Tough week.

So lets address today first. I got on the bike made it a mile and couldnt do it. The swim last night was late and I couldnt do the bike I wanted. It was also raining. Im not sure why I didnt do it. I was angry dissappointed and tired. Id visualized what to do and then was forced to do something different so I couldnt get my mind round it.
This week was tough with Vacation time and not doing things on designated times. I need to stick to those times and get things done instead of missing them and then failing on the weeks event. 7 mile run and 1.5 mile swim on saturday so that was good.
Alec, Jude and Henry went home today.

Feels good for a peek weekend

A big weekend there. 10K run - check. 2100yds (1 mile) - check. 40 mile bike - check.

I'm really enjoying the challenge of the run just now. Its doable but tough. My heart rate was up on the run, I like to keep my heart rate in the 140s where possible. In the 150s and 160s tends to lead to me burning out. Well usually a 3 mile run doesn't hit 140 but this day I was at 145 by 3 miles so by 6 I was hitting 160. Tough but done. I think I'm still burning off whatever lurgy I had on Tuesday.  I took the kids to church later in the day and then went for the big peak swim. I picked level 2 for that and yes I did it.

I woke up Sunday with a sore shoulder blade! I pushed too hard on the swim. Hopefully it will heal quickly - maybe its lactic acid build up. Hopefully. My friend Brian met me to go some of the way with me. I have been struggling with biking and blew off Fridays ride after 1 mile as I was so pissed with biking. I dropped the mileage from 50 to 40 in an effort to bring some balance to the bike. By dropping it I think I may have tricked Brian into going the extra 10 miles! Sorry Mate! It was great though as he was able to up the tempo and I could hook on behind him and go faster which was good for the legs to get used to. A strong headwind on the way back which phased me but not Brian. It made for an excellent ride.

I'm looking forward to the rest week now as last week was exceptionally tough.

Mind games and over training

Well my Brain beat me this morning. I ran last night with no real problems other than it was 9 pm. I got up this morning, breakfast and then out. It took me an hour though. My tires were a bit flat (no pump) and I was still tired from last night. Things went down hill fast and I turned round after 2 miles. The thought of beating myself up and then being in work for 9:15 was too much. Stress at home, Stress with the new job (Trying to make an impression), Stress with beating the living daylights out of myself on the bike and beer fest organization. Normally I can compartmentalize whatever I'm doing into smaller goals but some days as today is a Tsunami of commitments. This has been coming and expected as it goes with the territory of over training, next week the schedule evens out.

I might make the cycle up tonight in the 90 degree heat but will that set me up for a fail on the run tomorrow? I said before it 10% grind and 90% mind. This week it couldn't be truer! The body is willing, kind of.

The good news is I have been able to sleep the last 2 nights and getting up at 6 is getting easier. I plan to get up then at the weekends too just to knock my body into a new schedule.

The swims are getting better. I'm committed to this and will give it everything I have, will it be enough? Time will tell.

1 mile swim!

A good swim this morning - 1800 yards. I'm chuffed with that as I only started this week, It was 200 off the target because I needed to get to work and there was no kick board handy. This is level 1 but I plan on moving to 2 next week and 3 the following. This is the second swim this week. I nearly died on Monday when I seen it was a mile. Been a while but the body remembers.

Balancing the job and exercise seems tougher this time. The problem is early meetings, right in the middle of early morning. So there is no chance of a bike ride or run. Im trying to work early and then go out afterwards. However I dont appear in the office till 9:30 so that may become an issue. Who knows.

I've been sick for 2 days. Not sure what happened but luckily it happened over Wednesdays rest day. It was good to have 2 days off. A run tonight. I'm looking forward to the 10K and half century I have planned this weekend. The biking is leaving me in bits and is a bit slow but I am way over weight and hopefully this will go up as I get in shape and lose weight.

After this week I can move to a more sensible schedule and reduce the risk of over training and injury.

A few weeks in

A while back I got a cough. No clue from where but it was there and wouldn't go away. This led to the end of training for quite some time while it was sorted out. Its fairly under control now and I started training a few weeks ago. A friend of mine said "Why not give it a go, you have paid for it. Go for the swim and bike and see how it goes". So that's exactly what I am doing.

I put a training plan together. Its very aggressive and its kicking my ass but I'm doing it! The runs have got up to a point I can follow a novice schedule, The bikes involve a lot of blow outs and a lot of mental and physical pain. So far so good now. I'm hoping to be able to slow the pace down a little now and follow a more sensible schedule.

I swam my first mile tonight. The shoulders are killing me but I did it. Ill be upping the Ibuprofen to compensate. Hopefully I can balance the new job and train.

17 weeks to go so Here we go!

Going for it

Well I am going for it. New Job, new challenges. Ive been training for a few weeks now and I came across this quote from Theodore Roosevelt:-

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Words to live by.

10% Physical 90 % mental

I've been meaning to post for a week now but have been lacking in motivation. The last 2 weeks I've been trying to get going. The first week all running. Now I'm up to running, biking and swimming. The run is tough tonight I managed 2.5 miles and it was not fun or comfortable. I've also been out twice on the bike, 10 miles! That nearly killed me too and I was really slow. 30 lengths of the pool in, shoulder blown, now I remember what all the Ibuprofen was all about.
Soccer season is picking up. I have a course this weekend so Ill get no long events in this weekend but its off to the races so its going well. Work is being really tough with a release next week so fitting it all in has been tough. Looking forward to the course though!
Lots of miles to put in, lots of weight to lose, lots of soccer to coach. Oh and the 10/90 its just how it is right now. Miles get easier the longer I go but getting there is pain and pushing.

Roll on the Ironman!

2 down 138.6 to go

Right Im moving again. I ran 2 miles today. It was tough physically but the cardio side was fine - so far. I am weighing in at 285 pounds at the moment so if I can lose 60 pounds that would be awesome. This week I plan on working on running and adding some weights in. Id like to add some stair climbing at work, maybe at 10:00 and 2. So a few goals this week, I hope it goes well.

For a bit of extra incentive I joined "The biggest loser - Westminster". There is no information on it yet but Im payed up and will have another weigh in this weekend.

Here we go again

Well what can I say. Here we go again. I signed up for Ironman Arizona in November and now have to do something about it. The family is on board and I need a challenge to get the weight off. Tomorrow morning Ill start my weigh in, dust off the treadmill, get some weight training going.

Last year was a total blowout. What am I saying, the last 2 years were a total blow out. I cant have a year like the last two, surely not! It was 3 years ago around this time that I started training for the last one so I'm optimistic. I took a blow to the head at football (Soccer) so Ill be starting training with a mild concussion. Marvelous!

The last two years have given me a healthy respect for this event and hopefully the stars will in alignment and the weight will come off quickly so I can quickly get into the distance thing. Distance is relative at this time and wont be far.

Tools Ill be using is my trusty triathlon book by Matt Fitzgerald. livestrong.com to watch the food and weight, the blog and a charity or two. Maybe one for the US and one for the UK. The pivotal moment at the last one was thinking of those supporting me and that got me through. Working with the kids soccer teams, running with the kids will hopefully help me out. My trusted mp3 player. I blew up a couple of iPhones the last time (they got wet) lets see how the Galaxy does this time.

My rheumatoid doctor is retiring so Ill have to find a new one. Requirements: Understands running and cycling and doesn't use words like "Well maybe you shouldn't do this". The quest will start in February. The swim will be the toughest as my shoulders are toast. Hopefully it wont come down to how much Ibuprofen I take this year.

While waiting on the sign up a couple of things happened. First I was offered a place in Kona if I could raise 5000 dollars in Charity. I didn't do it as I didn't think I could, my friends said they would have just payed the 5000 to get into Kona. As it was a 10 minute decision I didn't have time to get all the thoughts lost. Oh well, there will be other opportunities. The second was the people talking about their prep races. Ive never had prep races. It sounded like a good idea so now the quest is on. Should I do the Boulder tri series? Not sure as I have mixed feelings on that one. Ill definitely so the mini-haha but apart from that it might be just the event.

Well that's it. Roll on tomorrow, the weigh in and the