5 questions

Five questions from Marci at Triathlete 4 Life - a great triathlon blog by the way. If you would like to be interviewed please check the end of this post.

1. How did you get into the sport of triathlon?

I had enjoyed running for a while, however, I was not able to run as often as I wanted - if I ran everyday then my legs would ache - I was tempting injury. I discovered cycling to cross train. Well, once I had two out of the three I decided to look into triathlons. Considering that I had never really swam any kind of distance, this was a daunting task. I was pretty scared of the open water swim. If fact my first two open water swims were in races (almost a year apart) and both were horrible – complete panic.

2. What are you hoping to get out of your Ironman experience?

I am very goal oriented. I like to challenge myself. Setting the bar high and trying to improve incrementally is exciting to me. The Ironman race will allow me to know that I can achieve almost anything – mentally or physically – if I set my mind to it.

3. What motivates you to get up in the morning?

I like to hit the ground running. To be better than I was yesterday.
To try and to improve. I really believe that if you are not going forward you are really going backwards. You go backwards fast when lying on the couch or bed.

4. What has been your biggest accomplishment in your triathlon career?

Setting the goal of my first triathlon (Sunfish 07/07/2007 – my birthday) and completing that goal.

5. Who is your favorite athlete and why?

I am not a big fan of many sports stars. I don’t believe in celebrity. I went to elementary school with a bunch of kids whose parents were professional baseball players (Texas Rangers) and realized they were just parents. Maybe they had a little more money but... I also do not the the salaries were what they are today. They had nice houses but not MTV Cribs. With celebrity you place these people, and they are people, on high pedestals and they disappoint. However, I have been a fan of Muhammad Ali for a long time (I love the documentary When We Were Kings) and more recently Jens Voight and Chrisse Wellington (she has a great story). If you have time these video's are great (I watched them on the trainer the other day) -

To play along:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by giving you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

First swim lesson

If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you. - Bruce Lee

The first swim lesson was awesome. There was only one other person that signed up for swim lessons that already knew how to swim. The rest had never really been in the water. They were bobbing up and down. I heard their instructor say, "It looks like everyone is afraid to put their face in the water. Who wants to touch the bottom with me?" I think it is great that these adults are learning to swim.

I grew up with a swimming pool (in Texas) and was in it my whole life. However, I never really swam. It was mostly playing around and tossing a ball or diving for pennies. About three years ago was the first time that I started trying to swim laps at the pool. I was only doing this because I wanted to fulfill a dream of completing a triathlon. So I guess I had to learn to swim.

It was very hard to get started. I felt that I could run (slowly) for as long as I wanted but the swimming zapped my strength after only a few laps. I was not breathing right and was exhausted immediately. Fast forward a year or two and I am a much better swimmer. My times are coming down. I no longer panic in the open water swims. I still want to improve. Get faster. Get more efficient.

So Jennifer and I are the only ones in the swim class that know how to swim. I know Jennifer from the pinebeltpacers running club. She also either does or wants to compete in triathlons. So instead of being a liability, Jennifer and I get our own dedicated swim coach. Mary is a grad student here at USM. She was a competitive runner and swimmer in high school and college and teaches / coaches swim camps in Texas all summer long. Pretty cool.

I believe that I take instruction well and asked Mary to simply tell me where my stroke or form was having problems. She immediately helped me better position my head a little higher in the water. She also was helping me with my pull. I could feel the water better.

I did a 1000 yard time trial last week so that I can better judge my progress. I'm excited about the class.

LT run and swimming lessons

I did an easy 30 minutes on the exercise bike yesterday at lunch and then 30 minutes of back strength training. After I got home from work I attempted to ride the rollers again. My goal is to be able to ride them for 30 minutes with clip pedals by the end of the month - 13resolutions.

Today was a LT run on the treadmill. I warmed up for 0.5 miles and then increased the pace. I did not want my heart rate to go above 175 beats per minute. This is at the upper end of my aerobic zone. It is hard to maintain. I started at about 7:03 minutes / mile and increased every 0.5 mile or so by 2 tenths of a MPH. My heart rate hit 175 beats per minute at around 6:30 minutes / mile. I did not want to but I had to back off the pace for the last mile to maintain my heart rate below 175 beats. The results are as follows:

WU 0.5 miles 4:21- 126 HR AVE
1.0 mile - 6:46 - 158 HR AVE
2.0 mile - 6:31 - 170 HR AVE
3.0 mile - 6:50 - 173 HR AVE
CD 0.5 miles 4:14- 161 HR AVE

The total was 4 miles in 28:44 for a combined pace of 7:11 minute / mile.

I have my furst swimming lesson in about half an hour!

Broke the TT bike out

Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia. - H.G. Wells

For Sunday I did break the race bike out (Giant Trinity A1). This was the first time that I had been on it in about 4 months. I have been riding my road bike exclusively. The road bike feels like a Cadillac compared to the race bike. Nice and smooth and stretched out and stable. The more up right seating position is so comfy.

I did a little 20 mile time trial out and back from my house. I have done this route so many times. The trace was crowded (beautiful day) so I had to slow down a little a couple of times. The race bike is faster, but you have to work at it harder. The steep seat angle and aero position just simply cheat the wind better.

That being said - I has so miserable and hurting during this 20 mile ride. The hard aero angle is a killer on the 'soft tissue'. The biggest hurdle was the different muscles that this bike requires you to use. My quadriceps were screaming at me the entire ride. My heart rate was reasonable but the legs were aching.

Last year I rode the race bike from May until October. I never got off of the bike. I rode it as commuter, time trial, group ride - you name it. I was really surprised at how different it is to ride.

I am glad that I got it out early so that I can incorporate it into my training.

After the 20 mile time trial (in just under an hour - 59:20 - way off from my PR of about 54:xx from last summer) I parked the race bike and jumped on the road bike for the group ride. I did not want to push it any harder that I already had. I got another 35 miles in a spirited ride with the group. I was glad to be done with the ride when it was over. Got 55 miles for the day and 108 for the weekend.

Not sure why but my nagging right hamstring was bothering me all last night. Not much better today.

Spring is in the air -

The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine. - John Howard

*** New resolution at 13resolutions ***

I had some bicycle seat time to make up from last week so I got on the trainer yesterday morning. I churned out 20 miles in right around an hour. It was nice to get it out of the way early. I was going to ride the bike outdoors when the weather warmed up a little but I did not want to just mill around the house waiting for the sun.

I did meet up with Chris and Sam for an afternoon ride. There was a little confusion of where we were going to meet so we ended up crossing paths about half way through the ride. So I was on my road bike on and off the trace hitting the hills. These are the hills that I found just last week with the group ride. I was able to power up them and it felt good. The air was brisk but the sun was out. The heat of the sun felt good on my black arm warmers.

I started to head back after about 16 miles and that is when I crossed Chris and Sam. They were both on their race bikes (Sam even had his race wheels on his bike - I don't think they ever come off of the race bike). These guys are fast. I was having to draft off of Sam just to stay up with them. There were stretches of road where he was maintaining 27 MPH. Sure he was on his tricked out race bike with tricked out race wheels - but still, maintaining 27 MPH. This is an area of the trace that is relatively flat (maybe a very slight down hill) that I can, if I push it, maintain 22 - 23 MPH. Sam was flying. Sam is the local fast guy (that just happens to be the same age as me). If he shows up at the 5k's or any other race that just means I am racing for second in my age group. Sam is also a great coach and is quick to help you out in your training. He helped me out a lot last year. He was sizing me up for the race season and asking me what I averaged on the bike last year in my races. I told him that it was 21 - 22 MPH. Being that this is only my second full season of triathlon he believes that I will make great strides.

I had to go back and double check my bike splits for a few races to make sure that I was not exaggerating. I had four races last year and the last two I averaged more than 22 MPH (Sunfish - 18 miles in 47:41 for 22.65 MPH and the Heart of Dixie - 27.5 miles in 1:13:50 for 22.35 MPH). FYI - I love athlinks! I ended up getting about 53 miles for the day.

Today I am anxious to get out my race bike and get some seat time. Time Trial / triathlon bikes feel much different than road bikes.

13resolutions - 1 month update

Albert Einstein, who discovered that a tiny amount of mass is equal to a huge amount of energy, which explains why, as Einstein himself so eloquently put it in a famous 1939 speech to the Physics Department at Princeton, "You have to exercise for a week to work off the thigh fat from a single Snickers." ~Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns 50

The NO-S DIET did not have the results that I had hoped for. I do not blame the diet. - 13resolutions. I will keep at it but I also get to start a new resolution tomorrow!

Lunch running

Good judgement is the result of experience, experience is the result of bad judgment. - Mark Twain

I had a nice 7.5 mile run at lunch today (58:40 - 7:49 min / mile). Nothing fast or blistering but a nice run in the cool weather. My training plan actually called for an easy 75 minute recovery bike ride. It is just hard to get some of these bike rides in during the week. I may ride the trainer tonight but that is not likely. I will probably just add the time to the Sunday ride if the weather is nice or jump on the trainer for an hour or so this weekend.

Easy week - great swim

The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. - Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924)

I had a great swim at lunch yesterday. It was only 1500 yards but I am improving. Not fast by any means but improving. I'll take that any day. I warmed up for 250 yards and then did only one set of 1000 yards and then another 250 to cool down. I don't wear my glasses at the pool so it is hard to see the minutes on the clock (I only use the second hand anyway) but I am not sure how fast I swam the 1000 yards. I swam the distance in either 16:20 (1:38 / 100 yards) or 17:20 (1:43 / 100 yards). Either way that is a record any way you cut it. And on top of that it was easy. I was not trying to swim fast. I was 'feeling' the water rush over me and 'feeling' my hand and arm catch the water.

Swim lessons start next week and I have high hopes for the times dropping.

Running into work.

I ran into work this morning. The weather was a little brisk (39 degrees).

Ran 6 miles in 46:42 (7:47 min / mile pace)

Swim at lunch.

Coliseum again

My hill run consisted of the Coliseum stairs again. The times are noted below (pretty consistant):

Coliseum stairs
4:55
4:52
4:53
4:55
half lap 2:17

Still very challenging but I will need to either increase the number of laps or the duration of the laps (maybe a circle and a half around the coliseum would be one lap).

Swim video

You know, the courts may not be working any more, but as long as everyone is videotaping everyone else, justice will be done. - Matt Groening (1954 - ), The Simpsons

I nailed the swim session yesterday a lunch. It was 2400 yards of a lot of easy / hard repeats. Good stuff.

Today was supposed to be an off day - these are hard for me. So I rode the bike into work for the first time this year. I am good at the commute during the spring and summer - not so much in the cold and dark. It is nearly 6 miles each way on a rails to trails (just happens to be in my backyard). Once the sun starts to come up around 6 AM I meet a group of guys on Tuesday and Thursday for an hour or so ride before work. I cannot wait.

So I got to work and did some strength training. I did not get much of that in last week due to the high volume of training.

At lunch I was going to do some light running but ran into a friend who had just come out of the pool. Another one of our friends was in the pool with an underwater camera. He was taking video of us swimming for a 'swim coach' to help identify our trouble spots. Pretty cool. I did end up getting an easy 2 mile run in plus a little strength training.

Cold hills

Be careful that victories do not carry the seed of future defeats. - Ralph W. Sockman

I had a really good bike ride on Sunday. Only 40 miles but we got off the trace and hits some nice hills. No really, they were nice hills and I do not even have to put the disclaimer that they were nice for Mississippi. Sure they were not huge hills or small mountains and the hills did not have names but they were nice. Okay, they were nice for Mississippi.

It was about 50 degrees for the entire ride. I had my arm and leg covers on and I was under dressed. I should have worn a base layer and full finger gloves. My feet and hands were blocks of ice.

There was a good turn out - about 8 people. This was the first time in a couple of months that I have done the Sunday group ride without running at least 10 miles before hand. I was not really feeling any stronger but I was. During my pulls I dropped everyone - I did not really mean to but it happened. I was able to pull a little harder and pull a little longer. The exertion was the same but it was a little faster and I pulled a little further. As they say, "It is not how far you go. It is not how fast you go. It is only how far fast you go!"

First brick of the season...

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

Yesterday - I was proud of myself for getting on the trainer. I rode it for an hour. The time passes much quicker if I have a plan. I did a warm up for 10 minutes and then 20 x 1 minutes intervals with 1 minute rest then a 10 minute cool down. My trainer has a 'power' meter gauge. I believe it to be consistent and do not really care about the accuracy. So my warm up, rest intervals and cool down were at 160 watts and the intervals were at 260 watts. I prefer to spin at a high cadence so the times at 160 watts were at 90 - 100 RPM and the 260 watts were at 75 RPM. Take the power numbers with a grain of salt - they only relate to me on my trainer. Who knows 260 watts could really be 100 watts (or even 500 watts - dreaming). I really can't go much lower than that - this was supposed to help build leg strength. The time went by quick.

Just for fun I did an EASY, SLOW 3 mile run - the rain was light. This was the first 'BRICK' that I have done in a while. With the slow pace the brick was super easy and I felt strong - I could have ran much faster, much longer, and much harder - but I didn't.

Today - The rain has stopped so I will get to go on a longer bike ride, however, it is cool outside. I know, 48 degrees is not that cold - many people across the country would kill for that weather. But it is cool for here.

Swimming and Running -

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

I had a good work out this morning. The swimming is coming easier. I followed the plan to the T. It had me do a lot of easy 300 yard sets with the 4th of the 6th laps at a hard pace. This require the next two laps to be at active recovery (also 10 x 100 yards with the first 25 yards hard the next 75 yards easy). This was a really good workout for me. I remember getting winded in races and not being able to settle down and 'catch' my breath. These drills really stressed the recovery from the hard exertion.

My times are getting faster with the same effort in the pool. I will be starting swim class next month and I am looking forward to getting the time down even more.

Last January my swim times for 100 yards (SLOW - self taught swimmer here) would have been very close to 2 minutes. Now at a comfortable pace they are low 1:40's!!! - that should shave quite a few minutes off of the 1.2 mile swim time in my up coming 1/2 ironman - that is huge to me!

I'm excited!

I had a good run at lunch. Some co-workers (Chad and Vic) and I did a 7 mile run in the sunshine (wonderful day) in just under an hour. I love nice group runs - the pace was a little fast - just a little - A nice end to the week - 3100 yard swim and 7 mile run - the weather will be nice tomorrow and I will get a good bike ride in - for the total as a week it has been good - one day was a little too hard and I knew when to call it ! I'm learning.

Don't make fun - but ballroom dancing tonight!

Working smart - harder than it looks

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)

Yesterday only called for an hour bike ride. Hilly but most of the time spent in heart rate zone 1 / 2. In other words an easy workout just spinning along. NOT ENOUGH. So I did my entire workout plan and was done prior to the start of the work day. I still had my lunch hour to work out. As noted earlier I did the coliseum stadium stair run. This is some major intensity. It is a race against yourself as well as your cohorts. Tough workout so to speak. You have to 'bring it' and I'm good at bringing it. In fact, when I need to bring I just have to look outside. There it is sitting in the driveway. Tank full of gas and the engine doing that soft loping idle - just raring to go. In other words, when they say bring it - it is usually already brung.

Today's workout calls for a 45 minute swim and a 40 minute hill run. I like to swim at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays because a group of experienced swimmers meet at that time. They are very encouraging and always offer helpful tips. It is improving my swim skills measurably.

So I got out of bed for the 40 minute hill run. Specifically it called for a zone 1 / 2 with 6 x 30 seconds hard hill charges. Quite a bit easier than the coliseum. I was glad that I had the extra 20 minutes and enjoyed my coffee in bed. Feeling good I got on the treadmill and programmed my benchmark settings - 40 minutes at MAX 8.5 MPH with MAX 12 slope. This would be harder than the run prescribed by the plan. I started out strong but remember, like the XFL, there is no downhill on the treadmill - only less up hill. The heart rate was staying low and steady and I was still feeling strong. When I got to the MAX 12 slope it was hard, just as it should be. The heart rate had been slowing climbing to right at LT level (about 174 beats per minute). The problem was that this level of exertion felt harder than it should. The problem was the the heart rate did not drop on the less up hill. The problem was that my legs were tired. The problem was that I was tired. So, being here before, I looked at the window. There was nothing in the driveway. I checked the street - still nothing. The hills said bring it but it was nowhere to be found. I called it a day at 20 minutes.

Maybe I should try to follow this training plan thing... Still looking forward to swimming at lunch.

On a side note I am down another two pounds - 162.0 - 13resolutions

Coliseum stairs

I have climbed out of bed all week (yesterday and today) to exercise. I am trying to build a routine. I did an hour of bicycle hill climbs on the exercise bike at the gym. This was probably too easy. I read a book while I was doing it. I am still glad that I 'got it done' but I need to work on the intensity.

The intensity was brought at lunch. Another powerful workout with the gang. We ran the coliseum stairs and I brought my stop watch (actually heart rate monitor). When you have to compete in a measured amount of time it is much more demanding. With Chad close on my heals I clicked off four rounds (down - up - down - up all the way around the arena). All rounds were completed in 5 minutes or less with a 2 minute recovery walk in between. My times are noted below:

5:00
4:46
4:55
4:54

Next up were abs. A lot of Swiss ball crunches, bicycles and planks.

Swimming - looking for improvement.

I have stuck to the diet all day today without any trouble at all (the evenings are the problems). I got in the pool for about an hour at lunch and did a ton of 100's and 50's. I wore my jammer (not the drag board shorts) and felt pretty fast. It is hard to remember all of the different skills (feel the catch, high elbows, constant exhale, kick with your whole leg, etc).

I also signed up for Adult Swim lessons for next month. They will meet Tuesday and Thursday starting Feb 03. I am going to work on Stroke Development, Stroke Improvement and Stroke Refinement.

Time Trial - running

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!

- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"

I followed the diet yesterday even though it was a holiday - I did not get the results that I wanted 13resolutions.

I took yesterday off as a complete rest day - I never do this. The training plan called for a 75 minute easy spin on the bike. I hate days like that - it is hard for me to do the easy stuff and I almost always go harder that I should. So I skipped it by justifying that the training plan did not call for a 4000 yard swim on Saturday and only an hour run (not the 1 1/2 hour run that I did) and only a 2 hour bike ride (not the 2 1/2 hour bike ride I did) on Sunday. So I took the holiday off and did some yard work. I put pine straw out in the flower beds and chopped on some stumps with the axe - and practiced axe throwing for fun - I was better in the fall. I also followed the diet pretty close.

This morning I did a 30 minute running time trial (TT). These are hard. They are mentally hard. They are physically hard. I woke up early and got to the gym by 6:30AM - no breakfast - just running on empty. I jumped on my treadmill - I always use the same one - and did an easy 10 minute warm up (real easy 10:00 minute / mile pace). At ten minutes I pushed up to a 7:00 minute / mile pace and held this for another ten minutes. This is were it gets hard. You take your average heart rate for the next 20 minutes. At the end you should feel like you have given everything. Not easy to do on a treadmill when you are not chasing someone or there are not wolves or bears chasing you. So twenty minutes into the run (10 warm up and 10 harder warm up) I pushed the pace to about a 6:27 minute / mile pace. I was able to carry this for about ten more minutes and then I had to back off just a little. I was, however, able to finish strong for the last five minutes and slowly, incrementally, increase the speed - by a tenth or two at a time. I finished running the last minute at a 6:00 minute / mile pace.

This was not my best time trial - my best was outside running to work last spring. The distances do not matter only the heart rates (but the working set of 30 minutes I covered 4.5 miles and 7.7 miles for the hour.) The last twenty minutes of the Time Trial I averaged 174 beats per minute (that is just about were I was last spring). Theoretically this should mean that I can carry that heart rate for about an hour without blowing up. Easier said than done. I will try this heart rate out in a tempo run some time in the near future.

Swimming at lunch.

Working the plan in hopes for some speed in the spring.

11 mile run in 1:32:07 (8:37 min / mile pace - I did stop and talk with someone briefly) - My volume has been high but I feel slow. I have a 30 minute run time trial on Tuesday.

The sun came out in the afternoon and I met up with the Sunday group ride. It was the biggest turn out that I have seen in a couple of months. We, including me, Mississippians are fair weather riders. I hear people talk of the unbearable cold - 40 degrees - and how it is impossible to get outside. It was not that long ago, when I lived in Indiana, that 40 degrees would be a heat wave. I remember weeks on end of sub-freezing temperatures. You would see people out and about in short sleeves and shorts if the temperature got above freezing.

But I digress - the group ride was a lot of fun even though there was one heck of a head wind going out. We made it to Sumrall in no where near record time. Even going down the hill to Sumrall was slow - probably about 4 - 5 MPH slower because of the wind in your face. This just meant that getting back to town would be fast.

I usually do not do long pulls but prefer short intense sessions. On one such pull I was easily (I say easily but I was pedaling my heart out) hitting 29 - 30 MPH. This is fast and furious and is so much fun. Taking the back roads back from Sumrall throws in a few hills and the day was perfect. Bright, sunny and the temperature with arm warmers was just right.

Cookies and beer for dinner - 13resolutions

Still swimming -

I went to the gym today (Saturday) to do an hour run and a light swim (just because it was open and I could). Some how I decided to do the swim first. Because of the holiday on Monday the gym did not open today until 2PM. I got there right when they opened. There was a pool party just getting started but there was one lane marker still in place. I had it mostly to myself - there was a guy rehabing his knee and kind of walking around in the lane. Nice guy, he sucked to the side every time I swam by.

It was recommended that I start wearing my swim jammers again. That the regular trunks were acting like drag shorts and that I did not need the resistance. So I wore the jammers for the first time in months - Still Tight!

I felt fast in the water. I swam 250 yards (5 laps) in 4:00. 48 second average for 50 yards is fast for me. I was not going all out or anything - just kind of swimming. This is encouraging. Everything was clicking good in the water and the water was rough with the pool party. The diving board is near the lane that I was swimming in - there was a chop in the water.

I ended up swimming 4000 yards (80 laps). This is the furthest that I have ever swam in the pool (and I think ever - anywhere). My times are noted below (the first 8:42 set was because of a child in the lane - the second was because I was getting tired):

RI - 30 seconds rest after each set

250 yards - 4:00 (50 yard average 48.0 seconds)
250 yards - 4:06 (50 yard average 49.2 seconds)
500 yards - 8:18 (50 yard average 49.8 seconds)
500 yards - 8:22 (50 yard average 50.2 seconds)
500 yards - 8:23 (50 yard average 50.3 seconds)
500 yards - 8:26 (50 yard average 50.4 seconds)
500 yards - 8:42 (50 yard average 52.2 seconds)
500 yards - 8:29 (50 yard average 50.9 seconds)
500 yards - 8:42 (50 yard average 52.2 seconds)

Unfortunately the run did not go well. I hopped on the treadmill for the hour run and I just was not feeling it. My stomach hurt - from water and hunger. I only ran a mile (low 8 minutes) and called it a session.