Decisions......

            Another week has past and things are coming together. Like I said in the previous post, I got my tri top and used both the top and the bottom last Sunday on my 40/10 workout. That is the distance of the Olympic triathlons, 40k bike (24.87 miles I think) and then a 10k run (6.2mi). This workout is pretty good, as it allows me to get used to the transitions of the bike to run, along with some time to try out some nutritional stuff since I'm moving for a full 2+ hours. For the 40/10 last week I tried some Honey Stinger chewies and then a gu pack from Cliff, or Hammer or someone, I don't remember. I finished with no cramps, which is always nice. The transition to the run always sucks. The first 2+ miles are the worse with my shins always stiff and don't really want to cooperate very much. But as far as the gear went, I have zero complaints. The Zoot top was awesome, and the craft shorts are working fine. I was a little concerned about the shorts when I first got them because there really isn't much padding for the chamois. It's great for the run, but I was concerned about how I'd feel down their from the bike. I think the Adamo saddle that I have is also helping the comfort as well. I will probably have to give that saddle back to Todd this next week when his new Quintana Roo bike comes in. Meaning that I'll have to have Antonio over at Tri Town get me a new one. Which is all good and fine, because as much as I love the Adamo, the bumble bee yellow and black of the seat are ugly as crap on my bike. I am seriously considering buying another one of the Zoot tops from Departmentofgoods.com because they only have one more left in that size and it's super cheap.
               The training is coming along well. The swimming is coming along, as is the bike. I think that I am definately getting faster on the bike. Not a ton faster, but I'll take every little bit that I can get. I still continue to struggle with getting all of my workouts in that Crossfit Endurance is prescribing. It's tough with the family to get both workouts in each day. I am focusing more on the endurance section, and making sure that I at least get that done. If I can then get the strength and conditioning done later, then it's been a great day. The kids seem to have gotten over their sicknesses, and boy #1 has yet to get it, so I think that we are in the clear. Shawna did have a day of puking, which she tried to blame on my cooking, but that was unrelated to what the kids had.
As far as the wetsuit decision, I had two different suits that I was considering. I was looking at a Profile-Deisgn Wahoo or the Orca Sonar. A base model from PD, or a well known (ie most popular) "mid-level" suit from Orca. I ended up choosing the Orca, and am so happy that I did! I was stoked when it arrived, and after trying it on, I wanted to go swimming even though it was 11pm. I really can't give the suit a full review until I'm able to get some open water swims in when the weather warms up a bit. But the first day I get to jump into the ponds and use the suit, you can bet that I'll be there.

So here's a blurry cell phone pic of the new suit. I'll post a better one from when I take it out for the first time.

Old Man Winter

Old man winter has finally decided to arrive. He's a little late you know, but he finally decided to show up mid way through January, instead of sometime in December. I'm glad to see that he did finally decide to arrive, although I am a little nervous now about how long he's going to stay and if this means that we're going to have a late spring. I really don't need a late spring. I need to be able to get off the bike trainer and get back out on the road as soon as possible. Especially because I want to get out and ride the course that the Boise 70.3 is going to take. I heard that there's a decent hill during the course, and really want to get some time on the course, and specifically that hill.

      Growing up in Southern California, going to see snow was a driving experience; but here in Idaho it's just part of the seasons. I never thought that I'd live in a place that actually had all four seasons, but it's awesome. Every season has it's own fun to do, and just when you start to get sick of that season, the next one is usually getting ready to roll in. It makes it interesting for the training now that there is snow on the ground. You need to pay attention to the weather reports to see if there's going to be any training that can be done outside. The workouts in the garage are interesting as it's usually cold and that makes the barbell cold. A cold bar makes your hands that much colder and then it's hard to keep your grip on the bar. I've gotten used to wearing my snow boarding gloves in the winter when I'm lifting to help keep my hands warm. Luckily, I also have the rubber bumper plates for lifting, so if I do drop the bar, it only shakes the house and doesn't break anything.

      This weeks training was good, still didn't get all the workouts in that the CFE site had prescribed, but I did my best. It's hard when there are sick kids at home. As it is, I've gone 3 or 4 days now with less than 6 hours of continual sleep each night, and it's taking it's toll on my performance and training. So that's why I haven't gotten all of the workouts in. I am making it a priority to, at least, get my endurance workouts in, and then if the lifting happens, then awesome. So far, the kids seem to be getting on the mend. The youngest 2 have gotten it, and so long as we keep boy #1 from getting sick then I think that we'll be doing good.

     This week I got another piece of gear for the race. I ordered a tri top that I found for super cheap with a web site called http://www.departmentofgoods.com/ They sell all sorts of out doors/sporting stuff. Usually it's last years models that are being closed out, but they are brand new and will totally work. It also helps that on some of the items I get an additional discount for being a Firefighter. So my new tri top was originally $85 brand new; but was on sale for $42.50. Then my firefighter discount kicked in, and I got it for under $10! I couldn't turn that down. It's from Zoot, and is blue and grey. The grey on this top actually matches the grey in my tri shorts from Craft fairly well. I was a little unsure about the cut of the top, as it seems a little short and my low back hangs out when I'm on the bike, but from everything that I've read and people I've talked to, this is normal. I heard that a company called Desoto actually makes a longer tri top to prevent, what has been described as, the tramp stamp sun burn. I might look into that later on, but for now I think that I just might have the kit that I will race in this year. Of course, I'm still on the look out for other great deals to give me more options. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in another post, but I did also get an aero helmet off of craigslist for $20. It's definately not the super nice aero helmets that the pro's wear, but it's an aero helmet that will work. Although, I did find another super nice aero helmet on line that is blue for $50. Shawna would KILL ME if I bought another helmet though. I'd have to sell the other aero helmet and then get that one. I guess we'll see what happens.......

     I did happen to make a decision on a wet suit! I am excited about it, but want to wait until it comes in and I get to try it on before I make the announcement. I'll take some pics of the wetsuit and the tri suit so you'll know what I'll look like on race day. I continue to look on line for any great deals that I may find, although I'm not sure why when I don't have the cash to spend. It's just nice to day dream I guess. This up coming week, I'm going to try to get back out to Tri Town with my buddy Jeff who is doing the Boise 70.3 with me. He's got some bike stuff to work out, and I need to have Antonio recheck my bike since he fit me last and since I put a new saddle on the bike as well.

Boy #2 standing in the garage to the right of the Honda. The snow has since all melted from the street thanks to the rain, but in the mountains, it's still coming down and making everything look pretty.

Motivation

This past week seems to have been a long one for me; but really the whole month is becoming long. For those of you who don't know how Firefighters schedules work I'll give you a brief summary as there are a few different variations. Here are 3 of the more popular versions:  the 48/96, that's 48hrs on/96hrs off; a 24/48, 24on/48off; and then there's my schedule which has 3 days on in a rotation with a day off in between. After your third shift, you then get 4 days off. So this week, it's a Mon-Wens-Fri on shift, and then Sat-Tues off on my four day. But this 4 day, along with every other 4 day this month, has an extra shift tossed in. So I'm getting, at max, 2 days off in a row for this entire month. I know that people who work a regular office schedule would say that I'm still getting 2 days off together, just like them, and I should quit my whinning. But those are the same people who go home after 8, maybe 9, hours. When I'm at work, I'm away from home for 24+ hours. So this month has been dragging. It doesn't help that the kids are sick, which makes them fussy, whinney and act out. It also means less sleep too. Mostly for Shawna because she's the mother hen; and can't sleep when she hears the kids coughing or knows that they aren't feeling well. To top it off, when I did get out of bed to try and console the daughter, she flipped out even worse and wanted nothing to do with me. That was the first time she's ever done that! So a lot of it has fallen onto Shawna's shoulders, and I wish that there was more that I could do at times to help.
With the training getting into full swing, my sleep hasn't been stellar either. I've really been trying to get to bed earlier than 11 o'clock. Most of the time it is barely working (think 10:58). Then it's up early to try and get my first workout in. It doesn't matter if I'm heading to work, or already at work, I still try to get up early so I can, at least, make sure I get one good workout in. Last week was a decent week for me. I got all my endurance workouts done, and only missed 2 strength and conditioning workouts. It doesn't matter how many workouts I get done, I'm always bugged by the one's that I missed. One of the things about trying to get to bed early, is that I won't get a late night work out done. It was common place for me to get in the garage at 10 o'clock in the evening to hit the weights if I hadn't done my workout yet. I can't afford to do that anymore. I'd rather try to use that time to get to bed earlier and get more sleep. More sleep = better recovery. Better recovery means that I will perform better and get stronger and faster.
But when that alarm goes off at 0530, I wake up and lay in bed. Why? is the question I ask myself. Why am I getting up? Why shouldn't I just roll over and sleep another hour and a half? There are multiple reasons why, and here are a few.....
Because no one ever had true success without discpline
Because if I want to suceed, I need to get moving
Because if I don't get up and workout, it'll eat at me all day, even until I'm back in bed later than night.
Because if I get up now and workout, I'll have more time to spend with the kids when they are awake.

It's really the last one that gets me going more than anything else. If I can get up, and get my workout in, then I'll be able to spend more time with the kids while they are awake. As it is, I try to get my second workout of the day in during nap time. Although boy #1 usually already has nap time planned out on what he's going to be doing with daddy, and it's very hard to turn him down when all he wants to do is play.

The swimming is coming along. I've noticed that I seem to be able to get into a more stretched out, streamlined position when I breath from my left side, which is opposite of how I've always taken my breath. But it seems to work. I just need to continue to practice, and force myself to only breath on the left and stretch out. It's hard though, as when I start getting tired, I breath from my right side and it all goes down hill from there. Thursdays are supossed to be rest days, but I'm using it as a lite swim day, really working on just my technique more than anything else. Not really counting laps, just working on form.
On the bike, I got some good workouts done. Got some good Crossfit Endurance intervals done, and I also threw in a strength cycling dvd after one of the intervals. Everything seems to be moving smoothly on the bike. I'm hoping that I can increase my average speed from around 18-18.5 which is where it is now, to 20+.  If I can average 20mph on the bike, then the bike course will take me just under 3 hours.
Running is running. Got some intervals in during the week and did an 8 mile run early Sunday morning before heading home from work. I don't know what it is about the treadmil at the Parma fire station, but my big toe on the right side is always sore after any distance run. I don't seem to have that problem on the treadmill at any of the Nampa stations, or when I run outside. But I did my 8 miles, as it was the first longer distance run I've done in probably close to a month. 8 miles in one hour wasn't too bad, it gave me a 7:30 pace which is kind of just a crusing pace for me when it comes to longer distances. If I kept that pace for an entire half marathon, that would give me a 1:45 time.  Eventually, I'll get the one long run a week out closer to 15 miles, which will be 2 miles beyond the half marathon of the 70.3 Boise Ironman.
All that's left to say is that I found, and bought a tri top; and I'm hoping that it fits. It was on super clearance sale, and while I can return it if need be, I'm hoping that I don't have to. I also have been shopping for wetsuits and am now debating between 2 different used suits. The value minded part of me says to buy the cheaper, Profile-design suit as it's my first year in the sport and I don't need to go all out and get an amazing suit to start. I should buy that one, and in a year or two, upgrade to a nicer, more expensive suit. The competetive side of me says screw the upgrade for later, buy the nicer suit that you really want NOW. The other suit is an Orca Sonar. It doesn't help that I'd get an almost brand new suit for more than half off, or that it's the most popular "mid-level" suit out there. I need to just make up my mind and buy one, as it is, I'm definately going to need one for the event. Decisions, decisions........

22 weeks and a Registration

So today marks the 22 weeks until the 70.3 Ironman in Boise, and I am now officially registered for the event! There is no backing out now, and I need to really focus on my training and not let a single day go to waste. That doesn't mean that there won't be rest days, but it's just that the rest days need to be planned better, and when I do work out, that I make every single one of them count. This past week saw me getting back into the pool after a week off because of the holidays and craziness. 2 days of pool work, along with some lifting and running and the bike, of course.
In the pool, I've been really working on the Total Immersion swimming and trying to focus on the technique of streamlining my body for more efficiency. I spent pretty much all of December in the pool without a single arm stroke, just going back and forth doing different drills, trying to reinforce the method behind the madness. I'm doing my best trying to get out to the pool with a couple of firefighter friends who are also going to be doing some sprint triathlons and have been doing the TI swimming for a while. Every time I'm with them, I'm learning more and getting great tips on my technique. Last week, we had another firefighter friend who is a former collegiate swimmer and former Navy SEAL come out and swim with us, giving us even more info and tips. That was the first time in a month that I did full arm strokes with my swim. Everyday I seem to learn more, and it fuels the furnace and makes me want to get back in the water the next day and continue to develop my stroke. The things I need to work on for my swimming include, easing up on my kicks, slowing my stroke rate down and lengthening out more. I also need to work on my left arm stroke. With my right arm, I can feel the propulsive power. But then my left arm just kind of flings around and just takes up space and doesn't really help out as much. I'm going to try and do some drills to slow down my stroke rate and see if that helps. I might also have to work on breathing from my left side instead of just my right, and see if that makes a difference or not either.
My biking is coming along, although I got a little injury down below. Not to the family jewels, but just behind them. Not sure what I did today while on the bike, but it totally prevented me from hitting my run after the bike portion was over. I am currently trying out my friend's Adamo split nose saddle, and if this tenderness doesn't ease up in a few day I might have to go back to the stock felt saddle that I was using. The only other thing of interest on the bike, is that we got a new fluid trainer at work. I made a phone call to Kurt Kinetic and they totally hooked us up with their pro discount. So we now have a fluid trainer at the station, meaning I no longer have to lug my CycleOps trainer with me to work everyday I bring my bike. One less thing to load and unload is always a blessing.
The running is continuing to come along. I need to continue with some run drills and really work on my pose. It's different running on the treadmill vs outside. While outside, I feel like I can get into the pose stance/rhythm a lot easier than while on the treadmill. But with the weather being unpredictable like it is, the treadmill is sometimes my only option.
So it's now 22 weeks away, and I'm signed up. Now that it's going to actually happen, I gotta say, I'm a little nervous. Mostly because it's the unknown of everything. Not only is this my first Ironman, it's my first triathlon ever. I know I can finish, but it's just how well I finish and how I feel at the finish line that has me nervous. But for now, all I can do is continue to train, continue to dabble in my nutrition and try to stay injury free until after June 9th.

In the beginning.....

I guess to start this blog off, there has to be a beginning, so here it is. My wife says that it's crazy how much I remember from my childhood as she can remember so little. I can remember when I broke my arm when I was 5 1/2, I can remember parts of my 5th birthday party, and I can remember a ton from elementary school. Things I did, friends I had, the trouble I got into. The normal, growing up experiences. One of the things that I remember when I was in elementary school was a coach who did triathlons. This was the mid to late 1980's and triathlon at the time was just a blossoming sport. But I remember hearing him talk to the other coaches about his experiences and he made it sound amazing. I've always wanted to get into triathlons and give it a shot.
So here I am now, all grown up with kids of my own; but the dream has never faded from my memory. The problem was, triathlon is a super expensive sport. Not just to get into, but just to compete. I never thought that I'd be able to compete with the cost being so expensive and having a family to raise. But, as luck would have it, I have a great wife. I had been trying to talk my mom into buying me a triathlon bike for a while with some inheritance money she had received. But every time I mentioned wanting to get a bike, she thought I was talking about a motorcycle and not a triathlon bike. My wife confronted my mom about what it was that I was talking about, and my mom was more than happy to help get me a triathlon bike and not a motorcycle. So with my new bike under me, it's time to train! But what events should I train for?
The ultimate goal for me is to compete and finish the World Championships in Kona for the full Ironman. 140.6 miles. So to reach that ultimate goal, there has to be a starting point. For those who are not aware, there are many different triathlon distances and circuits and stuff like that. The shortest events are the sprints, then there are the olympic, and then the 1/2 Ironman (70.3) and then the full Ironman. There are even ultra distance triathlons that seem to go on forever and last, seriously, 2-3 days.
With such an assortment of distances and events to choose from, things can get interesting and confusing all at once. The logical choice for someone just starting out in a new sport would be to take it easy and start with the sprints and maybe an olympic distance. The problem for me, is that we have the Boise half Ironman coming to town before any of the sprint or olympic races start. This year is going to be the last year of the contract between the city of Boise and Ironman. It has yet to be announced if they will return. Meaning that if I want to start playing with the big boys, I'm going to have to just jump right in. This really is no different than most things that I've done in my life. I see something that I want to do, and I just go full steam ahead and get after it.
So the training has been progressing. I'm hoping to figure out how to work this blog better and get tabs on the top so I can talk about a few specifics that people might want to know. Mostly a nutrition and training tab, and maybe a work tab just to talk about any craziness that has happened at work, and what my work really consists of.  But for now, I think that this might be a good place to stop. I'm trying really hard to get to bed at a decent time so I get some good recovery; but it's a challenge between work and the kids on getting uninterrupted sleep.
So I leave you, for now, with just this last fact. I have 158 days until my first triathlon, the Boise 70.3 Ironman.