Weekly Update And Race Week

We finally managed to get a week with decent temperatures for training. With those cooler temps also came a resurgence in my running pace. Every run that I had this week felt good, including my 11 mile long run today. The best run of the week came on Wednesday as a part of my brick workout for the week. Due to some rain, I decided to complete my 18 mile bike in the basement but the rain wasn't enough to convince me to run inside so I put on my visor and headed out to run a very wet 5 miles. The rain was pretty heavy, but with light winds it was actually refreshing. That run went ridiculously well as I averaged about 10 minutes per mile with the last 3 miles all under 10. It has been far too long since I have seen numbers like that so elated does not even begin to describe how I felt. 

I know I'm kind of going backwards on this, but my Monday ride went very well too. After work I headed up to Madrid to bike on the High Trestle Trail. I headed East from Madrid into a pretty good wind, but I really wanted to get some miles in on the rolling hills South of Slater. The hills aren't big, but the terrain is very similar to what my long race down in Lawrence will be. I averaged a modest 17 mph for that ride but was also happy to get another good chance to work out with my aero bars. 

With Erin gone for the weekend, I got another ride in on the trainer in my basement on Saturday night. One thing that I have been reading a lot about when it comes to cycling is the importance of keeping a high rpm or cadence. My goal is to eventually get up to a cadence of about 90 - 110 rpm, but right now I'm not there. The idea is that biking in a lower gear at a higher cadence helps to keep my legs fresh for the run. I tend to rely on my leg power too much for the bike and in both triathlons have under performed on the run. My 1 hour ride last night included a 10 minute warm up and cool down with 4 sets of 6 min above 85 rpm, followed by 4 min lower rpm with more resistance. I have a long way to go in learning proper cycling technique, but we all have to start somewhere. 

I decided to complete my 11 mile long run today on a hilly course starting in early afternoon. With temps around 80 degrees, I knew that it was a good day to work on race simulation. Although my long race does not include a hilly run course, I really like to train on hills when I have the chance to help build up my fitness level. As for the race simulation part, I have come to learn that it is very important to try to mimic race day conditions while training several times throughout a training cycle. Although the start of my long race in September will be similar to that of many other races that I have run, the big difference is the length of time that I will be racing. When I sign up for a half marathon that starts at 8 am, I'm usually crossing the finish line well before 11. However, with this race, I expect the swim to take me about an hour and the bike about 3 1/2 hours. This means that I won't start my half marathon run until around 12:30 pm (if I'm doing well). I want to give myself the best shot possible to finish this race, and to do that I want to make sure that I'm ready for the conditions of race day the best that I can be. 

Now it is time for the most exciting part of the blog (and something that I will be saying a lot over the next couple of months). IT'S RACE WEEK!!!! Next Saturday is the Crossroads Triathlon in Dewitt, IA. This will be my first every sprint distance triathlon and I am very excited! The race consists of a 500 yard swim, 15 mile bike, and 5k run. One unique part of this course is that T1 and T2 are at different locations. My strategy for this race is going to be very basic, GO FAST. I plan to hit it hard from the moment that I enter the water until I cross the finish line on the run and everywhere in between. I am in great shape for this race and want to see what I can do on a short course. 

Wish me luck!

A Week In The Life - Sunday

After a rough night of sleep, my alarm went off at 5:30. After getting my running clothes on, I quickly ate a half bagel w/peanut butter and a banana before heading out for a 5 mile run. It was finally a decent morning to run (although still not perfect with the humidity) with temps in the lower 70's instead of the 80's. With a hard workout yesterday, I kept this run at a very easy pace and felt good the entire way. 

Standard 5 mile Grimes loop

After a quick shower, it was off to church. I grilled pork chops and venison steaks for lunch, which were delicious! After lunch I had to hurry out the door to get my open water swim in prior to a birthday party for one of the neighbor's daughters. The Big Creek beach was PACKED, but lucky for me it is a large beach. I swam 2 laps of the beach buoys which made for 1,250 yards at a very good pace. 

Just finished up with my swim and heading home

Open water swimming is not my favorite thing in the world, but honestly, it has little to do with the fear of open water or the often times disgusting water itself. The reason that I don't care for it is because I just can't see anything. The majority of Iowa lakes have very poor water quality and clarity during the summer months. With my face in the water most of the time during my swim, it just tends to get boring after awhile. That being said, I know how important it is to practice in race-like conditions, so I try to include an open water swim each week when the water is warm enough. 

After the birthday party, I changed back into some workout clothes and headed to the basement to finish off my last workout of the week. This strength training session included the following:

• Walking lunges
• Dumbbell shoulder press
• Single leg calf raises
• Triceps kickbacks
• Seated Row
• Push ups

This view into a week of my life may be over, but for me, there is a lot left. My intensity and distance will slowly build over the next 7 weeks leading up to my big race on September 10th in Lawrence, KS. That race is a half Ironman distance that includes a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run. I also have 2 shorter distance triathlons between now and then. Every day is a new chance to grow and improve, and that is exactly what I intend to do. 

For those of you that are still with me, thank you for reading. I truly hope that you were able to get something out of reading my blogs this week. Maybe you are one of those people who thinks you just don't have time. Or maybe you think it is too complicated and you don't know where to start. The truth is, anyone can do what I am doing. All you need is some good planning and a little motivation. 

A Week In The Life - Saturday

Today I only had a single workout on my schedule, but it is the hardest workout of the week. It is called a brick workout and involves cycling, followed immediately by a run. One of the reasons that it is called a "brick" workout, is because when you start running after getting off the bike, your feet feel like bricks that are stuck in the mud. The goal of these workouts is not only to build fitness and endurance, but also get accustom my body to this transition during a triathlon. 

With 25 miles on the bike, followed by a 6 mile run, my plan was to get up as early as possible to try and beat the heat. When my alarm went off at 5 this morning I was frustrated to check the radar only to see thunderstorms heading towards  Des Moines. I woke Erin up to figure out what the best course of action would be. I knew that it would be too hot later in the day to complete my workout, but I couldn't risk being out on my bike when a thunderstorm rolled in. We decided that I would wait out the thunderstorm and flip-flop my Saturday and Sunday workouts. I went back to bed for a little bit, woke up, put on my running clothes and checked the radar again. When I saw that the storm had moved further South I decided to change my mind again. I quickly changed into my tri shorts and singlet and headed for Dallas Center. 

All ready to head out on the bike about an hour later than planned

For my bike ride, I rode from Dallas Center up to Perry and back. The ride went very well as I averaged 17.5 mph. Last week I got new aero bars for my bike (I broke the ones I had last year when I crashed), so I spent a few miles of the ride today working on getting used to handling the bike in aero position. I did have 1 scare when I got a little north of Minburn and a doe ran across the trail in front of me. I was going about 20 mph at the time but was able to slow down enough to miss her by about 5 feet. That was a little too close for comfort. 

By the time I got back to Dallas Center, the trails were really starting to get busy with other weekend riders. I put my bike back on the truck, swapped my helmet for a visor and headed out on my run. 

Ready to head out on my run

It had remained overcast for nearly my entire bike ride, but as I headed South towards Waukee the sun started to break through the clouds and I could feel the temps rising. It also didn't help that the air was pretty calm (and ridiculously humid). I decided that I would put a few miles in on the trail, but then return to Dallas Center to run the rest as I knew I would find a lot of shade around town. 

As I was just about to finish up my run, I heard a voice yell my name from a driveway. It was a coworker from one of my teams at work. Dallas Center isn't very big, and I knew that he lived out there, but I thought to myself what the chances were that he happened to be working out in his driveway and look up at the same moment that I ran by. 

For my run, I averaged about 11 minutes per mile, which is excellent for a brick workout, especially with the current weather conditions. If you put the 2 workouts together, I was extremely happy with how the brick went. After a couple weeks of  poor running, it has been a relief to finally string a couple of decent runs together. My pace has been slower then normal, but that is expected with the high temps and humidity. I am just happy at how good I have felt during and after my last few runs. 

I burned over 3,000 calories during this workout, so I knew that it was going to be important to fuel well before, during and after as well as throughout the remainder of the day. Below is a list of what I ate today:

• Pre-workout/breakfast - banana, 2 banana and chocolate chip muffins
• During workout - sport beans, energy gel
• Post workout - chips and salsa (plus a few extra chips)
• Lunch - 2 hard shell tacos, 1 soft shell taco, grapes
• Supper - lettuce and spinach salad, fresh green beans, watermelon, homemade pizza

It is hard to believe, but tomorrow will mark my final "A Week In The Life" blog. It also marks 7 weeks until my big race of the year. I still have a lot of hard work and training ahead of me, but I'm well on my way. 

A Week In The Life - Friday

IT'S RECOVERY DAY!!!

So what does recovery day look like for me? Instead of getting out of bed at 5:00 am, my alarm didn't go off until 6. I ended up treating myself more than normal today as I enjoyed donuts brought in by a coworker. I cut my workday short and left shortly after lunch to run some errands and do some chores around the house before spending time with my family for the evening. 

Meals for the day:

• Breakfast - Honey Bunches of Oats and a banana
• Snack - 2 sticks of string cheese
• Lunch - Bagel sandwich with turkey, ham, bacon, and spinach, chips, apple, mixed veggies
• Supper - Venison brat, carrots and potatoes, sweet corn, and strawberries

Below are a few pictures of what my recovery day looked like. 

Fixing a toilet is a good recovery activity

Sitting poolside watching 2 little girls play is a great recovery activity

Baking with a cute 6 year old is the best recovery activity

Back to work tomorrow morning bright and early to beat the heat!

A Week In The Life - Thursday

This morning I started off by heading down to the basement to get some strength training in. My workout included the following exercises:

• Crunches
• Single leg dead lifts
• Incline dumbbell bench press
• Lat pull down
• Leg curls
• Leg extensions

After finishing up, I put on my running shoes and hoped in the truck to head to work. On Thursdays I normally run over lunch with my friend and coworker, Megan, but she is on vacation this week so I was on my own. Due to the forecast temperatures I thought it would be best to get my 4 mile run in prior to starting work. As you can imagine, with the amount of running I do it can get boring always running the same routes from my house. So it is nice to run somewhere else a couple of times during the week.

It was already in the mid 80s when I started my run at 5:45 so I made sure to take it easy. There was actually a nice breeze that almost made the heat and humidity tolerable. My pace wasn't outstanding, but it was the first run since my last race that I actually felt comfortable and good afterward.

All finished and ready for a day at work

I'm very lucky to work at a place that takes employee health and safety very seriously. I don't take advantage of the resources that we are provided nearly as much as I should, but it is nice to be able to get a workout in at work and have a locker room to shower in afterward. 

My meals and snacks for the day included the following:

• Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, banana and chocolate milk
• Lunch: Taco salad and peach cup
• Snack: 2 graham crackers
• Supper: mac and cheese, venison ring bologna, fresh green beans, and 1/2 apple

After work I had some time to play with the girls before our last night of swim lessons. After swim lessons, baths, supper and getting the girls to bed both Erin and I headed down to the basement for the last workout of the day. I had to get 15 miles in on the bike and Erin ran on the treadmill. We don't often get a chance to workout together, so it is a lot of fun when we do. Tonight we enjoyed watching the movie "Manchester By The Sea" as we sweated side by side.

A picture of Erin running, because she is much nicer
to look at then me :)

Tomorrow is my recovery day. I have come to learn that taking time to recover is an important part of training. The relaxation starts now. 

A Week In The Life - Wednesday

Normally Wednesday's are one of my hardest training days of the week as they include both my long swim and a brick workout. This week, with my modified schedule, my brick workout was moved to Saturday and replaced with a running speed workout. This made for another light training day, which was okay with me.

This morning I was out of bed and headed to the pool around 5:20. It wasn't busy at all, so I was able to easily get a lane to myself. Unlike my training runs, my swimming has been outstanding lately. This week I set a new distance PR by swimming 2,000 yards (40 laps in the 25 yard pool) and felt great afterward. It took me 49 minutes, which is a 2:27 min/100 yard average. That is OUTSTANDING for me.

All smiles leaving the pool and heading to work

My meals and snacks today included the following:

• Breakfast
• Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal
• Banana
• Snack
• almonds, cashews, and peanuts
• Lunch
• Cheese burger
• Fresh green beans
• Orange (the one I didn't get to eat yesterday!)
• Sun Chips

With Erin leaving for the evening, I wanted to squeeze in my run between work and swim lessons so when I got home from work I got changed into my running clothes quickly and headed to the basement. If you have read my blogs before, you know that I am not a fan of running on the treadmill. However, with temperatures in the mid 90s and facing an interval workout, I opted for the treadmill anyways. My workout consisted of 8 1/4 mile intervals at 5k race pace with a 1/10 mile walk for recovery in between.

Quick workout on the treadmill complete

After cooling down, it was time to get the girls ready and head out the door to swim lessons. With my workouts for the day in the rear view mirror, I was able to have a relaxed evening at home again. While the girls ate supper, I worked on prepping my supper to eat later as well as getting my meals ready for tomorrow. Supper was leftover spaghetti, lettuce and spinach salad with hard boiled egg, cheese, and honey mustard dressing, bread stick and an apple. I allowed myself to enjoy a slice of zucchini bread (made by Erin today) for dessert. 

I'm going to bed tonight knowing that tomorrow is yet another day to improve.

A Week In The Life - Tuesday

I'm going to start off by telling you that I actually got a good night of sleep last night. I usually don't have any problems sleeping, but for some reason I have had issues the past couple of weeks. A good nights sleep made it easier to get up when my alarm went off at 5 this morning (although I did hit the snooze 1 time). After my morning stop at the scale, I laced up my running shoes and headed out the door.

Laced up and ready to run

Let me stop right here to tell you how much I love these Saucony Omni 13 shoes. I made the switch back when I started having problems with plantar fasciitis in my right foot and have not looked back. They are the most comfortable shoes that I have ever wore and do a great job of keeping my foot from over pronating while I run. 

Now, back to my day. Normally a Tuesday would mean some form of running speed work, but with a different schedule this week, I just had to get an easy 5 mile run in. I haven't really run well since my last race, and today was no different as my pace was much slower then I wanted. Of course it didn't help that it was already hot and humid at 5:15 am. It took me awhile to cool off and stop sweating once I got home, but eventually I was able to shower and head to work. 

Breakfast today was 2 scrambled eggs with ham and strawberry yogurt. My morning snack was 2 sticks of string cheese. Lunch was a small portion of leftover cavatini, fresh green beans and an orange. Sadly, I forgot a knife to peel the orange so I ended up a little short on my lunch.

Once home from work, I downed some chips and salsa before changing and heading down to the basement for a strength training workout. Erin was nice enough to stop down to snap a few pictures of me while I was working out. Today's workout included 3 sets of he following:

• Planks
• Push ups
• dumbbell squats
• seated rows
• seated dumbbell shoulder press
• box jumps

Dumbbell shoulder press

After prepping some food for supper, it was off to another night of swimming lessons. With all of my workouts done for the day, I was actually able to shower after getting home and eat supper with the rest of my family (a rare occasion). I was also able to get all of my food prep done for tomorrow before putting my feet up for the evening. 

With Erin heading off to play volleyball and Bridget in bed, Abigail and I are watching some American Ninja Warrior together while I'm typing this up. 

I'll be back after it again tomorrow morning. 

A Week In The Life - Monday

So I'm going to try something a little different this week. Each day, I'm going to write a blog about my training for that day. In addition, I will go through how I fit all of the training around a full time job, family and other life obligations. I guess my main goal is to show everyone that it is possible to find time for fitness and health in your life if you are willing to find it. In fact, I purposefully chose this week because my schedule at home is a little busier then normal with the girls having swimming lessons each evening and Erin having plans on Wednesday.

This morning my alarm went off at 5:00 am, as it does 6 out of 7 days a week. After hitting the snooze button a couple of times, I rolled out of bed and made my first stop at the bathroom scale. I'm currently a little over a week into focusing on some intensive weight loss to get down to a better racing weight by my Legend 70 race in September. I quickly changed into my jammers, grabbed my prepacked swim bag and packed my lunch before heading off to the Urbandale pool.

Headed to the swimming pool

The pool opens at 5:45 am and I like to be there a few minutes early. After a quick stop at a locker, I headed out to the pool to complete my  1,300 yard speed training workout. 

• 250 yard warm up
• 100 yard kick board
• 100 yard pull buoy
• 4 X 50 yard sprints
• 4 X 100 yard sprints
• 250 yard cool down

I completed the workout in 38 minutes which isn't great, but isn't bad either. After a quick shower, I headed off to work. 

For the past month and a half, I have been planning out all of my meals and snacks ahead of time. For me it is very important to make sure that I eat several times throughout the day as well as to make sure I am taking in the proper nutrition to fuel my workouts. Of course, right now, with the emphasis on cutting weight, it has become quite a balancing act between eating enough while not over eating. For breakfast today I had a banana and a bowl of the Fareway version of Honey Bunches of Oats (my favorite cereal). My mid morning snack was 2 graham crackers and my lunch was a small serving of spaghetti, raw carrots, an apple, and a chocolate pudding cup. 

After work, I headed home and was able to get in my strength training workout before getting the girls ready to head back to the swimming pool. Now my strength training program is not extremely structured or focused. At this point, I'm more worried about including some strength training then fine tuning it. For each workout, I pick 6 exercises that are a mix and match of lower body, upper body, and core lifts. I do 3 sets of each and the entire workout usually takes around 15 minutes to complete. My workout today included the following:

• Side planks
• Dumbbell lunges
• Dumbbell bicep curls
• Calf raises
• Crunches
• Triceps overhead extension

I got the girls and myself changed into our swimsuits and we headed out the door for swim lessons. This is the last year that I get to do parent/child with Bridget (which I LOVE to do), so I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it. After swim lessons we pile back into the car and head home where I give the girls a bath while Erin gets supper ready. After getting the girls down for supper, I changed into my cycling gear and headed out for a 20 mile ride. 

It was a hot evening out, but the heat doesn't really bother me on the bike. As soon as I left the driveway, I noticed right away that my bottom was still sore from my long ride on Saturday, so I knew it was going to be an uncomfortable ride. In addition, my legs were quite tired from my weekend workouts so I wasn't able to attack the hills as well as I normally do. I ended up getting a little over 21 miles in at a 15 mph pace. I'm perfectly okay with that pace as this ride is aimed at hills and acts as a "recovery ride" after a hard weekend. 

Quick selfie while waiting to cross an intersection along Hickman Rd.

I got home a few minutes after 8 and went to work prepping my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow as well as my dinner for the night while cooling off. I also downed a bottle of Gatorade to replenish all of the sweat from the hot ride. After a quick shower, I sat down to eat supper and then write this blog. For supper, I had a lettuce and spinach salad, watermelon, grilled sandwich with cheddar, ham, turkey and spinach and a few sun chips. 

Check back tomorrow to see how my Tuesday goes!

Accel Triathlon 2017

On July 8th, I competed at the Accel Triathlon at George Wyth State Park in Waterloo, IA. The weather could not have been any more different from last year. If you remember back, it was the Accel Triathlon in 2016 that an unexpected thunderstorm ended up cancelling the event as we were lined up ready to begin. This year, we were greeted with clear skies, low humidity and temperatures starting in the 60's. I competed in the Olympic distance, which includes a 1,500 meter swim, 40 kilometer (24.8 mile) bike, and 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) run.

I'll be honest, with a week of vacation leading up to the race, I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in. For me it is really easy to over think everything going into a race. I knew that I hadn't been biking or running as well lately but I had been swimming very well. I didn't have any hard goals, but was hoping to be within striking distance of my time at the Des Moines Tri last fall. 

Erin went with me to the race. We got there plenty early and it only took me a few minutes to setup in transition. We spent the remainder of the time sitting on a bench overlooking the lake. It truly was a beautiful morning. 

Setting up transition

Looking out over the swim course

Pre-race selfie

After double checking my transition area, I completed my final preparations and headed down to the swim start for the National Anthem and final instructions. Unlike in Des Moines, where we were started 2 people at a time, this race used a mass swim start by waves which was a little overwhelming. It only took me a few minutes to get comfortable in the water. The course was an out and back, but looking into the sun on the way out made sighting very difficult. I relied on following the other swimmers to the turn around. As expected, I did swim a little better then last year, but more importantly, I felt much more comfortable in the water. My official swim time was 43:53 (about a minute faster then last year), but transition started quite a ways from the water, so I was actually done about a minute faster than that. Don't get me wrong, that is a really slow swim time, but I'm happy to see improvement. 

Lining up for the swim start

And we are off (I'm in the center of the picture taking a breath)

Long line of swimmers

Out of the water, headed to T1

There weren't a lot of bicycles left in transition when I got there, which was not unexpected but is a bit disheartening. T1 is another place that I made improvement as I was able to get socks and shoes on my wet feet in a shorter amount of time then last year. After buckling up my helmet, I grabbed my bike and headed for the Bike exit. Although it is not my favorite discipline, the bike is certainly my best portion of the event. It didn't take me long to start passing people on the route. The route was extremely flat, with the exception of a short stretch going down to the river towards the turn around point and back up again. My official time on the bike was 1:20:09, less than a minute slower than Des Moines, and put me at a 18.5 mph average. This was much better than I expected going into the race, so I was very happy as I came into T2. 

Heading out of T1

Heading out on the bike course

While I was out on the bike, Erin had to leave, but Abigail and my mother relieved her to ensure that I continued to have a cheering section. They greeted me just outside of T2 cheering loudly. I racked my bike, swapped out my helmet for a visor and headed out on the run course. The run course was an out and back 5k, which meant that all Olympic distance triathletes had to loop the course 2 times. For some reason I was never really able to find my pace during the run. I finished the run in 1:06:53 which is much slower that I would have liked. My official race time was 3:15:21. I finished 103 out of 119 overall and 6 out of 9 in my division. The Accel Group really puts on an excellent race and I look forward to returning for years to come. 

Official time

A lot of people have asked me "How as your race?" I would classify my reaction as neither disappointed nor excited about my performance. This was my first triathlon of the year, and I have a lot of opportunity to improve over the next couple of months.

The next race on my schedule is August 5th at the Crossroads Triathlon in Dewitt, IA. It will be my first sprint triathlon and I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can do at shorter distances. I enjoyed my day off today, but it is back to work early tomorrow morning with a trip to the pool. 

A big thank you goes out to everyone that has been supporting me. To Erin for going with me to the race as well as encouraging me and providing me the time to train. To my children, who provide motivation every day. To my parents for watching Abigail and Bridget during my race (as well as all week leading up to the race). Lastly, to everyone who reads my blogs and provides words of encouragement or just ask how training has been going. I am certain that I have the best friends and family in the world. 

Mid-Year Goal Update

I started off the year with some pretty lofty goals. With June come and gone we are officially half way through the year, so I thought it was a good time to post an update.

Goal 1: Run a combined 2,017 miles in 2017 with my wife. As of the end of the day on June 30th, Erin has logged 520.02 miles and I have logged 583.48 miles for a combined 1,103.5 miles. That puts us well ahead of pace.

My running progress

Goal 2: Bike 2,500 miles in 2017. As you can imagine, the year started off pretty slow as I was limited to putting in miles on a stationary bike. Over the last 2 months the mileage has really started to pile up. I am currently at 1,277.29 miles, again ahead of where I need to be for the year.

My cycling progress

Goal 3: Swim 75 miles in 2017. By design, I started the year off slow as I was only swimming 2 days a week. I have made up a lot of ground (or should I say water?) over the past month as my focus shifted to triathlon training. Currently I have logged 38.37 miles, mostly in the pool. 

My swimming progress

Goal 4: Log 150 strength training sessions in 2017. I've got no excuses here, but I am a little behind where I need to be. As of yesterday, I am at 70 strength training sessions. For some reason, when I run out of time or just don't feel like working out (often because I'm too tired) this is the thing I choose to skip. 

My strength training progress

Goal 5: Complete my first full marathon. It has been well documented in previous posts so I will just say that this goal was not met, and I don't have any additional plans to attempt it again this year. 

Goal 6: Complete a half-Ironman distance triathlon. I am signed up for the Legend 70 in Lawrence, KS on September 10th. Just a couple of days ago I put together my training plan for the remainder of the summer leading up to that race and am feeling pretty good about it. 

Goal 7: Set a new half marathon PR. This is the only goal that I have completed thus far. Originally I was thinking I would go for this one in a fall half marathon (possibly the IMT Des Moines) but I unexpectedly met this goal at the Drake Relays Half Marathon in April.

Half Marathon PR

Not running the marathon still burns a bit, but I have a feeling that isn't going to change until I actually complete my first one. Hopefully that fire inside of me will prove to be a good motivation. For all of the other goals I feel really good about the progress that I have made so far this year and am very confident in my ability to accomplish them.