Second training log of the year. I hope to be able to publish this every week even though it might be giving my chief rival inside information.
Nutrition (Grade C)
This new weight control plan in LoseIt is starting to take hold. My weight seems to be in a holding pattern until my body gets convinced that I will continue to give it the proper nutrition it needs for this level of training. I was under my calorie budget on budget on 4 of 7 days. One of them was my wife's office Christmas party so I'll cut myself some slack there as I had zero control over menu (and zero self control as I'm a sucker for prime rib!). I also completely failed to log anything on Saturday. For the week the nutrient mix of fat/carbs/protein was also not where I'd like it to be. 30/48/22 % respectfully. Thinking I want the protein/fat numbers switched.
Sleep (Grade B)
Looking over my sleep journal in Sleep Cycle, I did much better this week. I would have scored this an A but Saturday I did something really stupid. I was working on the computer cleaning up our digital photo library, next thing I know its 2am! Not the best of ideas when your long run is the following day. Need to prevent that from happening again.
Workouts (Grade A)
Yes I did skip my steady/recovery run on Friday. But that was in the best interests of making sure I could complete my long run (See Body/Health notes on why I skipped it). Other than that one run, I got in all of my scheduled workouts. Need to start thinking about getting some bike miles in, but I have a plan to fix that.
Body/Health (Grade B)
Looking at my health information in iHealthTrax, it looks like on Wednesday/Thursday my lingering cold had finally cleared. However, on Friday my lower body was extremely sore from the tempo run on Thursday and the heavy lower body weight lifting from Monday. Looking at my awakening heart beat log in HeartBeats , you can see a gradual rise over the week indicating higher fatigue through out the week.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
The demon on your left shoulder
A fellow triathlon friend shared this motivational quote with me and I can't help but pass it on.
I am the demon perched on your left shoulder, the monkey on your back, urging you to go faster, ever faster until your heart pounds so relentlessly it feels as if it will shake apart in your chest-like an overtaxed water pump with cracked seals....oh you say you are above such pettiness? Well think again. I see you at your club rides sizing up the others, picking out the weaker and fatter members-easy marks you can leave in the dust. You've never been competitive, you only ride for fun right?... But once the niceties end and the ride begins I will urge you to chase down and devour the stragglers and weaklings... A giddy glee will well up in you as your legs involuntarily pump even faster. You will know how the cheetah feels when it overtakes the gazelle....so here I am, riding with you today, your Stygian co-pilot, holding up a mirror so you can view your own sluggish shortcomings. I know that you will sacrifice everything you hold good and true for a chance to go faster.....
Friday, January 14, 2011
2011 Race Schedule [UPDATED 2/5/2011]
One of the activities I do at the end of every race season is plan my race schedule for the next year. Its important as some of these races require significant build up and training.
This years schedule is a mixture of pleasure and pure pain. We start the year off with some 5Ks and build pretty quickly from there. Among the pleasure is my first ever "Warrior Dash". Its a 5K obstacle course culminating with a low crawl through its infamous mud pit. On the pain side of things, we have my first 1/2 Ironman.
So without further ado, here is my 2011 race schedule:
Feb 5 - Rochester, MN: Frozen Goose 5K - Completed: 24:13 7:26 Pace
Mar 12 - Eau Claire, WI: Shamrock Shuffle 5K
May 1 - Eau Claire, WI: Eau Claire Marathon (Full)
Jun 12 - Winona, MN: Trinona (Long Course)
Jun 19 - Rochester, MN: Rochesterfest Triathlon (Long Course)
Jul 23 - Afton Alps, MN: Warrior Dash
Jul 31 - Waseca, MN: Waseca 1/3 Ironman
Aug 28 - Afton Alps, MN: Muddy Buddy
Sep 11 - Stillwater, MN: Square Lake 1/2 Ironman
Oct 15 - Ashland, WI: Whistle Stop Marathon (Full)
If you happen to be in any of these locations, come on out and cheer me on.
This years schedule is a mixture of pleasure and pure pain. We start the year off with some 5Ks and build pretty quickly from there. Among the pleasure is my first ever "Warrior Dash". Its a 5K obstacle course culminating with a low crawl through its infamous mud pit. On the pain side of things, we have my first 1/2 Ironman.
So without further ado, here is my 2011 race schedule:
Feb 5 - Rochester, MN: Frozen Goose 5K - Completed: 24:13 7:26 Pace
Mar 12 - Eau Claire, WI: Shamrock Shuffle 5K
May 1 - Eau Claire, WI: Eau Claire Marathon (Full)
Jun 12 - Winona, MN: Trinona (Long Course)
Jun 19 - Rochester, MN: Rochesterfest Triathlon (Long Course)
Jul 23 - Afton Alps, MN: Warrior Dash
Jul 31 - Waseca, MN: Waseca 1/3 Ironman
Aug 28 - Afton Alps, MN: Muddy Buddy
Sep 11 - Stillwater, MN: Square Lake 1/2 Ironman
Oct 15 - Ashland, WI: Whistle Stop Marathon (Full)
If you happen to be in any of these locations, come on out and cheer me on.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Oratory
Up here in the great white north the winters are long, hard, and cold. That's why rivalries abound around here. They heat things up. You got the Vikings and Packers, the Gophers and Badgers, to a lesser extent the Twins and Brewers, and then of course there's 'Sages and Biggtree.
But after reading Biggtree's last post I'm left asking myself, "Self? Do I need a new rival?". You see his last post left me wondering, why the hell does he have to cross a river and wander through the woods just to get to his refrigerator? I've seen his skills in the woods. Davy Crocket he is not, so I'm sure it takes him quite some time to find it on each trip out. For a guy who thinks a cold beer is a "recovery drink" you'd think he'd have that a little closer to home. That's really gotta be pissing him off. But if that wasn't enough, he goes on this oratory about the Queen and some Facebook secret service mumbo jumbo that I only half understood. I'm beginning to wonder "Man, did he move his thinking chair outside too?". I mean that cold seat in such close proximity to his brain would explain sooooo much.
Hey Biggtree, it's a measly little 5k... Not the invasion of Iraq. Come in from the cold, it's ok. It's ok.
But after reading Biggtree's last post I'm left asking myself, "Self? Do I need a new rival?". You see his last post left me wondering, why the hell does he have to cross a river and wander through the woods just to get to his refrigerator? I've seen his skills in the woods. Davy Crocket he is not, so I'm sure it takes him quite some time to find it on each trip out. For a guy who thinks a cold beer is a "recovery drink" you'd think he'd have that a little closer to home. That's really gotta be pissing him off. But if that wasn't enough, he goes on this oratory about the Queen and some Facebook secret service mumbo jumbo that I only half understood. I'm beginning to wonder "Man, did he move his thinking chair outside too?". I mean that cold seat in such close proximity to his brain would explain sooooo much.
Hey Biggtree, it's a measly little 5k... Not the invasion of Iraq. Come in from the cold, it's ok. It's ok.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Year in Review: 2010
Before we get to far into 2011, I think it important to review the year that was 2010. The year started off with a solid showing at the Winterfest Frozen Goose 5K, where I finished 3rd overall. It was the first race where my parents and sister came out to cheer me on. What an amazing feeling that is! Then came my first and only loss of the year. The Shamrock Shuffle. This race has become my achilles heal. Dispite leading early and for the majority of the race, I ended up losing to BiggTree for a second year in a row. An early tactical decision backfired resulting in too much energy being expended early on. I simply faded at the end. Overall it was a good race and I beat my previous years time by several minutes.
Things quickly changed a month later. I whooped BiggTree at the Eau Claire 1/2 marathon (my first 1/2 ever). I was really proud of this race. It simply felt great. I finished with a time of 1:42:44.
Following the EC half my attention turned to triathlon. Specifically Trinona. I knew BiggTree would be lookin to extract some revenge. Unfortunately I think the bike portion of this race really sealed BiggTrees fate. He was close to me out of the water. And I think the bike I own just gave me the advantage. I'm not sure but after the bike he might have phoned in a part of the run. I really wasn't happy with my overall time but I think my expectations might have been a little high. It didn't stop me from doing it all over again a week later at Rochesterfest Triathlon. This time around I did much better. Far exceeding what I thought I could do at the swim. Somewhere on the run I even caught up and passed my team lead. Always nice to whoop yer boss!
Attention then shifted back marathoning. The target race: Whistlestop in Ashland, WI. Two things ended up changing those plans however. First, even though Trinona and Rochesterfest weren't "A" races I allowed them to take on that mentality. Quite simply, Sprint distance triathlon is just more fun then running the countless miles dictated by most marathon training schedules. As a result I fell behind. One long run resulted in me inducing a case of heat stress/stroke. Then I ended up injuring myself trying to make it up on a long run I wasn't prepared for. The end result was I ran the Whistlestop 1/2 marathon instead. I wasn't as fast at Whistlestop as I was for Eau Claire. I finished with a time of 1:49:17. It was however, the third race in a row where I trounced BiggTree.
So that was my year. Looking back at it I'm happiernow than the day any of those events occurred. But that is just my personality. I'm never satisfied with performances on race day. The biggest thing I think I learned last year, is you need consistency in training. You can't be on one week and falter the next. You have to string weeks of good training together to accomplish some of these goals. Another thing I learned is you need to properly warm-up before a race. I didn't do that at Trinona and my swim times paid for it in a most horrific way. So this year, consistency and preparation will be focused on!
Things quickly changed a month later. I whooped BiggTree at the Eau Claire 1/2 marathon (my first 1/2 ever). I was really proud of this race. It simply felt great. I finished with a time of 1:42:44.
Following the EC half my attention turned to triathlon. Specifically Trinona. I knew BiggTree would be lookin to extract some revenge. Unfortunately I think the bike portion of this race really sealed BiggTrees fate. He was close to me out of the water. And I think the bike I own just gave me the advantage. I'm not sure but after the bike he might have phoned in a part of the run. I really wasn't happy with my overall time but I think my expectations might have been a little high. It didn't stop me from doing it all over again a week later at Rochesterfest Triathlon. This time around I did much better. Far exceeding what I thought I could do at the swim. Somewhere on the run I even caught up and passed my team lead. Always nice to whoop yer boss!
Attention then shifted back marathoning. The target race: Whistlestop in Ashland, WI. Two things ended up changing those plans however. First, even though Trinona and Rochesterfest weren't "A" races I allowed them to take on that mentality. Quite simply, Sprint distance triathlon is just more fun then running the countless miles dictated by most marathon training schedules. As a result I fell behind. One long run resulted in me inducing a case of heat stress/stroke. Then I ended up injuring myself trying to make it up on a long run I wasn't prepared for. The end result was I ran the Whistlestop 1/2 marathon instead. I wasn't as fast at Whistlestop as I was for Eau Claire. I finished with a time of 1:49:17. It was however, the third race in a row where I trounced BiggTree.
So that was my year. Looking back at it I'm happiernow than the day any of those events occurred. But that is just my personality. I'm never satisfied with performances on race day. The biggest thing I think I learned last year, is you need consistency in training. You can't be on one week and falter the next. You have to string weeks of good training together to accomplish some of these goals. Another thing I learned is you need to properly warm-up before a race. I didn't do that at Trinona and my swim times paid for it in a most horrific way. So this year, consistency and preparation will be focused on!
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Training Log [Week of Jan 3]
My first training log of the year. I hope to be able to publish this every week even though it might be giving my chief rival inside information.
Nutrition (Grade D)
This week I setup a new plan in LoseIt that should lead me to my marathon race weight. I was over my calorie budget on budget on 5 of 7 days. One of them was my Mom and Sisters birthday so I'll cut myself some slack there as I had zero control over menu. For the week the nutrient mix of fat/carbs/protein was also not where I'd like it to be.
Sleep (Grade D)
Looking over my sleep journal in Sleep Cycle, it's pretty obvious didn't get enough sleep throughout the week. I'm not talking about quality sleep either. I just didn't get enough time in the rack. This is partly due to a cold(notes on that below), however. This should be fixable in the week ahead.
Workouts (Grade C)
I would have rated this higher but I missed my long run this week which is a huge negative to any aspiring marathon hopes. Baseline was established for the swim from which I should be able to build from for Trinona. Need to find time to work in some cycling. Got my scheduled weight lifting in.
Body/Health (Grade C)
Went into Mayo Express Care on Thursday. Looking at my health information in iHealthTrax, I've had a sore throat since December 29 and during the week my ear began to hurt. Especially in the pool! Strep test came back negative, so it's a viral deal and I just have suck it up.
Nutrition (Grade D)
This week I setup a new plan in LoseIt that should lead me to my marathon race weight. I was over my calorie budget on budget on 5 of 7 days. One of them was my Mom and Sisters birthday so I'll cut myself some slack there as I had zero control over menu. For the week the nutrient mix of fat/carbs/protein was also not where I'd like it to be.
Sleep (Grade D)
Looking over my sleep journal in Sleep Cycle, it's pretty obvious didn't get enough sleep throughout the week. I'm not talking about quality sleep either. I just didn't get enough time in the rack. This is partly due to a cold(notes on that below), however. This should be fixable in the week ahead.
Workouts (Grade C)
I would have rated this higher but I missed my long run this week which is a huge negative to any aspiring marathon hopes. Baseline was established for the swim from which I should be able to build from for Trinona. Need to find time to work in some cycling. Got my scheduled weight lifting in.
Body/Health (Grade C)
Went into Mayo Express Care on Thursday. Looking at my health information in iHealthTrax, I've had a sore throat since December 29 and during the week my ear began to hurt. Especially in the pool! Strep test came back negative, so it's a viral deal and I just have suck it up.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
What to expect from this blog
So a few days ago I said their were some changes to the blog. The most obvious of course is the background and overall scheme. But if you look a little deeper you can see the blog has been repurposed to to just my running/fitness/triathlon aspirations. Gone are the techy, political, and photography content.
So what can you expect from a blog, as I said a few days ago, "with a purpose"? Well, diet and exercise are a big part of what makes my running and triathlon goals possible. So you'll see content about that. I have been doing a ton of reading lately. So expect to see reviews of what I've been reading. I certainly hope you bring what you've been reading to my attention in the comments. Racing and competition is what makes all the hard work worthwhile, so expect to see race reports. I intend to talk about how well (or not) a race is organized, how good the post race refreshments were, what the course was like, and of course how I felt I did. Lastly, you can expect a fair bit of smack between me and my arch-rival biggtree.
I certainly hope you hang around. 2011 is going to be one heck of a ride.
And so it begins...
The first day of the year and what do I get the pleasure of having my breakfast interrupted by? Yup you guessed it. Cast into my face on the winds of old man winter comes a withered leaf from the biggtree mind. A text message...
Ok, I admit the off season has been ... um ... well enjoyed. But you can't simply let that slide, so right back at you biggtree...
...and so it begins. The build up to The Shamrock Shuffle 5K. The first volley has been exchanged, who will win? That will have to wait for another day....
"Fhatty!!!"
Ok, I admit the off season has been ... um ... well enjoyed. But you can't simply let that slide, so right back at you biggtree...
Heeeello Pot
...and so it begins. The build up to The Shamrock Shuffle 5K. The first volley has been exchanged, who will win? That will have to wait for another day....
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