You always hear about positive thinking. How it benefits you, it benefits your mindset, and makes you a healthier person.
Yet most of us live in Real World U.S.A., where we're faced with constant money woes, unstable job markets, people who are very negative, terrorism, a President and Congress that refuses to try to cut debt, constant pressure from the media to look skinny, and the list goes on and on.
It's very easy to be negative. You can rag on anything you want to and people will generally agree with you. And the funny thing that I notice about negativity, when people hear it, they don't push back. Someone will say "we're in a crisis" and everyone will nod their heads and murmur agreements. Occasionally you have people push back, like Coach Rick Pitino did in 2000, when his Boston Celtics were getting pounded in the press. He said at a press conference "all the negativity in this town sucks". He's right. Negativity bombards us from all sides.
I'm guilty of it too.
Yet something snapped inside of my brain on Saturday when I was in Charlotte. I don't know what it was, or why it happened, but I finally decided to cut the pity party crap, listen to Dr. J and find ways to work out when there's only a few minutes in the day, stop reading the newspaper for actual news, quit worrying about what will happen at my company, be nicer to people, enjoy music more, etc. My life is pretty damn good. Why should I be negative?
The other day, we had a woman come to our house to do some blood and urine analysis for my life insurance policy. My numbers were outstanding. (120/77, 60 resting heart rate). My weight was up a little bit (about 8 pounds since my 1/2 Ironman) but realistically, that's not bad. I've always had slightly high blood pressure, so the fact I'm hovering at what is "normal" makes me happy.
Realistically, it's time to be positive. Because let's face it; on the Ironman course, negative thoughts are going to be coming at me from all directions. I'm going to need as much good juju as possible!
The fitness adventures of two Ironman triathletes
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
January Round-Up
As I posted earlier this year, I have lofty goals for 2012. Lofty goals, that I know I will still achieve.
I say "will still achieve," because January, by the numbers, wasn't a great month. It was good in some respects, but I'll get to that later. First off, numbers!
Running: 13.17 mi
Swimming: 1.37 mi
Cycling: 39.35 mi
Lifting: three sessions
Other: three yoga sessions, one snowshoeing.
I haven't done even close to the weekly mileage that I wrote down for my goal executions, but there were still a lot of positives from January, even with the low mileage.
- I got sick. Instead of working out while ill (even with low intensity), I decided to just take time off instead. While that put me out of commission, my sickness didn't get delayed into weeks on end ... like last year. Was I overly cautious? Perhaps ... but I don't want a repeat from last year. So far, so good.
- A mild January meant a lot of outside miles. All of my rides that month were outside.
- I also was on the bike at least once a week - one of my goals for the offseason.
- Plus, the time on the bike made me actually hit one of my cycling goals - average (at least) 16.5mph at every in-season race. While not in-season, my averages for the two (short) bike legs were 17.54 and 17.05 mph. I'll take that.
- It took a little while to get motivated, but I've finally started getting in some pool time.
- A good chunk of my runs have been with the Saturday morning group at Boulder Running Company-DTC - something I've enjoyed a lot.
- My lifts have been very core-intensive, which is something I wanted to do in the offseason.
In conclusion, I think that my distance goals of 500mi running, 800mi cycling and 60mi swimming are still very attainable ... especially because my training will get amped up once I've actually, you know, registered for races.
Not a crazy month, but a decent month for the offseason.
I say "will still achieve," because January, by the numbers, wasn't a great month. It was good in some respects, but I'll get to that later. First off, numbers!
Running: 13.17 mi
Swimming: 1.37 mi
Cycling: 39.35 mi
Lifting: three sessions
Other: three yoga sessions, one snowshoeing.
I haven't done even close to the weekly mileage that I wrote down for my goal executions, but there were still a lot of positives from January, even with the low mileage.
- I got sick. Instead of working out while ill (even with low intensity), I decided to just take time off instead. While that put me out of commission, my sickness didn't get delayed into weeks on end ... like last year. Was I overly cautious? Perhaps ... but I don't want a repeat from last year. So far, so good.
- A mild January meant a lot of outside miles. All of my rides that month were outside.
- I also was on the bike at least once a week - one of my goals for the offseason.
- Plus, the time on the bike made me actually hit one of my cycling goals - average (at least) 16.5mph at every in-season race. While not in-season, my averages for the two (short) bike legs were 17.54 and 17.05 mph. I'll take that.
- It took a little while to get motivated, but I've finally started getting in some pool time.
- A good chunk of my runs have been with the Saturday morning group at Boulder Running Company-DTC - something I've enjoyed a lot.
- My lifts have been very core-intensive, which is something I wanted to do in the offseason.
In conclusion, I think that my distance goals of 500mi running, 800mi cycling and 60mi swimming are still very attainable ... especially because my training will get amped up once I've actually, you know, registered for races.
Not a crazy month, but a decent month for the offseason.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
January Recap
January. The month of resolutions, the month of new beginnings, and the month that I finally decided enough was enough and it was time to get back into shape.
I started January with some ridiculous ambition. I vowed it was going to be different. I was going to work hard. Ride my bike a lot. Lift more. And for a bit, it looked like I was going to have an immensely successful month.
Then reality hit. Reality as in I'm a human being. Reality as in life will get in the way of the most detailed plans. Reality as in...it's January?
There are some positives to take away from the month, there are some negatives.
The positives:
- I rode my bike. A lot. Outside. Which is even better. My cycling is very strong right now
- I rose up a few times.
- I started working on my diet, and it's going very well
The negatives:
- I didn't run nearly as much as I should have
- Lifting was weak and barely made a blip on the radar
Regardless, here's the totals:
Running - 16.81 miles
Swimming - 1257 yards
Cycling - 62.03 miles
Strength training twice
Yoga twice
Like I said, some positives, some negatives, but you know what? Overall, not the worst month out there.
I started January with some ridiculous ambition. I vowed it was going to be different. I was going to work hard. Ride my bike a lot. Lift more. And for a bit, it looked like I was going to have an immensely successful month.
Then reality hit. Reality as in I'm a human being. Reality as in life will get in the way of the most detailed plans. Reality as in...it's January?
There are some positives to take away from the month, there are some negatives.
The positives:
- I rode my bike. A lot. Outside. Which is even better. My cycling is very strong right now
- I rose up a few times.
- I started working on my diet, and it's going very well
The negatives:
- I didn't run nearly as much as I should have
- Lifting was weak and barely made a blip on the radar
Regardless, here's the totals:
Running - 16.81 miles
Swimming - 1257 yards
Cycling - 62.03 miles
Strength training twice
Yoga twice
Like I said, some positives, some negatives, but you know what? Overall, not the worst month out there.
Friday, January 27, 2012
First Race of the Season - Chilly Cheeks Duathlon
Well, this is a first for me in more than one way. Up until last weekend, I'd never raced this early in the season and up until last weekend, had never officially done a duathlon. Last weekend took care of both.
The race we signed up for awhile back is called the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon. It's one of those races that you do more or less for bragging rights. Let's face it; at this time of year we're not exactly in tip-top tri shape and we're not exactly looking to perform amazing feats. Besides, you get sweatpants in this race. Awesome, right?
We woke up and debated going on the BRC morning run. I haven't run with these guys in forever, and I really enjoy their company. But we debated it and made the decision to stay in bed. However, we decided to at least stop by and say hello to Pete, who has become something of a friend and we're proud to be associated with him. We visited with him for awhile, discussing this, that, and the other, had some coffee with him, and then quick came back here to pack for the du.
Upon arriving (somewhat tardy) to the race, we quick got our trans area ready and listened to a pre-race brief. This du was super interesting in terms of format. It started off with a 1.5 mile run, then a 3.6 mile bike ride. You came back into trans, doing a 2.5 mile run, then you did the 3.6 mile ride x 2. After that, you sprinted 50 yards to the finish. What the hell, right?
We debated on what to wear on the run (it was somewhat cold out) and then what to wear on the first ride. T ditched her big Skirt Sports jacket but kept everything else on. We waited for the start of the race (we were in corral C).
At the start, we kept up a pretty good pace. It was kind of funny how quickly the race ended. I guess it was an interesting exercise in terms of pacing and seeing what the Mile High Mile could be. :-)
The ride was good, surprisingly fast. It's quite clear that the amount we've ridden this year has already started to pay off. I'm not going to say that I'm where I'm at for the year, but let's face it; good progress.
The 2.5 mile run? Not so good. It's obvious that my run training is still suffering. While I definitely have put in some time training for running this year, I'm not nearly where I want to be.
Back to the bike and things were good. I started faltering a little bit on the last lap, but let's face it; doing that same course in the wind was getting a little fatiguing.
When I came back into trans with T, I just said screw it and sprinted to the finish in my socks. I wasn't putting on my shoes for 50 yards. I crossed the finish line and that was that. I was now a duathlete!
I can't say I'm a huge fan of this format of duathlon, but thankfully, I have a pair of sweatpants. :-)
The race we signed up for awhile back is called the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon. It's one of those races that you do more or less for bragging rights. Let's face it; at this time of year we're not exactly in tip-top tri shape and we're not exactly looking to perform amazing feats. Besides, you get sweatpants in this race. Awesome, right?
We woke up and debated going on the BRC morning run. I haven't run with these guys in forever, and I really enjoy their company. But we debated it and made the decision to stay in bed. However, we decided to at least stop by and say hello to Pete, who has become something of a friend and we're proud to be associated with him. We visited with him for awhile, discussing this, that, and the other, had some coffee with him, and then quick came back here to pack for the du.
Upon arriving (somewhat tardy) to the race, we quick got our trans area ready and listened to a pre-race brief. This du was super interesting in terms of format. It started off with a 1.5 mile run, then a 3.6 mile bike ride. You came back into trans, doing a 2.5 mile run, then you did the 3.6 mile ride x 2. After that, you sprinted 50 yards to the finish. What the hell, right?
We debated on what to wear on the run (it was somewhat cold out) and then what to wear on the first ride. T ditched her big Skirt Sports jacket but kept everything else on. We waited for the start of the race (we were in corral C).
At the start, we kept up a pretty good pace. It was kind of funny how quickly the race ended. I guess it was an interesting exercise in terms of pacing and seeing what the Mile High Mile could be. :-)
The ride was good, surprisingly fast. It's quite clear that the amount we've ridden this year has already started to pay off. I'm not going to say that I'm where I'm at for the year, but let's face it; good progress.
The 2.5 mile run? Not so good. It's obvious that my run training is still suffering. While I definitely have put in some time training for running this year, I'm not nearly where I want to be.
Back to the bike and things were good. I started faltering a little bit on the last lap, but let's face it; doing that same course in the wind was getting a little fatiguing.
When I came back into trans with T, I just said screw it and sprinted to the finish in my socks. I wasn't putting on my shoes for 50 yards. I crossed the finish line and that was that. I was now a duathlete!
I can't say I'm a huge fan of this format of duathlon, but thankfully, I have a pair of sweatpants. :-)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Race #1 of the Season: Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2
Compared to some of my past recaps, I'm getting on this quickly. Hopefully this will become a trend ...
Anyway, this past Saturday, we did our second technical and first actual duathlon - the second in the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon series. The weather was tons better than our first race in the series which made us very happy, as this was the one race of the three that we were looking forward to the most.
While this was a multisport race, I'm not going to go about this recap the way I normally would for a multisport race ... because this race had two runs, two bikes and three transitions. Plus a T4/sprint to the finish. I'll just recap the thing and then do the numbers.
Race morning, we woke up trying to decide if we wanted to do a short warm-up run with the Saturday BRC-DTC crew. We debated back and forth on it, but ultimately decided that we're not strong enough athletes to do that right now. We decided to head on over to say hi to the store owner, Pete, though, given that Brandon was in town and he usually can't do the Saturday runs due to his job.
After saying hi to Pete, we moseyed on back home, cooked breakfast and packed up our transition bags - a very weird thing given that the last time we had to do so was waaaaay back in September.
Given the short distance of the race, we decided to forgo our aero bottles and just go with a regular old bike bottle. We also decided to layer quite a bit for even though it wasn't snowy, it was still pretty chilly (mid-40s by race start). Silly winter.
We ended up running kinda late, getting to Cherry Creek State Park a lot later than we normally would for a race. However, if we had ran that late living back at my old house, we would have been screwed. MAJOR perk to living in the new place.
In any case, we got to CCSP, unloaded the Rav, picked up our packets (and sweatpants!) and set up transition. We couldn't find places together on the same rack, but close enough:
See?
We set up, feeling kind of weird given that we didn't have that whole pesky swim portion to worry about. And we started off running. My trans towel looked all empty.
I took a gamble with this race - I don't typically wear socks with my bike shoes and didn't want to waste a lot of time taking socks on and off for each leg. Soooo ... I just decided not to wear socks. I figured the runs were short enough so I just decided to BodyGlide the crap out of my feet and go with it.
Run #1 was a short loop - 1.5 miles - and I think we pushed it way too hard. Brandon held the pace for that one - Mr. SpeedyPants lately - and it was a rough go for me. And fast. Way faster than I've been running lately.
(13:02; 9:19/mi, 172nd overall)
T1 was longer than most of my tri transitions, but Brandon and I ran this race together. Plus I needed to ditch a layer and deal with my falling apart bike shoes. Stupid shoes.
(2:23)
Bike #1 was a simple 3.6 mile loop - uphill to start, down a nice hill, slightly up another, around a loop, down a slight hill, uphill into the wind to trans. Felt a lot longer than said time indicates.
(12:19, 17.5 mph, 151st overall)
T2 was similar to T1. Weeeee.
(2:26)
Run #2 was a whole hell of a lot slower than run #1. It was a 2.5 mile out-and-back and omg slow. Here was when we realized we need to learn duathlon pacing, for it is a lot different than triathlon pacing, particularly with the format of the race. Still, we plodded along, walking some, running some, passing a few people and not getting passed by anyone we didn't already pass before (that is, working our way up the standings). The lack of running/run fitness came out here.
(28:38, 11:27/mi, 173rd overall)
T3 was long since Brandon had to do a port-o-potty stop at the end of the run. Since we were doing the race together, I waited for him to come into transition so we could go off together. It was also good because I had to fiddle with my dang bike shoe to get it to cooperate so I could put it on my foot.
(4:17)
Bike #2 was two loops of the same course as bike #1 (so 7.2 miles?). We took the first lap easy and pushed it on the second ... with the wind picking up on the windy parts. Boo to that. On lap one, I experienced one of my major race pet peeves. The road wasn't closed to outside cars. The race people did a GREAT job of traffic management and not a lot of people were coming into the park, but still, as cyclists on an open course, we're supposed to stay to the right. Safer and it makes passing easier. This one woman, however, was riding basically in the middle of the road. Sorry honey, but I shouldn't have to go into the OPPOSITE LANE to pass your ass. Safety first, sweetiepoo.
(25:20, 17.1 mph, 155th overall)
T4/50-yd sprint was done barefoot. A gamble to be sure, but I wasn't clomping across in my crappy bike shoes. Plus it made me very focused on doing that mid-foot strike. I wasn't able to quite do my customary sprint, but close enough.
(:41)
Overall Results:
1:29:03
177/244 overall
75/94 females
19/21 division (F29&UND)
Final Thoughts:
This duathlon thing is kind of fun. Definitely a nice change of pace from triathlon ... though I'd really like to do the (what I consider) more typical du format of run/bike/run. CC#3 is a bike/run which should be fine (as long as it doesn't snow like crazy and make us switch to the 4mi run-only again). My desire to do the r/b/r format is the reason why I have Barkin' Dog on our 2012 tentative race schedule.
I just need to learn how to pace myself for this type of race by then.
HOWEVER! I will have new bike shoes. As you can see here,
... my shoes are kind of dead. I have new ones, but I need to make sure they fit before I start using them/put my cleats on them. TriSports visit in a week for that. :)
Anyway, this past Saturday, we did our second technical and first actual duathlon - the second in the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon series. The weather was tons better than our first race in the series which made us very happy, as this was the one race of the three that we were looking forward to the most.
While this was a multisport race, I'm not going to go about this recap the way I normally would for a multisport race ... because this race had two runs, two bikes and three transitions. Plus a T4/sprint to the finish. I'll just recap the thing and then do the numbers.
Race morning, we woke up trying to decide if we wanted to do a short warm-up run with the Saturday BRC-DTC crew. We debated back and forth on it, but ultimately decided that we're not strong enough athletes to do that right now. We decided to head on over to say hi to the store owner, Pete, though, given that Brandon was in town and he usually can't do the Saturday runs due to his job.
After saying hi to Pete, we moseyed on back home, cooked breakfast and packed up our transition bags - a very weird thing given that the last time we had to do so was waaaaay back in September.
Given the short distance of the race, we decided to forgo our aero bottles and just go with a regular old bike bottle. We also decided to layer quite a bit for even though it wasn't snowy, it was still pretty chilly (mid-40s by race start). Silly winter.
We ended up running kinda late, getting to Cherry Creek State Park a lot later than we normally would for a race. However, if we had ran that late living back at my old house, we would have been screwed. MAJOR perk to living in the new place.
In any case, we got to CCSP, unloaded the Rav, picked up our packets (and sweatpants!) and set up transition. We couldn't find places together on the same rack, but close enough:
See?
We set up, feeling kind of weird given that we didn't have that whole pesky swim portion to worry about. And we started off running. My trans towel looked all empty.
I took a gamble with this race - I don't typically wear socks with my bike shoes and didn't want to waste a lot of time taking socks on and off for each leg. Soooo ... I just decided not to wear socks. I figured the runs were short enough so I just decided to BodyGlide the crap out of my feet and go with it.
Run #1 was a short loop - 1.5 miles - and I think we pushed it way too hard. Brandon held the pace for that one - Mr. SpeedyPants lately - and it was a rough go for me. And fast. Way faster than I've been running lately.
(13:02; 9:19/mi, 172nd overall)
T1 was longer than most of my tri transitions, but Brandon and I ran this race together. Plus I needed to ditch a layer and deal with my falling apart bike shoes. Stupid shoes.
(2:23)
Bike #1 was a simple 3.6 mile loop - uphill to start, down a nice hill, slightly up another, around a loop, down a slight hill, uphill into the wind to trans. Felt a lot longer than said time indicates.
(12:19, 17.5 mph, 151st overall)
T2 was similar to T1. Weeeee.
(2:26)
Run #2 was a whole hell of a lot slower than run #1. It was a 2.5 mile out-and-back and omg slow. Here was when we realized we need to learn duathlon pacing, for it is a lot different than triathlon pacing, particularly with the format of the race. Still, we plodded along, walking some, running some, passing a few people and not getting passed by anyone we didn't already pass before (that is, working our way up the standings). The lack of running/run fitness came out here.
(28:38, 11:27/mi, 173rd overall)
T3 was long since Brandon had to do a port-o-potty stop at the end of the run. Since we were doing the race together, I waited for him to come into transition so we could go off together. It was also good because I had to fiddle with my dang bike shoe to get it to cooperate so I could put it on my foot.
(4:17)
Bike #2 was two loops of the same course as bike #1 (so 7.2 miles?). We took the first lap easy and pushed it on the second ... with the wind picking up on the windy parts. Boo to that. On lap one, I experienced one of my major race pet peeves. The road wasn't closed to outside cars. The race people did a GREAT job of traffic management and not a lot of people were coming into the park, but still, as cyclists on an open course, we're supposed to stay to the right. Safer and it makes passing easier. This one woman, however, was riding basically in the middle of the road. Sorry honey, but I shouldn't have to go into the OPPOSITE LANE to pass your ass. Safety first, sweetiepoo.
(25:20, 17.1 mph, 155th overall)
T4/50-yd sprint was done barefoot. A gamble to be sure, but I wasn't clomping across in my crappy bike shoes. Plus it made me very focused on doing that mid-foot strike. I wasn't able to quite do my customary sprint, but close enough.
(:41)
Overall Results:
1:29:03
177/244 overall
75/94 females
19/21 division (F29&UND)
Final Thoughts:
This duathlon thing is kind of fun. Definitely a nice change of pace from triathlon ... though I'd really like to do the (what I consider) more typical du format of run/bike/run. CC#3 is a bike/run which should be fine (as long as it doesn't snow like crazy and make us switch to the 4mi run-only again). My desire to do the r/b/r format is the reason why I have Barkin' Dog on our 2012 tentative race schedule.
I just need to learn how to pace myself for this type of race by then.
HOWEVER! I will have new bike shoes. As you can see here,
... my shoes are kind of dead. I have new ones, but I need to make sure they fit before I start using them/put my cleats on them. TriSports visit in a week for that. :)
Friday, January 13, 2012
Things I've Learned
To anyone that has ever read Esquire, you know that they often interview a celebrity who will provide a list of things that they have learned throughout their life. Since I have way too much downtime on my hand (at least when I commute) I have put together a few things myself. I'm curious - what has everyone else learned throughout their life?
- Apple makes good products. But people that use them are no longer hip or cool. Everyone has an iPod now. And an iPhone. You’re not some elitist if you own an Apple product. And to all these Wall Street protesters that think Apple was some non-capitalist company, Steve Jobs took full advantage of Capitalism.
- Hard work sometimes pays off. Other times, it gets you nowhere
- The key to winning over a woman is humor. Be funny, make her laugh, make sure to have some physical contact. Keep your guard up and your game on. You’re always in danger of ending up on the “just a friend” list
- I laugh, cry, get angry, emotional, and everything in between. I don’t have a fear of expressing my emotions. They are there. There’s no reason to shove them into your stomach.
- Sports are very important. They teach you lessons for life. Team sports are not life. An individual sport, such as triathlon or running, is much better for the soul
- If someone doesn’t like you, it’s hard to not take it personally. I don’t think you should conform to everyone though.
- Your job should never, ever, rule your life. It should be the other way around
- People’s expectations of you are going to be unreasonable. Your expectation of yourself is also usually unreasonable. Go easy on yourself every now and then. Sometimes, it’s not your fault
- There is nothing as pleasurable as a quiet moment in a chair with a good cup of coffee
- Advice will come at you from all corners. Most of it is meant well, but most of it is also garbage
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Dang Colds
After a fairly solid start to this year ... I've finally apparently caught the death plague that's been going around work (or, you know, a nasty head cold). The last couple mornings I've woken up with some grossness and crappy voice, but it's gone away. Yesterday? Stayed around all day ... with the alternating runny/stuffy nose and the sinus headache.
Yeah.
What's that they say about best laid plans and things shot to hell or whatever?
In any case, I'm going to be smart about this. I'm still hoping to run Saturday with the run group from our favorite running store, but to do that, I'm going to take it easy and take care of myself until then. While it's not entirely in my control, I'm going to do everything possible to make it so I'm not out for two months with sickness like I was last year.
So, soup, hydration and plenty of couch time look to be in my future (along with a little bit of work thrown in) and hopefully I'll be back building up my strength soon.
Yeah.
What's that they say about best laid plans and things shot to hell or whatever?
In any case, I'm going to be smart about this. I'm still hoping to run Saturday with the run group from our favorite running store, but to do that, I'm going to take it easy and take care of myself until then. While it's not entirely in my control, I'm going to do everything possible to make it so I'm not out for two months with sickness like I was last year.
So, soup, hydration and plenty of couch time look to be in my future (along with a little bit of work thrown in) and hopefully I'll be back building up my strength soon.
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