Mill Creek Canyon

The first time I rode Mill Creek Canyon I wasnt able to share all the usual stats with you because I had forgotten my Garmin. Today, I woke up and went to watch the Steelers beat Favre and the Vikings. After eating far to many Nachos and having had pancakes for breakfast I thought it best to get out on my bike and repeat the Mill Creek Hill Climb from a month ago.

The start was pretty rough as my muscles were rejecting the idea of the hill climb, and it it definitely starting to get pretty cold in the canyon. The sun provided occasional relief as It poked into various parts of the canyon, but for the most part it was pretty cold. I broke out the gloves, arm warmers, and leggings for the first time this year on the bike.

The canyon goes up further than I ended up climbing but it was due to cold more than exhaustion. I made it to mile marker 6 which was the initial goal.

As Always, Garmin stats are below.

GE Surgery Healthymagination 5k

For those out there that don't already know, I work at GE Healthcare in their Information Management Leadership Program. My current role has take me to Salt Lake City where I work in the surgery business. Its a much smaller enviroment than back in Milwaukee where most of our GEHC businesses are located. However, we are still strong participants in many of the company initiatives. The largest and most important being Healthymagination. I am sure many people have seen the commercials, but copied below is a recent press release link on the initiative: HealthymaginationPress Release

This week has involved many healthy events around the office. Today at 7:30am we had the Healthymagination Surgery 5k run. It was a small event which most people walked to show support. However a few of us gave it our all. I came in 2nd place overall winning a wonderful $25 gift certificate which will be donated to our iCare charity auction as a part of a larger gift basket for people to bid on.

As always, below are the Garmin Stats:

Great Ironman Workout Plan

Awesome Ironman Workout here: http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts/

9-29-2009 SLC Run

This run felt really good.

Angel's Landing Hike, Zion National Park

The Sign at the start of the Angel's Landing trail shows a figure falling from a cliff. The warning reads "falls from cliffs have resulted in death." That's how I knew right from the start that we were going to be going up and that we had definitely chosen the right hike.

The start of the trail was difficult as you were constantly climbing higher and higher, especially with sore legs from yesterday's bike ride. About half way to the top, it levels out for about a quarter mile and you can catch you breath before heading into "The Wiggles" which are about 15 cutback where you zig zags up as if you were climbing very steep stairs. Once to the top of the wiggles, the fun really begins.

It levels out to an amazing view. However, the summit is still about 30mins away for a fast hiker/climber. There is a very narrow trail with a 500ft drop off to one side and an 800 ft drop off to the other. They are kind enough to have one chain along the trail to hold onto if you need some extra stability. It was an amazing view the entire time (or at least when you weren't looking down for your next step). I will be posting photos of the hike soon, but neither Justin or I brought our digital cameras and will need to have our disposable camera developed before I can post images.

Zion is definitely one of the top national parks I have been too (which are admittedly very few), and this hike has some of the best view and the most exhilarating drop offs I have seen in a while.

Zion National Park 24mile Ride

Justin an I drove South the Zion National Park last night following work. We departed from SLC around 5:30PM and arrived at about 11:30PM at our camp site. The trip down was interesting. First we almost ran out of gas and then we were not entirely sure where we were going to camp. Justin had been to a free campsite outside of the National Park before but the trick was going to be to find it at night. We were finally able to do so. However, finding an open spot to camp was also a challenge.

After we got somewhat set up, Justin and I loaded up the bikes and drove up the mountain road. We needed to drive because you can't ride through the tunnel that runs through the mountain. It is about 3 miles long and there isn't any lighting (other than car headlights). Once through the tunnel we drove another mile or two until we came across a good spot to leave the car. After changing, downing a few more bottles of water, packing and filling our camelbacks, and locking up the car, we took off.

Originally we were looking to do somewhere around 50 miles. However, we didn't hit the road till around 12 noon and it was soon over 90 degrees with direct sunlight. We reached about 11 miles out and decided it best to turn around. Rather than heading straight back we too a detour up a side road that led to a few ranches and took that for a few miles before turning around.

Our ride was also plagued with various stops as we each needed to work out some mechanical issues. Justin was having trouble with his speedometer and pedals. I had to make a few adjustments to my front break and seat height. However, by the time we turned around to head back those issues had been solved and we were able to ride consistently the final 15 miles or so. It is a beautiful park and I hope to post some photos in the near future for everyone. I hope to return for a little bit longer of a ride!

As always, the Garmin stats are below and the map is above!

Post Work Mill Creek Canyon Ride

After work today, Justin, Paul, and I rode 6 miles up the Mill Creek Canyon road. Unfortunately, in my rush out the door I left my precious Garmin on the counter. I put the image below together using the gmap pedometer and then overlaying it onto a topographic chart. Its really cool to see the mountains like this. I wish I had the typical elevation change and speed charts because this was one of extremes. While Mill Creek isnt the most difficult canyon, its not easy. It was 90% up hill while heading into the mountains. The climb took us about 51 minutes. The decent was amazing. The roads through the canyon are very well maintained, and with the exception of areas surrounding the restaurant traffic was very minimal. I estimate a decent speed of around 45mph max. Justin's Spedometer stopped registering on the way down at 41 but I imagine we broke that speed during a later decent. I will be sure to ride this one again and next time to wear the Garmin.

5k 5:30am morning run

Justin and I kicked off our morning workouts today with a 5k run that started at 5:30am. We met in between our two apartments and then ran north till we hit 1.6miles. Somewhere on the return trip we lost some mileage because my total at the end was 3.0. It was also a nice ward 46degrees out. As always, the Garmin stats are below :)

Its Been a While

A few months ago my training came to a fairly abrupt stop and with it this blog. I'm not going to go into great detail as to the reason I stopped training but rather a quick synopsis and an assurance that I am again starting to train again.

The major blow to my 2009 Iron Man plan came when GE gave me the approval to go to China for a three week training course. This coupled with some personal traveling threw a Major wrench into the Iron Man Season and my training plan. Without the motivation of my big event, my training began to suffer.

The second blow came when I purchased a condo that required a lot of attention and re-work during the months leading up to my China trip.

And Finally, I have just moved to Salt Lake City, and moving is always difficult.

HOWEVER, This week I have been doing some baseline tests to see how far I have fallen and create a foundation for my upcoming workouts. I am also happy that I live in SLC in close proximity to my friend Justin who will be training with me. This will no longer be an individual endeavor.

I have some back posts that I will be putting up of an event or two that I haven't talked about or uploaded my Garmin data for. Look for those this evening and look forward to a winter of great training!

Hartland WI Ride

I went for a ride out in Hartland WI. We left from Bob Johnson's house in the Bristlecone Pines Golf course and rode a quick out and back. Stats are below!

Lombardi 10k Run

The Lombardi Walk/Run for Cancer was held at the Milwaukee Zoo. I found out about the event because it is heavily GE Healthcare sponsored and there was excellent participation from a lot of the GEHC employees. I was the lone IMLP runner in the event, while the other IMLPs donated their time and money towards the walk event.

Despite it being a very early morning with little to no sleep, I was excited for the run and performed very well. It was multiple laps through the Milwaukee Zoo. The setting was really cool and the terrain was paved and small rolling hills. I placed 16th in my age group (19-29) and 61st overall with a time of 47:13 or about 7:20 miles. As always the Garmin Stats are below!

I had to push through some pain in my foot towards the end. I was able to complete the event strong but the next few weeks were devoid of training as I recovered. The afterparty was also very very fun :)

Great Event and Amazing Charity to support: http://www.lombardiclassic.com/

The MACC Trek 100

I "competed" in this year's Trek 100 event sponsored by Trek and the MACC Fund among others. The event has a 100k and 100mile course. I rode the 100k course with a friend and his family on the "I Back Jack" team. It was a an amazing event for many reasons. First, the course was one of the best designs I have ever ridden. It was said during the ride that the course designer had been out all winter marking the roads that were plowed last and had the fewest tire marks. It showed. There was very little traffic for most of the ride. Second, Trek and the MACC put the funds generated to a truely amazing cause (http://www.maccfund.org/). However, the weather could have been better. It was cold and raining the entire ride. Despite this setback everyone had high spirits and enjoyed the ride. See below for the gps map and Garmin stats :)

5 Mile Run from work

This is a great run that leaves from Research Park where I work and takes me through the park across the street. You can see it goes past a Par 3 golf course and is pretty much an out and back run. There are also some trails through the park that I would like to explore on the next run.

Today's 7.5 Mile Run - 61:56mins

I now have about 17 days until the Half Marathon (13miles) I will be participating in in Chicago. Today, I have begun to step it up from the standard 5 and 10ks I have been doing up until this point. It turned out to be a beautiful evening here in Milwaukee so I was outside. Below is the course I rand and the Pace, heart rate, and distance graph from my Garmin.

The Passionman

I want to write a quick post about the Passionman Tri before I move on with my posts. I truly enjoyed this race this year. I didn't quite hit my goals, but that tells me what I already know: I need to keep training. As I put in a previous post, I placed 9th. My goal was certainly to win the race. In most races I will be aiming to win my age group.

Lets start with the pool swim portion. I can officially say that I hate pool swims to start a triathlon. In the case of the Bucknell Tri (mostly due to time of year) it would be impossible to move the swim outdoors. However, the pool swim throws off you rhythm. We were forced to flip backwards and under the rope every other time. The backwards could have been avoided but I wont go into the specifics of how that could be done. The other problem is with people passing or being held up. No matter how hard you try, you wont seed perfectly for the swim. That being said, I still enjoyed it. Pool swims just shouldn't be you first choice, even as a beginner.

The bike course is, without a doubt, one of my favorite courses! (However, this may be because I designed it last year :) I felt I really did well this year on the bike course. I was somewhere around 42min for the 13.4miles. my goal had been 40mins but not to bad. I really enjoy the rolling hills on the course and the back country roads that they are on.

Finally, it was time for the run portion. When I started triathlons, I HATED running. I still hate running, but every once in a blue moon I find some enjoyment out of it. I think the reason I dislike running is it takes me longer to get there and back. As I run faster, running becomes more tolerable. This is nice because as I get better, I enjoy it more, do it more, and get even better faster.

Again, for those interested in the race blog and the results posted there visit http://passionman.wordpress.com/

The Cost of Traveling to Races

I have just returned from my first race of the year. I participated in the Passionman Triathlon at Bucknell University (http://passionman.wordpress.com/). I thought that this race would be the best way for me to start the season as it is a sprint triathlon and a course that I knew well (as I should, I designed part of it). It went very well, but more details to come on that later. One giant take away from the weekend is the cost of traveling as a triathlete.

As you can see, the race fee turned out to be the least of my worries. First, never fly NWA (now Delta) if you are traveling with a bike. I have compared all the airline policies and NWAs calls for a $175 oversize fee. In my case they made a mistake on the way there and I talked my way down on the way back. The only reason I was able to do so was because their policy is even to confusing for them to understand. However, I assure you that it is supposed to be a $175 fee each way. The wonderful part about that is that I weigh about 130lbs more than my bike box when packed and am given a seat in the pressurized cabin, and yet the charged me about $60 more for the bike.......... Next time I should just get my Fuji a seat on the plane!

In the end, I had an excellent weekend back at the fraternity house and an excellent race so I am not disappointed that I went. However, there needs to be serious consideration and a bit more research before I will fly with my bike again.

1 week until my first event

In 6 days, I will have finished my first triathlon of the season. It is amazing to me that I am planning on racing soon, when it has been to cold here in Milwaukee for me to ride outside more than one time. Last year the Bucknell Passionman Triathlon was a very warm spring day and took place in the afternoon. We could not have hoped for better weather. However, this coming Sunday is supposed to be around 60degrees and will be taking place in the morning.

The Bucknell Passionman site: passionman.wordpress.com
- find the course maps and general info here

My final week of preparation will look like most other weeks of training. I will be in the pool Monday - Thursday. I plan to run a 10k today, a 5k tomorrow, and some very light 5ks Wednesday and Thursday. I'm not pushing any of my workouts hard this week. Due to the short length of the Passionman, I don't feel the need to taper into the race. At one point, the bike portion of the race was the least of my concern. However, because of the weather I have been confined to the indoors and not fully tested myself on the bike out on the road. I hope all those spinning classes will carry over well....

My goals for the race are as follows:
Swim: 650m 10 mins
Bike: 13.2miles 35 mins
Run: 3.1miles 21 mins

Last year I had to strategize where I would expend my energy. This year it will be all out for the entire course. A course of this distance requires speed and adrenaline, not endurance and strategy this time around. The real question is what to wear and how to transition. Were it to be another warm beautiful day, I would wear only a tri suit and only change shoes (no socks) at the transition area. At 60degrees and partly cloudy, I might want to look into drying off after the pool and a long sleeve jersey... That will have to be a game time decision.

I am looking forward to this race and hope to beat my goals and possibly bring home the gold metal (for non students) ;)

Working out using a Stability Ball

As in all my posts, I don't believe myself to be an expert on any of these topics.  I do feel I have a few workout tips and insights that I have picked up along the way.  Every time I have tried to put together a stability ball workout, I have failed to do so.  The reason being that I am not an expert, and don't have an endless # of ball workouts up my sleeve.  However, I have learned how to turn an every day weight workout into a stability ball workout.

I would say that 75% of exercises can be done by incorporating a stability ball.  Simply put, before beginning your next set, take a moment to think how you can incorporate the ball.  Instead of lying on a bench to do a bench press, use a stability ball.  Rather than sit on a bench to do skull crushers (triceps ext), sit on a stability ball.  Instead of doing a bicep curl, sit on a stability ball and do your bicep curls.  This is one of the easiest ways to begin incorporating the stability ball into your workouts.

When transforming your workouts into stability ball workouts, you need to remember that the goal of the ball is to decrease your stability while doing the exercise.  This decreased stability is what results in the increased use of your core area.  There are a few ways to decrease your stability.  You can start by moving your feet closer together when sitting on the ball, and eventually lifting one foot off of the ball.  Another common way to decrease stability is by doing each exercise one arm at a time (ie when doing a bench press, use only one dumbbell, pressing with your right arm for x reps and then do the same x reps right away with your left arm).

Finally, don't think that you need to look like an expert at the gym when you bring out a stability ball.  Just because you can't name 50 stability ball exercises does not mean that you can figure out a few ways to work the ball into your current workouts.  As a final safety note, the goal is to decrease stability so you will most likely need to decrease weight.  Also, if you don't feel comfortable, then set up a session or two with a personal trainer.  I personally feel that the stability ball is an excellent tool to both work your core and force you to visualize the exercise and what it is meant to work.

Integrating Weight exercises into my Training Program

One piece of training that I am still not sure how to integrate into my workout schedule is weight lifting. Often I feel I should treat the lifting program as a separate program running in parallel with the endurance (swim, bike, run) training that I do. However, no matter how hard I try to do this, I always find myself thinking about the next endurance workout and worrying that my lift will negatively affect it. For example, lifting back and biceps the day before a swim routine would certainly affect the swim. Honestly, I don't know what kind of effect this would have in the long run (no pun intended). The result of my uncertainty has resulted in a decreased number of weight lifting sessions.

My current weights program is not well defined; I will admit that. However, I think I am forming a good idea of what to do going forward. I have decided to do what I will call half body workouts (upper body and lower body). The reason I have split it into these two groups has a few reasons. First, it will allow me to merge the workouts into my training schedule based on what endurance event I am training that particular day. Second, they are both very very wide categories and I can rotate in and out a large number of exercises. I'm hoping this will prevent the urge to work the same muscle groups each time.

The Plan moving forward: Exercise with weights two days per week. If I am planning to run or bike that day than I will lift my upper body. If I am planning to swim that day, I'll do a lower body workout. Finally, I will be doing one of each each week. Again, these are just guidlines I am going to try to follow. I am slowly trying to build into following a set plan, but for now I am sticking with the general guideline approach.

Anyone out there have a good weight program integrated into their Triathlon or endurance training programs??

Sick Days

The past week has been a bad week of training on two fronts. First, the few extremely nice days we had early last week resulted in lazyiness once it got cold again. I just dont want to run on a treadmill after knowing how nice it is to run outside. Also, now that I have gotten out for a short ride on the new bike, I dont want to go to a small dark spin room. Second, the changing temperatures resulted in a bad stomach flu over the weekend and I am still attempting to fully get over it. Work in combination with being sick is not a good recipe for cardio workouts. while I feel better today, I am still fairly exausted from not eating well the past few days.

I definately believe its important to fully recover from an injury or sickness before going back into training, but today I am going to try a light and easy 5k on the treadmill. It might help to get the blood pumping and pick up my energy levels.

My nutrition has also been sub par the past week. I truely want to make a push to eat well and its is proving to be very difficult. This weekend I'll be stocking up at Sam's Club and the Local Market, so anyone out there with some advice on nutrition.... let me know now. Otherwise, I see a lot of chicken, eggs, and talapia dishes in my future.

I am not going to post the workout plan for the last week, because I didnt do it. I know, I know, not good, but its time to get back on the indoor bike and treadmill for a little while longer.

Crash Results and Recovery Week

I am going to be extremely brief. Below is my chart for the week and the recovery week.

I know its been a while

Its definitely been 2 :) long since my last blog post and I promise to wrap up a few things in a moment. However, I just ran one of the best 5k runs of my life so I am going to use this post to throw up the garmin stats.


As a result of this run, I am upping my goal in the Passionman at Bucknell to running the 3.1 miles in 20mins. The difference between the run I did today and the Bucknell course is a few hills and I will have already swam and biked. However, a 22min 5k today makes me think I can get there.


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Crash Workout Weeks, Pushing Intensity and Endurance

Very seldom do you find an endurance athlete who hasn’t had to, at one time or another, fight off the desire to push themselves into and anaerobic phase in every workout. We are competitive people, and want to work hard; harder than our competition, harder than we did the time before, and often end up working harder than we should. Overtraining occurs on two main fronts, intensity and volume. In other words pushing to hard (high heart rates and burning legs) or pushing for to long. Either one of these is usually a bad thing.

A Crash week is where you allow yourself to give into these desires. The key to a successful week of crashing is planning. You must plan three major facets. First, you need to plan you recovery week. Second, you need to choose whether you want to focus on speed, strength, form, endurance, or mental toughness (you should not choose ‘all of the above’ but rather one or two of these objectives. Finally, you need to plan you workouts during the CRASH week.

The benefits of a well-planned crash week are huge, especially for amateur athletes like myself. Pro athletes might find less value in crashing for a week, especially because their volume is already relatively high. However, the overall timing of a crash week is also very important. DO NOT crash close to a race. Many athletes fall into the trap of trying to get one final boost a few weeks before a race. In fact Googling crash workout weeks will bring up blogs for many of these people. But let me repeat that, DO NOT crash within a few weeks of a race.

Everyone is different and everyone’s workout plan for the week will be different. Average recovery time from a crash week is a week, but the gains might not be realized for another three or four weeks after that. I am in the midst of a crash week right now. I had a bit of a recovery week last week and below is the plan for the crash week and my recovery week.

Foot OverPronation

In order to fully demonstrate what I am talking about when I discuss my running form, here are some screenshots from the video analysis I took of myself running yesterday.

Good (Midfoot Strike and little pronation):

Bad (Over Pronation):  You can see how the ankle and foot cave inward.

Video Clip (Some Good and Some Bad):

One thing that jumps off the video to me is that my feet appear to be running down the center line of the treadmill.  In my next session I am going to try to focus on landing them on the sides of that imaginary line rather than directly on it.  I think this could be a big reason for the pronation.

Swim and Run Time Trials

After the tri camp, I am mentally entering a new stage of my training.  I aim to have a steady training plan, more defined goals and objectives, a better diet, and an overall commitment increase.  The plan starts on Monday and I will be trying out what is called a CRASH week.  I will talk more in depth about what that entails in a different post.  In order to prepare some short term goals, I performed a swim test of 1500yrds and a 10k run test.

The 1500yrd swim test was easily done in 27:30.  I hope to drastically improve upon this time by the end of March to 22:30 or 45seconds per 50.  Swimming will become a focus as it is definitely one of my limiters.

The 10k time trial was even a little better than expected.  I had set a mental goal for myself of 55mins and performed the test at 53:50.  I would like to drop this time to 50mins flat before drastically stepping up my distance on the run.  And, courtesy of the New Garmin Forerunner 305, here is my heart rate during the 10k:

The Shoes that won at Kona

It seems like I just keep buying new toys, I assure everyone I do train too.  This post is about running and the Newton shoes.  During the triathlon camp last weekend I reviewed my running form on video and with the coaches.  Everything looked pretty good, with one exception.  In slow motion you can see my heel strike first (and hard) and then my foot pronates inward (and hard).

The proper running form is to land each footstrike on the midfoot and use you hamstrings to pull back.  While the pronation is my biggest concern (as it can lead to both injury and inefficiency), changing to a midfoot footstrike is the first and a major step towards correcting the pronation.  I wish I had the video of my run to post.  Midfoot Strike vs Heel Strike

The shoes I just purchased were worn by Craig Alexander in hiss 2008 win at Kona and are specifically designed to help with making a midfoot strike.  Newton Distance S Shoes.  There is a lot of good information on the Newton site (even if it is geared towards selling their shoes).

The New Bike

I have recently purchased a brought home a new Trek Equinox TTX 9.9 for the coming season.  I have only had the pleasure of riding it on my indoor trainer, but am already in love with the bike.  The difference between a road position and a tri position is immense.  I can feel the relaxation in my upper body as my legs are allowed to pound away.  I was able to get my hands on a 2008 model meaning a major discount at this time of year.  The one and only difference between the 2008 and 2009 is the color.  While I originally didn't want silver, I am already in love with it after a few hours.  Anyway, I need to go back and ride the bike more!

Frame	OCLV Black Carbon
Fork	Bontrager Race XXX Lite TT, carbon
Wheels
Wheels	Bontrager Race Lite Aero
Tires	Bontrager Race X Lite TT, 700x23c, folding
Drivetrain
Shifters	SRAM TT Aluminum
Front Derailleur	SRAM Force
Rear Derailleur	SRAM Force
Crank	SRAM Force 53/39
Cassette	SRAM 1070 11-23, 10 speed
Pedals	n/a
Components
Saddle	Bontrager Race Lite TT
Seat Post	Bontrager Race XXX Lite TTX, carbon
Handlebars	Bontrager Race X Lite Aero Carbon Bullhorn w/Bontrager Race Lite clip-ons
Stem	Bontrager Race X Lite, 7 degree, 31.8mm
Headset	Cane Creek IS-2 Integrated w/cartridge bearings, sealed, alloy
Brakeset	Bontrager Speed Limit w/Bontrager Race XXX Lite Aero levers

Why do an IronMan?

I think that one consistent piece of every triathletes training and race day is that he or she knows why they are competing.  However, this motivating factor is not always easy to put into words.  Just as I believe it is important to have tangible written goals, I think it is important to examine one's reason for training for and competing in an IronMan event.

That being said, I can not seem to put my reason for competing into words.  I think I grew up on athletic competition, especially in Lacrosse, and miss the pure exhilaration I got from competing and also from winning.  Throughout college I tried every sport ranging from skiing to surfing to skydiving.  However, I have come back to the basic acts of swim, bike, and run, and found a way to push myself mentally and physically to be a more driven individual.

MSE Triathlon Camp Day 3

The camp is now over, and just in time to head back to work tomorrow :(.  The final day really pulled everything together for me.  Our schedule was simple:

7-8 Breakfast

8:30-9:45 Swim Drills (more doing today and less learning) + 5 50s on 1min15

9:45-10:30 Open Water swimming

11-12:15 Spinning with Nathan

Lunch, Q&A, Closing

So while it was a simple day, I was really able to get a lot out of the swim.  First, I go a half decent swim workout in.  Second, Dwight was able to work with me a little bit on getting mroe power out of my stroke.  By turning my hip more and stretching out my pull hand, I'll better be able to use my core to snap back and get a more effective pull.  I look forward to working on that in my next few pool workouts.

Spinning was great because it felt terrible.  I have been an All Star on the spin bikes at the gym, but there isn't any substitute for your bike on a trainer.  It was without a doubt more difficult if only because I think it forces you to use slightly different muscles.

That was that.  I dont think I will be enlisting any of the coaches for training plans.  I feel that I was able to get good enough high level advice on training plans that I can work out my own.  Monday and Tuesday will be rest days this coming week and I'm going to be using that time to build the year long plan.  So far three races on the horizon (Passionman Tri Bucknell, High Cliff 1/2 Iron WI, and FL Ironman 140.6).

MSE Winter Tri Camp, Day 2

I'm going to break this post down into a few sections because of the immense amount of things I learned and experienced today. I will warn you now its a long post.

First, I want to comment on the overall skill level of those attending. My initial assumptions were totally off. I assumed that the people who would attend a tri training camp would be experienced. Yes, its billed as an all levels event. But, that was my assumption none the less. This is not the case. The average skill level is low. I had expected to be one of the least in shape and experienced athletes and find myself closer to the top. This in itself would not be a bad thing, however, there hasn't been any group work based on skill level. I don't want to sound snobby here because I really do enjoy everyone at the event, but I quickly tired of catching people in the pool after 10 yards. But thats enough of that. Now on to the excellent stuff thats been going on.

The Morning
The coaches mentioned in my last post continue to prove themselves to be excellent mentors and knowlegable athletes. We started the day with some dynamic stretching where I continue to learn little things I do wrong on a regular basis. After breakfast we headed into the pool, where Dwight ran through an extensive amount of swim drills with us. I would dive underwater to watch his demonstrations and his form was awesome to see. The drills I knew, but I got some excellent on site feedback on ways to tweak my personal stroke during various drills. We also had our swim taped from underwater head on, underwater from the side, and above water. I am very pleased to say that when reviewing my stroke, Dwight didn't have much immediate feedback. He wants to work a bit more with me tomorrow on really harnessing the power of my body rotation during the stroke, so look for a report on that tomorrow.

Next up were some running drills aimed at teaching us how are foot should be striking the ground. I can only describe it by saying that you should land on the middle (ball) of your foot using a hamstring pull. I am sorry but Im still wrapping my head around the details deeper than that. We also video taped the run. Now, I have never claimed to be a good runner. In fact, I hate running (although I'm beginning to like it more, shh). I was still unprepared for what I saw on the running video. I do was called extreme pronation. This is only visible in slow motion from behind, and appears to be mostly on my right foot. In order to work on this, I need to focus first on landing on the balls of my feet in that sweeping hamstring pull motion. Next, I need to look at a shoe change (which is depressing because I just bought these shoes).

Im losing focus on this post so I'll stop it here. We also did some cycling and nutrition which I will try to remember to post about tomorrow, but probably not. Also, on a gear note, I really want the Garmin 405 (might have to settle for the 305 ;), and I still want the Equinox TTX 9.9 SSL. Our coach Nate has the 2008 version. Awesome.

MSE Triathlon Camp, Day 1

Normally I struggle for what to write about here, but this weekend will definitely be an exception. I am participating in the MSE Winter Tri Camp in Green Bay WI.

So far I am happy with the coaches (Nathan Ennis, Brian McWilliams, and Dwight Sandvold). They all bring very different skills to the table. Dwight has experience. Its as simple as that. He has been around the sport longer than I have been alive and been in over 100 events. Brian is what I picture when I think of a really good trainer. For instance, in his Plyos today, he was able to make minor form tweaks that really improve the effect of the core exercise. In addition he has an endless bag of variations. We have yet to hear from Nathan, but we were told a story about he set a goal of 10 hours for his first Ironman, which is my goal. I definitely want to hear more about how he trained for that goal.

I'll repeat my intro to the group here. "My one word to describe myself would be "impulsive." The reason I am starting with that word is because its what got me into the sport in the first place. One summer, about 2 years ago, I was in Boulder CO, walked into a bike store, and left with a $2000 bike. I cycled for a while, but when I recieved an email from my mother about a local 1/2 iron man in 3 weeks, I put together a relay team and we competed about 2 weeks later. The rest is history, but I'm here to continue my transition from impulive to consistancy and get to those big races."

Im looking forward to tomorrow and resting up watching the Tour de California time trial. Lance just took off!

Another whole week past

Rather than doing another boring workout recap, I am going to ramble instead.  Overall, it was an ok week of training.  I received 3 books from Amazon: Triathletes Training Bible, Training Plans for Multi-Sport Athletes, and Going Long.  I have started going through the Training Bible, and it keeps referencing the difference between newbies and seasoned athletes.  One of the major differences is training randomly vs training with a plan.  The pros use a plan that does not change daily.  They have specific goals.  They work towards those goals with and without emotion.  They allow emotion to drive them and to drive their passion.  But professionals do not let emotion drive their workouts.  Emotion can not drive daily, weekly, or season long workout plans.

For the time being, I am going to continue with my "amateur" approach.  However, by the end of the week I intend to have developed a steadfast plan that I can direct my effort into.

Week's Training Log Review

Sunday:  Off Day, Go Steelers!!!!!!

Monday: Spin 4:30-7.  First 30mins warm up on my own.  5-6 Spin Class:  I was able to push myself harder during this hour than on past Monday's which really made the 6-7 spin class with Joanie that much more grueling.  I still asked for 30-45 second pick ups each time, but certainly couldn't feel my legs after about 15 mins.  The thing that Joanie doesn't let you do is slow down.  And when you do take a quick 15 second recovery and lessen the resistance, you immediately start picking it up in RPMs and resistance (at your own pace, but the reminders help).

Tuesday: Run 6 miles in 59.30.  This run felt terrible.  I was cramping the whole time.  In order to get it done in at least 10 min miles, I kept telling myself "Garret if you can't push though this 6 mile run, you wont ever make an iron man."  It proved to be enough motivation to get it done!

Wednesday: Off Day.  I'm seriously debating changing Wed from an off day.  I miss the workout to much.

Thursday:  Swim 2500 yards with drill worked in.  First day working out at the MAC (see previous post).

Friday: 50min Spin with Michelle.  I might have to stop going to this one.  Michelle isn't my kind of instructor.  We had to many rest periods and not enough push from her to work harder.  Her class just isn't my style, although I think she is a good spin instructor.  We'll have to see if I go back next week.

Saturday:  Was supposed to run, but ended up sleeping and resting all day.  I'm not very happy with myself on this one.  Especially because it was nice enough to run outside.

The Milwaukee Athletic Club

I will start out by admitting that I am a bit of a gym whore.  I have been constantly switching gyms since I moved to Milwaukee.  I started out at the YMCA, and that only lasted a month before I realized that there were to many people and not enough pool, bike, or treadmill space for my liking.  Next I moved to the Wisconsin Athletic Club.  The have multiple locations too, less people (higher dues), and excellent spin/yoga/core/other class schedules and instructors.  This is why, despite my recent acceptance and move to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, I will be keeping the WAC membership as well.

Now, the MAC serves two major purposes.  First and foremost it is a networking club.  It provides multiple social networking opportunities for its members.  But, it does have excellent athletic facilities.  The pool is the highlight for me.  As long as I can remember I have been sharing lanes with multiple people in small pools.  And while your own lane might not simulate open water tri conditions, it is still pretty nice.  Anyway, today was my first workout there and I went for a 2500 yard swim (in a 6 foot wide lane, by myself).  First impression was excellent and I'll update you on further happenings as I continue to go there.

Also, stay tuned for my season schedule.  Im still working out dates and funding!

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Milwaukee MultiSports Expo

I visited the Multisport expo here in Milwaukee today. For the most part is was a bunch of store stands, but I was able to take a few things away from the day. First, I was able to sign up for the Wisconsin Tri Team. I went for a ride with some of the team late last season. They seemed intense and pretty good, which I like. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a really good group to ride and train with. Second, I was able to talk with the organizers of the MSE Winter Triathlon Camp. I am excited to have participate in the weekend training event, and I signed up today. Third and best of all, I was able to ride around on the Trek Equinox 9.9 SSL. It was awesome and I think will have to be an early season purchase!

Friday Workouts

I think Friday workouts are the hardest to be motivated for once you have started to workout. Often times I'll get bored more quickly during a Friday workout because I realize that I dont really want to be there. However, its also during these workouts that I can really show to myself what level of commitment I really have to getting to that Iron Man.

My Lunch Time workout consisted of Week 1 Day 3 of the Power Thrash workout (Upright Rows, Curls, Incline Bench, Overhead Tris, and Pull Ups (I did pull downs)).

Post work, I had signed up for the 5:00-6:15pm Spin class with Michelle. She is good about teaching some technique during her class but I am often left to motivate myself. Also, music is a little to mellow for me so I have to put one earphone in and listen to my own iPod.

My Favorite Swim Drills

I wanted to save some of my favorite swimming drills somewhere, so I thought "why not a blog post?"

Top Winter Drills

Count your strokes: Work on increasing the distance covered per stroke to improve your feel for the water and your strength and stroke efficiency. Take as few strokes as possible from wall to wall and try to elongate each one. Last Time I checked my stroke count I was around 15 That being said its been a while since I have focused on this aspect of my technique.

Golf drill: This is a fun drill to do with stroke count and speed. Count the number of strokes you take over 50 meters and add that number to your 50-meter split time. Now, as in golf, try to decrease your score by either swimming faster or taking fewer strokes. I've never done this one but it sounds like an awesome way to balance stroke count with speed!!

Rotate to breathe: Place a tennis ball under your chin. Swim freestyle, but as you turn to breathe, keep your head down and try not to let the tennis ball pop up. This drill is difficult, but is very helpful for emphasizing proper rotation and breathing technique. Keeping your head down in order to keep the tennis ball in place emphasizes proper head positioning, particularly in the breathing phase of the stroke.

Head and neck alignment has been a huge issue for me in the past. Sounds like an awesome way to train my head to stay in the correct alignment!!!

Some others are: finger drag, catch up, one arm side stroke, and one arm in front kicking.

The First Week

I have been tracking my training for a little over a week now. It has been, all things considered, an inspiring start. I missed my workouts this past weekend. I think that weekend workouts are going to be tough to hit all the time, but it was really depressing to leave them unfilled in on my workout tracker. I am definitely going to be making an effort to hit these workouts.

Cycling: My cycling workouts have been entirely in the spinning room. Mondays prove to be great days. I spin 2 hours, the second hour is Joanie's spin class and she is really able to push the class harder than any of the other spin instructors. Ive also begun regularly spinning on Fridays with Michelle who subbed in on a Monday. She is pretty good at motivating the class as well. I am looking forward to getting back on a bike outside, but Milwaukee weather wont allow that for a few months .

Running: Its still the single worst part of triathlon training, but the treadmill is becoming easier. I have a lot of work ahead of me on the run but I am very pleased with my starting point. This time last year I couldn't complete a full mile. Im already up to 5.5 mile runs at 9 mins per mile. Pace is something Im learning. I had hoped to use Nike + technology to help with this but I don't have the correct iPod for it which was a huge bummer. Also, my heart rate monitor watch has died on me. I will be taking it for a new battery and hope that that will fix the problem.

Swimming: I enjoy swimming, but the crowded pool is becoming an issue. I am going to try to move these workouts to the weekends and go during off hours. Hopefully this will help. I have been swimming about 1500yards each time with another 500-1000 in swim drills. More details to follow.

Well thats it for this first post. I will be trying to do more regular and concise posts from now on. We'll see how that works out.

Let the Journey Begin

After a few months of debate and mental ramp up time, I can now definitively say that I am training for an IronMan race.  I am targeting the Florida Iron Man November 7th 2009. 

My past race experience has been both sparse and at an introductory level.  This year, I plan to build a season schedule to match my long term goals and training plan.  I will be posting that initial schedule of events soon.  The longest race I have participated in was a 70.3 as a relay team.  I have raced one International Race Solo, and multiple sprints.  Needless to say I will be needing support and focus if I am to make a successful season out of 2009.

Let the Training Begin!