December Goal Met

With a final ride on the exercise bike this morning I managed to achieve my goal for the month. I ended with a total of 301.28 miles on the bike in the month of December:

 

I was also lucky enough to have Erin join me on my training run this morning (although I'm not too sure she actually wanted to). I think both of us were wishing it could have counted towards our goal for next year. It happens so infrequently but I really enjoy when we can train together. 

Updates And A New Goal For 2017

With 4 days remaining in December, I am currently at 288.77 miles on the bike towards my goal of 300 and I intend to finish that up later today. My running mileage continues to gradually increase as I work towards the start of my marathon training program. This past Saturday I put in 5 1/2 miles on some slushy trails.

When I checked in at the pool this morning they informed me that my yearly pass would expire next week. I decided that before renewing my pass I wanted to ensure that it was saving my money (I was pretty sure already but wanted to verify). The yearly pass costs me $160 while an individual trip to the pool without the pass is $4, so simple math says that if I took more then 40 trips the to pool it would be worth it. The beauty of tracking all of my training on Garmin Connect is that I can run reports for situations just like this one. In the past year, I have logged 81 trips to the Urbandale pool, well worth the cost of a yearly pass.

With New Years just a few days away, I have been spending some time thinking about what goals I would like to set for 2017. As mentioned in previous posts, I am already planning to run my first marathon and compete in my first half iron distance triathlon, but I also want to continue to build my on my endurance base. I will save the 2016 training numbers for a later post, but in reviewing what I did in 2016, I thought it would be a great idea to build on those numbers for 2017. Ironically, as I was already thinking about the topic, my wife, Erin, floated an idea for something we could both do together. So here it is, our goal in 2017 is to run 2,017 miles combined. To put that in perspective, that equates to each of us running a little over 2.75 miles per day. A lofty goal for sure, but one that should propel both of us towards our other goals for the year.

Big Week And Big Decision

If you read my last post, you know that after going several months without stepping on a scale I weighed myself last week and was surprised to see that I had made my way back up to 269 lbs. Well, I'm happy to say that after a week of refocusing myself, I was able to drop 9 lbs. My weigh in Friday morning was 260 lbs and falling.

A few more updates on the week:

• Through the first 18 days of this month, I have put in 180 miles on my exercise bike (towards my goal of 300) and I still intend to ride some tonight to add to that number.
• On Saturday morning I took a trip to the YMCA in Bettendorf with my father-in-law. It was fun to swim in a new pool and I ended up swimming 1,250 yards. That is the farthest I have swam since the Des Moines Triathlon
• I also was able to get my long run in while in the QCA on Saturday. Bettendorf is one of my favorite destinations to run because of all of the beautiful parks and trails that they have. I used my running spikes for the first time this winter and they worked perfect on the snow and ice packed trails and sidewalks
• The cold and windy weather forced me to run on the treadmill Thursday. It was only 3 miles but it reinforced my desire to run outside

Lastly, I have added another big race to my schedule next year. I am planning to participate in the Legend Ad Astra Triathlon in Lawrence, KS on September 10. I will be competing in the Legend 70, which includes the same distances as a Half Ironman:

• 1.2 Mile Swim
• 56 Mile Bike
• 13.1 Mile Run

If I'm able to complete the triathlon, it would allow me to cross 2 races off my bucket list in 2017. I can't even wait!

Updates And Facing The Music

Let's start with the good news first. We are 11 days into the month of December and I am making great progress towards my goal to put 300 miles on my exercise bike. As of today, I am just shy of 120 miles.

I also have completed the 4th week of my run training program that included a long run of 5 miles yesterday morning. The temperatures have really started to drop over the past couple of weeks but I have managed to bundle up and stay running outside as I dread the thought of running long distances on a treadmill. 

The one thing that started to get to me over the last week was always running in the dark. Most of my training runs occur before work, around 5 am, after supper, or after the girls go to bed. All of these times result in running in the pitch dark and for some reason that was starting to get to me. This week I managed to sneak a run in after work one day and during lunch another day. Running in the daylight did me some good. 

Now for the not so good news. During my long run yesterday morning I managed to trip over a rise in the sidewalk and fall flat on my face. This is one of the major risks of running in the dark. For the most part I am okay. I scraped up my left knee and palms and have bruises on both knees, my left elbow and nose. Mostly I was impressed at how quickly I was able to pop back up and run the rest of the way home.

Lastly, the really bad news. You may recall a post back in July/August when I stated that I was going to shift my focus away from weight loss and just worry about training for my races. Well, with that decision, I made the mistake eliminating my twice a week weigh ins. As my racing season came to an end, my training tapered off and the idea was to shift focus back to weight loss (also mentioned in a previous post). 

Even with a weight loss goal, I failed to start up regular weigh ins. Over the past couple of weeks it finally hit me that I had to be gaining weight, I could just feel it. Although I was fitting in what would be plenty of exercise for most people, I was no longer burning the 1,000 - 3,000 calories a day that I was during peek training season. At the same time, I didn't take the time to evaluate my nutrition program and decrease the number of calories that I was consuming daily.  

I'm sure at this point you can guess where this is headed. Yesterday morning I stepped on the scale for the first time in months weighing in at 269 lbs, which is a little more then 30 lbs over my lightest weight back in August. One thing that I will qualify here is that I did put on a significant amount of muscle from August to early October that had me weighing in at 251 lbs. During that time I was actually trying to work on bulking up so the weight gain was expected. Sadly, I am painfully aware that the last 18 lbs was not muscle at all. 

I consider myself a very intelligent person, but right now I feel like a complete idiot. I flat out screwed up and I am owning that. The good news for me is that I did decide to step on the scale yesterday to bring this issue to light. Knowing their is a problem is the first step to fixing it and I am well on my way to doing just that. I am already making alterations to my diet to account for burning fewer calories each week. I am also ramping up my training (this has been happening over the past couple of weeks anyways). My plan is to get back to what I was doing last December - March when I lost a significant amount of weight. Diversifying my workouts to include a variety of exercises and strength training and sticking to a schedule. Also, being more conscientious about what I am eating compared to the amount of calories that I am burning.

Another positive is that nothing else has changed. I still have huge goals for next year that I fully intend to accomplish. It isn't like I have been secretly skipping workouts or gorging on food. I have been maintaining a consist level of training and am loving nearly every minute of it. I made a mistake and lost my focus and in an instant, yesterday morning, I got my focus back. This journey is a roller coaster ride, and to this point I had only been experiencing the highs. Yesterday was a low but less then 48 hours later, I'm already working my way up the next hill. 

December Bike Challenge And Changing Weather

Tomorrow is December 1st, that means I only have 1 month remaining this year to make myself better and to contribute to what has been the most epic year of my life. To help me improve myself, I have set a goal of putting in at least 300 miles on the bike during the month of December. This time of year, that pretty much means spending a lot of time on the trainer in my basement gym. I decided on 300 miles because that will be enough to put me over 2,000 miles for the year. I chose the bike because it supplement my running plan in a very low impact way and  is readily accessible in my basement for early morning or late at night workouts.

As the weather grows colder and the daylight shorter, it becomes much harder to motivate myself to run outside. So far the fall has been very mild, but the past couple of weeks we have seen much more seasonable weather. Even though it is difficult to convince myself to get all bundled up and head out for a run in the cold, it always feels so rewarding to do so this time of year.

This time around I would like to pose a challenge to all of you. Maybe, like a lot of people, you didn't live up to some of the goals you set at the beginning of the 2016 or maybe you didn't even set goals because you haven't lived up to them in the past. Even if that is the case, I have great news for you, the year is not over! You have an entire month left to make a positive impact on your life as well as get a jump start on next year. So my challenge is, don't wait, get started now and find a something that you can do to improve yourself before the year comes to a close.

Running In The Rain And Turkey Trot

This was my run on Tuesday evening. At first glance, there really isn't anything special here. 2.63 miles is a relatively short distance compared to nearly all of my training runs and a 9:51 min/mi average at that distance isn't particularly impressive for me either. In fact, the only thing that made this run different from any other is that the conditions were miserable. It was dark, windy and cold and was pouring rain but in spite of those conditions, I powered through and got it done. Running is hard enough as it is without having to deal with adverse conditions.

As I was shivering and praying for the rain or wind to die down (it never did), I kept thinking about how representative this run was of my life at work over the past couple of weeks. Life, like running, isn't always sunshine and rainbows. In fact, at times it is down right hard and grueling, but I believe it is in those moments that greatness is born. We find out the most about ourselves and what we are capable of when things get hard and this is the best way to develop confidence. To be able to experience moments like this, we have to be willing to put ourselves in situations that are uncomfortable and may even have a high chance of failure. Running is one of the ways I have found to experience these special moments.

This morning I ran in the Davenport Turkey Trot 5K. This was not a race that was originally on my schedule, but I signed up to do it with someone else. I don't really feel like going into the details of the situation at this time, but for now let's just say that person backed out of doing the race. Since I had already paid for the race and Erin, her mom, and aunt Lisa were walking the 5 mile route, I decided that I would run it anyways.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in because I hadn't trained for the race and only started my new training program last week. It isn't that I doubted my ability to complete a 3.1 mile course (I'm happy to say that I can probably run 3 miles in my sleep), I just wasn't sure what to expect and I was questioning how much my heart would be in it. For the first mile I trudged along at a respectable pace for a training run, but as my legs got stretched out they were feeling pretty good so at the turn around (it was an out and back course) I decided to push it to see what I could do. I ended up finishing with a time of 29:19 good enough for 188 out of 978 finishers (that is top 20%!!!!). That time was 41 seconds off of my 5K PR, but my last mile was 8:24 which blew away my previous PR of 8:50.

It Starts

Training for my 2017 racing season has officially began. Last week was the first week of a 12 week pre-training cycle and everything went very well. The purpose of this training cycle will be to maintain my current running endurance while building up weekly mileage in preparation to train for my first every marathon!

So wait a second, did I just say that I'm completing a training program to be able to start a training program? You read that correctly. The first full week of February I will begin an 18 week marathon training program that begins with a 19 mile week, including an 8 mile long run. Another major reason for the pre-training program is to help avoid the temptation of slacking off during the holidays and as the cold weather moves in.

I haven't solidified my entire race schedule for next year, but I have set a schedule up through the marathon.

Saturday, March 11 - Leprechaun Chase 10K (Des Moines, IA)
Saturday, April 29 - Drake Relays Half Marathon (Des Moines, IA)
Saturday, June 10 - Marathon to Marathon (Storm Lake, IA to Marathon, IA)

After the marathon, my plan is to shift focus to triathlon training and competition. Oh yes, and my wife has challenged me to run the Bix 7 in a tutu, so that will probably end up on the schedule as well.

I chose a the marathon in Storm Lake for several reasons. It is a well established race that isn't too far from home. It is early enough in the year that I will be able be complete most of my long distance training before the summer heat and humidity set in. It is also early enough in the year that I will have plenty of time remaining in the triathlon season.

The Season Is Over, So What Now?

My racing season has been over for more then a week, so what now? For starters, I took an entire week off of running. It gave both my body and mind time to reset. I also started back up with my strength training regimen, hoped back on the bike, and started visiting the Urbandale pool again.

As stated in previous blog posts, my main focus this off season is to get my weight down below 220 lbs. I'm also working to maintain a solid base in all 3 of my triathlon disciplines while continuing to  improve my strength, especially core strength. Another focus is to spend some time relaxing with several hunting trips to my cabin as well as spending time with family for the holidays. It was a very intense year, and I want to enter next season fully refreshed and ready to continue my improvement.

My off season training will include the following:

• Swimming - 2 days per week
• Bicycling - 3 days per week
• Running - 3 days per week
• Strength Training - 4 days per week
• Walking - A LOT

Unlike in season training, this schedule will be much more flexible and fluid (not a big deal if I miss a workout or 2 each week). Also, I don't have set distances or times for each training session. With a focus on strength training, I have reduced the number of sessions per week from 6 to 4, but plan to make them longer and include core exercises during each session.

I am also starting to research and work on my training and racing nutrition. Erin bought me a book for my birthday that is all about fueling for triathlon training and races (from sprint distance to Ironman distance). Nutrition is the one area that I have the most room for improvement and I hope to learn and implement a lot of changes going into next year.

So what does next year have in store? I plan to share my tentative schedule in another blog post, but I will share that it does include completing my first ever marathon. My official 18 week marathon training program begins on February 7. From the time I started training nearly 3 years ago, my plan was always to run a marathon. I have a long road of training ahead, but I can honestly say that I feel excited and ready to focus on this next goal.

Relay Reflections

THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!

If you have been reading my blog, you know that last weekend I competed with a team in the IMT Des Moines Marathon Relay. 26.2 miles broken up between 5 people. My team consisted of myself, my wife (Erin), brother-in-law (Ben), co-worker (Megan), and friend from college (Joni). It was probably the most random group of people brought together, and all of us had different backgrounds in running, but I think that is part of what made it so fun.

I started off the race by running the first 6 miles, which included a few significant hills (for Iowa anyways). Joni took the baton next to run the next 4 miles, which included a lap around the blue oval in Drake stadium. Megan followed that up with the next 5 miles. Megan is fairly new to running and even outdid her own expectations. In fact, she finished so much faster then expected that Ben wasn't even ready when she ran into transition 3. Ben ran the next 5.2 (which turned out to be more like 5.6) which included a lap around Gray's Lake and a stroll up MLK. Erin anchored the relay by running the last 6 miles. The rest of us joined her at mile marker 26 and ran the last .2 miles to the finish.

Although the relay itself was a little less structured then I expected. We drove our own team car between all of the transition sites and with the exception of some unexpected road construction at the end, the turn by turn directions provided by the race were very good. The transition areas were well marked and spaced well enough that we had plenty of time to drive between them all and watch a lot of the race along the way. Another bonus is that with all of the driving and conversation in between, the race went by ridiculously fast.

We finished in a time of 4:19:48 coming in 54th out of 111 teams. Not that time or place really matters in a race like this, but I think everyone on the team was at least a little surprised at how well we did. As I stated previously, with such a unique team make up, it was hard to know what to expect.

Everyone on the team ran very well and I was excited to end my season on such a positive note. I was able to complete my 6 miles in under an hour (which was my personal goal going in), averaging 9:53 min/mi.

Although running is usually a very personal and individual part of my life, I can honestly say that I had a fantastic time doing this relay. Although it was a little stressful at times organizing and coordinating the team, it all turned out great in the end. Erin and I agree that this relay will probably remain on the schedule for both of us in the years to come. It really is a fun way to enjoy some time with friends and family while doing something that we love and staying healthy.

2016 - A Season In Review

With my last race of the year less then 2 days away, it is time to begin reflecting on the past racing season. As you may recall, my focus this year was to lose weight and build my fitness base to better prepare to run a marathon. I did lose a significant amount of weight, about 50 lbs, and I greatly increased my running endurance, but I accomplished so much more then that. 

Usually for a post like this, I would head on over to my Garmin Connect account and pull a bunch of numbers out to post, but I decided to make this post more about the intangibles instead of the tangibles. By this point, you all are aware that I have run, biked, and swam a ridiculous number of miles this year. However, I haven't always done a great job of sharing how I have felt along the way.

Last year I would have described running as a hobby, but this year I would say that it has become a lifestyle. Although I truly believe that anyone who runs can consider themselves a runner, I don't think that I really felt like a runner until this year. From the day my official training started for the year, on February 29, this year just felt different. The prior 2 years I eased into the sport and still had a lot of doubts in my training and preparation for races. This year, my confidence was high and I never once questioned my ability to do it.

Although I'm still not sure if it is a good or bad thing, another difference this year was how much my training and races impacted the rest of my life. From what and when I ate each day, to when we took family trips and visited family, nearly everything was scheduled around training and races. Another change is that it became a family affair as my wife, Erin, trained for and ran her first half marathon. My oldest daughter, Abigail, also ran in her first race at 5 years old.

This year I also completed my first triathlon and loved it. Running will always be my main passion, but the added challenge of working towards mastering 3 disciplines really hooked me. It also helps to take the monotony out of training. As I work on forming my long term goals, my focus has started to shift from road races to triathlons and that has me even more excited.

Another big development of the year is that I started to realize how my story and journey can serve (and for some has already served) as an inspiration to others. From family and friends (both old and new), to coworkers and complete strangers, I have heard from countless people how much they get out of hearing or reading about my story. In fact, I have had 5 individuals ask for my help in getting them started. For something that started out as a very personal and individual journey, it has been very rewarding to both directly and indirectly be helping others. In fact, this is an area that I hope to build on next year. I find that helping others start or work on their journey is something that I am good at and really enjoy doing. Not only that, but working with other people really inspires me to keep working hard myself.

If you would have asked me 5 years ago where I would be today, I probably would have jokingly said "dead". However, with the path I was on, that wouldn't have been far from the truth. I certainly don't have life figured out, but I do feel that I have discovered a big piece of what had been missing from my life and am excited every day for what my future holds. I have some big goals, but am confident that I will meet and exceed every one of them.

This off season I plan to focus heavily on my diet and nutrition as well as strength training while maintaining a fitness base in running, swimming and biking. I have a goal to lose 20 lbs by the time I start training for my next race next winter/spring. I am no different then anyone else in that the holidays and winter make it more difficult to reach these goals, but right now, with what I have accomplished, I feel like anything is possible.

For now though, I have a race on Sunday. It is a marathon relay with 4 other individuals. It may not come with the accolades of some of my other races, but I am really excited for it. It should be a blast and the perfect way to end my racing season.

To everyone out there that is still reading, I want to say thank you. Thank you for taking an interest in my journey and encouraging me along the way. Although this season is ending, there is a new season just around the corner with another set of challenges.

Weekly Update

With the Quad Cities half marathon come and gone, I am staring down the final race of my season, the Des Moines Marathon Relay on Sunday, October 16. I will save my "year in review" post until after that race, but I've already found myself spending a lot of time reflecting on the past year and looking forward to what next year has to offer.

For my birthday, my wife and girls gave me a book on nutrition for training and competing in triathlons. I have only made it a couple of chapters in, but I have been using what I have learned so far to help focus on fueling my body for training instead of just mindless eating. The book is very good and in less then a week, I have already noticed a difference. My recovery time has shortened and I have seen a measurable improvement in my running. I look forward to spending the off season playing around with my nutrition to find out what works for me.

With 3 weeks between races, I made a decision to cut out swimming and bicycling and increase my running to 6 days a week. The first week was a little grueling, but I got through and ran the best that I have all year. I ran over 32 miles on the week and my body held up well.

 

 After the relay, I plan to take an entire week off running while I work on setting up my off season schedule. I'm still playing around with it but I'm thinking about including 4 days strength training, 3 days running, 2 days swimming, and 3 days bicycling. Just like last year, I plan to incorporate a lot of walking into my routine as well. I have a goal of dropping around 20 lbs before the end of the year and another 20 before next June (more on that in a future post). 

I've also started to make some tentative race plans for next year. It may seem early to many, but much of my racing requires several months of training, so early season races require an early start to the training season. Once again, more on my plans for next year in a future post. I'm also starting to take inventory of my gear and order anything that I might need for the winter training months. Most of my cold weather gear from last year has become too small so I've been placing a few Amazon orders.

Quad Cities Half Marathon 2016

Yet another race is in the books! This past Sunday I ran in the Quad Cities half marathon. This was my 4th half marathon and I was able to post yet another PR time finishing in 2:19:28 which is more than 10 minutes faster then my previous PR.

It was a beautiful day to run a race and I was lucky enough to do it running beside the most beautiful woman that I know, my wife! This was her first ever half marathon and I feel so blessed and lucky to have been able to run it with her. Early this year she started showing interest in running a half marathon. After a couple of months I went ahead and signed her up for the Quad Cities half, because in our house, if you bring up running a race, then you had better do it.

First Half Marathon!

She asked me to coach her and requested that I run it with her. I put a training plan together for her that included running the Bix 7 in late July and got her plenty of miles in before the race. Her determination and willingness to listen to my suggestions was the first thing that impressed me. Don't get me wrong, I had no doubt that she could do it, I was just concerned that she may convince herself otherwise. The more she ran, the more that I saw her self confidence grow. And not to sound too sappy, but it made me fall in love with her even more than I already was. Thinking back over the summer, I can't remember more then 1 or 2 times that she missed a training run.

The race went quite well for both of us. My mother-in-law and our oldest daughter came out to watch us. We first saw them around mile 4 holding up signs and cheering like crazy, then they then greeted us at the finish line. It was a very special moment for all of us. Abigail got to see mommy and daddy accomplishing something great and learned a valuable lesson about hard work paying off. Erin not only became a gorgeous and fit woman, she also learned how to believe in herself.

We finished together

Our Biggest Fan

 I can honestly say that I have never been more proud of anyone, then I am of Erin right now. She truly is beautiful, both inside and out and I am so lucky to be able to call her my wife.

AMAZING!!!

In a few weeks we will have another opportunity to race together as we will be participating on a marathon relay team for the IMT Des Moines marathon. Beyond that, I'm not quite sure what the future holds, but whatever it is, I'm just glad I get to do it with her.

31 In Review

It is safe to say that 31 was one of the best years of my life. As I look forward to everything that 32 will have to offer, I wanted to take some time to reflect on everything that happened in the last year.

• I ran my 1st half marathon (Quad Cities) a week after turning 31
• I ran my 2nd half marathon (Des Moines) 3 weeks later and my 3rd (Dam to Dam) last June
• I ran in 4 additional road races
• I lost over 50 lbs (290.2 to 236.8)
• I learned how to swim freestyle
• I completed my first triathlon (Des Moines Olympic Distance)
• I ran 740.05 miles
• I swam 45.15 miles
• I cycled 1,782.53 miles
• Last year on my birthday, I ran 5 miles with an average pace of 13:32 minutes per mile, this year on my birthday I ran 12 miles with an average pace of 10:42 minutes per mile
• I started this blog

Of course there was a lot more to my year then just training and races, but this really has become an integral part of my life. The confidence that I have gained has spread into other areas of my life as well. No matter what happens in the future, nothing will ever be able to take away everything that I accomplished last year.

Here is to making 32 even more epic then 31!

Double Digits (Guest Post)

Ten miles.....10 miles....1 - 0 miles!!!

On Saturday, I completed a training run at Saylorville Lake that was 10 miles long.  It included MANY hills, lots of friendly hellos and some serious will power.  It was a little bit cooler than my runs during the last few months of training so I pulled out the long sleeves and pants.  I am used to doing my runs early to avoid the heat but today I waited until 7 to let it warm up a bit.

Because the last few weeks of my training are longest run personal records for me, I am really trying to work on pacing myself to not run out of gas at the end.  I started my run right where I had planned and felt good at the beginning.  

As I continued the run, my thoughts turned to how much I have changed throughout this training process.  I used to start a run and hope to just finish it.  I now have specific goals and aspirations that drive my training.  The most interesting realization that came to me during my run was that I am now in control of my body.  I decide how fast or slow to run and when to push myself. 

In high school, I would have given one of my fingers away to run a 10 minute mile and yesterday I had a 9:55 average for ten miles.  I ran each mile faster than the one before while dealing with difficult hills.  

I finished my run feeling good, not sick.  I even took Abigail to the Farmer's Market after a quick shower.

Running a double digit training run is something I had never even dreamed of completing before this year.  Next weekend I get to run with Patrick and the weekend after that is the big half marathon!  I am super excited about the race and proud of how far I have come.  It is truly awesome sharing a hobby with my hubby and pushing myself to the limit.  Thanks to everyone who has asked about my training, given me a compliment or waved a hello.  I am now officially a runner!

Excellent Weekend

With only 3 weeks between races, I knew that I wouldn't have a large chance for resting recovery following my triathlon next weekend. I struggled a bit through my mid-week training runs, but did cut swimming and cycling from my schedule to help. After my normal rest day on Friday, I had some very successful training runs this weekend.

On Saturday, I had a 5 mile pace run on the schedule and I set out just after lunch. I was happy to feel that my legs felt fresh and rested and I was really able to push my pace. I ended up with a fantastic pace of 9:26/mi and set a new 5K and 1 Mile PR.

After such a great run on Saturday, I wasn't sure how my legs would take to putting in 11 miles on Sunday. I made sure to hold back for the first 6 miles holding a a pace just under 10:30 min/mi (which is really good for me on such a long run). With my legs holding up, I pushed the pace on the next 4 miles to just under 10:00 min/mi before easing up the last mile to cool down a bit.

I ended up breaking my 10K PR on that Sunday run, meaning that I set 3 new PRs in the same weekend of training. 

What is even better then breaking records or having a wonderful weekend of training is how fit I have become. Even last year at this time, my day would either have to consist of a training run or doing housework and playing with my girls, but my body couldn't handle both. On Saturday I lifted and walked in the morning, took Bridget on a ride behind my bicycle, completed my training run, mowed the lawn and then spent the afternoon/evening playing outside with the girls. 

Life has just become so much different, even through all of the sacrifice that comes with training and racing, it is just so hard to imagine life differently at this point.

A Family Affair

Saturday, August 27 was a very special day for our family. Both my wife, Erin, and my oldest daughter, Abigail, ran in a race at Christ the King parish in Des Moines. I will openly admit that as my wife's running coach, I discouraged her from doing the race due to where it fell in her training schedule, but it all ended up working out.

To start with, my wife (hands down the most beautiful woman on earth) ran in the 5k race. Both of the girls and I watched her start and finish the race. She did awesome! It is almost hard to believe that this is the same woman, who just 2 years ago was a self identified non-runner. The same woman who just last summer said that she was done with running after finishing the Bix 7 and injuring her foot in the process. And now, the same woman who is training for her first half marathon that is just 2 1/2 short weeks away!

Looking fabulous!

All of my girls, pre-race

She ran a great race and set a PR time in the process. I could not be any more proud of her! The best part in all of this is that Erin and I are working together to make fitness and family go hand in hand. Our hope is that by developing a tradition and culture of running and fitness, it will pass onto both of our girls.

Shortly after Erin's race, Abigail got a chance to run in her first race ever and she loved it! Both Erin and I are very proud of her for doing her best and running the entire way. The smile on her face the entire time showed us how much she loved it.

And they're off

Heading back to the finish line

All smiles with her medal after the race

I am more and more excited every day to see what the future holds for our little family. But things are pretty darn great right now too.

Des Moines Triathlon

So the day finally came, and not only did I survive, but I crushed it. Everything went very smoothly, especially for my first race. With the exception of dropping my bottle with Gatorade on the bike route, I can't think of anything that even remotely went wrong.

Erin and my dad rode down to the race with me and we made our way to transition around 5:15 am in the pitch dark. After getting marked, I got my transition area all set up with plenty of time to spare. I checked out the bike in/out as well as the swim in and the run out before making my way around Gray's Lake to the swim start.

Heading into transition before the race

Erin and I before the race

Dad and I before the race

My brother rode his bicycle down and joined us just before the start of the race. 

Me and my bro before the race

Staring out at the lake, the buoys all seemed so far away and the total distance seemed like 10 miles instead of just under 1. I tried my best not to let my nerves get to me and before I knew it they were starting the race and then shortly after calling for my swim wave.  

Lining up for the start of my swim wave

And I'm off!

The water temperature at the start was just above 76 degrees, which is below the 78 degree threshold that makes the race wet suit legal (by USA Triathlon standards). Since I don't own a wet suit (nor have I trained in one) I knew the water would be cold without it. However, when I entered the water it actually felt warm compared to the air temperature that was around 60 degrees. 

Just keep swimming

Well, you can see the first buoy in this picture...

No matter how many times I read about it, nothing actually prepared me for swimming in a lake with a bunch of other people. For starters, I couldn't see more then 12 inches under water. On top of that, it took awhile for me to get used to being hit and kicked by fellow swimmers. After the first buoy, I made sure to take the rest of the corners plenty wide to avoid the traffic jams.

Based on my training, I had expected to finish the 1,500 meter swim in around 50 minutes. That is a really slow time, but considering that I taught myself to swim freestyle and just began swimming last December, finishing the swim would make me plenty happy. Boy was I surprised when I stood up out of the water, looked down at my watch and saw a time of 44 minutes. That feeling of excitement was amplified when I reached the top of the hill to see a huge cheering section waiting for me!

Coming out of the swim

My VERY creative cheering section

Transition 1 went about as well as I had expected. I took a little under 4 minutes to get dried off, put my socks and shoes onto my wet feet, and get ready for the bike course. T1 is definitely one place that I could improve on as many people complete it in 2 minutes or less. 

Heading out of T1

 Once on the bike, it didn't take long for me to realize how well I was riding. Going in, I thought if I rode very well, I might be able to break 1:25 on the bike. Never did I ever think I would be able to break 1:20, but what I lacked in swimming skill, I more then made up for on the bike with a time of 1:16:39. I averaged just under 19.5 mph! 

Finishing loop 1 of 2 on the bike

I was feeling awesome as I came into transition 2. I quickly racked my bike, swapped my helmet for  a visor and headed out on the run course. I had trained hard on the bike to run transition, so the heaviness in my legs didn't surprise me. I could tell that my legs didn't have enough left to push it too hard during the run. Knowing that I had banked over 15 minutes of unexpected time through the first 2 legs, I settled into an easy pace and finished the run 1:03:21. About a minute off of my PR 10K pace, set at the BIX about 1 month ago, but pretty impressive considering that I had swam and biked first. 

Heading to the finishline

Because of the rolling start, I had no idea what my actual time was until I retrieved my results printout...

Results card

3:09:46!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. At first I was also excited about a 4th place finish as well, but when looking up the official results at home, I realized there were only 4 people in my division. That didn't bother me though. When I started the race, I was guessing/aiming at a finishing time of 3:30 with the thought that I just wanted to finish. I had just crossed the finish line more then 20 minutes faster then I had hoped for and to top it off, I felt great!

Best cheering section of the day!

This is what success looks like

 To all of those who came out to support me and to everyone who kept me in their thoughts and prayers, thank you all for your love and support on this journey. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Erin, and my 2 little girls. Not only for their love and support, but for the sacrifices that they all make that allows me to continue on this journey. None of this would be possible without them. 

Me with my #1 fan

I'm happy to say that my journey is still just beginning. I have a lot of goals and a long way to go, and although it isn't always easy, I'm loving every minute of it. 

Next up is a half marathon with my wife, her first, in the Quad Cities at the end of September.

Pre-race Reflections

So here we are, it is less then 3 days until my race and I have officially finished my last training session. The race this Sunday has been the focus of my training for the entire year, although the goal has changed since then. At the beginning of the year the goal was to complete my first sprint distance triathlon, but as my season progressed (and with some nudges from my wife) I switched my registration to the Olympic distance.

This year, in preparation for this race, I have ran 544.97 miles, biked 1,601.62 miles, and swam 42.6 miles. I went from running a 12 - 13 minute per mile pace, to running a 9.5 - 10.5 minute per mile pace. From barely being able to swim a single length of a 25 yard pool to being able to swim farther then the 1.5 km in open water that is required for the race. Not only have I become faster, but I have grown much stronger, both physically and mentally. I've spent hours reading articles and watching seminars and how-to videos. I am as ready as I can be.

Training for this race has also helped me to build my confidence and that confidence has spilled over into other parts of my life as well. From my time at work to my time at home, from interacting with friends and neighbors to waving as I run by complete strangers, I always seem to be carrying my head high these days. Not everything has gone perfectly, but I have truly enjoyed the ride.

All that is left is for me to rest, to wait, and to leave it all out there on the course come Sunday. No matter what happens at the race, I am already a winner and I have already succeeded.

My Running Gear

Over the course of the past few years I have accumulated several pieces of running gear. Some I have liked better then others. Below I have listed the different types of running gear that I use, and where applicable, the brands that I prefer. Some would argue that you can run in anything (and I'm sure that you can), but having comfortable and useful gear can sure make things easier and more enjoyable.

Running Shoes
Probably the single most important piece of gear when it comes to running. Good running shoes are not just important for comfort, but the proper style and fit can also be the difference between getting injured or not. I was lucky to find shoes that worked for me early on, and even better, they aren't very expensive. I am currently on my 4th and 5th pair of New Balance 610 Trail Runners. I limit each pair of shoes to 400 miles and I try to start breaking in a new pair every 200 miles so that I always have 2 pairs going.

Compression Shorts
If shoes are the most important piece of gear, these are a close second, especially for me as a "larger individual" who would otherwise chafe like crazy. I own and use several brands, but one has stood out above the rest just because they fit me better. Adidas Techfit are my compression short of choice because they form to my legs the best and have a nice wide waist band that does not roll when I run. I also wear Adidas running tights in the colder months.

Running Shorts
I like longer shorts that have a bit of stretch to them. I also prefer to have actual pockets to hold my keys and energy gels in while I run. Nike Challenger are my shorts of choice

Running Shirts
I started out running in just standard cotton t-shirts, but quickly found value in performance material running shirts. For starters, they don't absorb water like cotton and dry more quickly. Also, they tend to not hold the nasty body odor smell that come from the copious amounts of sweat that I produce. Recently, with my triathlon training, I have switched to sleeveless shirts and have found this very helpful when trying to beat the heat during the summer months (plus, everyone enjoys seeing my ripped biceps and triceps). Champion is my brand of choice for a straight running shirt, but I use Pearl Izumi for my tri tops.

Hats
Again, I started out with standard ball caps, but quickly switched to a Nike running hat. The material is lighter, wicks away sweat, and can be washed in the washing machine. This year I have actually started using a visor (which requires that I put sunscreen on my mostly bald head). The visor helps a lot with dispersing heat during the summer months as well.

Socks
A good way to ruin your feet quickly is to wear cotton socks. I don't have a huge preference here other then making sure they aren't cut too low. I have a couple pairs of socks that will cause blisters on my heal from rubbing on the back of my shoe if I'm not careful. I am currently running in either Saucony or Adidas brand socks.

GPS Watch
I started out 3 years ago by using my cell phone with the MapMyRun app. This worked ok, but it quickly became a pain to run with my phone. As a reward for completing my first 8 week training program that year, I bought a Garmin Forerunner 10 and began using the free GarminConnect website to track all of my running activities. I have since added in all of my other training activities as well as weight loss tracking on the website. It is great to be able to track personal records as well as run progress reports on the data.

Nutrition
So far I have been using GU energy gels during longer races and training runs, as well as Gatorade G2 drinks between training legs or after a run. I recently ordered some Gatorade Endurance chews for use during the triathlon, as I'm hoping these will be less messy to consume then the gels. I am also working with a former coaching colleague to beginning using Advocare products to supplement my training.

Other Running Gear

• Original IPod Nano - although I don't run with headphones/music anymore, this is what I used for the first 2 years. Load it up with music and go
• Headphones - I used to prefer headphones that included a thin strap to go over my head (so they held in place), but have since switched to an over the ear model from Amazon. Again, I don't listen to music while I run anymore, so this is no longer something I use
• Armband - I used to use this for holding my nano, but now it is only used when I take my cellphone along on a run. I prefer the compression sleeve style over the strap style and I own a couple of different brands
• Nipple tape - again, something I couldn't live with out. I used to buy NipEaze brand, but now I just buy roles of 3M transpore first aid tape which saves A LOT of money
• Sunscreen - a must for the number of hours that I spend out in the sun. I use either Coppertone or Banana Boat sport sunscreen
• Race bib strap - a must for triathlons, so I don't have to mess with safety pins during a race
• Reflective vest - to help keep me visible during training runs in the early morning or late at night

Going into this off season, I plan on investing in some better cold weather running gear including some Yaktrax that are designed for running. 

Looking back on this post, I guess that I didn't realize how much gear that I had accumulated. Of course, I would say to not be intimidated by this list if you happen to think of starting a running program. The only thing that I would say is an absolute necessity (and that you wouldn't have already) is good running shoes. Keep in mind that "good" does not necessarily equate to more expensive, but it does mean they need to fit you properly and match your gait. I would highly suggest having a professional help you with that. 

Long Overdue

So the past few weeks have been CRAZY around here, so I haven't been able to update my blog in a couple of weeks. Between swim lessons, the girls starting at a new daycare and the school year starting for both Erin and Abigail (who started kindergarten this week!!!!), I have barely been able to keep my head on straight. So here is what you have missed the past couple of weeks.

• I managed to get in A LOT of good training and am feeling well prepared for my race. 
• My pace run on Saturday 2 weeks ago was my best training run of the year as I ran 3 consecutive miles under 9:00 minutes
• After breaking 2 spokes in 2 weeks on the same wheel, I decided to invest in a new set of wheels for my road bike. They have been working well so far
• Speaking of broken spokes, I have to mention out awesome Bike World has been. I have needed service done on my bicycle 3 times this summer and each time they have had me in and out in the same day!
• My brick workouts have progressed very well as I completed a 21 mile bicycle ride followed by a 5 mile run this past Tuesday
• I was surprised to find out that the pool would be closed for 2 weeks for maintenance, but it has turned out to be a blessing as I have spent a lot more time in the open water. My speed and sighting have gradually improved
• Due to a scheduling conflict, I had to swim, bike, and run after work today. I ended up doing a 100% swim (1,500 meters), 75% bike (18.15 miles), and 50% run (3.05 miles). It went extremely well and now I'm even more excited for the race
• Speaking of the race, IT IS ONLY 10 DAYS AWAY!!!!

I'm sure I missed a few things, but you should be caught up now. Next time I won't wait so long to post. 

Updates and Adversity

It was an interesting week of training for me as my training schedule shifted and I ran into some unexpected hurdles. Although I am mostly focused on my triathlon at the beginning of September, it was important to start increasing my running mileage as I will be running a half marathon with my wife at the end of September. Along with that, I also needed to make sure that my schedule would work with the school year about to start and my work hours shifting to allow for dropping the girls at daycare in the morning. My new schedule is as follows:

Monday: long pool swim, medium distance bike, core strength training
Tuesday: brick (bike/run combo), upper body strength training
Wednesday: intervals or tempo run, long open water swim, lower body strength training
Thursday: short recovery run, interval pool swim, interval or short bike, core strength training
Friday: REST
Saturday: pace run, long bike, upper body strength training
Sunday: long run, lower body strength training

The first week of my new schedule brought along some adversity. On Monday morning I arrived at the pool to a sign that said the pool would be drained and closed from August 15 - 28 (2 of the 3 weeks prior to my race). I guess I will be spending more time in the open water then originally planned. On Monday evening I managed to break a spoke on the rear wheel of my bicycle about 2/3 of the way through my ride. Luckily, I was able to call one of my co-workers to give me a lift home and I was also able to get it in for repair the next day.

On Thursday morning at work, my upper back really started to bother me. It bothered me enough to leave work early and skip my remaining workouts for the day. Luckily, an afternoon of laying down and a good night sleep seemed to help. I haven't quite been able to figure out what caused my back to hurt, but I'm very glad that it stopped.

Lastly, I wanted to write a little bit about how my swimming has been progressing. I'm just going to come out and say it, I suck at swimming. Luckily, at this point, I don't really care. I started swimming a mere 8 months ago, and at that time I could barely make it a single length of the pool before having to take a break. My endurance is no longer an issue as I can easily swim the distance required for the race, I just do it VERY slowly. I'm not quite sure what I'm missing, as I know so little about swimming, but it has to be something.

On a positive note, I have gotten much better at sighting while swimming in the open water. I can now spot the next bouy without stopping and am feeling much more comfortable in the open water.

The Bix 7 2016

This past Saturday I ran the 42nd annual Bix 7 road race in the quad cities. The best part about this race was getting to run with my wife, Erin. With full time jobs and 2 young children at home, it is rare that we get the opportunity to run together, but thanks to my father-in-law watching the girls, we were able to run together on Saturday.

Erin and I ready to run

Since the Bix falls at the end of July each year, it is typically hot and humid, but we lucked out with cool temps and cloud cover for nearly the whole race (although the humidity was still high). Although this was not a "major" race on my schedule this year, and I didn't directly train for it, it ended up being a fantastic race. Both Erin and I ran lights out (although she is still a bit faster then me and could have pulled away if she wanted to), but that wasn't even the best part. This is the first race that I have run over the past 3 years that I finished and felt great afterwords. Usually I finish a race and don't want to even think about moving or running for a couple of days afterwords. After the Bix this year, I walked with my girls to the park to play and even got up at 5:30 on Sunday morning for a 3 mile recovery run.

So now for a little about the race. The Bix is known for a couple of grueling hills, especially the Brady Street hill to start the race. Both Erin and I agreed that running together this year made the hills seem shorter and easier. We ran the race together the whole way (well almost...Erin will tell you that I sprinted away from her at the end, but at least I waited until under 1/8th of a mile to go) and I really enjoyed having Erin's company. This was the first race that I have completed Ipod/music free, which is a big deal for me, and I hardly even noticed the difference. My official time was 1:11:48, beating my previous best time of 1:43:46 (set in 2006) by over 30 minutes!

Garmin snapshot of the race

The even better surprise came at home when I uploaded my run to Garmin Connect. It turns out that I set a new PR for the 1K, 1 Mile, and 10K distances!

New PRs waiting to be confirmed

Erin, Mary (mother-in-law), Lisa (aunt-in-law) and I after the race

It's Race Week And Other Updates

So here we are again, it is officially race week! This Saturday I will be running with my beautiful wife and her wonderful mother in the BIX 7 in Davenport, IA. This annual race is one of the biggest non-marathon road races in the United States each year with over 15,000 runners and walkers competing annually. I believe that this is my 6th BIX, but only my 2nd time running. The race features a 1/3 mile steep hill to start the race along with a couple of other good sized hills (for Iowa at least) throughout. It is always the last weekend in July, so that means heat and high humidity are usually in play as well.

2 years ago this was the first race that I ran as I got back into running. That year it was quite a struggle for me as I finished with a time of around 1:45. Although I have not been training directly for this race, I am currently in the best shape of my life and running faster then any other point in my adult life, so I'm expecting it to be a good race. What I am even more excited about is the chance to run another race with my wife. Last year we did 2 races together (one in the pouring rain) and it is a really good opportunity for us to spend time together as well as encourage each other. With kids at home, usually the question is who trains and who watches the kids, so we rarely get to run together. This will also be Erin's warm up race for her first half marathon, which will also be in the Quad Cities, coming up in late September.

As for other updates, I am happy to report that I am healing well from crashing my bicycle a week ago. The biggest lingering pain is in my right elbow, but I am noticing that less each day as well. Late last week the heat kept me inside on my trainer, but I was able to get back out on the K2 for a long ride on Sunday (see below) and again tonight. I do feel a little hesitant and nervous but nothing I can't handle and I'm sure it will go away with time.

As mentioned above, on Sunday I did a 70+ mile loop on the Raccoon River Valley Trail with one of my co-workers. We kept a very easy pace the entire way, but I was surprised at my endurance and how fresh I felt after the ride. This may end up being my longest ride for the year, but I really want to try this loop on my own at some point to see exactly how fast I can finish it.

Sunday long ride

At the end of last week I decided to stop using the calorie counting app that I had been using on my phone after 7 weeks of use. Over that time, I didn't end up losing weight at any greater clip then I had previously, and it was taking a lot of time to use it each day (honestly, time that I didn't have anyways). I also noticed that it ended up having some adverse affects that I didn't like, such as "banking calories" to use later in the day as well as focusing on food more, it seemed like the next meal or snack was always on my mind and I'm really trying to get away from thinking about food all of the time. 

One last update that I will leave you with, is in my opinion the most interesting one. Recently my wife, Erin, posted on Facebook after one of her training runs and mentioned that I had done a good job coaching her to several months of injury free training (after dealing with an injury leading up to the BIX last year). The spurred requests from a couple of ladies that I know asking for help developing programs for them. Now I am certainly no expert and have no formal training, but I was happy to help and put all of the knowledge that I have gained to good use. I don't know why, but this really felt to me like some major milestone on my fitness journey. I have so many people that I go to with questions and requests for help, I just never realized there would be a day that someone else may come to me. 

It Is Not A Matter Of If, But When

After talking with many cyclists that I know and with how many miles I have been putting on my bicycle, I knew it was just a matter of time. Yesterday I managed to wipe out while out on a bicycle ride. Thankfully I was not seriously injured, although it did scare me quite a bit. It wasn't until I woke up this morning that I realized all of the affects of the fall. A scraped left knee was accompanied by a sprained wrist, a severely bruised right elbow (that managed to push my right shifter/break out of position), bruised upper right arm, and bruised sternum (which is the most painful part). 

Luckily, I was able to get my bike upright and readjusted to finish my ride home. I ended up pushing back my long swim until tomorrow and my interval run until Friday to give myself some much needed recovery and rest time today. At this point, I'm glad it is over with and just thankful it wasn't worse. I wish I could say there was a lesson learned or I was doing something wrong that could be corrected. The truth is, although the trail was wet in spots, I had been riding for over 10 miles with no problems. I was not turning, nor was I riding too fast or recklessly. I just happened to hit an extra slippery portion of trail and my front tire slipped right out from under me. 

The Most Unpredicatble Part Of Racing

I know this is a post that I have to write, but I really don't want to. For anyone who may not have caught my Facebook posts on Sunday, the triathlon that I was going to compete in was cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions (namely lightening and high winds). As if that wasn't enough, the initial race delay did not come until we were lining up at the George Wyth Lake boat ramp ready to head into the water. A little less then 3 hours, and several updates, later they finally called it and sent all of the athletes home.

Even with a couple of days to process, I still am not quite sure how to put in words the way I am feeling. Disappointed and devastated just don't seem to cut it. I have been preparing for this race for months. Day after day, grinding out my training runs, putting miles on my bicycle and racking up laps in the pool, all leading up to this day. I had spent countless hours preparing mentally and going through every scenario that I could think of. I showed up on race day at 6:00 am, 2 hours before my swim wave start time, just to make sure I was ready to go. Somehow, in all of that preparation, even as they called for the first delay, it never crossed my mind that there was a chance this race might not happen.

Obviously, nobody can control mother nature and I will give kudos to those who were putting on the Accel Triathlon as they did everything in there power to put on what appeared to be an excellent triathlon. They were very well organized and did great with communication throughout the delays. In fact, my heart goes out to all of the organizers, volunteers, as well as all of the other athletes, especially those like me who were attempting their first triathlon.

I did power through a workout Sunday evening as well as a run on Monday morning in hopes that I would work out some of the emotion that I was feeling. After not finding solace in those, I made the call to take today off entirely to feel sorry for myself with the plan that tomorrow morning I will wake up refreshed and ready to get back after it.

Now I realize, I probably sound silly to many of you reading this and to an extent, I agree with you. I mean, it is just a race after all. Besides, I'm signed up for several more this year. However, training for and competing in races has become a large part of my life. I put all of my energy and a lot of time into planning and preparing for these races. It has become much more then a hobby or a means to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle, it is part of who I am.

Enough of that, I need to end on a positive note. I'm a big fan of the moving "Silver Linings Playbook" for several reasons, but the overall message is a good one. Even when things seem like they couldn't get worse, you need to look for the silver lining in everything. The silver lining was easy to find this weekend, as it was a chance to see many friends and family that I don't often get to see. Sometimes when I get caught up in life I forget how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many great people. The best part is that all of them are genuinely excited to see me, no matter how long it has been and we seem to be able to talk with each other like we never missed a beat.

Lastly, I will mention that my next race is the BIX 7 on July 30. It is a 7 mile road race in Davenport that is known for starting with a large (for Iowa) hill as well as being run in the hottest and most humid part of the summer.

Changed Plans And Unexpected PR

I was quite disappointed when I got pulled into a last minute meeting on Wednesday that kept me from attending the group run over lunch. I'm hoping to try again in a couple of weeks.

That being said, not attending the group run meant that I had to do my tempo run later that evening. It was very hot and humid and I had just finished eating a large pork chop dinner at the Dallas County Fair Grounds, courtesy of my brother-in-law, Mike, so I didn't expect much out of the run. As it turns out, I ended up having a great run. I didn't notice until logging into Garmin Connect the next day that I had broken my previous 5K PR by 34 seconds (30:54 to 30:20).

40 Minute Tempo Run