Open Water Swimming And First Swim/Bike/Run Combo Workout

So it came a little later then I planned, but I finally hit the open water tonight. Better yet, I decided to add it to my normal Thursday brick workout to make it the first time that I have combined all 3 disciplines in one workout.

I had done plenty of reading on what to expect when transitioning to the open water, but I learned quickly that being mentally prepared only helped so much. I only swam about 250 yards for my first time. Although I started off a bit frantically, I was able to calm myself down and relax about half way through. I'm going to try and get out at least 2 more times in the next week and a half leading up to the race, but I was happy with how the first one went.

Solid First Open Water Swim

Nothing too special happened during my ride tonight, but I did decide to work on refining my ability to take in fluids while I ride as well as riding off the saddle going up hills. Both of these things seem small but will be important skills as my competition distances increase.

Good bike ride on a very curvy course

My run was awesome tonight. My first mile off the bike was sub 10 minutes and I felt very good throughout the entire run. I'm really starting to feel like I'm ready to go and at the right time too!

Awesome run pace

Fitting Into Old Clothes

Well, as of last night I can officially say that I can no longer find a piece of clothing in my closet or dresser that is too small for me. (I wanted to say I couldn't find anything that doesn't fit me, but my wife pointed out that most of the clothes I wear are now too big for me).

I have been fitting into XL work shirts and t-shirts as well as size 38 pants and shorts for several weeks now. However, I still had a size LT button up work shirt and the XL performance running shirt from the Des Moines half marathon last fall (I ordered a 2XL, but they gave me an XL on accident) that were still too small. That is, until I tried them on yesterday!

I'm usually not a fan of shopping, but I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and go now. Of course, the difference this time is that I should be able to find clothes that fit in the normal men's department at any store I chose. Yet another perk of this wonderful journey that I'm on.

Food Journal and Calorie Tracking

For the past few weeks I have been trying something new. I had been noticing a lot of inconsistency in my weekly weigh ins. Knowing that my training schedule was very consistent I knew that it had to be related to nutrition. After pondering the issue for a few days, I decided that the logical place to start was to keep a food journal. Having both a food and training log to look at would help me to narrow down exactly what was happening when my weight either spiked or dropped.

My wife, Erin, has been using a phone app developed by Under Armor, called My Fitness Pal (she actually got the suggestion from my father-in-law, Kurt). I decided to give the app a try with the intention of just using it as a food journal. The app turned out to be extremely easy to use for a few reasons:

1. Their food/menu database is HUGE and it is really easy to search for what you are eating
2. You can easily add your own recipes and foods
3. You can even use the camera on your smart phone to scan labels of the foods you are eating to pull up details in the app

Although it wasn't my intent, the app did have a suggested number of calories for me to aim for each day, and after a few days I had learned a lot about my eating habits and even found myself making choices based on the suggested calorie intake. A few things I noticed right away were:

• Although I mostly eat good/healthy foods I don't pay attention enough to portion sizes
• On a typical day the suggested calorie intake doesn't seem that far off of what I was already doing
• To go along with the last one, not every day is a typical day, and I would say some weeks there are more that aren't
• I tend to go on unintentional binges, I have listed a few of the reasons for these binges below:
• Co-worker asks me to go out to lunch
• I skip a meal or eat one later then usual so I'm extra hungry
• I don't fuel based on my training regimen for the day, also causing me to become extra hungry (usually the day after a high calorie burn day) and not perform as well
• At times, I don't pay attention to what I'm eating at all, and when I do, I make MUCH better choices
• What I eat the night before a weigh in can have a bigger impact then I expected, especially when eating foods that are high in sodium

Of course, keeping the journal is a bit of a double edge sword for me. The fact that I am more focused on staying under a certain calorie threshold means that I sometimes cut out foods or drinks that my body really needs to perform well. It also has discouraged me from eating when my body is telling me that I need to take in more calories. My goal is to use the journal in the short term, until I have refined my eating habits to help make my weight loss more consistent again. 

Another Weight Loss Milestone

So it is official, I have lost over 100 lbs! In fact, as of today, my weight was 239.6 lbs, dropping me below 240 lbs. That means that I have lost 107 lbs since this journey began. I'm not 100% sure why, but it took me 2 1/2 less weeks to drop the last 10 lbs then it did the previous 10. The 2 pictures below really show the difference from last year to this year.

6/23/2015 - 317 lbs

6/15/2016 - 239 lbs

Now to just find a way to drop that last 60 lbs...

Training Fun Facts

As I was sitting around the other day, I was thinking about a lot of the changes that I have made in my life over the last couple of years. That led into thinking of some of the things that I do that many people would find odd, ridiculous or maybe even a little uncomfortable. So here we go, a list of fun facts about my life while training.

1. I'm sure this is TMI for most, but I'm going to share anyways. I pretty much have my nipples taped all of the time. When I started running a couple of years ago, it didn't take long for chaffed nipples to become a problem. My solutiion was to buy rolls of 3M medical tape. Because I train 6 days a week at morning, noon, and night, I tend to just keep the tape on and switch it out every few days.

2. I have an entire dresser drawer dedicated to my running and cycling clothes. Furthermore, I could say with certainty that I would need a second drawer if they were all clean at the same time.

3. With the exception of my rest day, I shower a minimum of 2 times every day.

4. I have become much more comfortable with my own body, to the point that I sometimes worry about acutally leaving the house in my underwear. From wearing fitted bike shorts to spending time in the locker room at the pool to going shirtless after a long run, all of these things have contributed.

5. The latest that I wake up any day of the week is 5:30 am...that is the LATEST that I wake up.

6. I spend A LOT of time reading and researching about running, swimming, and cycling.

7. I am obsessed with looking up and planning for future races.

8. Some may say that I have an unhealthy attachment to my running shoes, when I recently retired a pair I may have actually choked up a bit.

9. While I'm out training, I am often thinking about and visualizing future races. 

10. I have been known to sit around for hours after a run in my running or cycling clothes. I'm sure my wife and kids have become accustomed to the smell by now.

11. I have a dedicated Google Calendar just for my training schedule, and it takes A LOT of planning.

12. Sometimes I forget how small I have gotten (relatively) and don't even notice my own reflection while walking past a window or mirror.

13. I actually look forward to and thrive on my training (most days anyway). At this point, I couldn't imagine living any other way.

14. I use the deer rack mounts in our house to hang all of my finisher medals from the various races that I have run.

New PR

It sure was hot and humid last night, but that didn't seem to slow me down as I managed to set a new 5K PR of 30:54, beating my previous PR of 31:03 set back in the middle of April.

First Official Brick Workout

Tonight I completed the first official brick workout of my training session. You may be asking yourself, "What is a brick workout?" Well, it is very simple, a brick workout is a training ride on the bicycle followed immediately by a training run. It is a popular way to prepare for triathlons as it helps the athlete to begin to put the disciplines together as well as work on their transition. I also added in the chance to break in/try out the gear that I will be using in the race.

(I say that tonight is my first official one, although I did do a back to back bicycle ride out of necessity a month or 2 ago.)

Of course, mother nature did her best to make it as miserable as possible with temperatures above 90 for the first time this year, as well as stiff winds out of the south. Luckily, the heat didn't bother me much, but the wind did slow me down on the first half of my bicycle ride. I kept things light since it was my first time completing a brick.

My ride was only 5 miles, but as previously mentioned, the first half was into the wind.

My legs sure felt funny when I began my run, and after riding on the bicycle, I felt like I was going really slow. I ended up running a great speed for the weather conditions and felt like I was at an easy pace the entire run.

I had my wife, Erin, snap a picture of me afterwords as this is my first time training in my my tri jersey and running in my tri shorts. As you can tell by the tan lines, I'm not used to sleeveless shirts, but I really believe it helped me keep from getting too hot during the run. 

Not too shabby for a formerly morbidly obese fella huh?

Dam to Dam 2016

I was very excited to run in my very first Dam to Dam race ever and with how well my training has progressed I had very high expectations. As mentioned in a previous post, I had set a goal to finish in under 2 hours 20 minutes. Sadly, I had a pretty rough race and didn't even come close to that finish time. My official time was 2:29:58 and I was extremely frustrated and disappointed well before I even crossed the finish line.

I'll start with the negative so that I can end the post on a positive note. 8 miles in I was on track to destroy my goal when I started to feel really hot. I could tell the temperature had risen quite a bit and the humidity was fairly high as well. I started identifying some signs of heat stress in myself, I became light headed and was struggling to keep my eyes open at times, I also started to feel nauseated. By mile 9, I knew the only way that I could finish was to slow down considerably, from that point on I stayed focus on finishing. The most frustrating part for me was that I still had a lot in me. My legs felt great the entire way and I never even reached the point of breathing hard.

After spending most of the morning and afternoon upset with myself, I started to realize that it wasn't my fault at all. I had certainly put in more than enough time training and my body was ready. That being said, I can't control the weather and today just wasn't my day. I also know that I made the right decision to pull back when I started not feeling well. My parents watched a woman collapse and have to be taken off on a stretcher just a couple hundred yards from the finish line, I'm glad that wasn't me. Speaking of my parents, they were able to watch me run for the first time since high school cross country.

Dad and I after the race

Mom and I after the race

The day wasn't all a loss as I did manage to finish the race and, with how well my legs were feeling, I had a great kick the last quarter mile. Another big win for me is that I was able to shave off over 15 minutes from my previous half marathon PR, set at the Des Moines half marathon last October, where I ran a time of 2:45:42.

Approaching the finish line

I still have a lot of races left this year, including another chance at the half marathon distance in September. Next up is my first ever triathlon on July 10 in Waterloo/CF.