In the Doldrums

The excitement and elation over having finished my first triathlon have come back down to normal levels and I have nothing slated for the near future. It is 364 days till my first 1/2 IM distance race (Soma, in AZ), a little over 10 months until the TriGlenwood Sprint, and July 8th will be the Cornman Sprint race in Iowa ( I have set a goal of doing a tri, du, bike, or run in all 50 states by the time I am 70 years old). I've been bummed there is nothing in the foreseeable future as far as a race goal.

So, I have decided to do the Platte River 1/2 Marathon on April 1st (I will walk it) . This gives me five months to prepare for it. I also desire a goal sooner than that, so I am going to do walk a 10k on my own on January 15th. So now I have races in January, April, July, September and October!

Now there, I feel much better! Also found out I will be featured on the 10:00 news on Channel 7 (ABC) and again the next morning. Hopefully this will inspire someone to get in shape or even try out this triathlon world!

Back and Back to Work

Back is killing me! Spasm city! I did get to swim this morning, seems like the only thing that does not cause pain. Just got back from the Dr and he was me on the muscle relaxer Flexiril and a strong anti-inflammatory. No weight training tonight for sure, probably will miss the rest of the week. At least I should be able to get in two more swims, but I suppose the treadmill and bike are out too. Bummer! My wife said to stay home from work but I just have to at least go in and clear out the e-mail and see what fires need to be put out after being on vacation for almost two weeks. I'm hoping the e-mails are under200 but I fear it will be higher. So, it's off to work to spend your taxpaying money wisely (I work for the Feds).

Ouch!

Tuesday, when we were loading up our gear in the mountains after elk hunting, I slipped on some snow and twisted hard to avoid going down. It was one of those pains where it feels like you get shocked, like when you think you are at the bottom of the stairs and there's one more to go and then you hit the bottom -wham! The pain was over quickly but by Thursday morning I couldn't walk with out a lot of pain. I've been using a heating pad, those little pads you put on your back, stretching a little, resting, and walking about gingerly. I sure hope I will be able to workout on Monday.

Friday morning I had a swim lesson and video analysis scheduled with Mike Ricci of D3 Multisport so I loaded up on ibuprofen and went for the session. There were only a couple of seconds where it was painful. It felt really good to be back in a pool!

It was pretty cool to see myself on video and Mike gave me some drills to correct some things that I really need to work on. One of the drills I believe is going to help me establish breathing bilaterally. The session was well worth the money and I will be going back for another after 3 months of practicing.

Tonight I will meet up with Jess (my trainer) in Boulder for the raceAthlete meeting. Should be fun to meet more triathletes and put some faces with the names.

Perspective

I had read earlier an article on a blog where the guy was complaining that people who lose weight and are recognized for it upsets him. Pissed me off and I criticized him back. Well I just got off the phone with a very dear friend, found out his wife (who is also a dear friend) has stage 3 breast cancer. My being upset about someone else's opinion is so trivial. Of course they can disagree, even if they are wrong :-) I wish there was something I could do. Linda's contest against the cancer is far more important than any sporting event. I'm now really bummed.

Miscellaneous

Just watched the video at raceAthlete.com (www.raceathlete.com) about Dick and Ricky Hoyt and the tears flow once again. Man they inspire me! They are part of the reason I decided to pursue becoming an Ironman. They are two of my hereos!

Just got back from elk hunting with my daughter Rebecca (who just loves being in front of the camera) and my great friends Joe, Greg, Kyle, Adam, and Bazooka. We didn't get any elk but we sure had a great time. I ate the wrong foods and had too much Captain Morgan. I slipped on some snow when we were packing up to leave and tweaked my lower back. I was so sore this morning I could barely get out of bed, so no workout this morning. I hate missing workouts but that's life.

I met yesterday with my new tri coach, Kylie Ramsey, of Peak Potential Coaching, (www.raceppc.com). She laid out my next three months of training and I am excited to get started!

I will still strength train with Jess Hogue (www.shapeplus.com) .

My basic schedule to build a base of endurance is as follows:

Monday - AM: Swim, PM: Strength train and treadmill;
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - AM: Swim. PM: Strength train and treadmill;
Thursday - AM: Walk
Friday - AM: Bike, PM: Strength train and treadmill;
Saturday - Swim and Long Walk;
Sunday - Long Bike

At this point my weight is still way too high to run, but come July, I will start some light jogging. I plan on running at least 3-4 miles of the 1/2 IM and walk the rest.

Tomorrow (Friday) I am going to Boulder to have a video analysis done of my swim and have a swim lesson from Mike Ricci of D3 MultiSport (www.d3multisport.com). I will go back for another one in the spring and then one more in the summer.

Saturday evening Jess and I are going to Boulder to meet the raceAthlete team, should be fun! I'm sure loving this new path!

It's only money!

Just read an article in a Tri magazine about a lady who recounted her spending on Tri goodies. Just one more item, just one more swim lesson, etc. I can relate. I have signed on with a Tri coach, am going in for a bike fit on Sunday (I think that means I'm getting a road or tri bike soon), and I am going in the 20th for an underwater video analysis of my swim and a lesson combined. Oops, I think I'm addicted :-)

Chop Wood and Carry Water . . . .

It has been three weeks since my first race and I still have a natural high, but not quite as much. I have not jumped back in to consistent training yet. Before this morning, I had only been in the pool 4 times, have not biked once, and the treadmill has been about half what I usually do. My weight training has been consistent though. I think the break was needed but now it's time to lay down a base of conditioning over the fall and winter.

This morning I slept in as I did not get to bed until midnight after picking up my daughter at her homecoming dance. I wanted to blow off today and stay in bed since I only had 6 hours of sleep, but that darn zen saying came back in my head . . . "before the race, chop wood and carry water; after the race, chop wood and carry water". I will always have very fond memories of my first tri and I do have a lot to be proud of, but it's time to move on and get back into the training for training's sake. So today I chopped wood and carried water. I swam 90 lengths (25 yards each) in 10 length segments, which is the most volume I have ever swam. I took a 1-2 minute break between each set of 10 and the total time was about an hour and 20 minutes. Total distance? 1.27 miles! I'm happy with that. I know I can do that 1/2 IM in October next year!

Talked with a nice woman at the gym this morning (Laurie) who started Trithlons last year and we were talking about swimming, etc. She was talking about how emotional it was to finish that first one and I shared that when I went over the finish line I was pumped up and excited but then broke down with emotion and shed a lot of tears with my family. This journey is really special and I am so glad to be on it! I look forward to forging many friendships with others on the their triathlon journey!