up running down the same street to and from home.

I've been up at Red Rocks 3 times in the past month and a half. Once to see a concert, once taking my mom up there who was visiting us and once taking my friend up there who was visiting us. And I don't know what it was, but looking at the stage, the rows, and the view, I got an image in my head. This image was me next year, doing an Olympic triathlon. Plowing my way through the water, smiling as I come into the 2nd transition off my bike, and sprinting across the finish line. So I got to thinking...what if I use the great Colorado outdoors as my own training arena? What if I harness everything that is around me and instead of just admiring it, use it?

I pondered it for a few days and came up with a thought. Swim in the reservoirs around the state including some way up in the mountains. Cycle in the foothills and again ride up to Maroon Bells in Aspen. And run Red Rocks. Why not? Mix it up! Use the state of Colorado as a training arena! Take advantage of the beauty!

We were riding back on the lightrail the other night from the Rockies game and I mentioned to girlfriend the idea of running Red Rocks. She wasn't too excited about it, but when I told her that running every row was the equivalent of running a 5K, she perked up. We both wanted to squeeze in a long run, so we headed on up. And boy, let me tell you, there's something special about running up there. Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was challenging. But my god, it was wonderful. We both had great times, and we both were feeling energized.

While I will not be able to make it up there every day, I plan on utilizing it a lot in the offseason when I can. This may prove to be the spark that ignites the powderkeg! (that's me...I'm the powderkeg...)

Random Items

2009-08-31T16:31:00.002-06:00

After getting back from Minnesota on Sunday, we ended up decompressing one more final day before getting back on the workout track today. Both of us went on short, quick runs today (separately) to get the legs moving again and ease back into it.

I'm starting to learn a few things:

- I can't take more than two days off in between runs.
- I need to warm up and stretch at least a little before a run.
- I'm getting to the point where I can't eat a lot of grease/crappy food - otherwise I feel the repercussions for DAYS.

I also learned that Famous Dave's's (?) chocolate-covered pig lickers (that is, bacon) are FANTASTIC.

Mmmmmm.

All things considered, neither of us did too badly at the fair. We split some cheese curds with his parents (fried cheese balls; pretty tasty), split french fries, split a chocolate shake and split the above cup of chocolate-covered bacon. Separately, I had a lemonade while he had a diet coke and a corn dog. Given the Minnesota State Fair and the various foods on sticks and fried crap that they have there, I figure we ended up okay.

While we didn't put in an official workout while there, we did a lot of walking around the Fair, downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America.

We also tried out EA Active for the Wii. Verdict: I love it SO MUCH BETTER than Wii Fit. EA Active has you doing stuff with a resistance band AND has harder exercises. Wii Fit is best for those who want low impact exercise (that is, yoga and balance games) or for those just trying to ease their way into exercise for the first time. EA Active is for those who want to graduate from Wii Fit and actually get a halfway decent workout while using a video game.

Enjoying myself...

2009-08-29T07:02:00.003-06:00

Since T posted a few days ago, I'd like to point out that both of us have not had an "official" workout. We are both relaxing and decompressing for a couple days up in Minnesota, though I think that walking around the state fair for a few hours and walking around downtown Minneapolis last night is hardly R and R...but I digress.

Wednesday was my first official day off in a week. It felt nice to relax my muscles, which had been screaming at me to take a break. It also was nice to kind of reflect where I was at with working out. Basically, aside from trying to set a PR in a 5K in 3 weeks, I'm really not training for anything...other than keeping in shape for my triathlon and running season next year. But I always feel better when I work out. My body feels better, my head feels better, etc.

So that all being said, after a few days of resting up in Minnesota, we'll be back on the workout horse tomorrow!

Huh.

2009-08-27T13:43:00.005-06:00

First off, since my last post, I've actually been on the workout wagon (again. i know.) I ended up taking two days off after the race, starting back up on that Wednesday ... and my next off day wasn't until yesterday.

I'm not entirely sure how this happened. Maybe it's because I've been feeling productive - Wednesday was super-productive-cleaning-day for me and I scheduled in a long run and that newfound motivation carried on through. Maybe because summer's starting to turn into autumn (my favorite season) and I'm determined because of that. Whatever it is, though, I'm happy for it.

Anyway, this is what I've done:

8.19 - Ran 3.19 mi in 34:08 - 10:42.01/mi
8.20 - Ran 1.36 mi in 13:13 - 9:43.09/mi
8.21 - Ran random park sprints (almost an off day; didn't keep track of any distance or time)
8.22 - Swam 400m in 11:00 - 44:15.42/mi; lifted core and legs
8.23 - Ran 1.04 mi in 10:10 - 9:46.54/mi
8.24 - Swam 1000m in 25:00 - 40:14.02/mi; lifted arms (and am STILL FREAKING SORE)
8.25 - Ran 3.35 mi in 35:30 - 10:35.82/mi
8.26 - OFF DAY!!!!
8.27 - Ran 1.36 mi in 13:21 - 9:48.97/mi

Of note: I never walked anytime I ran (wooo!) and all swimming (except for like 50m on the 22nd) is done breaststroke (i know, i know).

However, one thing I've noticed happening - and I don't know if it's because it's starting to be fall or what - is that I've FINALLY been able to get my run times under 10 minutes/mile. FINALLY. It has taken all damn summer and look. Granted, it's only on my shorter runs, but that right there is a HUGE victory for me.

Granted, I know that in theory, my times should drop if I keep running enough, but that hasn't happened all summer. The fact that it finally is happening makes me giddy. I'm not down to the 8:30/mi that I managed to get down to in 2007, but maybe it'll happen by Autumn Color. Maybe.

Here's to my running FINALLY getting better, here's to all of you in hopes that you've had similar breakthroughs with training/life lately and here's to a whole crazy FOUR DAYS OFF from work ... two and a half of which will be spent in Minnesota. State Fair, downtown Minneapolis, the Mall of America, a Twins game and much fun will be had this Friday and Saturday. Woo!

Race #5 of the Season: Alferd Packer Cannibal Run

2009-08-17T19:22:00.002-06:00

After the tri, Brandon and I hadn't really planned on doing another race until the Autumn Color Run, which would be the technical end of our racing season (with a thanksgiving race for the hell of it).

However, I came across a fun-sounding race in one of the free local sports magazines given to us at another race (one of those mags that have lists of all local competitions) - "Run For Your Life: The Alferd Packer Cannibal Run."

For those of you who don't know who Alferd (or alfred) Packer is/was, think the Donner Party of Colorado. Long story short, Packer led a group of miners from Utah to Colorado hoping to find gold. The trek was in winter, they got lost ... Packer was the only one who showed up out of the group to Colorado. Remnants of the bodies of the others were found and Packer was accused of cannibalism; got tried for murder, but only served time for manslaughter. His grave is found in Littleton Cemetery ... and Trey Parker and Matt Stone of "South Park" fame made a musical movie about his story which is hysterical and I recommend it to all (and will eventually make brandon watch it).

ANYWAY, as part of Western Welcome Week, the Littleton Rotary club apparently hosts a 5K/10K race in Packer's honor called the "Alferd Packer Cannibal Run." It landed on Brandon's birthday and as he "didn't want to do anything" for his b-day ... I figured running a 5K would be fun. So we signed up for it.

We arrived at the race at 7am to pick up our packets and despite some snafus regarding the race people figuring out who we were, we got our stuff and were pleasantly surprised to learn that you had the option of being chip timed. Obviously we exercised said option.

Brandon before the race with Ivan and Nelson.

Given that we were there so early, we took time to do our, um, business (mine didn't go so well; of course, my food consumption lately has been crap, crap and more crap) and stretch out really well. Also, given that it was Brandon's birthday, I got him a party hat to run in!

We had discussed a sash, but I forgot about it and had found the hat a few days prior, so we went with the hat.

Anyway, there weren't a lot of people lined up for the start despite there being two events, so we snapped another picture before we ran.

At 8am, we were off. The race went partially along the Platte River on the same trail that we'd cycled on a multitude of times before. We knew that the race would be partially on the Platte ... but we didn't know that it would be less than a mile of it. Right around the marker for the first mile ... we made the left to go back under Santa Fe and head toward Prince (and Packer's grave) ... which, go figure, was uphill. However, it was also out of the headwind that we usually bitch about while on our bikes, so that was good.

Much of the second mile was uphill including some fairly tough sections within the first quarter mile of mile two. Stupid me also forgot that Prince was also a nice, hilly road. Anyway, we kept plugging along until the second mile marker which was right after we ran past Packer's grave.

We continued on Prince for a little while longer, sloping downhill and cutting on to another trail to go back under Santa Fe back toward the finish line. This part was relatively flat, which was nice. We were thanking all the race volunteers and cops we passed ... most of whom were high school kids who paid us no mind. Losers.

Soon enough though, we were nearing the home stretch. Almost forgetting I had my camera, I snapped a pic of Brandon running in that last quarter-mile.

Right after this point, we made the turn to the 5K finish and started our final kick - the only time we really didn't run together. As I have a marginally better kick, I finished a second ahead of him in 32:46 ... for around a 10:32/mile. Not great, but not bad, either.

I know I have lots to work on in terms of my running if I want a good time at Autumn Color this year, but I know that I can push through and do it. Hey, I didn't walk this race and it was one of the few runs I've done with Brandon (and actually WITH him) that I've enjoyed myself.

Official Tri Photos!

2009-08-10T19:13:00.002-06:00

In seeing that Brandon's been the good one in updating (and i've been totally bad about it), I realized I forgot to do a post with our official race photos! So, without further ado, here they are.

Thanks in advance to FotoJack, whom I ... um ... jacked these from.

Brandon on the bike. Look! He's happy!

Brandon on the run, looking like he's in some pain but still pushing. I'm not entirely sure where on the run this was taken, actually ...

He picked it up again it seems, just looking determined.

Me, on my way to the water.

Booking it around the corner to the finish line. As I believe I mentioned in my recap post, I started my kick a smidge too early and therefore apparently had to defy gravity going around the corner, praying I didn't fall over.

This picture could also be proof of a hockey background coming useful in a triathlon/road race, as I look marginally like I could be skating. Or did the first time I saw this picture. Either way.

Right before I crossed the finish line. This picture is almost comical. It shows my kick, but it also looks like I'm posed, ready to run as my back foot is still on the ground. Eh, I'm amused.

This last picture is courtesy Brandon/our friend Mark, as boyfriend didn't see fit to post the pic of me actually crossing the finish line. Meaniebutt.

This is me doing my best Steve in a Speedo one-legged pirate impression while crossing the finish line. Too bad I didn't have a watch to check.

If you HAVE Facebook and are friends with either myself and/or Brandon, I believe you should be able to click through and see the picture there. If not, come stalk us (or, at least me)! I like new friends. :)

Why do we do it?

2009-08-10T16:54:00.002-06:00

It finally came up. Someone finally asked me why. Why I do what I do? Workout. Push myself. Run. Why do I force my body to do things it doesn't want to do?

I'm flying with a captain this month who I am not exactly having fun with, for a variety of reasons (ask T, she's met him) and the other day, out of the blue, asked me why I did the triathlon. I explained to him that I wanted to see if I could do it. He asked me why did it matter? I told him that I like pushing my body to find out what its limits are. He said he's tired of people all bragging about they do this, they do that and wonders why anyone would push themselves that much. I said because obviously we're very different people.

I'm sure some of you know why I wanted to do the tri, but some probably don't. There's actually a variety of reasons. The main one is that I had a lot of demons to push away. I had the "fat" demons that were following me for so many years and when I crossed the finish line, they vanished. I'm not kidding. The weight lifted off my shoulders was unreal (girlfriend even said so). But also, I found out that I can push my body to a new height. I have discovered something that I want to pursue!

So, my question to all of you out there is, why? Why do you push yourselves? Why are you slaves to your gyms? Or the road? Or your bikes? Why?

Is pushing your body the new way to be cool?

2009-08-02T07:24:00.004-06:00

What, I can't come up with a pondering post once in awhile that isn't about me?

7-8 years ago, when I was morphing myself from a muscular football and hockey player into a beer drinking and cake eating tub, running/triathlons/any hard form of exercise seemed so far off the map. I would scoff at the idea of ever running a marathon. A triathlon? You gotta be crazy. And 7-8 years ago, I knew maybe one guy that was into marathons. Sure, every now and then we all might go out and run two miles or something in college, but that's about it.

Fast forward to today. I am now a triathlete and consistent runner. My girlfriend is also a triathlete (thrice) and into running and cycling. And it seems every time I'm on Facebook, someone's status update involves them going for a 20 mile run. Or they are doing a triathlon today. Or they have pictures from the latest race they did. My question to everyone is this: is pushing yourself and testing the limits of your body the new cool thing to do?

Take my 3 best friends in college. We all had our own abilities and athletic prowess. Me for example, I was the strongest and best at football and hockey. My buddy Tim was a baseball player. Great at it. My buddy Eric, for how bony he was/is, was a tennis player, skier, and hockey player. Steve was a skier and distance runner/triathlete. Today, Eric is now a marathon runner, my buddy Tim completed a half-marathon yesterday and is slated to do Twin Cities in October, and I have my first triathlon under my belt, plus many 5K's and a 10K.

Here is what I have observed: marathon runners, triathletes, and the like are still held in high and crazy regard by the public. The majority of people out there have not done any sort of race. We as athletes probably notice more because that's who we associate with. Now, I have observed some people (especially females) who train for 3 weeks in a year, do a triathlon once, and call themselves triathletes. I personally don't like that or care for it. You shouldn't do these events because they are cool and hip and allow you to hold yourself in high regard. No, you should do these events for a reason. Whether that reason be for charity, helping others reach their fitness goals (Steve in a Speedo) or because you are passionate and like pushing the limits of your body.

Running and triathlons may be hip, but make sure you're doing them for the right reasons.

Race #4 of the Season: My Way or the Tri Way

2009-07-27T19:43:00.008-06:00

So. I posted my times in my preview post and I'll put them in again here in the sections.

Anyway, here is my post for my third triathlon - My Way or the Tri Way. If you recall from last year, I was so despondent after my tri that I didn't even want to post. Well, this year's post is a lot more upbeat than last year. So that's good.

Pre-Race

We woke up early Saturday morning, only needing to get dressed and eat breakfast ... as we were smart and packed up the Rav the night before. So, we got dressed and made some scrambled eggs and ham with toast. We left a few minutes later than we wanted, but we still made it to transition just after it opened - right after 6am.

We got there and unloaded the bikes.

We put the front tires back on and made sure we were all full of air and ready to go. Once we had tires all full of air, we grabbed spots in transition.

After making sure we had spots next to each other, it was time to get body marked. In honor of fellow blogger Steve in a Speedo, I got a smiley face on my calf (which, weirdly enough, is the last part of my body marking to fade).

Once marked, it was time to get transition officially officially set up.

My spot all set up ... except for my run shorts which I was still wearing.

Our buddy Mark who came along to take pictures.

After we made sure our transition area was all set up, we went to test out the water as our open-water at Aurora Reservoir the week prior was COLD. 7.18.2009 - water temp about 68 degrees. 7.25.2009 - water temp in the mid-70s. So glad for that.

Brandon happy the water is warm. Photo is backlit, but I actually like it that way.

The soon to be triathlete couple!

Satisfied that the water would be a lot warmer than it was, we headed back up to transition. We both had sand on our feet and we couldn't find showers ... and I didn't want to use our water bucket just quite yet ... so I went for the unconventional (but fun!) method - the sprinklers.

From then, it was time to start prepping and stretching.

Brandon stretching me out.

Soon enough, though, it was time to start.

The Swim

At 8:07, seven minutes after Brandon started his first-ever triathlon, and after talking with some other women in the group, the women started their first leg of the race. I ran down the 150 yards or so down to the water ... which was a bad idea as it hurt me for the first part of the swim. Due to that small sprint, my breathing got elevated to the point where it was extremely difficult to get into a good rhythm. So difficult, in fact, that I swam most of the way to the first buoy with my head above water. Yeah. I also had to stop at one of the kayaks to clear out my goggles ... as my first attempt to do so while bobbing in the water trying to keep myself afloat didn't work out so well.

After I got my goggles cleaned out (well, mostly), my breathing got back into normal enough to get into a good groove in the water. By the time I hit the turn around, I felt great and was swimming well. I kept swimming even as I saw other people getting out of the water (and pretty sure i peed with about 100m to go) but waited until I got fairly close to the shore.

I mostly ran up the hill back to transition - total leg time (sprints and 750m swim): 24:07.

This race was awesome in that there was only 550 participants so the transition area was pretty small. When we set up, we decided we'd rather be closer to the bike in/out. So, I rinsed off my feet (someone loved my water bucket), put on my cycling stuff, fished a glove out of said water bucket and trotted back out to the bike course. Total time in transition: 3:10.

The Bike

I'm glad Brandon and I rode at least part of this course a week ago as we knew what the first two miles and the last two miles of the 14 mile course would be.

The powers that be described the course as "rolling" ... which I'm convinced would be "hilly" most anywhere else in the country. I didn't get passed too often on the course and in fact, passed quite a few people - mostly on the uphills (which i'm so proud of). I didn't have too many issues on the first half of the ride ... except with the stupid cardboard race number I attached to the frame that kept trying to fly off and annoy me. I finally got that figured out, though.

My cyclometer was spazzing on the ride (although, in hind sight, i probably should have just cleared it out again and it would have worked), so I couldn't notice anything but cadence. My mph for the entire ride? 0.0.

Okay, not really, but it was nice to just have to pay attention to cadence and not be dispirited with my slow-ass speeds on the uphills.

I kept waiting to see Brandon on the bike and just as the turnaround was coming into view, I saw him. I yelled "SUSHI POWER!" at him in reference to the delicious dinner we had the night before and what our sushi chef jokingly said. He yelled something back and I kept on going.

Only about three people passed me on the second half of the bike course - one I don't remember, one was someone I had already passed and the other was when I was fiddling with my damn race number again and took a swallow of diluted Gatorade. My calves were starting to ache a little and I started going a tad numb, but I pushed it through, thanking course volunteers as I could.

I eventually rolled back into the transition area. Total leg time: 54:57.

As I trotted my bike back into transition, I saw Brandon heading out for the run, so I naturally yelled at him. He waved and ran out while I got ready for my run. I changed shoes, tossed on my BU shorts, changed shirts, took the 30 seconds to put my hair clips in and I was off. Total time: 2:20.

The Run

I jogged out of transition and started the run ... though I had to stop very soon after to stretch out my calves which were cramping ridiculously. After getting them to the point where they weren't ouchy, I started running again. The run course, much like the bike course, was Colorado "rolling." I walked quite a bit within the first mile as well as saw a snake (probably a rattlesnake) and passed one or two people.

Soon after starting the second mile and right before I hit the water station, I saw Brandon not too far in front of me. However, I was still running/walking. I walked three total times in mile two - once was at the water station to get some water (damn sun finally came out) and the other times were on some killer uphills.

Fairly soon after I passed the second mile marker and started on the last 1.5 miles of the race, I started seeing Brandon in front of me. And he stayed in his sights in front of me until probably the last half mile of the race when I finally caught up to him. We stayed together for most of the end of the run until I finally took off (a stark contrast to our other races this season when he's left ME in the dust). Total leg time: 37:41.

Yes, because this race was "My Way or the Tri Way" with people doing the disciplines in whatever order they so desired, we had a T3 which took us back into transition and down another 200 yards or so to the finish. I ran through transition, confused on why this one guy right near Brandon and I just walked and continued on down toward the actual finish line.

I waited to kick due to a few curves and pedestrians crossing the course, but I finally did ... with one killer curve left where I almost biffed it. Still, I blew through the finish line for a total leg time of 1:26 and a tri time of 2:03:38.

Our buddy Mark got a picture of me crossing that is similar to Steve in a Speedo's "one-legged pirate" shots, but only Brandon has a copy of that one. Boo. FotoJack got some good shots of my kick, but those are for tomorrow.

When I finished, I grabbed my shirt and immediately started looking for Brandon because I knew he'd be finishing right behind me. He crossed the finish line, dove into my arms and almost collapsed from the joy, exhaustion and exhiliration. I know that training for, doing and completing this race meant so much to him and I was so ridiculously proud of him when he crossed that finish line. Honey, I love you and I am SO PROUD OF YOU. Even now, three days later. SO PROUD.

Et Cetera

I'm glad this tri went well especially considering my training this year has been a struggle. Cycling has been crappy. My running has been downright awful. Swimming had been the only good thing for me. Somehow, though, everything came together. This was my fastest ride I've done all year which was AMAZING. The run was about average and the swim was slower (open water, goggle issues, etc.), but I don't care. I'm just happy I was happy after this race.

I think the key is for me to not care and just go into the race with an "eh, whatever, this is going to be fun!" attitude ... which is weird for me to have as an athlete and as a competitor. I am a competitive person ... who performs best when she's chilled out. Finally figured it out for hockey and I guess triathlon's going to be the same way. That's probably the reason why last year's race went so poorly - I had so many goals and aspirations and expectations that I set myself up to fail.

This year, I say "screw it" to all of that and I bust out a time that's sure, a few minutes slower than last year, but on an overall longer course. Mentally, I go to another place during competition and I think it helps.

Next year? Hopefully an Olympic. I know I'm mentally ready, but physically will still be the question. And for sure ... Ironman by 40. I've got 14 years - I'll do it.

Here it is...Brandon's triathlon recap!

2009-07-26T11:45:00.011-06:00

Indicated in the teaser post yesterday, I have completed a triathlon! I am as shocked as anyone, but yes, it is done. I have a couple different options of filling you all in on how it went. I was thinking of starting at the end and working my way backwards, but instead, I'll start at the very beginning and post my final times at the end. The only thing I'll tell you is my girlfriend is still superior to me in the athletic department. :-)

The Pre-Race

Woke up and got ready to head out to the res. We were slightly held up by breakfast as it took longer to cook than I would have liked, but regardless, we got there just after 6 and were there in plenty of time. We took our bikes out of the car and got them put together.

After we got the bikes assembled, we grabbed all our race gear and headed to transition. We found a great spot in transition. Closer to the bike entrance and exit in the middle row. We racked our bikes up (these were standard bike racks, FYI) and laid out our transition area.

We had a surprising amount of room in the transition area. I guess that is what happens when you have a race of only 550 athletes. Believe me, I'm not complaining though. :-) After that, we got body marked and loosened up. Theresa dedicated one of her calves to Mr. Steve in a Speedo, so I hope he's happy. :-p By this time, transition was getting busier so we decided to go test the lake temperature. Keep in mind, this was the same lake we swam in last week and it was a balmy 68 degrees! This week, we walked in and the lake was surprisingly warm. Thank you Jesus for 90 degree days last week! We posed for a picture or two then headed back up to transition.

Naturally, our feet were nasty from the sand walking back up. Me, I just went to the public bathroom and rinsed them off in the sink. Girlfriend, however, took the less conventional (and let's face it, more fun way) to rinse off her feet...in the sprinkler!

Then came time to stretch. I had this vision of me doing a ton of crazy-ass stretches for like an hour, but I really didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Just got a good warm-up in and stretched the muscles out.

After the stretching, we heard the pre-race briefing. Then came time to line up for the start. I started the race promptly at 8:00 am, and girlfriend started the race at 8:07 am. She and I discussed how I would be waiting for her at the end of the race, and also did a tiny bit of goading each other. She reminded me that if she came in 7 minutes behind me, she would beat my time. I tried to use this as a tiny bit of motivation, but whatever.

The Race

The Swim

Then came the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown and we were off! I was doing it! First, had to run 150 meters down to the water. The reason they did this is because the My Way or the Tri Way allows competitors to do the race in any order they want. To make things fair, they had a mass start. I jogged down to the water but as I got closer to it, I just walked. I figured I was really in no hurry to get the swim done. Cause really, let's face it. I'm not winning the triathlon on the swim leg. I walked into the water and walked until it was about chest deep, then dove on in and started swimming. I reminded myself over and over that I was doing a triathlon and was just so proud. I got into a nice groove and was swimming wonderfully until about 250 meters in. Then I hit a wall. My left calf cramped up badly. My breathing suddenly struggled. I needed to switch to sidestroke, which I was really bummed out about, but at the very least, it kept me relatively calm and my head above water. When I hit the turn-around, there was something very uplifting about it. Maybe it's the fact I could see the shore, or maybe it was that I knew the swim was 1/2 over. Regardless, I put my head back in the water and kept moving. Unfortunately, that didn't last too long. I had to keep my head above water for nearly the entire 2nd half of the swim. I knew I was losing time, but at that point, my only concern was getting back to the beach. Finally, I was able to stand and walk out of the water. I saw our friend taking pictures and that motivated me to start jogging. I walked/jogged up to transition and got into my cycling gear. I was really glad I practiced transition, as my first transition went very very smooth. Then I was off on the next leg.

The Bike

Ok, so by now, as you're probably guessing, my spirits were pretty low after the swim. You would be somewhat right. I was kind of sad that what I thought would be my strongest leg was definitely weak, but I was also upspirited in that I knew I had two legs to go and had plenty of opportunity to play catch up. Literally, within .25 miles of the bike, I was already in a great mood. And my legs, although a little sore, were feeling fine otherwise. And here's something that not only surprised me, but felt amazingly motivating: I was passing people! Here I was, getting my ass kicked in the water, and yet I was rising up on the bike, passing these same people that blew by me in the water.

When I made the turn out onto Quincy Avenue, I knew I was going to have a good ride. I had an attitude that was going to allow me to have a good ride. I was looking at the hills instead of daunting as opportunities to catch people. Now for those of you that have read our blog, you know that I am not that strong on the uphills, but on the downhills, I can power by people. This is what happened. On the way to the turn around point, I would estimate there were 6 uphills and 2 downhills. As you can guess, I did get passed on some uphills, but I was also passing people. You know how good that feels? The sport you feel is the weakest of the three and you are kicking ass at it?

At the turnaround point, I popped a Clif Shot Block and pedaled hard. At this point, I had kept my cadence the whole way and was quite frankly damn proud of myself. I kicked it hard and off I was going. I saw girlfriend on the ride for the first time. I believe she yelled Team Baby Dinosaur and Sushi Power as I was going by. I yelled Sushi Power and pedaled hard. During the ride, I also made a friend. A dude on a mountain bike was trading places with me quite a bit. We chatted for a bit, and I told him I hoped to see him on the run. As I turned into the entrance for the reservoir, I blew by him and said I'll see him at the finish line. To be honest, I never saw him again. I don't know what happened, but I'm sure he finished.

Came into transition and realized there was only 3.5 miles to me becoming a triathlete.

The Run

I was smiling at this point. I probably had been for the majority of the ride, but this was the first time I noticed. I knew I was going to finish. I knew I had made up time. And I was so happy. I put on my running shoes and was off. As I was running out of transition, I heard someone yell BRANDON and looked behind me. There was girlfriend coming into transition. She had nearly caught me. I knew at this point that she was going to beat me. Did I care? Not 1%. I kid you not. Not 1%. I was only racing myself.

I ran out of transition. I thought this was very important, cause I figured if I walked, I would have a hard time getting started. My legs felt weird, but I knew what to expect thanks to practice and whatnot.

When you run during a triathlon, it's surprising how little you think. You just basically keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep plodding along. The only thing I was thinking was how much I hated that course. It was hilly, and the turns and twists basically made it so you could see your competition well ahead of you as well as what was behind you. Not a fan of that. It did let me see that girlfriend was catching up to me. Around 1 mile left to go in the run, I knew she was going to pass me. I was happy this was going to occur, because I wanted her to succeed in the tri so bad.

She caught me with about .3 miles left and after a brief exchange, I told her to run ahead of me. She did, and I was so proud. And at that time, I was proud of myself too. I knew I was going to finish. I knew I was about to become Brandon Geist the triathlete.

So, this T3 explanation. As I said, the mass start had to ensure that everyone had it fair, so to get to the finish line, you had to cut through T3 to get to the finish line. I ran through T3 with people cheering for me. I was so close! I turned down the ramp to the finish line and a guy that had already finished gave me a high-five. I had this vision of me rolling across the finish line or kissing the ground, but I just wanted to cross. I stepped on the mat and instantly the demons that had followed me my whole life disappeared. The former 208 pound kid, with 22% body fat had become a triathlete. The kid that at one point couldn't run 1/4 miles without getting tired had conquered the triathlon. I had crossed the finish line!

I saw girlfriend wating for me and collapsed in her arms. And a prediction came true. I started crying. I sobbed in her arms and just took in what I had finished. It was an amazing feeling. I was so proud of her and myself for what we had accomplished. We had done it!

More reflection will come in a couple days, on what I could have improved on and what I did right. But for now, I don't care. I just did it. I am now a triathlete.

Overall, my times were as follows:

Swim - 27:04
T1 - 2:29
Bike - 58:19
T2 - 1:39
Run - 39:49
T3 - 1:38

Total time of 2:10:56

And now, I leave you some song lyrics. This is called Infinity by Guru Josh Project. This song has become my unofficial "triathlon song".

Relax
Take your time

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity

The time goes by
So naturally
While you'll receive
Infinity

Here's my key
Philosophy
A freak like me
Just needs infinity

Brandon has done a triathlon!

2009-07-25T20:07:00.003-06:00

That's right. Read it. Take it in. The former fat kid actually is now a triathlete. I'm as shocked as you are right now, and it's going to take some time to soak in, but it will, and once it does, you will get a great race recap. Right now, I'll give you a quick summary of how it went...then you have something to look even more forward to next time I blog! Oh, pictures will follow too. Steve in a speedo will be happy.

- getting there early is good
- clouds are a blessing
- swim didn't go so well
- glad I practiced transitions
- best ride of the season
- didn't struggle on run, just slow
- what the hell is T3?
- demons got chased away at the finish

That's a quick quick recap. Be prepared for more...probably tomorrow. Thanks to all of you who read our blog and support us. Your support did not go unnoticed today.

My Way or the Tri Way - Teaser!

2009-07-25T20:06:00.003-06:00

Quick blog here ... I know I've been Slacker McSlackerpants lately regarding blogging, but Brandon and I finally had our triathlon this morning and I wanted to write up a quick teaser post.

- Went well; better than I had hoped
- Friend who came down to take pictures didn't use my camera much (boo) so depend on Brandon for photos
- Honored a fellow blogger
- Decided to not retire from racing
- First and probably only tri I will do with a T3

I will, however, give you the stats:

750m swim - 24:07 (51:44.96/mi)
Leg 1 rank - 214 (out of 550ish)
T1 - 3:10
14mi bike - 54:57 (15.29mph avg)
Leg 2 rank - 201
T2 - 2:20
3.5mi run - 37:41 (10:46/mi)
Leg 3 rank - 217
T3 - 1:26

OVERALL: 2:03:38

More tomorrow! ... or whenever I upload photos.

Tri is in one week!

2009-07-19T07:32:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't blogged for so long. Today is kind of the first day I get to reflect on everything that has been training for this tri. I have less than one week until the big day, and I figured today would be a great time to look back on eveything.

First off, I'm realizing right now that this is not a sport for everyone. It sure seems like everyone is doing triathlons nowadays, but I can tell you this isn't the case. I do agree that it's becoming a popular sport, but I have numerous people tell me that they would never attempt this feat. So it's pretty clear what I am undertaking is pretty special.

Second off...the training was not easy. It took a ton of willpower. Very rarely did I wake up and was I excited to tri train. It became a grind. It was tough. And I would say half my workouts weren't very fun. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I was working out and striving for perfection. And I am glad I feel better than I ever have in my life. But anyone who thinks a training for a triathlon will be fun is kidding themselves.

Third, there's been a lot of emotion with this. I'm not going to lie and say I've done great in my training. I haven't. I'm not going to lie and say I've been perfect. I haven't. There's been numerous slip-ups, numerous times I thought about giving up, and numerous times I cut a workout short for a variety of reasons.

Today, reflecting on the training I have done, I actually did a lot of things right. I learned a lot of things about myself and a lot of things about my body. I promised myself I would look back and determine 3 things I did right and 3 things I did wrong. Here they are. First the right things...

1. Run for time instead of distance
Why was this good? It forced me to get out there and not worry about tackling specific distances. I got to run slower, which didn't force me to run faster than I should and worry about getting injured. It also allowed me to run farther than I ever had before consistently.

2. Cycle up to Maroon Bells
Why was this good? Up until this point, I knew my cycling was weak. I knew I wasn't going to do well on the bike. And I was frustrated by it. Very very frustrated. Riding up to the Bells was incredibly difficult. Probably one of the hardest things I have done in my life. And I did it. I struggled, but I did it. After this, I knew I could do anything on the bike. New motivation, let me tell ya.

3. Mixed in non tri workouts
Why was this good? It allowed me to relax. Took some of the stress of training for the tri out of it. Hiking or rafting was almost not only enjoyable, but I was pretty good at doing both of those things since I was in such good shape from the swimming, cycling, and running.

Now, the three things I wish I would have done differently/better.

1. Manned up a little more
What do I mean? There were too many times that I just said "oh, I'm too tired". Can't be doing that. Not during tri training. I wussed out a lot due to me just beling lazy.

2. Read too much literature on triathlons
What do I mean? Every time I saw a book on triathlons at the library, I wanted it. And read it. And eventually, the info all blended together. I was getting the same information from so many sources I eventually stopped absorbing anything. I should have stuck with Triathlons for Dummies.

3. Didn't really focus on my diet
What do I mean? I basically ate how I usually eat. I should have focused so much more on diet.

Regardless, I have 1 week left. Time to do the final few days and give er hell on Saturday

Race #3 of the Season: Lone Tree Firecracker 5K

2009-07-07T13:32:00.003-06:00

So I've been waiting to update and blog about this race until I got my pictures from said race uploaded on my camera. However, I do all of my picture dealing on my laptop and said laptop has chosen to completely die and not boot up anymore.

Yeah.

So, no pictures. Boo. However, I'll give a marginal race report.

To start off, my running lately has been horrible. Awful. Horribly awful. I can't seem to shake the sports asthma (which i usually can as i train more and more) and running just is not getting any easier. My times continue to suck and suck hard. As a result, I wasn't expecting a lot out of this race.

Brandon wasn't either and we started off running it together, but I just couldn't hold his pace. So I walked and made him go on ahead. I alternated running and walking throughout the course (up giant ass hill to smaller hill down small hill up baby hill down big hill), finishing in 32:28 or 10:27/mile.

Not good. May still be my best time on that course (don't remember and too lazy to look back), but it's been disheartening.

In other training news, swimming is the only thing seemingly going well ... when I swim. It's hard to motivate myself to cycle or really, train at all. It's getting to the point that I want to retire from racing after the tri (since i've already paid for the damn thing). I probably won't, but still ... training (or lack thereof) has been going THAT badly.

Tri Training...I'm enjoying myself now

2009-06-27T13:10:00.002-06:00

Let's face it. This has been an up and down road (sometimes literally!) and there's been a lot of hard work. Sometimes I've really pushed myself, and sometimes I haven't. Most of the time I've been pushing through pain; other times I've made excuses. And let's face it, sometimes life gets in the way of things.

But anyway, I figure I'll update everyone on my last week of training. It was truly an up-and-down week where life kind of got in the way. I took a couple days off due to work being a bitch and also had to take some time off of running due to my foot hurting from hiking last week in Aspen. However, over the past two days, there has been much happiness in training. Girlfriend and I went cycling along the E-470 trail for 12.37 miles, and I felt it was my 2nd best ride of the season. Then yesterday, I went for a 3.35 mile run in Aspen followed by a hike to the top of Buttermilk Mountain.

Yeah, my quads are sore today, but you know what? There's less than a month left til the tri. It ain't gonna wait for sore quads!

Bitch-Making and Maroon Creek Road

2009-06-18T16:22:00.004-06:00

Brandon already blogged about our ride yesterday, but I said I'd be back with pictures, so back with pictures I am!

As he said, we rode up Maroon Creek Road up to some of the most famous/most photographed peaks IN THE WORLD, the Maroon Bells. I'm too lazy to check, but I'm actually pretty sure I posted a picture of them here on this blog last summer.

Regardless, we decided to cycle it yesterday. We were thinking from the hotel ... and then from Aspen Highlands ... and ended up parking at some point on the road right about a mile before the Ranger station (free to get in on a bike; otherwise ... $10 by car). As he said, the ride to the actual park/forest/what-have-you entrance wasn't bad. It was the next 4.75ish miles that sucked. Hard.

Okay, the first mile or so after the gate wasn't that bad, either. I tried a tactic I read in some book Brandon checked out from the library regarding the Carmichael Training System (lance armstrong's coach ... or former coach ... whatever) - "spinning" my pedals rather than "mashing" them.

In other words, try for a higher cadence at a lower gear rather than the opposite way around.

This helped for a while - I was making it up the road at a fairly decent clip with my cadence somewhere in the mid- to high-90s.

But then the ride started getting tougher. And tougher. And tougher. At about the 3.25ish point on the ol' cyclometer, I stopped to take some pictures.

You can kind of see the angle of the road. Yeah, I stopped at the top(ish) part of a hill. Or at the very least, a plateau in the road.

The road ahead. It's KIND OF flat.

I kept plugging. Every now and then I'd stop for Brandon to see how he was doing (and to make sure he didn't crash or die along the way) ... and then I'd keep going. My asthma was also giving me major shit - serves me right for forgetting my damned inhaler back in Denver. Oops.

Sneak peek of Maroon Bells through the trees. You also can see how the road keeps going up ... and up ... and up ...

Brandon making his way up the road, slowly but surely.

I forget exactly where we were at mileage at this point ... 4 miles in? Maybe? ... but the ride was starting to hurt. At one stop, I kept my right calf stretched out. Yeah, that cramped it up. Smart, I know. I was in my lowest possible gear setting and still somehow stomaching out a cadence somewhere in the 60s ... though my mph went to total shit in the mid-single digits. Like 6.0mph, I kid you not. I tried to keep it at 8ish if I could, but even that hurt.

Another preview of the Bells.

Still, we kept on plugging. We stopped to sit down at one point at the five mile point and contemplating turning around, especially given that we were starting to get a tad short on time, but I saw a sign up the road that kept me going - the entrance to the actual Maroon Bells Recreation Area. Yeah, I wasn't quitting at that point.

I never really wanted to, though. I knew Brandon was struggling more than I was (and i was struggling quite a bit; not gonna lie), but I tried to help him through it. I told him to keep taking it a tenth of a mile, a quarter of a mile at a time. His running/motivational playlist wasn't working, so I told him to switch to his "Ballin'" playlist. Because really, he was a baller for making it up that road. Maroon Creek Road wasn't making us its bitches - we were making it our bitch.

And we did ... about 5.75 miles after we started and around 40 minutes later, we made it.

Brandon at the top!

Our bikes. They helped us power up that bitch of a road.

I kind of regret not resetting the cyclometer after we made it to the top - I would have liked to have known my average speed on the way up. I'm sure it was sad and pathetic, but eh. I made it ... I made it up almost 6 miles climbing about 1000 feet in elevation. And the view was worth it from the top.

Weee, us!

The rewarding view from the top.

Exhausted, but smiling.

Seeing as we had to turn it around in time to get lunch, showered and either on the road (me) or back to the airport (brandon), we didn't wander around as much as we normally would have and went on down the hill.

See, that's the great part of the ride - not only are the views rewarding, but so is the ride down. For the first two miles or so, you're going the actual speed limit (35) or faster; I topped out at 42.2mph. Going up, I was in the easiest of gears. Going down, I cranked it up to the hardest gear I have and was still easily pedaling away (but i made sure to keep pedaling!). I was pretty sure I was going to get some bruises on my face from the bugs smacking into me, but alas, none. Which is probably good.

Stats:
11.58 mi in 59:02; 11.77 mph
Average cadence: 75
Top speed: 42.2mph
Lowest speed: don't want to know
Elevation gained: An ass-ton, but around 1000

Ultimately, I would have to say this was a validating ride. Hard, but worth the pain. I struggled (oh lawd did i struggle), but I'm still impressed with how well I (comparatively) powered through it.

Tri Training...humbling

2009-06-18T09:32:00.005-06:00

As everyone knows by now, cycling is the weakest sport of mine in the triathlon sports. For whatever reason, I'm just not strong on the bike. I don't know what is the cause of it (I have pretty strong quads) or why I struggle with it, but regardless, it's where I need to improve the most.

In any event, I'm overnighting in Aspen this month and the next. Since the girl loves Aspen like I do, she has agreed to come up on some of my overnights and bring our bikes so we can cycle. That's what we did yesterday. We cycled.

The Maroon Bells are a series of mountains near Aspen. They are pretty spectacular. It's almost inspiring. We've driven up there a couple times, but never cycled. So yesterday, we parked on the road and unpacked the bikes and began our ride.

The first mile took us to the rangers station. It really wasn't that bad thus far, and we saw a few other cyclists going both up and down the road. At the rangers station, we were told it's about 5 miles to the Bells from the station. Ok, not too bad. But as the ride went on, it got harder and harder. And my speed/cadence/morale suffered ridiculously. At a few points, we both stopped and kept pondering turning around. But we both knew that wasn't an option. At exactly 5 miles, we thought about it, but we were so close and wanted to succeed. So we kept plugging away. And sure enough, we made it!
This is the site we were greeted with. We spent a couple minutes walking around, taking some pictures, and me, I was doing some reflecting. I was pretty proud of myself. Sure, the ride had taken nearly an hour. Sure, I had only covered 5.8 miles. Sure, I still have a loooooong way to go before I will call myself a good cyclist. But I had done it. I pushed, reached inside myself, dug deep to find something I wasn't sure was even there. I just stood there, looking at the Bells, and realized I was really proud of myself.

The ride down was a blast and took maybe 10 minutes. I got to a top speed of 44.5 mph while riding down and it was oh so much fun. That ride, looking at it now, may be the turning point of my tri training, for the positive. A short, 11.7 mile ride.

Oh Lawdy ... (teaser post)

2009-06-17T20:29:00.003-06:00

Cycled with the boy in Aspen today. Up Maroon Creek Road to Maroon Lake/Maroon Bells.

The ride up there was only 5.75ish miles ... but it was the hardest 5.75ish miles of my life.

More tomorrow (with pictures!). I'm tired now.

Go Figure

2009-06-11T17:46:00.003-06:00

The motivation I found two weeks ago has been lacking lately. Maybe it's because I was working so much and when I finally stopped my brain and body just gave up on me. Maybe it's an internal self-sabotage. Whatever it is ... it hasn't been good.

The first week of the tri journal was awesome - run, swim, off, cycle/lift, run/softball, off, run/swim. Then ... not so much. Lift, off, off, off (!!!!!!), crappy cycle, longhardcrappy run, cycle around downtown not caring about anything. Then there's been this week - throwing around a softball, crappy run, crappy swim ... and today.

Before I go into today's stupidness, I want to talk about the swim workout Brandon and I did yesterday. We warmed up as usual and after that first 100m, I knew I didn't have it in any way, shape or form. Kind of like a lot of my workouts lately. So, we ended up doing about 250m in 25m chunks chasing each other. One of us started off, the other stayed on their heels so we ended up basically kicking each other - tri style. So, while it wasn't the best swim I've ever had, at least we ended up making it somewhat race-day functional.

So, today. It's been raining A LOT here in Colorado and reminding Brandon of his old life back in Minnesota (seriously, what's with the rain? it's nice that it's green, but sheesh). I scheduled in a two-a-day today - cycling and running. However, it started raining late this morning. And kept raining. So, I told myself that if the rain didn't stop by 2pm, I'd go to the gym and get in a workout on the stationary bike.

So I do. 30:00, level nine, hill setting. Did 10.8 miles which works out to a 21.8mph average ... which I never come close to on an actual bike for an average. I stretch afterward, see my dad playing hooky from work in the pool, say hi, walk outside ...

... and see that it stopped raining. See that it was sunny outside. Look outside the window now, three hours later, and see that it's still freaking sunny.

Oh well, I'll just count that ride as a cadence ride (tried to average around 90rpms; 10 more than i do when outside) and try to get in some sort of run later when Brandon gets home from work.

Tri traning...the epic story

2009-06-09T16:01:00.003-06:00

On June 1st, I started keeping a log of my triathlon training. In this log is the date, the type of workout, and details. Nothing spectacular, but something to keep me honest. I use voomaxer on facebook to keep track of a lot of it, but this is something that will help me record my thoughts and whatnot.

So, you're all probably wondering how things are progressing. I'll fill you in on the big details...

- I've discovered anything chewy or gooey in orange flavor is yucky
- Brick training is going to be a high priority
- I'm more honest about keeping a workout schedule if I write it down
- Cycling is still clearly the weakest of my 3 sports
- I am giving myself a big boost of confidence in swimming by figuring I will be more comfortable than 75% of the people in the water
- My calf muscles are getting very defined
- I am already figuring I will cry when I cross the finish line. Not out of pain, but the demons will be chased away

The workouts have been good. Some of my runs, especially. I did brick training for the first time today...lots to improve on, but no complaints thus far.

46 days until...

How my story would look in Mens Health

2009-05-31T17:52:00.003-06:00

I read those little dealies in Mens Health and other fitness magazines about people that used to be fat and now aren't. And part of me has often wondered how mine would look. So I wrote it. It's longer than what would be in Mens Health, but what the hell, right?

The Gain
Brandon Geist stayed thin in high school by doing all the right things, and got fat in college by doing all the wrong things. “I was an athlete in high school; played football and hockey and lifted multiple times a day. I could eat whatever I wanted and still looked good. In college, I wasn’t nearly as active, but still ate poorly.” Pizza and Chinese buffets became staples, as did booze. He lost his good looking frame and healthy lifestyle, going from 170 lbs and 11% body fat to 208 and 23% body fat. “I was dating a girl who only ate fried food and desserts and got caught up in her mentality. was making her happy or a few hours a week on the ice was enough. In reality, that small amount of exercise probably kept me from gaining 90 lbs.”

The Loss
About a year after that relationship ended, Brandon had his moment. “I literally looked in the mirror one morning and hated what I saw. I wanted the old me back. The fit me, the healthy me.” Walking into a gym took courage, but Brandon signed up for 12 sessions with a personal trainer. He quickly saw results. “I was getting my ass kicked by my personal trainer and it felt great. I was re-discovering something I hadn’t seen in years.” Armed with a new girlfriend, a new mentality, and a new challenge, Brandon stepped it up more. “Her family offered to let me tag along on their Hawaii trip. Knowing we wanted to be that cute couple, we challenged each other to get in beach shape. I hit the weights even harder. I knew I was getting results when my personal trainer told me I was looking ripped.”

The Result
It hasn’t been easy, but Brandon has sculpted himself quite nicely. He’s whittled over 20 lbs from his body and dropped his body fat nearly 10%. He is running 10 miles a week and is training for his first triathlon. “If you would have asked me 4 years ago if this was possible, I’d laugh at you.” Having a girlfriend who cares about fitness helps. “She motivates me and cares about my success. She and I push each other”

Brandon’s Tips

Set a realistic goal – If you try to achieve something that isn’t realistic, you’ll get frustrated and give up. Keep it simple.
Have fun – Remember that things like throwing a softball around or hiking burn calories as well
Think long term – You’re shouldn’t go for the quick fix. Remember that you’re working towards a lifetime goal.

Rocking and Rolling

2009-05-31T16:35:00.004-06:00

It's been a week (well, almost) since I had my revelation-type thing and training's gone well.

I told you all about my run on Monday and since then ...

- I swam on Tuesday. 1000m total (100m warmup; 900m continuous) AND tested out awesome new goggles - AquaSphere Kayennes. $25 and worth every penny.

- Took Wednesday off. Walked around a bit, splashed in the neighborhood pool a bit ... and had date afternoon. Worth it.

- Cycled and lifted on Thursday. Got back on the C-470 trail in seriously like the first time in almost a year and still hate it. Hilly and windy, it KILLS your speed times. However, I'm slowly starting to get the hang of that whole "make the bike do the work" in regards to shifting, so that's good. Brandon and I also managed to put in a quick, small upper body lifting session that night. I was worried about it since I ate something that didn't agree with me and I ended up skipping sushi, one of my FAVORITE meals, in favor of trying to puke up whatever didn't agree with me. Once I did, though, I DID feel better.*

- Ran and played softball on Friday. Friday's run was a 1.92 mile loop that took me up that same damn trail hill I mostly ran up on Monday. Friday I actually made it up the hill and the whole loop took 19:18 for a 10:03.12/mi. The softball game (on a team through work), however, went crappily and I totally SUCKED and took a ball of the inside of my foot so I'm nice and bruised now. Ow.

- Took yesterday off. Was only going to do a light lifting day anyway, but really, sometimes sleep is more important.

Which brings us to today. I did the same 1.92 mile loop as Friday, but I went the other way ... which took me down the trail and up Lone Tree parkway. Which makes me think that long, gradual hills are worse than short, steep ones, as I did the same distance in 19:37 for a 10:13.02/mi. A whole 10 seconds slower per mile thanks to that other stupid-ass hill.

I'm skipping dinner with the family tonight in order to eat some fruits and veggies and have a very plant-based meal as I feel my diet's been lacking in those lately and then SWIMMING!!!!! tonight before I have to sleep and go back to work again for the sixth day in a row (of a ten day stretch).

* Okay, so I'm sure reading about vomit isn't pleasant, but at least it's not poop. :-p

Continuing Tri Training

2009-05-27T08:41:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone. Yes, the tri training is continuing.

Due to both my ankles hurting, I have shelved running for 1 week. I am trying again in 2 days up in Fargo. Prior to my ankle injuries, I was able to put in 5+ miles at a decent pace. Girlfriend and I were also sprinting at a track. However, we were both being really hard on ourselves and I'm not sure we were getting everything out of it that we could have. I'm going to try to figure out some other sprint workouts to do that will help us both. Suggestions are good people!

As for cycling, it's something I am really really enjoying. However, it's clearly my weakest of the 3 sports. On our last ride, I was struggling to keep a cadence of 80, which is what I am shooting for. Why was I struggling? Because I still am getting the mechanics of spinning consistently at a consistent pace. This means more riding. And more consistent riding.

And swimming? I'm working on tucking the chin and pushing the hips up. I think I'll have a slight advantage over some of my competitors in that I am NOT afraid of the swim leg. No, it's the leg I'm probably most looking forward to, in fact. I'm a decent swimmer and my swimming endurance is there. It's obviously not going to be neglected though.

Motivation though is definitely at an all time high for the tri. I want to do so well in this it's not even funny. I'm basically thinking about it multiple times a day. I'm definitely talking the talk, and I'd like to think I'm walking the walk. We'll see what happens in June and July, when we start stepping it up to 2 a days, doing brick training, and basically killing ourselves.

Calm. Focused. Determined.

2009-05-25T13:03:00.003-06:00

I don't know what prompted it, but at some point late this morning, I looked in the mirror and said to myself, "T, you need to get your shit together. You need to quit procrastinating on this tri training and just freaking DO IT. I know you're not as motivated as Brandon right now, but who cares. Train and the motivation will follow."

I came out to my computer and wrote a poem/mission statement-type thing and then went out for a run.

It's a humid, overcast day here in Colorado; a rarity for us and, given that it's slightly drizzly as well, a day that normally I'd say "eh, I'll go to the gym later" and then probably not end up going because that's the way I work sometimes.

But today, I ran. It was a little chilly, but I felt better for going. I planned my route to have two decent-sized hills in it - the hillier part of that 1.35 mile loop and then this bitch of a trail hill that I'll undoubtedly have to face in the Lone Tree Firecracker 5K on July 4th. I had to walk a bit on the trail hill to regain my breathing, but also because I had some pain/discomfort in my abdomen. As I got to the top of the hill (2.34 miles in) ... I realized what it was.

I had to poop. Badly.

I walked the remainder home (the last .57 mi) and barely made it. Still, what I ran I did in 24:20 for a 10:23.93 mile. Not great, but given that it's the first time I've really run since the Rockies race (done a few sprint workouts, but that's it), I'll gladly take it.

Perhaps something more tonight when Brandonpants gets home, but for now, I'm content with what I did and hungry for more.

Now ...

2009-05-22T22:02:00.003-06:00

... I don't know what it is about swimming (and, more precisely, a GOOD swim), but I almost always exit the locker room afterward feeling good about myself. Maybe it's the total body workout, maybe it makes me stand taller, but I almost always feel stronger and leaner and have a good body image after putting in a good swim.

100m breast warm-up, 800m breast, 25m back and 25m free cool down. 950m in 25ish minutes. I'll take it right now.

NOT DEAD

2009-05-21T20:47:00.004-06:00

We're not dead over here at ISDreams and have been working out quite a bit (well, brandon moreso than i. stupid work exhaustion) ... we just haven't been blogging. I'll try to formulate something soon.

In case I don't, however, we've been riding a few times, done a few track sprint workouts, FINALLY played hockey again, I've been playing softball, we've been going on semi-regular walks, I've swam once or twice and Brandon's been a running ROCK STAR.

That's the main summary; again, hopefully back with something longer soon! Perhaps tomorrow, as I don't have softball due to Memorial Day weekend ...

Tri Training has begun officially

2009-05-15T18:23:00.004-06:00

A few important things have happened over the past few weeks.

Important thing #1. I got my bike! Yes, I did. A Trek 1.2. It's a good starter road bike that will basically allow me to do what I need to do. Which is complete my tri and add some variety cardio to my workout routine.

We went for a 14.5 mile ride the day after I got the bike. Aside from a crappy cyclometer that didn't tell me my cadence, no problems. This is going to be my weakest point in the triathlon, I believe, so I am going to be really focusing on cycling in the next couple months.

Important thing #2. I've re-evaluated my running. Armed with a new running playlist and a new mindset, my running has gotten better. I'm overnighting in Fargo a lot this month and every time I'm in town, I go for a run. The first two times this month were 45 minute runs, and today I upped it to 50 minutes. This has allowed me to run 5 miles for the first time since I ran the 10K nearly a year ago. I'm not concerning myself with distance, I'm not conerning myself with time, all I'm doing right now is running. And really really enjoying it.

Important thing #3. My mindset is the best its been in a long time. It's funny, but I guess when you have something you are trying to achieve, you can really want to do what it takes to get it. I'm shooting to complete a thiathlon, but I want to do more than just finish it. I want to do good. I want to finish it with a respectable time. And I want something to build off of.

Anyway, that's an update on my tri training for now. More to follow soon. :-)

Race #2 of the Season: Rockies' Home Run for the Homeless

2009-05-10T12:08:00.005-06:00

Yes, this is my long overdue race report from LAST SUNDAY'S race. Results were finally posted a few days ago, but I'd been lazy (okay, too busy to) and hadn't uploaded my photos until today.

So, here we go ...

Brandon after his pre-race poop. I took mine right after.

After port-o-pottying and stretching, we found some poor sap (okay, some chick who offered) to take our picture.

We then found our way to the start line.

At about 8:15am, we were off. Brandon soon sprinted ahead of me, but I stayed steady. TONS of people passed me (we were kind of near the front because this race didn't have chip timing), but I wanted to stay consistent.

Mile 1: 10:22 (or so the dude called out)

Right after Mile 1, we headed out of downtown proper, up a hill and on the other side of I-25. Most of the second mile was over there. Up another hill, over another bridge and going back down into downtown finished it out.

Mile 2: 20:44 (see above)

At this point, I was apparently running EXACTLY a 10:22 pace which is kind of funny. Consistent? Ridiculously so.

After Mile 2 is when I started to hurt a little. At Mile 2, you're running next to the stadium, but then hang a right and loop back around and in. I was considering walking, but told myself "NO" and kept on plugging. Soon, it was time to enter the stadium ... and the deceptive part of the race (which brandon got a picture of because i gave him my camera).

It's kind of hard to see, but there's the finish line. You see it, maybe get a glimpse of your time ... and then, oh wait, you still have to run around the damn warning track.

Right after this point, I saw Brandon running out of Coors Field as I was running in and knew he was doing a lot better than I was. Still, I kept running. I also think I screwed myself a little by leaping up and high-fiving all the kids along the wall. Kicked my calves in the process and ow.

I also (somehow) had enough in me for my final kick.

I finished just under 32:00 with a 31:55 finish and a 10:17/mile pace, which means I kicked it up a tad for the final 1.1 miles.

According to the fun e-mail I got from the race people:
- I placed 737th out of 2184 finishers
- I was 309th out of 1227 women
- I was 92nd out of 246 in my age group (25-29). What doesn't help was that the winning female was also in my age group, with a time of 19:36. Ouch.

I'm not the happiest with my race performance, but I still improved on my first time of the season which is really all I care about right now.

Now, it's time to focus on training. No more races (most likely) until the Lone Tree Firecracker 5K, so it's time to beat my ass into shape.

2nd 5K of the season...nearly a PR

2009-05-06T18:57:00.002-06:00

Time to blog about the Rockies 5K Home Run for the Homeless.

When girlfriend and I were in the offseason, we both realized that while running races is fun and we like getting race t-shirts, we don't want to pay 30 bucks to run 3.1 miles. So we determined which 5K's we really enjoyed last year and wanted to do again, and the Rockies race made the cut. I'll explain why I like this race later.

Woke up super early on Sunday and made up breakfast. Of course, stupid Denver had to be cold that morning. So I wore my standard get up of shorts, long underwear up top, and my Nike race shirt. We got to Coors Field in plenty of time to have a pre-race poop. Then we warmed up and stretched. Also took in some of the sites and sounds of the race. Last year I remember there being a lot more dirty hookers wearing Tulo shirts. This year, I think the temperature and clouds kept them away. Whatever, fine by me.

When the gun went off (ok, airhorn) I ran with girlfriend for maybe .01 miles and then lost her. We decided at the beginning I was going to do this one on my own. And in the back of my mind, I was going for a PR, but I knew it would be a stretch.

Nonetheless, I settled into a great pace. The first mile was 9:30 and I felt like I wasn't even pushing myself that hard. In the 2nd mile, I amazingly held about the same pace, and when I hit the mile sign and the dude called out 18:45, I knew a record was in reach. However, I also realized I was pushing myself, and that to reach my PR, it would take a lot of strength, grit, and determination.

As Coors Field came in sight, I remembered that we had to make a right turn, then double back to the stadium. At this point, I was maybe at 23:00 in. Knowing I still had a lap around the warning track, I decided that a PR wasn't in the cards. I wasn't upset however, and kept pushing. As I hit the warning track, I dug deep and pushed myself. Coming out of the stadium, I got to see girlfriendpants running in. She said go baby dinosaur, but I wasn't able to formulate a sentence back. :-( The finish line in sight, I picked it up, crossing officially at 28:56. Being that I didn't cross the start line right at the beginning, my Nike+ timer said 28:39, but whatever, no big deal. Either way, a huge improvement on last year and also the knowledge that I am improving.

So why is this race one of my favorites? In addition to an relatively easy course and a cool lap around the warning track, I love the post-race food. Bagels, bananas, squishies, and ballpark hot dogs! Seriously. That is so badass.

So...obviously something to build on, and something to be proud of as well. And if you're wondering what my PR is, it's 27:17.

Sneak, Rockies, Grr.

2009-05-05T13:29:00.002-06:00

Brandon and I did run the Colorado Rockies' Home Run for the Homeless on Sunday, but the official race results aren't up yet so I've been waiting on blogging. *sigh* I did beat my Sneak time, however, and Brandon was about a minute shy of PRing so I'm super proud of him.

Anyway, the official race photos from the Sneak came out from FotoJack, so I wanted to share those with you. :)

Brandon's there with the white shirt and black shorts.

Remember how I said I took a photo of one of the course photogs? Yeah, well I was right and that same photog got three pictures of me. Here's the first ... with my shorts looking awkward ...

Camera's now down and I look silly. Like stupid silly. Oh well, at least this got me smiling with less than a half-mile to go, you know?

And here's me running after everything. Best picture the photog got of me.

Hopefully, the Rockies race results will be up soon so I can blog about that ...

1st 5K of the season...things are really good right now

2009-04-29T15:36:00.004-06:00

Girlfriend got on my case to blog about the Cherry Creek Sneak, and I realize that I promised you all I would give updates periodically. So...here we go!

On Sunday morning, we both woke up and neither of us were really in the mood to get out of bed. But I'm not a fan of paying 30 bucks for a race T-shirt for a race I didn't run in (ok, the Twin Cities marathon performance shirt, maybe). So we manned up, I made us some eggs while girlfriend made us some toast, and we went to Cherry Creek.

After peeling off some layers, stretching, and warming up, I was feeling really really good. You know that feeling that you're going to run well? Yeah, that's what I had. However, being the good boyfriend that I am sometimes accused of being, I promised girlfriend I would stay with her the whole race.

And they're off in the Cherry Creek Sneak! (sorry, I'm a nerd and the Derby is this weekend) The first mile, of course, always sucks. Jockeying for position, figuring out a solid pace, etc. By the first mile, we did about 11 minutes per mile, so I wanted to pick it up a bit. We did, even with me having to stop and tie my shoe. I was shocked at how good I was feeling; it's really strange.

In the final mile, I saw girlfriend struggling, but I stayed with her. I think we feed off each other ridiculously. In the final .1, she told me to go, so I did. I ended up finishing in 32:07, which isn't great, but given that it's my first race of the season, I'll take it.

I'm really getting into the groove I was hoping I would. Went for a good run this morning, plan on doing it again tomorrow. Tomorrow I will do endurance. Sunday = another race. Time to crack 30:00 again!

Pushing My Limits

2009-04-29T11:11:00.002-06:00

First off, ended up not doing sprints last night. Way too tired and had to open at work today (that is, be there by 4:15am).

HOWEVER, I did go for a long run today.

In fact, it was the longest run I've ever done in my life (... so far).

I've been thinking about doing this one loop - leave the house, go down some trail to the main road, loop back up and around. So I did it today and almost regretted it. It was long, windy, hilly and it made me its bitch. The wind actually made my right eye tear up under my sunglasses so I had tears dripping down the right side of my face. I also had to walk several times, which is kind of disheartening. Still ... I finished and I finished it running.

4:34 mi in 47:24 = 10.55.3/mi

Just under an 11 minute mile for that long of a duration ... THAT INCLUDES WALKING? I'll so take it. I'll also take it considering last week's long(ish) run was about three-quarters of a mile shorter AND my mile time was eight seconds slower.

Here I go improving, slowly but surely!

*this post is brought to you by t's sunburned face. t got sunburned on sunday and would like to remind you to WEAR SUNSCREEN if you don't already on a consistent basis, especially now that the weather is getting warmer. she was smart and wore it today, though. this post is also dedicated to whomever discovered aloe and its practical application in sunburn relief.

Race #1 of the Season: Cherry Creek Sneak

2009-04-28T18:52:00.002-06:00

This past Sunday, Brandon and I ran our first race of the season - the Cherry Creek Sneak. We also did this race last year - it was Brandon's first race and the day he officially became a runner (or so we said).

I wasn't expecting too much out of this one, especially since we ended up signing up for the 5K version of the race instead of the 5mi version we had originally hoped to do. Still, run it we did.

I got prepped the night before after my shower by tossing on my "winner" underwear - I wore them the night before the Autumn Color Run last year which ended up being my best race of the season. So, I figured it wouldn't hurt to actually wear them for a race.

We got to sleep and then woke up Sunday morning ... although it was cold in the house and we didn't want to get up. Still, we did, got ready, ate breakfast and were out the door by 6:45am. Although the race didn't start until 8am, we wanted to get there early so we could park before they closed down the last of the streets.

We got there in plenty of time, parked, decided to get rid of a layer or two as it was warmer than weather.com said it would be, warmed up and stretched and I decided to poop (it was a decent poo. good sign!). We also wandered around what would end up being the post-race area in search of some PowerAde for Brandon ... and took pictures.

Finally, it was time to line up for the race.

Aaaand, we were off! Given that it was our first race of the season, we decided to run it together. Brandon's in a bit better shape than I am so it was a bit of a struggle for him to stay with me and my slow pace, but he did anyway.

He had his iPod for his Nike+ thing ... which helped a bit in keeping pace. We did the first mile in about 11 minutes, which was a little slow, but the first mile of a race always sucks, with getting into a groove and jockeying for position and dodging people and whatnot. We picked it up a bit during mile two, as we cut it down to a 10-something minute mile. I was in a bit of pain, but I kept moving; Brandon had to stop twice to tie his shoe.

We were hoping to make the last 1.1 miles our quickest, but I know it didn't happen with me (... well, maybe. don't know my actual splits; just my average). Brandon stayed with me until near the end when I told him to just go and finish. So, he sprinted ahead of me while I kept going. I took a picture of one of the FotoJack people, but it was too blurry for me to keep. :( Here's hoping that one makes it through ...

Anyway, I had just enough for a final kick to sprint across the finish line ... which I did in 32:47.5 for a 10:33.28/mi average. Definitely not my best race, but when I looked back on my race times from last year ... it was just over what I did for my third race last year. So ... given that it was my FIRST race this year ... I'll take it.

All smiles after the race!

Sprints tonight, longer run tomorrow, lifting Thursday, softball game on Friday ... and the Colorado Rockies' Home Run for the Homeless on Sunday!

Well Hot Damn.

2009-04-24T15:36:00.004-06:00

I ultimately decided against a workout yesterday as I still didn't have full mobility in my limbs from that killer lifting session on Tuesday. However, as I'm mostly (MOSTLY) back to normal today, I decided I'd go for a nice, long run.

So I did. It's in the 70s and breezy - well, I should amend that to say downright windy depending on which direction you're moving in - and basically nice being outside weather. The run was kind of a bitch. I had to walk a few times due to both sore muscles and my lungs/sports asthma, but I managed almost two miles (and one big honking hill) before the first walk.

Despite that, I manged to run the last mile or so straight ... though coming into home never looked so good.

While entering my info into Voomaxer on Facebook (logs your stats! easy way of figuring out your average mile if you're cheap like me and don't have a watch for splits!), I got totally bummed out when I saw it was almost a 14 minute mile.

Then I realized I'm retarded at math and 2:36-3:15 is 39 minutes and not 49 minutes. What, I'm a journalism major. We joked that COM (actually college of communication) stood for College of Optional Math.

That small little change affected me big time - 3.55 miles in 39:17 for an 11:03.94/mile. Which, considering how little I've worked out AND the walking I did is pretty damn good.

So, even though my swimming and lifting has been ridiculously disheartening, at least my run today gave me some optimism and more motivation.

Groovin'

2009-04-23T11:17:00.002-06:00

I don't know whether it's the imminence of the Cherry Creek Sneak (SUNDAY!!!!) or the tri (END OF JULY!!!!) or the good weather (!!!!) after the giant snowstorm we had out here, but Brandon and I have been motivated lately.

Don't get me wrong, we've had our struggles - including the lifting session Tuesday that STILL renders walking painful - but for the most part, we've pushed onward and upward.

I posted last Wednesday that we ran, which we did. But, I didn't manage another workout until Sunday the 19th, when I swam. It wasn't a good swim workout given that I've been weak and out of shape and sick for what seems like forever, but I managed.

4x25m free
4x100m breast
2x25m kickboard

Monday, it was treadmill sprints, and murderous ones at that. I was on the treadmill for 11 minutes and was dead after those 11 minutes. Walked for two minutes easy, then did the following:

2:00-2:15 run 8.0mph
3:00-3:30 run 8.5mph
4:00-4:45 run 8.5mph
5:00-6:00 run 8.5mph
7:00-7:15 run 8.0mph
8:00-8:30 run 8.0mph
9:00-9:45 run 8.0mph
10:00-11:00 run 8.0mph

Basically, it was a variation of a bike sprint workout I did for hockey in college. 15 on, 45 off. 30 on, 30 off. 45 on, 15 off. Minute on, minute off. Rinse, repeat. I maybe could have pushed myself another set at 7.5mph, but honestly, I don't know if I could have. Still, one hell of an interval workout.

Tuesday, Brandon and I lifted for the first time in forever as well. We did some squats at the squat rack and I was basically reduced to tears knowing how far I've fallen in strength from two years ago. Then, it was most of some Men's Health workout he found ... which we've decided is seriously only for people who already lift a ton and are looking for variation. Anyway, it was wide-grip deadlifts, reverse lunges while holding a weight above our heads and then some YTWLI lifts on a ball. What that means is you're balanced on a stability ball just below your chest holding dumbbells and you make each letter doing some specific lift.

It. Was. A. Bitch. 8-10 reps of each letter, do each five letters without stopping, rest? HA. RIGHT. It was so hard. We kept dropping our weight just to get through it, but we managed.

That workout killed us to the point where walking - hell, MOVING - hurts. Still, we managed another swim workout last night.

50m breast warm up
4x25m free
2x200m breast
1x100m breast sprint
50m back cool down

That brings us to today. Brandon, due to his flying schedule, is taking today off. I might, but I'm thinking more likely that I'll go for a run. We'll see, though. I do need an off day eventually ...

Just So You Know ...

2009-04-22T23:13:00.003-06:00

Been a lot of working out up in here lately, but no blog posts. I'll remedy that tomorrow, recanting the past few days of pain. Yes, it currently hurts to walk/move/do anything. But ultimately, I love that pain so it's fine.

Just posting I guess to say that even though I'm not posting after every workout (because, as brandon said, it kind of gets repetitive), it's not like we're not working out ... unlike normal.

Yeah. POST TOMORROW! WEEEE!

A run and an explanation

2009-04-17T08:15:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone...

First of all, I have worked out since I've last blogged. I've actually done some intense shit in between. But for some reason, I just haven't felt the need to blog. I don't know what it is, but I think writing the same stuff every single time I work out is getting really old. "I went for a run today. It was good." "I lifted today. Here's what I did." You see what I'm getting at there.

So I will be shifting my focus on this blog to specific stuff. As you may remember, I do have a triathlon coming up in July (so does girlfriend) and I will begin talking about my tri training. The official date I begin my official "tri training" is May 7th, because that is the day I am purchasing my new bike!!!! Yep, Brandon has been saving money and is ready to take the plunge.

Also, I will blog extensively about the races I do this year. How does that sound? Feedback?

In any event, I did run the other day. It was 1.56 in 16:18, but being that both girlfriend and I are coming off of illness (seriously, my immune system has sucked this year), I'm satisfied. Plus she and I walked around DC a LOT!

WOO SPRING!

2009-04-15T13:52:00.005-06:00

After being sick for like the last THREE FREAKING WEEKS, I finally got back at it today. I'm not 100%, but compared to a week and a half ago and just three days ago, I am super duper.

Felt better last week while wandering around Washington, D.C. for the Frozen Four (worked parts of it; alma mater won - GO BU!) and while Brandon and I had every good intention of going for a run, it didn't ultimately end up happening.

But. We did walk. EVERYWHERE. For me, I even walked the half-mile to the Verizon Center and back in HEELS. I'm sure that counts for extra calories somewhere.

Fun trip, though.

Washington Monument!

The walking was great. Our legs got so so so so tired, but we had a ton of fun.

Brandon busting some sort of move.

Not all the pictures are uploaded; otherwise, I'd show you the doughnut we shared that was literally the size of my head (as some of you may have read on my facebook status).

Anyway, we've kept up the walking somewhat as we walked the almost four miles round-trip (like 1.93 mi there or something) to Target yesterday and walked back from the park today.

To get to the park, however, we ran. In theory, we will be running the Cherry Creek Sneak in about two weeks. Buuuut, since we've been sick, we're probably going to chop it down from our originally-intended five-mile race to just a plain old 5K.

Getting back on track, today's run. We were going to do most of the 1.35ish mile loop that we usually do, but instead of turning toward home, go down to the park instead. Yeah. That didn't work out so great. Heading up the hill (so within the first half-mile), we ran into this killer headwind that made us feel like we were running through sludge (or at least that's how i felt). So, instead of taking our turn, we turned it back around and just went back to the park the quick way. 1.56 miles in 16:21 for a 10:28.85/mi.

Not great, but eh. At this point, I'm just glad to be finally exercising again. I thank spring. SO HAPPY IT'S SPRING FINALLY ... despite that April + Colorado still = snow in many, many cases. *sigh*

Sickness Sucks

2009-04-01T17:29:00.002-06:00

So. Brandon got sick ... and now I'm sick. As a result, neither of us has worked out in a while. We were supposed to play hockey last night, but we had a scheduling snafu with scorekeeping ... so fail.

This is frustrating, but when staying horizontal is the only thing that makes you feel better ... you stay horizontal.

Argh.

Yay, I did it!

2009-03-25T13:37:00.003-06:00

Worked out two days in a row...I know, shocking, right?

Today, I got back on the pavement and ran. But a little twist was added. I'm sure I've mentioned in here many times before the 1.37 mile loop, right? Well I decided to run it twice. The first time I ran it really slow...just to kind of get warmed up, I guess. The second time, I took it at what would be my race pace. The first one was in 15:11 and the second one was in 13:35. So I ran it about 2 minutes faster. The thing about that loop that sucks is there's that big ass hill I have to run up, and by the time I've scaled it I only have a mile left to run, so it takes a little while to get my energy back. So what I think I will do instead when I want to measure my splits is do the 2.12 mile loop. Sure it's longer but it's also a lot more downhill. And we all are huge fans of running downhill, aren't we? ;-)

Gymming it up tomorrow. There's a Mens Health workout the girlfriend and I are going to try. Don't be surprised if one of us is dead.

Still FailBlogging

2009-03-24T14:30:00.003-06:00

I did forget to blog last Tuesday as I did actually work out before going to Minnesota - we lifted! For like the first time in forever!

3/10/10 db curls; 2/10/15 bent over rows; 3/10/15 two-handed tri extensions; 1/10/25, 2/10/30 cable cross

But, since then .... nothing until today. Went for the trail loop run (as i've unceremoniously dubbed it) - 2.14 mi in 22:44 for a 10:37.38 mile. Not great, but given that the weather is schizophrenic right now as it usually is in Colorado this time of year (sunny and warmish with a cold-ass wind) AND I haven't done crapola lately ... I'll take it.

But, two other things of note on this run:

- I recently bought these in red/black and today was the first time I've been able to test it out. I've worn other stuff by Skirt Sports and enjoy it and this was one of the first pairs of "pants" that haven't been running tights that I've actually liked. It may have admittedly been a little too warm for them today, but still, two thumbs up from me.

- I also recently picked up a pair of Drymax socks, always featured and pimped out by blogger Steve Stenzel from Steve in a Speedo. Since he swears by them and I'm always on the lookout for new running crap, I decided to give them a try. My verdict? Okay. My feet started overheating by the end of my run (though i will admit that might partially because the rest of me started to overheat) plus my feet were as sweaty as usual. Running in the socks was also a little weird as they're thicker than what I'm used to. I think I need to get in a few more runs in them, maybe some longer distances before I definitively say whether or not I like them.

Hi

2009-03-24T14:29:00.002-06:00

Been a while, hasn't it? No excuse really, just life in general has been uber busy and working out has taken a backseat.

Anyway, the only excuse I'm going to make is that it is still winter (not anymore, but it was) and winter really has a negative effect on your workouts. Today girlfriend and I tried to nip that and decided it's time to just get back to basics. And by that, we mean simplify everything.

So we went for a run. Yeah, I definitely felt the effects of not running. I was slooooooooow. Not good, man. Not good. But I still finished it and had moments of brilliance. :-) It ended up being 2.14 in 22:11

I will workout tomorrow. If I don't, jump through my computer and hammerpunch me. :-)

The New Failblog?

2009-03-16T20:29:00.002-06:00

Wow.

I haven't blogged in forever - partially because I haven't worked out in forever. I've barely had time to check my e-mail, much less check up on the blogs over on that ol' blogroll (and the others i haven't yet added).

The last time I probably seriously worked out was last Tuesday when Brandon and I went swimming. It was a decent workout:

4x25m free
1x300m breast
2x25m kickboard
4x25m free
2x25m kickboard
1x100m breast

for a total of 700m, but that's so not enough. I'm hoping I'll have a chance to focus more after this weekend (wcha conference tournament; no more column taking up my week!), but we'll see. With all the crap that's been going on, I've been neglecting myself in terms of working out and eating well and I've noticed. I've been feeling like crap the past week and I know why. I just need to suck it up and take time for ME and my health and well-being.

Hopefully we'll have time to at least lift and do SOMETHING before hitting the road to head to Minnesota for the WCHA Final Five tournament. Hopefully.

Swim

2009-03-11T21:43:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I decided to get off my lazy butt and swim with the girlfriend. We grabbed the close lane and went at it. I ended up doing 1000 meters free without stopping, and then 50 meters kickboard.

Not bad, progressing still.

Hockey and Confusion

2009-03-06T22:38:00.003-07:00

As Brandon mentioned, we played hockey last night for the first time in quite a while. It wasn't a bad skate, considering - had a couple of incidental checks (oops; once into the boards, another one open ice) but hey, it happens.

However, working out has been difficult in general lately just due to something crazy going on with my body - namely, nausea.

I've always had a weird love/hate relationship with food. I like food (well, for the most part), but food often doesn't like me back. Sometimes it's due to its unhealthiness (mcdonald's and i haven't spoken in years) and sometimes i just can't explain why something I eat just doesn't agree with me.

The weird thing is, it doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes, food doesn't agree with me and sometimes it does. I've tried to find a pattern with it by looking through food journals and can't seem to find anything.

In any case, I've been having food issues the past few days. I eat something, I get nauseous. It may take an hour or so, but it happens. The problem is, when I get that feeling, the last thing on my mind is working out as the feeling of "ohhh, wanna vomit" will get even stronger. Boo.

All I can say is hopefully something changes soon.

First...hockey

2009-03-06T13:30:00.002-07:00

Last night I finally played hockey for the first time in like 2 months. It was rough for the first couple shifts, as I had to get my passing skill back as well as my lungs. But as the game got going, I fell into a nice groove. Most of my passes were good and I scored some good quality goals. 4 in all. It felt really good to play.

Why Wii Fit Can Suck (and race news!)

2009-03-02T18:53:00.003-07:00

Before I get into explaining my title, I first want to talk about last night's swim workout. As we can on Sundays when Brandon's home, we split up our scorekeeping shifts so we can both work out - I do the first two games while he does whatever and then we switch for the last two games.

Anyway, we typically take the time to swim. Brandon came back to work telling me that he swam 1000m continuously for an endurance swim, which is AWESOME.

I got to the gym, luckily got a lane (pool was unusually crowded) and started swimming. I was thinking of an endurance swim, but my first 100m breast were really tough. So, I paused, took a breather, and did 4x25m freestyle because I really want to be able to swim crawl for my tri this year*. After that, I went back to breaststroke and did 800m without stopping ... barely. Then, for a cooldown, I did 4x25m back for a total of 1100m. Woo!

Anyway, onto the title. Since both Brandon and I were a tad sore from swimming last night, we both decided to do a bunch of Wii Fit today. We both did yoga, strength training and balance exercises and I also did some crazy hula hooping.

If you've never done Wii Fit before, when you first go into your Mii (character), the balance board (yes, it's an anthropomorphic character. that's annoying and something i want to stab half the time) says hi, mentions how long it's been since you've last been on and typically offers you a fitness tip. It gets cranky if you don't accept the tip, so we always say yes to the board.

Well, I don't remember what the complete tip was, but at the end of the tip, the board "said" that "Remember there's always something you can improve on!"

Which, granted, I agree with ... to a point. Still, part of me thinks it's such a bad message to send to those doing Wii Fit, telling them that their bodies will NEVER be perfect and that they should never, ever be satisfied.

Not to mention that I hate that Wii Fit measures your fitness by using BMI. According to the balance board, Brandon's overweight. I'm somehow normal but thinks that my ideal weight should be 148.6lbs ... something I haven't weighed since probably sophomore year of high school. Yeah.

* Brandon and I signed up for a tri! We're doing My Way or the Tri Way on July 25. We both signed up to do the tri the "traditional" way of swim-bike-run, but you can choose to do a triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon (swim-run-swim or run-swim-run) or aquabike (swim-bike-swim or bike-swim-bike). Given that I'm over 150lbs, I was pondering signing up for the Athena division, but went for age group anyway. Should be fun!

Such a Bad Blogger

2009-02-27T14:42:00.002-07:00

Pfft, I've been so bad at updating this blog lately. Maybe it's because I'm sick of logging my workouts as my only entries. And yeah, I know I wanted to do more with this, but I haven't yet. Hopefully I will eventually.

In any case, ran yesterday - 2.14 miles in 22:16 for an average of 10:24.3/mi. Not bad, but not great. Still, I'm slowly beginning to up my mileage, so that's good, right?

Was thinking about going to the gym today, but I kind of don't feel like moving/leaving the house until I drive up to Vail for a friend's b-day party (where i shall be dancing lots, if i know these people). Still, I may do some body-weight exercises here before I go. We'll see.

Breaking down walls

2009-02-26T16:25:00.002-07:00

Those that have been following our blog know that I am trying to push myself running. Not necessarily in times, but just in distance. I am working on building up my endurance again. To do this, it's going to take consistency and dedication. Which we all know I have in me, but it takes a lot of searching to find it. However, have I found it?

Today, I'm in my favorite running town, so of course I wanted to run. Same type of deal as last time, except I was going to push it a bit longer. And I did. I just kept running, not really knowing where I was or how far I was going. Eventually I got to a point where I felt like turning around so I did. It ended up being a 4.12 mile run in 43:48. Not too bad, and at the end of it, I still felt like I had something left.

Tomorrow I dunno, something fun.

Run yesterday...forgot to blog

2009-02-25T19:46:00.002-07:00

Go figure, right?

Anyway, I'm really working on this endurance thing. The key for me will be running longer distances slower than what I would like to. Then use the shorter runs for speed work.

In any event, girlfriend and I went for a run yesterday. It ended up being 2.89, which seemed short, but ended up being accurate. We both went uber slow, but that's what we wanted to do. I'm planning on running a lot again in Wichita. Probably will try to push it to 4 or more.

Catching Up

2009-02-25T12:08:00.002-07:00

Wee, haven't blogged in a few days. I was too tired Sunday, forgot to catch up on Monday, and forgot again yesterday. I'm so bad.

Anyway, I've been managing to get in some decent workouts lately, which is good.

Sunday, Brandon and I split up my scorekeeping shifts so we could each go to the gym (him for a two-a-day since he already ran that day). I decided to swim and did 800m (all breaststroke) in about 19:00 which isn't bad, considering. I was going to do some freestyle as well, but was too tired. I do want to phase in the crawl, but I think I'll do it on the days I don't just swim for endurance.

Monday ended up being an off day (though i think we did do some wii fit). We were going to get in some leisurely ice skating, but the idiot that ran the temporary outdoor rink we were hoping to go to didn't crank up the cooling system (probably because he was lazy and didn't want to work). Therefore, no ice and our date was mostly ruined. Boo.

Then, yesterday, Brandon and I went on a longer run. I know I've been needing to up my distance, but lately it's been hard to force myself to do so. But, since it was almost 70 degrees yesterday (unusually warm!), we went and we ran. We took it slow and did 2.89 mi. I did it in 31:57 (weird, because brandon started seconds after and came in seconds later and had a quicker time. um, zuh?) for a pace of 11:03/mi. Not great, but I'm okay with that for now. Plus I felt good at the end, so that's all that matters, right?

Doing something later today, but I don't know what yet. I do need to catch up on what the rest of you have had to say, though, as I haven't read blogs in a few days, so I'm going to do that first.

2 workouts in one day???

2009-02-23T20:51:00.002-07:00

Hi.

Didn't blog yesterday since I got home ass-late from scorekeeping, but here it is. Armed with my new go get 'em attitude, I went for a long run yesterday. Long is relative, since most of you can run like 55 miles without blinking, but I did 3.88 miles. No concern about time, no pushing myself, this was purely an endurance run. I did it in like 45 minutes, but that's ok, because it is just something to build on.

Second workout was last night, and it was swimming. I swam 1000 meters without stopping. Again, endurance, but it went really well and I felt really good.

It's time to kick it up, people.

Another run...

2009-02-21T18:49:00.002-07:00

As girlfriend said, yesterday was a day of Wii Fit yoga and almost relaxation. I like doing the yoga on there, so I think I will be blogging about it more in the future.

And today, after grocery shopping, we ran home. It was a 1.76 mile run that I did in 17:14. It was like 9:42 per mile, which isn't too good, but something to definitely build on. I did some speed work on the way too, so that's something good.

More tomorrow.

Consistency?

2009-02-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's workout consisted of a lot of Wii Fit yoga, so I felt no need to blog about it ... well, except for now I guess. :-p

Anyway, didn't have a lot of time in between jobs today, so fit in a run by running home from the grocery store (mom took brandon and i over; we ran back). 1.76 miles in 17:40 for just about a 10:02/mile. Not great, but I guess right now I'm consistent given that I averaged a 10:03/mile my last run. So y'know.

Still, not sure if this is going to work for those five miles I hope to run at the end of April ...

Of Running and Stress Eating ...

2009-02-19T19:51:00.004-07:00

... or not eating, as tends often to be my case.

A lot of people tend to eat when they're stressed. They turn to sugars and fats and all those delicious yet bad-for-you foods that you generally try to avoid when you're not stressed out to the point of cracking.

Brandon says he's like this. I can be, but generally when I'm sick.

I started noticing in college that my eating habits went through phases - I either ate everything in sight or nothing. I almost always managed to eat breakfast (my favorite meal of the day that rarely gets thrown by the wayside), but the rest of the day could be a crapshoot on what I ate or how much I ate.

Basically, I like food, but food and I don't tend to have the best relationship. I know I need to eat. I need to eat to live. But, it gets hard, when NOTHING, even things I ADORE look appetizing (this happens more than i'd like to admit) and the things I do end up trying to eat make me feel nauseous, whether in actuality or because I imagine it (i'm not ruling out the possibility). I haven't given up food completely, though God knows I've thought about it more times than I can count (i mainly don't because if i don't eat, i will pass out. almost happened at work once - ran late, hadn't eaten in 16 hours ... yeeeeahhh ...).

In any case, to get back on track here, during times of immense stress that depresses me (i should add that clarification), I tend to not want to eat. I'll eat breakfast for sure ... but after that? I eat only because my body tells me to eat. "Bitch, you better be getting some food in you before you pass out," is how I imagine my brain/stomach operate.

It doesn't also help when dinner is something I don't particularly care for anyway and there's not another viable, healthy, quick option for me to substitute. A girl can only eat packages of beef ramen noodles for dinner so often, man.

I've been going through this lately due to some external things happening within my family (damned economy is all i'm sayin') and part of this, I'm sure, has killed my motivation to work out. It probably makes for a vicious cycle: stress = not hungry = no motivation to work out = no activity = less need for food = more not being hungry et cetera, et cetera.

So it's a surprise that I managed so much at the gym late(r) last night with how little I ate yesterday, especially considering that except for a Wee Brie (i love you president cheeses) at "dinner," the last protein I had consumed before that was around five hours prior (typically i need egg or animal protein to get me through - cheese/milk/dairy typically doesn't cut it for me).

It was a similar thing today. I ate breakfast at around 10am (mmm, gooey green apple pancakes) - a breakfast that didn't have protein save for the coffee milk I drank. Despite that, I managed a 1.56 mile run on it a little after 2pm ... and didn't eat again until dinner an hour ago at 7:15pm. I ate and wondered why I was hungry. Oh right ... that whole not eating thing in nine hours.

But when I'm stressed and/or busy (stupid column), it happens.

Speaking of that run ... 1.56 miles in 15:42 and a 10:03 mile. Boo. I was going to do a two mile loop, but it was hella windy out so I scratched that idea and went for the 1.35 mile loop that I typically do. However, as I was nearing the turn-off for home, Rodney Atkins' "If You're Going Through Hell (Keep Going)" came on and I was feeling awesome, so I went down to the next turn-off to go up the hill and curl back into home the way I left.

Bad idea. Soon after I turned the corner and started up Timberline (the crappy, stupid hill), Rodney went away and on came Tina Turner singing about "The Best." I wanted to walk SO BADLY, but I didn't. I finished and proceeded to hack up a crapton of mucus.

Needless to say, Tina got booted off the running playlist as soon as I went back upstairs.

For the curious, I discovered the song junior year in college. Our hockey coach would put it on right before a game, close the lights and leave us to listen to the song and think about what we wanted our performances to be ... or something. Needless to say, after a few months (or a few weeks; i can't remember), we all started mocking the song, giggling when it came on and eventually singing it in ridiculously high-pitched falsettos as soon as she left the locker room. As much as I ridiculed that damn song, however, I eventually grew to like it and downloaded it. Yep. Fun for driving or dancing along to around the house, but for running, it sucks.

A Treadmill workout

2009-02-19T14:33:00.004-07:00

I did a treadmill workout today. I have been feeling a little bland about the treadmill workout. I like it because it's so efficient and does a great job of burning calories, but I've been frustrated because it's so damn bland. Well, I tried something new today. I did the 2-3 pattern, but on each 3, I changed the intensity. It's really weird, but that subtle change was enough variety to keep it interesting. The first runs were 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0, as were the second. The third set I did both of them at 6.0, since the workout room in Bozeman is in the same place as the pool and it was ultra humid. Seriously. But I had a weird feeling as I was running. I got this weird feeling that I was going to make it the entire 45 minutes. No matter how tired I was getting, I was going to make it. And I sure did.

Hopefully more running tomorrow.

Pondering ...

2009-02-18T23:22:00.002-07:00

... but not elaborating right now, given that it's 11:30pm, I have to shower still and wake up relatively early so I can annoy coaches and write a column. I should have time after that, though.

Anyway, I will say that I did finally manage to get back to the gym today. Did 17 minutes in the pool (1x200m, 1x300m, 1x100m breaststroke and 1x50m crawl), stretched and then did 10 minutes and 1875m on the ergometer. Water-related workout day, I guess.

More tomorrow.

Treadmill workout in Fargo

2009-02-17T16:54:00.002-07:00

Forgot to blog earlier today, but I figure I'll get it out of the way today. I was excited about doing a treadmill workout in Fargo because yeah, I love working out up there. Seriously. However, as I started walking, my ankle felt kind of funny. Not like dangerously, but just sore, probably from skiing. So I limited myself to 20 minutes today. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but that's ok.

I haven't decided what I will do in Bozeman tomorrow, but we'll see. I'm hoping to bike if possible.

Skiing Pictures!

2009-02-17T16:19:00.002-07:00

Okay, so it's two days later, but I promised skiing photos and skiing photos you shall get! Kind of. Don't have many ones of us actually, you know, skiing. Brandon has a few, but I don't know if his are on Webshots yet. Anyway, onward!

Since they're mentioned in the "About Us" section, Ivan and Nelson the baby dinosaurs. Pictured here enjoying the view on the train ride up.

Brandon and I on top of Mary Jane (one of the three mountains that comprise winter park).

Brandon after landing a mini-jump.

Me after we finished for the day. I was roasting and couldn't wait to get out of my ski clothes. Oh, the shirt by the way? Super cute new Nike shirt that has a cartoon heart (no, seriously, like a human heart) that's holding dumbbells and says "Work It Out." LOVE IT.

Brandon at the end of the day.

Wee, it was fun. Cardio tonight. Of some sort. Haven't decided yet.

On the Slopes!

2009-02-15T20:37:00.002-07:00

In a word, tired. Oh, and sore. But happy!

Brandon and I went skiing today up at Winter Park which is becoming our new Valentine's Day tradition. Unfortunately, it also fell on President's Day weekend this year (one of the two busiest ski weekends of the year) so it was a little crowded, but we still had a ton of fun.

We were able to rent out demo skis (so the parabolic skis that are all the rage; so hard to find regular old skis anymore) and try those out which is good, since we hope to buy our own later this year. Maybe. They're expensive. They also didn't take that long getting used to, so that was helpful.

Anyway, my brain is mush and I really just kind of want to sleep, so I'll keep this short. I don't know whether a.) I'm in marginally better shape; b.) because it wasn't my first time skiing in 12 years like last time; or c.) I experienced some placebo effect of feeling awesome because of actual freaking ski clothes, but it didn't take me long to get used to carving up the hill this year. Brandon and I even skied some actual moguls this year which is just crazy talk. We also didn't pass out on the train ride home, either.

Still, super super fun and, if it weren't so damned expensive/far away, something I'd so like to do more often.

Pictures tomorrow! Hopefully.

Skiing!!!!

2009-02-15T20:29:00.003-07:00

It's been like a year since we went skiing last, in fact, it was February 15th, 2008. Amazing how things work out. We are actually making a relationship tradition out of this ski-train thing on Valentines day weekend. Not that I mind. I like it.

Last night to avoid the repeat of last year, in which we both died on the ride home and couldn't move for like 22 days after, we went over to 24 to soak in the hot tub and relax. We got to bed and hopped on the ski train and got to Winter Park. Armed with new clothes (girlfriend and I both got new ski jackets, ski pants, and goggles. I got new gloves), we were ready for action.

After buying lift tickets, we hit the slopes. We did the Hookup, which is a green run, but unlike last year, in which Theresa was more apprehensive, this year she was ready to just dive into things. In and out of the trees she went. I was really impressed.

As the day went on, we hit moguls, Parsens Bowl, and some rather difficult trails. I fell a couple times, but I would say only 2/5 falls were my fault. 3 times stupid bad skiers and snowboarders were cutting in front of me. One of them was in the woods actually. I went into a deep bowl and landed akwardly. It took a couple minutes to find one of my poles, and yes, my shoulder is kind of ouchy.

Turning was kind of bad all day since my boots weren't fitting very well (stupid rentals) but I still had a great day. I am not nearly as tired as I was last year, and my body is not nearly as sore. Am I in better shape? That's what I am trying to figure out. I think so. Thoughts?

Making working out fun again

2009-02-12T11:30:00.004-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, but I haven't really wanted to. I've been beyond frustrated with my working out. Really frustrated. I blogged awhile back about being focused and determined, and I still am. But I am not having any fun either. Over the last year and a half, working out has been fun, mostly. I've truly enjoyed it. But now, I'm not enjoying myself. It's become a chore, so I re-evaluated myself and my game plan.

I like running in Wichita. It's quiet. It's flat. There's a river right by the hotel. And it's an easy run. So I decided that I was going to run. But I didn't want to go out with a distance, time, or goal in mind. I wanted to run. Run until I couldn't run anymore, or until running wasn't fun anymore. And that's exactly what I did.

Prior to this run, I revamped my running playlist. Completely. I kept a few songs on there, but added a lot more. Mixed up the order. And off I went.

I ran along the river just enjoying the run. I kept saying to myself just make it to that bridge, just make it to that bridge. And I did. By the time I got tired and wasn't having fun anymore, I had logged 3.55 miles in 34:50. Not bad at all.

I said to myself in the elevator on my ride back up that I'm back. It's the first time since last year's Autumn Color run that I feel like I'm back. It's time to mean it.

Oh, here's my running playlist, for those interested:

1. SM-Trax: Got the Groove
2. DragonForce: Through the Fire and Flames
3. Joe Satriani: Crowd Chant
4. The Killers: All These Things That I've Done
5. Sponge: 1000 Times
6. Ayla: Ayla Part 2
7. OAR: City On Down (Live)
8. Collective Soul: Heavy
9. The Aurora: Ordinary World (Above and Beyond)
10. Shinedown: Call Me
11. Less Than Jake: Happyman
12. Nelly Furtado: Say It Right
13. BT: Godspeed
14. Muse: Knights of Cydonia
15. The Immortals: Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)
16. Fair To Midland: Upgrade^Brigade
17. iiO: Rapture
18. Fair To Midland: Dance of the Manatee
19. Bush: The Chemicals Between Us
20. Ultrabeat: Pretty Green Eyes
21. The Classic Crime: The Fight
22. Ian Van Dahl: Castles in the Sky
23. Kaiser Chiefs: Ruby
24. Korn: Hold On

Ski Prep and (maybe) a Backhanded Compliment

2009-02-11T22:57:00.003-07:00

So even though I forgot to blog yesterday (oops), Brandon and I went to the gym to do an upper body lift. It was short since we were both super tired, but we managed a warm up, dumbbell curls, military presses and dumbbell fly(e?)s ... which killed.

Though my legs are still somewhat sore from Monday, I went back to the gym by myself tonight (boy's in kansas) for another lower body lift. Warmed up with some stepmill intervals which reminded me that my cardiovascular endurance is either a.) still crap or b.) crappy because I'm still sick. Neither is good, but I'm thinking the former is the most preferable as I really don't still want to be sick.

Anyway, after that and stretching, I went straight into this one move that I don't know the name of, but it's basically a ball bridge: lie on ground with heels on a stability ball. Raise butt in air. Roll ball towards butt and back, all while keeping butt in air. After that, I did wall sits, calf raises and a whole hell of a lot of walking lunges - plain lunges and lunges with a rear leg extension. Those killed after a while. Ow. Still, it felt good, you know?

The other thing I wanted to blog about happened at Starbucks work today. I was on the bar (yay!) and during a slow period, went to replenish our milk fridge. The fridge holds 12 gallons - six 2% and six non-fat. Some of the guys can manage to carry out eight gallons (four per hand), but as a.) I'm not that strong and b.) my hands just aren't physically that big, I don't. Instead, I can manage to fill the fridge in two trips as I can manage three gallons per hand. It's a little tough, but not bad.

Anyway, I was carrying out six gallons of milk and one of my coworkers on a break (female) saw me and exclaimed, "Wow! Six gallons? I couldn't do that," (or something along those lines) before adding, "What are you, a man?"

Now admittedly, I am one of the stronger females that works at the store, if not the strongest. I can bring out six gallons of milk and don't have that much of an issue emptying the coffee filter trash (trash can nearest the coffee brewers. wet coffee grounds are heavy, yo). I also shrugged off her remark.

Still, did she really need to make some comment about me being more masculine just because I can lift some heavy shit? I'm proud that I can more efficiently fill the milk fridge. I may never look uber-cute in spaghetti strap tank tops given my broad shoulders, but you know what? I'd rather have that strength as it helps me get through my work days.

I dunno. Thoughts? Was that even meant to be a compliment? I took it as a backhanded one, but reflecting on it now, I guess it could be seen otherwise.

Body Lifts

2009-02-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

When I got to El Paso today, I intended to do a 2-a day workout. I started it off with body weight lifting. This inculded squats, wall sits, planks, calf raises, situps, and leg lifts.

Unfortunately, my stomach is really bothering me tonight, so I don't think a run is in the cards. It will be tomorrow night though.

Squashing It In Again

2009-02-09T20:52:00.002-07:00

This morning, I had every intention of going to the gym this evening to do some cardio and lifting. However, I realized later in the day (that is, around super crowded gym time) that oh right, I have to wake up at 3am tomorrow.

I knew I couldn't go without a workout ESPECIALLY with our ski trip coming up on Sunday. So, I improvised in the room doing a quick, intense lower body workout. I tossed together body-weight squats (slow down, explode up), lunges, calf raises, rear leg lifts and side bends. My hamstrings started to hurt a bit, so I knew it was a good, quick workout.

Now, off to try to sleep a bit as, I mentioned earlier, I gotta be up uber-early.

Quick Post

2009-02-06T20:40:00.003-07:00

Tired, marginally cranky ... and need to write one hell of a blog entry (or two) one of these days.

Anyway, snowshoed today. Did about a mile - half of it was uphill and took FOREVER ... the second half was downhill and took no time at all. All was above 9400 feet in elevation.

Pushing Through the Mucus

2009-02-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

I for one am extremely jealous of Brandon ... as he's in Cali at Disneyland and I'm still here in Colorado because I have work. Boo. I miss my mmmrrrraaaapants. :(

Anyway, it's actually nice here (mid-50s!), so I went for a run today.

Okay, my original plan was to head to the gym right after work - which I did, but noticed the parking lot still really full, so I said, "screw it," headed home and went for a run.

I only did the 1.35 mile loop, but it was tough (i'm still kind of sick). HOWEVER, I did it in 13:06 for a 9:42.22 time! Go me ... kind of. I was thinking of going for two miles, but I started out and immediately knew I wouldn't have it. I could have done it ... but then I would have had to walk and that's just crazy talk. Pffft.

Gym time may still come today. We'll see how crazy I feel.

Stepped it up some more

2009-02-03T08:35:00.002-07:00

When I said that I needed to step it up, I meant it. What I did yesterday in El Paso shows the dedication I'm making to this.

I wanted at first to cycle. But the machine was just awful. After like 40 seconds on it I realized I was going to get nowhere and get nothing out of my workout. So I said screw it and hopped on the treadmill. I was only planning on 20 minutes. But I cranked it up to 7.0 for the runs. That's right, 7.0. I'm not going to lie; it was tough. But I figure tough is what I have to do here. I need to push myself to new heights.

Anyway, I made it through and felt really good.

I'm in California for a couple days! Pictures to come, as well as workout updates. Go ahead, if you're jealous, admit it. ;-)

Elaborations

2009-02-01T12:09:00.002-07:00

Ok, to elaborate on before, I am just kind of summing up the last month and what to expect this month.

Here's last month:

- It was an ok month. What I mean by that is I got back in the groove of working out, but was still prone to lapses and taking some unnecessary days off. Not only that, but I didn't really push myself at all. The workouts were mediocre for the most part. But I still did them.
- Still need to be smarter about food choices. When I review in my food journal, I'm still seeing too many bad items that I put down. It's not the worst thing, but still need to be conscious about what I am putting into my body. Also need a lot more fruits and vegetables.
- Use the most smart food choice. What I am saying here is let's take a day where I am flying all day and have limited options for food. Is it better to get Pizza Hut or Panda Express? Neither are very good, but at least at Panda I can get some vegetables, carbs, and proteins. Pizza hut only delivers carbs, if you think about it. Neither are good options, but the one of two is certainly better.
- Need to keep drinking water. I was really good about it at the beginning of the month, then it fell off. Gotta keep it up
- The treats were a nice thing, but really I should not need them to motivate me to work out

Ok, so that's January in a nutshelled recap. Let's take a look at February and where we're gonna go:

- As I mentioned in January, the workouts have to step up. Gotta keep pushing myself
- I reminded myself that the Cherry Creek Sneak is in April. This gives me a short time to prepare for a 5 mile race. Since I've only really run more than 5 miles once in the last year, I have a lot of work to do
- Swim more. I DO have a tri coming up this year, after all
- Really really focus on food. Focus on eating healthy and good
- Remind myself that there will be lapses. They happen. Instead of beating myself up for them, recognize why they happen and take steps to preven them

So that's where I'm at, ISD readers. Nothing in here is lofty or unattainable. The question still is, am I willing to do what it takes to keep getting healthy?

A good workout...and a summary

2009-02-01T10:38:00.003-07:00

After a couple days off (don't really know why, other than being exhausted), I got a good workout in in Fargo. In fact, it was a step up from usual. Sure, it's still the treadmill, but today I did the runs at 6.5 and went for 30 minutes.

After this workout, I decided to evaluate where I'm at for the month of January and where I want to go in February. Here's some highlights:

- it was an ok month. Not a great month, not a good month, but ok
- I need to be smarter about food choices still
- sometimes I need to use the most smart food choice. To elaborate on that, let's say my options are just limited. I'm going to evaluate what I've eaten throughout the day and if I need some protein, for example, get some chicken or beef into me.
- workouts have to step up. The beginning of January was consistent, but probably too soft
- start thinking about where to go from here

I'm off to lunch with a friend. i'll get more on here later.

Running to Lunch

2009-01-31T15:33:00.003-07:00

I'm mostly better, but still a little sick. As a result, my working out has been very inconsistent lately.

Still, it's 60 degrees out today (before it's supposed to drop like 30 degrees tonight and be cold tomorrow), so I really wanted to take advantage of the warm weather and go for a run outside.

Problem was, I didn't/don't have a lot of time today. Got off work at 12:15, had to meet a friend for lunch at 1:15 and have to work later tonight. But, since I was meeting said friend at a restaurant nearby (mmm, panera), I decided to go ahead and run to lunch. So I did ... and made it on time, too. 1.6 miles and 16:45 later (had to wait at two lights. kept jogging, per se, but it still killed my time), I was at Panera. It helps that a good chunk of the run is downhill with one uphill stretch (very few flats) ... but I really wish there wasn't the one super busy intersection I had to deal with. Stupid lights.

Anyway, it'll go in the books as a 10:28.12 mile, but I know it was actually shorter than that, so ha.

I will also add, in full disclosure, I got a ride back home due to time reasons. I know, I know. I would have rather walked home, but I didn't. No way I was running back on a full stomach, though.

Wii Fitting, and swimming!

2009-01-28T22:29:00.002-07:00

Since girlfriend has been sick and work has been a cluster over the past few days, working out has kind of taken a backseat. I have however been doing Wii Fit pretty regularly and my weight has maintained, according to that.

tonight, however, we made it to the gym for some swimming. I swam 500 meters without stopping in about 10 minutes which I am pretty happy about. I can do better of course and will, but for now, I am pretty satisfied with that.

Lift tomorrow.

Giving It Another Go

2009-01-28T22:24:00.002-07:00

Since today is the first day since Sunday that I woke up NOT sounding like death, Brandon finally let me work out again today. Yay!

So, after a day of not really eating well (my eating habits go to hell when i get sick. seriously, i crave sugar, fat and carbs. no idea why.), we headed off to the gym for some swimming. I managed 550m, but in chunks. 150m, 150m, 100m, 100m breaststroke and then 50m crawl. Gotta get that stupid crawl in now and then if I have any hope of using it in my tri(s) this year. Boo.

I had to take pauses for my lungs (they've still got some mucus in them) and breathe, but I managed okay.

Hopefully I'm over this cold. That's all I've got to say.

Benched

2009-01-25T22:04:00.002-07:00

I woke up this morning sounding like death.

I managed to go work both jobs today, but Brandon's "benching" me and keeping me from working out until I get better. I've been arguing with him about this (butbutbutidon'twaannnnnnnaaaaaa), but ultimately, I think I probably should try to get better.

Seriously, I've been fighting this cold for what, two weeks now? Now that it finally caught up with me, I should probably just accept it and wait for it to pass.

Maybe. If Brandon makes me.

Stepping it up a bit

2009-01-25T09:34:00.002-07:00

Forgot to blog yesterday...

In Fargo, I decided to step up the treadmill workout by increasing the time. I went for 25 minutes, sprinting on the last 3 minutes. Surprisingly, it felt good and somewhat easy.

It's time to revamp the workouts and make them more challenging.

Gym Time

2009-01-24T15:36:00.002-07:00

So, still fighting off a cold here. In the immortal words of the Critic, "It Stinks!"

Anyway, went to the gym after work (well, to be entirely accurate, in between jobs). Since I still need to get the ol' bike in for a tune-up, today was a boring 20 minutes on the stationary bike. I actually had time to warm up (recumbent) and stretch, though.

But after that, 20 minutes, level 8, sport-specific, tryingtokeepitaround90rpms of stationary bike. The display went black because I pressed the wrong button right after I finished, but I figure I did somewhere between six and seven miles, but again, who knows.

I think it's lifting and swimming on the slate for tomorrow, but my planner isn't near me, so I can't say definitively.

Oh, and that job crap I was hinting about a post or two ago? Decision was taken care of for me. While I'm somewhat happier about the course of events, I'm also not given how everything went down.

Yes, I'm cryptic. Deal.

Tired...wearing down...

2009-01-23T21:52:00.001-07:00

I can feel it. My body is not doing what I need it to do.

I ran the treadmill workout tonight, but struggled. 15 minutes worth. And I struggled.

I think the stress of this month has taken its toll on IS Dreams.

Making Time

2009-01-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Really had no time for a workout today, but I managed to squash in 15 minutes of intervals on the stepmill anyway. Didn't warm up or stretch (sure that's going to bite me in the ass later), but eh.

Given my lack of time, today was originally scheduled as an off day, but due to the massive amounts of stress AND me starting to become sick (ohpleaseno) ... yesterday became the off day for both Brandon and I.

One of these days I'll have better blog entries ...

Sprinting and a Note

2009-01-21T19:45:00.002-07:00

We decided to take advantage of another 60 degree day here and run outside. Since neither of us really wanted to do a regular run, we decided to do some sprints, instead. So, we walked to the park and ran.

There's a soccer/football field set up in the grass, so we did two 100yd sprints, two 50yd sprints and then another two 100yd sprints for a total of 500yds.

And I was dead. Lungs hurt, ears hurt (still that winter crisp in the air), ankle hurt a little.

Still, it was a nice change of pace.

Sorry you haven't been getting a lot of out me lately. Trying to figure out if I want to take this job that I really have no experience for and would be the equivalent of throwing a person who's not sure if s/he can swim or not into the middle of the ocean and saying "good luck."

There are some upsides, but I'm not sure if they're enough to conquer the voices in my head as well as the overwhelming fear that I won't be able to handle the job and that I'll be miserable for the next three years doing it as it really isn't a "try it and see" position.

Needless to say, various entities and voices in my head are locked in a battle for the ages.

Yes, we did it

2009-01-20T21:55:00.001-07:00

It wasn't much, but hey, we got it in. And that's what matters.

Honestly, when you're tired, you're tired. The key is still being able to squeeze enough in to make a difference.

Read girlfriends blog for details.

Improvisational Lift

2009-01-20T21:14:00.002-07:00

So I think when Brandon and I come up with our workout schedule for next month, I need to not schedule out what I'm doing the whole month and work my off days around days I open.

Because seriously, waking up at 3:30am so I can be at work at 4:15am makes me have no motivation to work out the rest of the day.

Despite getting a killer forearm workout playing Guitar Hero (i kid, i kid) and despite being ass tired, we knew we had to lift today.

However, given that we're ass tired, we had not motivation to go to the gym.

So, we improvised with a workout at home. We did windmills, body weight squats, calf raises, tricep dips (off a chair), push-ups, dumbbell chest presses to failure (8lb dbs) and these ab things which are almost a weird form of a reverse crunch:

1. Lie down on floor. Have friend behind you. If needed, hold their legs.
2. Raise legs in air.
3. Have friend push down on your legs; don't let them hit the floor.
4. Control your legs, lifting them back up to starting position.
5. Rinse.
6. Repeat.

While it sounds like it's just the momentum carrying your legs down and up, you actually get one hell of an ab workout. We did them for hockey freshman year in college and they SUCKED.

So while it wasn't much, we still squashed in a workout and, I might add, my arms are sore.

Good enough for me.

Another run

2009-01-19T15:42:00.001-07:00

Went on another run today...not the best idea since I was very very dehydrated + had only eaten breakfast up to that point. Still, I somehow pushed myself and fell into a rhythm.

It was only 1.37 miles, but still...thought I did pretty good.

Damn Sports Asthma

2009-01-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

Ran 1.35 miles in 13.21 for a 9:53ish mile. Did it improperly hydrated and without having eaten in several hours.

Therefore, it's no surprise I had my first asthma attack in quite some time. Boo.

Picking myself up

2009-01-19T00:14:00.003-07:00

Girlfriend spent a lot of time working on my sore hammy today, and to be honest it feels a lot better. I went to the gym, foamrolled, then spent 15 minutes on the stepmill doing intervals. They kicked my ass but I feel good.

I then took a nice long steam.

Basically I hope I'm back and recovered.

A Bright Spot

2009-01-19T00:11:00.003-07:00

I swam today ... and I did 500m breaststroke without stopping!* The first 150-200m were tough, but I fought through it and kept going.

Given that I stopped after 100m last time ... I consider this a victory.

All in all for my swim tonight, I did 500m breaststroke, 4x25m crawl (gotta start working on that), 100m breaststroke, 50m back for a total of 750m. Not a bad workout at all.

If it's 60 again tomorrow like today, going for another run. But we'll see.

Now, since it's after midnight and I'm tiiiiiiiiiired ... sleep.

*of course, since I can't do flip turns, "stopping" is a relative term as I have to change directions at the wall above the water. Y'know.

Setbacks

2009-01-17T19:21:00.003-07:00

The year started out great, both mentally and physically. Now I'm having setbacks already...after two weeks only. :-(

First off, I'm really bummed today for various reasons. Not going to get into it. The other problem is the Shape workout has left my left hammy and calf very sore, which is making me even more sad and frustrated. I squeezed in a 1.35 mile run with girlfriend but yeah.

I need a way to pick myself up. :-(