Trying on wetsuits

Okay, the goofy stuff first. Our NJ Tri Club Name.

F.A.S.T (Fanatical Aquaholic Super Triathletes). It's a work in progress, what do you think?

6 of us went to SBR in the city to try on wetsuits and try them out in the endless pool. Here is what I learned. The staff at the store were good at looking at your body shape and matching which brand was going to "work". Orca and 2XU are not going to work for me. They said those suits are built for the "European athlete" body type. Shawn assures me this is a thin build.
So they suggested Zoot as the most likely and potentially the Blue Seventy.
So I tried on the Zoot first and got into the pool. First time in a wetsuit, very buoyant, very cool. Unfortunately swimming in the endless pool was kind of lame. Not sure if it was because he didn't turn it up high enough or what. So I kept hitting the front of the pool, which didn't make it easy for me to think about the feel of the suit enough. (edit: endless pools commented on this post, check it out) So I guess my overall opinion was based upon this one thing. I didn't really notice being in the suit. Torso length did not seem to be an issue. (So I wasn't speaking in a higher voice when I was done). Shoulders seemed to move quite easily. With some body glide on, it probably would have been even better. Here is the one potential downside. One of the guys that has had a few wetsuits mentioned all the sewing. Take a look at the Zoot. All those shapes which appear on the outside are individually sewn panels on the inside of the suit. He was warning me that he has had stitching go bad, once it starts a little bit, it doesn't take long for the whole panel to be out. Something to consider.

So I dried off for a bit before trying to wedge myself into another suit. I figured I had to at least try on two otherwise I have no basis for comparison. The Blue Seventy Helix I believe. I didn't even bother getting into the pool with this one. I could really feel some pinch in the armpit/shoulder area. (proving to me that the sales guys knew what they were talking about).

So where am I with a wetsuit purchase? That Zoot is dang expensive but was a good fit. I'm guessing their cheaper line would fit the same with fewer bells and whistles. Zoot is on the list.
I'm going to find a place to try on Quintana Roo and possible other brands, now that I've had a couple on I have a better idea as to what's going on.
I'm also planning on ordering the DeSoto. It's a 2 week trial and they expect that you will swim in it. It's the only way I'm going to be able to try one out it seems, I've called everywhere. I'll gladly pay the shipping costs if I have to return it.

I need to make sure I spend time learning how to get in and out of these things. Going on you have to be very careful because you are handling the outside of the suit. Getting out the guy kept telling me to be aggressive and grab the interior of the suit. Step on the suit. Stuff like that. I will need to practice. Trouble is once the inside is wet, putting it on again for another trial run is a bear.

3 out of 6 people bought a wetsuit, so the store did well for the 2 hours of time. We definitely took advantage of the facility. As much of a pain NYC is, this was another nice perk.

Functional Strength

Shawn, you would have loved it. I went to the kids school last night and a girl from a place called Body Workz in Morgantown was doing one of the sessions for Family Fun Night - Health and Nutrition. Her brochure states they are the only MAX KETTLEBELL Certified Studio in West Virginia. This woman was only about 1.57 meters tall and weighed about 50 kg. She started talking about Kettlebell and the exercises. She had a full sweatsuit so it was tough to tell how well she was built.

She started to throw around a 9 kg kettlebell. She got my attention when she said she usually works out with a 13.6kg or 16kg bell. I asked a question about core strength and she started into explaining core, functional and grip strength. She then took off her sweatshirt and had a sleeveless shirt on. She was ripped. She laid down and did some abdominal exercises. She had the kettlebell in some positions I would be afraid of breaking my nose.

Her son (8yr old) started doing stuff with a 4.5kg Kettle. Also,
impressive.

They did jump rope demonstrations and her oldest son did Tae Kwon Do.

I approached them after the session to check out the kettlebell but also ask some questions. Her 8 yr old proceeded to show me his six pack abs, he was cut. He also told me about the one armed chin ups and the three finger chin ups he was doing.

She also told me about getting certified in the Max Kettlebell program in January. Guess where, only an hour north of you in Williamsport, PA.

After I told her about your interest she gave me two websites:

www.dieselcrew.com You can find this guys on You Tube under dieselcrew.
www.rosstraining.com

I also checked out the Max Kettlebell website:

http://www.maxkettlebells.com/

Racing Flats

I realized I am carrying these 10 ounce barbells on my feet, when during races I could be using a lighter 4 ounce speed inspired injury creator.

Anybody? I have read a little about using a racing flat and essentially the concept is lighter helps you move faster. Of course lighter means less protection or cushioning. But some people say I should be barefoot anyways.

Do I buy new trainers and use them for all things, or do I buy a racing flat and use my current trainers (I have two trainers now, one is not working on long runs, so I am in the market) for majority of the training. Actually I am not opposed to having two trainers and a race pair, but is it worth it. Potentially two to five seconds, some say.

AnyONE know, I need led!

Warren Newspaper / Fundraiser

I'm not sure if I've asked you guys about this before. I'm thinking of contacting the Warren newspaper to see if they are interested in a "Local News" story. Maybe we aren't local news anymore?
I'm guessing you guys are cool with that? I figure I'll try to work in the Tango '07 was a training race for us. Also that this is the 20 year WAHS reunion for Craig and I. Just to get some more "local" into the story. Of course I expect they will write what they want. I'm just hoping that they will list our fundraiser link without a typo. It might be the easiest way to contact much of the Warren crowd.

Not sure if you've checked the fundraiser site lately. I feel it's going rather well. I think I've only contacted half the people I intend to send to. I still have work to do there.
Genine / Bloomingdales is doing well too. I'm not sure there is an easy way for me to add that to the fundraiser page. If you are interested in details let me know. I'll have Genine comment on that project.
As you can see, Ruth has a bunch of support on the site as well. It's all very cool to see how many people are on board with us. At some point I should put together a list of the people that are planning to go to NH that weekend to watch, cheer and "Post race" party with us.

Lastly: Racing Singlets from the fundraiser. I would like to get mine early for the races later this month. Should I request 2. One Large, One Extra Large? Should I find out if they go bigger than that? I just figure it would help us out deciding on fit for everyone else if I get a couple and find out how big/small they run.
Depending on the fit. I may only wear the jersey on the run portion. Just pull it on over my tri-top in T2. We will see.

Go Team!

Swim Test

Ran a test last night to see how long it would take for me to swim a 1,000 yds non stop, staying within myself and keeping good form. Non-stop worked out, staying within myself was happening, my form may not have made it the whole way, I hope I didn't do any permanent damage to my muscle memory. 23:48 was my time. That would be 2:22 per 100yds. This is really only 914 meters, so that translates into 2:33 per 100m. I could keep this pace for a long time so I have determined my 1500m time would be 38:25. Not good, but at least I am out of the water.

I have now went to the Mooseman results and found the first person who swam slower than this. Placing 340, a guy (I won't name him because he may not want to be known for this) swam a 40 minute swim. He was the first. There was not even a 37 minute until him. The next person slower than the time I listed was at position 358, he was over 48 minutes, he looked a lot like a runner who did this on a drunken bet. The first 37 minute person was the next position 359 @ 37:42.

Now, I didn't kill myself in my test, but I was not doing backflips afterwards either. I want to do a sub 30 minute swim without destroying my bike/run, but that is 8 minutes. That equates to over 30 seconds faster per 100m. Only one trip to the pool per week is not going to get it. My form is coming, but I still lack the speed.

Was it 7 or 9 seconds faster with the wetsuit. This means I am down to about 25 seconds I need to trim per 100. Of course that is a 16.5 % improvement. I am only talking a 5% improvement when going from 32 to 33.6 KmPH on the bike, and only a 5% improvement going from 5 minute/km to 4.75 mins/km. I have my work cut out for me.

HR Checkup 2008

I keep meaning to check my resting HR first thing in the AM. Maybe if I post this I will actually get it done. If I have time maybe I'll run on the treadmill to check these other numbers as well.
Last Year's HR stuff

I'm just going to add on to this post.
I woke up at 4AM not sure why, was dehydrated, so I went down to get some water. Figured I'd put on the HR monitor and go back to sleep. I haven't looked at the graph yet. Should be interesting. Average was 50, Max was 90.
Okay. Looked at the graph all the spikes were me hitting the snooze. Ha Ha. Lowest reading was 45.
Still need to add the treadmill test.

Didn't Work

It didn't work. I typed in Matthew McConauhey (appears to be a spelling error) and I got a picture of this guy. Well since it was my wife's birthday I thought I would print this out and slide it into her card, take any subtlety out of it at all and give her some eye candy as you mentioned. It appears this guy is some other actor and is not Irish at all but Scottish. And when I went on about how I wanted to look like him and swimming would get me that way and how much she might enjoy me looking like this . . .I thought his chest was superb!

Well it appears for her birthday I am now purchasing a bedroom suite for the basement (which is now my private bedroom) and lots of jewelry and I swear I heard something about not being able to touch her until 2015, but she was walking away from me and a lot of other things were said that I can't currently repeat.

I think I did this wrong. :) I may need to reread the post.

Girl in the rubber suit

So I finally did it. I bought a wet suit. It will arrive in a few weeks and I'll share how it goes.
But after reading the trials and tribulations of you fellahs as you ask your wives if you can buy one...well I felt I had to make a suggestion.

1st. Find a photo of Matthew McConaughey . Find one where he's coming out of the water (should not be difficult to find), make sure he's topless (chances are he is topless AND wet.) Make sure the photo shows off his superb chest (chances are it does)

2nd. Post it on your refrigerator.

3rd. When your wife asks you "what's with the picture?" Here's where the suit comes in.
"Honey, I am using this picture as inspiration. This is what I'm shooting for with all these strenuous workouts, all these moderate meals, all the running, the biking...the SWIMMING (make sure you EMPHASIZE the word swimming and maybe stretch your arms and shoulders here for effect) and all this GEAR that I need will make me leaner and stronger and faster and will give me endless endurance...
Of course by this point she may have stopped listening and is simply staring at Matthew McConaughey but maybe, just maybe, in her subconcious she'll hear the words SWIMMING and GEAR and next thing you know...well...you'll look like Matthew McConaughey in your rubber suit, suck that stomach in! Good luck!

oh, the REAL reason I decided to post was that I found this link which will probably we useful down the line... Happy swimming :)

http://www.laurenwu.com/fitness/wetsuit101.html

How's the weight? Loser!

That's meant in a nice way of course.
Just curious when the next weigh in for the "biggest loser" is?
Back in January I filled in my goal weight for every Saturday from then until June 1st. I got way ahead of the schedule but now I'm catching back up. So I'm back to charting my eats on Fitday.com, I expect I will get results again. At least I'm hoping that will be the case.

At this point I've got 3 weeks of hard workouts ahead of me. Then the taper, for the 2 weekends of racing, with some recovery time following that. So about 3 more workout weeks following these events.
Oddly enough, one of my biggest concerns is my seasonal allergies. I am really hoping that the Generic Claritin gets me through. Looking at the blog, I really got crushed the 1st week of June last year. I can only do so much in this department, I just hope it works out.

Back on the Bike

I was at a conference all week, so I've been AWOL from the blog, but I got back today and jumped on the bike. I finally got a battery from the local jewelry store (last one they had) for the power meter I got with the trainer. Now I have to read the manual online, because I can't figure out what the heck the thing is telling me. It keeps changing, and I can't make sense of any of the numbers. It appears to be in some kind of scrolling average mode, and the speeds are metric, but I assume I'll have that fixed by next time. Really all I'm interested in is watts and speed, and the averages of those two things. It can't do cadence. I rode for 65 minutes while watching the award-winning film Scorpion King. Taking my mind off pedaling seemed to help, as I was able to maintain a pretty high cadence in my 3rd highest gear. Sweated profusely. Did lots of walking at the conference so it wasn't a total bust fitnesswise, but I didn't run or swim at all.

One thing I've discovered is that my biking shoes are going to be really dangerous to try to run in at the transition. They are hard plastic on the bottom, and are like wearing slippery reverse high heels. Any ideas on that? Craig, your shoes are like that too right? What are we supposed to do? I'd rather not eat concrete at T2. Might be safest to pull my feet out of the shoes and run barefoot, leaving the shoes attached to the pedals. Not sure yet.

Only a little over 2 months to go. I don't feel ready. In fact, I feel quite unready.

Swim Stuff

I watched the You Tube video's on the High Elbow Catch before I went tonight. I am definitely dropping my elbow on my right side. I realized the old Fist drill kept me from dropping as hard. So I did 5 sets of these 25 yd then stroke count back. It really makes you use your whole forearm, which then makes you hold your elbow up to keep head out of the water. Not nearly as hard as last year when I did them. My whole position felt better.

I also did 5 sets of 50 forcing my head chest down in the water more to lift my feet and get a better sense of the water. I actually kicked air the first set. It is also hard to get a good breath, but I think the drill had its desired result.

I started the whole workout by stepping on a piece of glass. I started to bleed pretty good and had to remove the glass. I used my pocket knife to remove a little skin. Kept felt like I was going to break the piece if I removed it with my hand. Stopped bleeding in about ten minutes so I did my workout. A little tender this morning, but shouldn't effect anything. I have no idea how the glass got on the pools deck. I told the manager as I was leaving, I didn't want them to make a big deal and slow down my workout.

The overall swim was good because my shoulder hurt last night but does not hurt tonight, so I think I have relieved a little stress on the right shoulder. I also rested pretty good between the 50 yd sets.

A friend of mine was at the pool, he is a good runner and he swims to take the stress off his legs. He was using a pull buoy and hand paddles pretty close to the size of the one's Shawn had in the Tango. He was flying. Still amazing how much they help especially without the kick.

Swim Improvement

I've been feeling like I've been going nowhere fast with my swimming lately. I would just get exhausted and feel like I was dragging most of the time. Could have been the diet I suppose.
Well at last night's class we were racing 100's on 3:00. That is much more rest than we typically get. With these races what typically happens with me is I do well on the first one then lose 5-10 seconds on the following races.
So I was surprised last night when the coach challenged me on the 4th set. He wanted me to swim 1:37 or better. I had hit the 50 mark at :44 the previous sprint. I forget what my final time was 1:40+ probably. So I had to really dig to get faster at this point.
One thing I do on the shorter sprints to shave time is breathe every 4 as long as I can stand to do that. With the faster arm turnover it's probably not too far off from every 2 with the longer stroke. I'm not sure if I even make 50 going every 4 tho'. Then to try and push this one faster, once my arms felt like they were slowing somewhere in the 75, I pushed my legs and kicking as best I can (take what I can get). I finished 1:37.8 which matches my best time from back in January, but this was the 4th sprint so I'm calling it an improvement.
I had taken my electrolyte capsule before class and also decided to take my bike bottle full of gatorade 24oz (made from the endurance powder). Typically I take half as much gatorade. No cramping again this week so I'm 2 for 2 with that. The trouble was that I couldn't sleep when I got home. So I missed my swim class this AM. If I had decided to go, it would have been on about 3 hours of sleep, that can't be productive. Not a huge deal. I just think this AM would have been a technique day and I like to be reminded what I'm doing wrong.

Interval Run

Here is the stuff I need to do more often. Gets the feet moving quicker, cranks up the HR, what's not to like? I probably should have done all 9 but I haven't built up to this so I wanted to make sure I didn't injure myself . I started the first couple too fast as you can see. Comments welcome, not sure what I should be seeing on these graphs? Should the interval be longer? These were 1:40.

TMI Update

I had a little rub on my thighs from Sunday Run, I didn't wear spandex under the running shorts. The friction of the faster run, I think you get the idea. Just remember this site is designed to Share . . . Not Scare!

Now that I got that out of my system. I am on board for the DeSoto suit, but I am not sure if Tamara is on board. She wasn't totally on board for the bike. "You have a bike that works, I have seen you ride it." Wet Suit conversation, "You have bathing suits, I have seen you swim in 60 degree water, what is the problem. All of a sudden you have become weak. If I knew this was going to happen I wouldn't have married you, I would never get in that water, your insane, but you have always been insane, why not anymore. I don't think I know you. You never loved me, you can't convince me otherwise, well, maybe if you freeze your kahhoonies (sp) off in a small lake in New Hampshire, you would prove your love to me and we could live happily ever after!" Whew, I can't wait to breech the subject again. Now that I have rehearsed her response in my head, I am not sure why my manhood freezing off is somehow proof of my undying love for her.

So, give me a deadline (same as Shawn's), hopefully not tomorrow, because ultimatums don't go over in the Cerra household. I explained to her one time about how in negotiations if someone gives you an ultimatum, you should take it because they will then back down. Some how that has come around to bite me. Also, let me know if I am the one making or breaking the deal.

Race Prep / Too much Information

It's getting close, basically a month before the Bassman. So I've got to start putting things in place, so I'm not making changes or trying something new on race day.
What Types of things you might ask, most are bike related.
1) Saddle, need to try others ASAP
2) Helmet, Can I lose the visor on mine? Is it as uncomfortable as I remember from last year?
3) AeroBars, Get them on and find out if they are better or worse for me.
4) Chafing, Chamois Butt'r Ah yes, the TMI begins, ha ha. On Sunday for the 10 mile run I remembered to use this, in hopes of preventing a repeat of last Sunday's issues. I'm happy to report product worked as advertised.
5) Wetsuit, I still need one. I'm going to run up to SBR here in NY at lunch to make sure they have new suits in stock. I've decided I'd like to try as many as possible, ASAP. Craig, Shawn where are you on this?
6) Lose the "Swimming Bear" look. (TMI part 2). I'm not as brave as Shawn and did not go the Nair route. This was more like a Sheep Shearing. One could joke that I should have donated to Locks of Love or at the very least a bad Toupee Shop..... Stuff a pillow? I digress.
I thought it wise to test the waters. I'm still a manly man from the front. If it turns out I'm itching to the point I want to crawl out of my skin, I'll have to consider other options. Genine thought it would be funny to post Before and After pictures. I think back to Craig's Original chafing post and Jason's reply about looking for an imaginary pencil to poke out his mind's eye.
Thank me for sparing you the visuals.
From this I've learned the people at swim class don't know me well enough yet. I was expecting some sort of comment this AM. Especially from the coach, who has often said I need to SHAVE time off of my 100 swim time. Perhaps it was just too early in the AM.
7) Because of the new trim, I get to introduce another product. Body Glide. Applied to my sides along the lower rib area to reduce Chafing during my swim. Also useful with wetsuits.
8) I've read baby shampoo works well as a goggle defogger. Need to try this out.
9) CO2 system rather than a bike pump. What are you guys thinking here?
10) Energy products.
I've liked the Black Cherry Shot Blocks the best of the 3 flavors I had. I cut them in half, I think they are too big otherwise. I don't think this is a useful product for me.
Cliff Mango Gel, Not bad. I've got a couple other flavor Gels to try before picking a favorite.
11) Hydration: I have to weigh myself pre/post run to find out how much fluid I'm losing. I have a feeling my run will suffer if I don't address this issue.

There you have it. Did I forget anything? Maybe. If you are lucky you've already forgotten the TMI portion of this post.

Finally tried the new stuff

I received my new pedals and aero bars in the mail on Friday and assembled them, but I didn't get a chance to try either until tonight. We just got home from Easter weekend and I had some caffeine on the road to keep myself awake, so I decided to try to burn it off on the trainer. I am quite happy with both products. The pedals seem pretty easy to engage and they hold well, even in a standing sprint, and the aero bars are super comfortable, better than expected. These were the cheapest aero bars I could find, so the fact that I like them this well is kind of surprising. I was hoping to find them better than my makeshift drop bars I had been using for the Spinervals rides, but I am quite impressed with the comfort and fit. I guess they are heavier than some others, and the shifters are still where they used to be, but I'll live. I did a variety of experiments with the "flat back" vs. the "cat back," which is a debate about aero positioning I found on Friel's blog that Matt posted recently, and I am leaning heavily toward the cat back, despite Joe's advice. I mentioned previously that my gut makes the flat back rather uncomfortable anyway, but when my hips are tilted forward, I don't feel like I can get the cranking power that I get with them tilted back. It's also much less painful on "the area." At any rate, I am excited to take these new toys out on the road and see how everything goes. I felt much smoother on the trainer pedaling in a circle. Giving all those new muscles a chance to participate seems like it's going to be brilliant. I think 33km/hr is within reach now. Fellow Clydesdales, beware.

How's this for elevation?

I'll do this loop twice on Sunday for my long run. KILLER!!! Ha Ha.
Go out to the Map My Run Site and check out the elevation.
Can you see why I'll be sitting pretty if the oceans rise 20 feet or so?

Long run- Marathon Training

This may be the hardest training run I've done: 1200 ft of ascent in a 16 mile run with an equal amount of descent.

Strength Training

A little three page bulletin I found on Morgantown's multi sports page about why to do strength training as a triathlete, just click on each page to read. Faster cadence is one of the first things he addresses.

Should I do the Bassman?

Because they moved the Brooklyn Half to May 3rd. The weekend before has opened up for the Bassman.
I'm interested in this race because I don't see many other chances to race with my friends from swim class. I originally didn't want to do this because it's listed as an "Olympic distance", but it's really not. It's a half mile swim, a 29 mile bike, and a 4.2 mile run. So the Mooseman will still be the first "Real" Olympic/International.

This could be a good test run don't you think? Just don't go all out on it. Or is it truly too much to do this then a the Brooklyn Half Marathon the next weekend?
I've been going back and forth on this in my mind all week. So I figured I'd ask you guys.

Reverse Brick & Hanging Upside Down

I am planning a two workout day, after work today. I will get home from work and run, then go to the pool and swim. I would not usually do this, but my run workout schedule is requiring me to do a quality day. I am going to do five 1km, on 4:30mins per km (no slower than 4:45) with 60 - 90 secs rest between.

Also, today is the only day I am going near a pool, so off to the pool I will go. I hope to get an hour in and do around 2,000 yds (sometimes I think the pool is Meters, but maybe I should ask). I actually am planning the nutrition from last night until tonight pretty tight as not to falter on the sugar side, even though it is more than I think I should be eating for the weight loss.

I wore a pair of old cross trainers on the stepper for my AB workout last night and my right foot hurts a little, I may toss those shoes. I use to turn them into lawn mowing shoes, but they still end up hurting my feet.

Final note, we ordered an inversion table and it came Monday. I put it together last night and did a little inverting. I only did two 2 minute segments. I only tilted 20 degrees past horizontal. Very interesting feeling, felt very stretched out, I may be 6'4" the next time you see me. I figure three months or so, with my stepper, triathlon training, inversion time, & triathlon suit, I will be BAT MAN. I can fight crime in Morgantown, of course the only laws usually being broken is open container laws and burning couches in the street, so not much need for a guy in spandex, six pack abs and a grappling hook jumping form building to building.

Prone Bike

Now this is what we are talking about. Built for speed. The only issue I have is there is no hand cranks on the front wheel. You could install a chain between the two and put in a clutch to keep the transfer of power consistent like a bike built for two. The bike also needs a cowing around the front to reduce the frontal (billboard).

Here is a You Tube guy showing you the benefits

Prone Bike

One benefit he left out is when you wreck you are much closer to the ground.

More Swimming Advice

Good Forum post

Pedals made of metals

Well fellers, I have finally made the leap to the 1890's and ordered myself some clipless pedals. (Yes, our good friend Charles Hanson was the first to patent the clipless pedal in April of that year. The 1890's were a big decade in the evolution of pedal design in general.)

Yes, I ordered the cheapest Shimano SPD-style pedals I could find that offered adjustable tension. Forte had a model with chromoly spindle (strong for my intense gravitational attraction!) and a machined aluminum body (light, to reduce aforementioned attraction). I had bought some Shimano shoes at the Prime Outlet shops in Hancock Maryland on the way home from DC the other day. There were 2 pair on sale in the L.L. Bean store, and one happened to be my size, so I snapped them up.

And since I was ordering from an online bike store for the pedals to fit these wonderful shoes and I was going to have to pay for shipping anyway, I decided to throw some cheap aerobars in the mix too, since that will complete my bike package for this race season at least, if not longer. Clip-ons, of course, so I can transfer them to a new bike if I ever get one, or win one.

I read on one of these sites "400 watts of power can't push a billboard to a win," and I thought "I am that billboard." I doubt these aero bars will totally change that, but at least I can give my triceps a break once in a while. I haven't been doing very well reducing the size of the billboard lately, so I'll take whatever advantage I can get. I'm feeling pretty low right now. Maybe the pedals will help cheer me up.

Sunday Long Run

44 degrees and Raining. I felt I did a good job keeping my HR low. Yet I felt much the same as I do when I'm on the bike trainer. Somewhere in the 30-40 minute zone the power just starts to fade away. I'm guessing part of this is lack of recovery. Maybe it's all of it? So does this make for ineffective training? Or is this just the normal part of the build?
Guess this is why pro's have coaches. :-)

One thing is certain, I intend to taper well going into the races. I didn't do much the few days heading into that Florida Tri and I felt good during the race. It was good to experience that, I won't be afraid to ease off the gas when it gets close to race time.

Diane Kelly Results

Great day for a race! Weather was good, footing was perfect. I ran 19:27 and finished 5th of about 110. Ran with Thad from theY for quite a ways and he finished under 20 minutes too. First place was 17:34, then a whole bunch of people packed in from 19:20 ( second place) and probably 15 people (give or take a couple) were under 20 minutes.

Swimming suggestions

I didn't do very well with helpful advice for you the other day Craig. I worked technique tonight and was thinking about how I might describe some things.

Breathing: I guess one of the key things I notice when I'm doing a good job at not lifting my head up to breathe, is that I really lean on the other shoulder to keep it deep. Of course I'm trying not to let the hand drop while doing this. (it's never simply one thing is it?!). Leaning on that shoulder keeps the head low, which keeps the legs from dropping.
You also might want to think one goggle out of the water and breathing from the side of your mouth. Again, the more forward lean you can maintain, the less your legs drop and drag.

If you are a terrible kicker. Like I was/am. I would have to attribute all of my improvement to the use of zoomers/ fins. If you kick with these fins on and focus on rotation, it exaggerates what your feet are doing so much, you can try different things and actually feel whether what you are doing is effective or not.

Shoulder pain. How relaxed is your recovery stroke? Are you lifting your hand out of the water with a high elbow? Is your hand below your elbow until you pass your ear? Or is it in front of your elbow the whole time? You don't want it in front leading. That won't allow your shoulder any time to rest.
There are a few drills to help with high elbow recovery.
1) Fingertip drag. Lifting from the elbow, lightly drag your fingertips across the top of the water on the recovery stroke, all the way until you drop it back in, in front of you.
2) floppy hand. Lift from the elbow, shake the hand like it's got no muscles in it. until you drop it back in.
3) Armpit touch. none of these drills are easy unless you are getting enough rotation for the high elbow to work. The armpit touch is simply a quick tap at the pit during the recovery stroke. It really shouldn't be much of a challenge to do this, unless you are flat and have a low elbow. I leave this one as the "final test". When I am fatigued, this one is very tough for me.

The other part which might help is to take some of the load off the shoulder during the pull. It seems that if you can manage the "high elbow catch" more muscles are involved and shares the load better. I wish I could describe this but I'm not feeling confident in what I'm doing myself. Watch those videos, you will see that their hands drop down in front at the start of the catch, but their elbow doesn't drop with the hand. This creates a large paddle from your elbow down to your hand which you then pull through. I'd Imagine the Fist Drill Craig mentioned long ago would help your feel for the arm as a paddle action going on here.

Individual Time Trial

Just got this link. I need to check the schedule. The WVU Cycling Club has set up a ITT for the public, also as part of a race weekend for themselves. 14.5 miles. The start line is only 20 minutes from the house.

http://www.wvucycling.com/Flyers/Spring08_Flyer.pdf

Oh, by the way the Mountaineers have Georgetown at the Garden tonight in the Big East tournament semi final in basketball. The game is on 7pm on ESPN. The player Joe Alexander has been phenomenal the last two weeks. He lit UCONN up yesterday for 34 pts. Go EER's!

Half Marathon Training

I had to find out.... I was talking to my friend that is looking to qualify for the NY Marathon. I mentioned that my next event was a Half Marathon. So he asks what my 5K time is. I tell him my result from Florida. He says but you can do better than that, that was after swimming and biking.
So tonight, I had to find out. I raced a 5K as my workout. In hindsight I should have warmed up first as it takes me awhile to get up to speed. My result wasn't drastically different from the Florida run. 24:10 was my time tonight.
So what do I do with this result? This chart helps me dial in my expectations for the Half Marathon. Sadly the formatting on the lower half of that chart is messed up. That's the training section.
So breaking down effort based training. I should work at filling in HR's beside these paces.
60% 10:41
65% 10:08
70% 9:37
75% 9:10
80% 8:45
85% 8:22
90% 800m on 3:54
95% 400m on 1:50
100% 200m on :50

60-65% Maintain Endurance, while recovering for a race
65-70% Helps muscles recover glycogen stores. Burning fat as primary fuel
60-75% Develop Local muscle endurance
75-80% Prepare muscles to make transition from aerobic to anaerobic. half marathon pace
80-85% Improve Anaerobic Threshold
90-95% Increase Max O2
95-100% Improve lactic acid tolerance

Lastly, this is the schedule I plan on following. I'm calling this week 7 so 4 miles this Saturday, 9 miles Sunday.

Apologies for the redundancy of some of the info in this post. It's more of a reference post for me to quickly find this info.

Diane Kelly Race 5k in Warren

The Diane Kelly Memorial 5k Race is Saturday morning. I'm in pretty good shape for distances, but not sure how fast I'll be able to go. Keeping in mind running is my strong point, I hope to be under 20 minutes.

I've signed up for the Delaware Marathon for May 18th. They also have a 10 miler for anyone interested and in the area. I ran a 14 miler last weekend so the training is going well so far for this marathon.

I think I have to keep working on speed, because at Matt's rate of improvement, it won't be long then he'll be running 23's, ....22's, ... etc!! Good job last weekend.

Aero Bars

One of the guys at class sold me his old areo bars for $20. I couldn't pass that up. I'll be interested to see if I can get comfortable in aero position. Maybe it will help keep me focused to lose another 10 pounds. I've also been warned that it takes quite a bit of time to feel confident with them on the road. I'm in no hurry, this does satisfy a curiosity of mine rather cheaply.

As for swim class last night, I was absolutely crushed.
I think I was really working my legs to try and help me get good rotation but about an hour in I started to cramp up terribly. The last 30 minutes I did a bunch of standing on the deck. Part of this is bad nutrition for the day. I don't have my routine back in place yet, so I don't have my typical foods prepared. I need to be back on schedule this weekend.
Last night was so bad, I figured I wasn't going to be much better 8 hours later so I skipped the AM class today. I'm back in the pool Friday night with the group but no coach.

Right Shoulder hurts more

Both my shoulders hurt when I swim, but my right is hurting more. I believe it is because I always breath when my right arm is pulling, which causes me to give a little extra to keep my head in a position to get more air. I focused last night on trying to make sure my left arm was giving the same effort, but my right still hurts more.

My mind has not been able to change to be able to breath on the other side. Every time I try it I either suck in a bunch of water or lose my train of thought and end up breathing the way I always do. Any tricks to help me? The every three stroke breathing seems advantageous, but I am entrenched.

No Gel Singles, Jelly Beans for Me!

Tamara bought me a five pack of these in this flavor. They have other flavors at Jelly Belly. Just in time for that Easter weekend workout. An Energy Packed snack for the hard core triathlete and you feel like you don't care about your nutrition, because it is a Jelly Bean, get it, Jelly Beans are bad.

Looking to Spend Money again!

A little Birthday Money already. Looking at three things or groups of things.

Wet Suit - I am somewhat kind of convinced I should buy a two piece suit and it appears DeSoto would be the choice. A couple links to mull over:

DeSoto Site
Article Defending My Choice - Maybe
DeSoto You Tube Video

HR Monitor: Reading my HR off a watch and counting is fine when it is 120 or 140 when it exceeds 160, I have trouble seeing straight. So, something else reading it would be great.

Tri Clothing: Good pair of Tri Shorts and a Singlet. I wanted White everything to reduce my Heat retention issue as a big guy, but the white shorts sounds a little too immodest, plus I can't find them. So, I think Royal Blue shorts with a mostly white top. Links below:

Titan Shorts
Singlet

Zephyrhills Run Graph

HR in Red
Pace in Blue
Elevation in brown



Bike Graph

Zephyrhills Pro Photos

Photo Link.
I wish they would have a picture of me in aero position on the bike. It had to look funny.

ZEPHERHILLS SPRING SPRINT TRIATHLON RESULTS

Male Overall Results


Female Overall Results

Zephyrhills Results

I don't have all the numbers. Terrible transitions. I did wear jeans on the bike. Ha Ha!
I was the only Male Fat Tire registered so I took 1st in my division. So much for getting an idea of how I did.

300 Yd Pool Swim. 5:30ish. I had to swim over 2 people. I took the open water swim approach and just climbed over when I had to. WV last fall I was 5:55 but I think that was 330 yds.

Bike. I don't know what my time was. I'll get back to this.

Run...... Until they post that there was some sort of mistake. Drum Roll Please..... I ran the 5K in 24:32.
Passing people on the run is a nice feeling.

Overall time 1:17:55 I think. Close to that for sure.

I'll post more later. My HR info should be interesting. It was way up there again.
I fly back to NJ Monday Evening

Sunny Florida

Well the weather report for race morning. Sunny and 40 degrees, Ugh!
I did not bring anything to cope with cold. I'm hoping it is not windy, the bike will be cold enough as it is.
I'm going to make sure I take a bit of extra time in T1 drying off. I just have to remember an extra towel.
Maybe 40 won't feel cold once I'm rolling?
Guess this will be a good Mooseman lesson after all.

I got a new plan

Okay, here's what I'm gonna do.

Someone just pointed out a story from the Discovery Channel show Human Body: Pushing the Limits (My kind of show) in which a guy loses 14 pounds of fat in one day swimming the English Channel.

So I don't know what all the fuss is about. I'm just going to do that twice in May and be ready.

I'm going to prepare my body to burn fat as fuel by doing the Spinervals workouts 3-5 times a week and then when classes end in May, I just ride for 18 hours a couple of times and voila! I normally only burn about 1000 calories per hour on the bike, so that should be about 18,000 calories, which translates into about 5 pounds. I am willing to settle for that. 5 pounds a day...okay, so it might take me 7 or 8 days to really get where I want to be, but it still sounds like a snap.

There's no need for you guys to get all cocky that you are getting ahead. It's all going to come out in the wash in one great month.

Weigh In

My official weigh-In occurred today. Under the 218 I mentioned a couple days ago, I was 217. This was 8.5 lbs from last month, but only 6.5 lbs from the start, I didn't have a good first month. Another 10 by May 1st would be excellent.

11 people combined loss over 2 months of about 90 lbs. A couple three people haven't helped the cause, but the same could have been said about me in the first month.

Cumberland - Rocky Gap

The Rocky Gap tri, I did last year that my good friend Shawn came to see me do, is June14. I thought it was going to be June 7, like the Mooseman. Well I will be driving back from New England on the 14th. We are going to Maine the week after the Mooseman. We have realized we have lots of good friends up the New England way and we are going to try to see them, plus hit a couple other tourist traps. I would have loved to do this one again, but it is out.

I still haven't joined the local tri club. There meetings are Wednesday and I never can make it. Here is their website.

http://www.morgantownmultisport.com/

They are having a 1 mile race on March 22, but I will be in Williamsport visiting my Grandma.

The tri club is offering a triathlon & adventure racing class, looks like a good deal.

http://www.morgantownmultisport.com/forms/TriARFlyerSpring2008.pdf

I am thinking about it.

Anyone up for a half-iron in July?

Here is one that several of the PSU tri club people are doing this summer:

Musselman!

Beautiful scenery, good management, not too far away...from some of us.

Taper and Zephyrhills Expectations

I leave Wednesday AM for Florida. Will only have dialup internet there so I figure I'd better post this now.

Got my swim in with class this AM now I don't expect to do anything too crazy before the race on Sunday. I need to warm up often and stretch my left hamstring out. That's my biggest concern at the moment. Other than that short easy workouts. Is golf a workout?

As for Expectations: Here are my results from the Morgantown Sprint with Craig last summer.
300m Swim 5:55
11 mile bike 35:04 , 18.8 avg
5K run 29:18, 9:27 Pace

I don't think I'll beat the swim time. I put myself down for 6:00 on the race form but 6:20 is more likely. I'm wondering how accurate that 5:55 from last year is...
The bike won't match because I'm on a cruiser "fat tire". I even signed up for the "fat tire" division.
The run is where I'm really hoping to improve. I don't plan on holding back here. Get to an 8:30 pace, hold that see how the HR is doing. Then hopefully adjust higher and finish strong. I'd like to see 25 as my first two digits in this category. (I could be dreaming)

Heat Pump 1st Full Months Results

Here is the first month Geo Heat Pump results.

Total Electric Bill $219.
Average electric Bill before Heat Pump $52.
Hence Heating Bill was $167.

A little higher than I had anticipated, but it has been colder than I anticipated. Also, the billing cycle was 33 days instead 30 or 31 due to weekend and dates. So, a normal length month would probably have been $10 less.

My average gas bill for the six months of winter use to be $162. Of course my average February usage would have been $240. So it appears like I saved $80 to 90 in the last month.

Should get better, I used the electric coil more than wanted because my thermostat won't do what I want it to do. Long story but by next winter I will have a new thermostat. Also, the coil in the ground is probably insulated with too much air around it. When the ground completely settles I will probably get a 10% boost.

So, far very happy.

Allright CC, I'm glad your enthusiasm level is so high! It's hard for me to be so excited when the snow is so deep and still coming. We got another 6" last night. There may still be piles of it in June! Even if all the snow is gone the roads up at the lake are gonna be in terrible condition due to the freeze-thaw, so be prepared. I just hope that I get some outdoor bike time before June.

As for your chemistry question... DON'T DO ANYTHING CRAZY YET! Let me look in some of my references. There's a professor from Wisconsin, Bassam Shakhashiri, that has published a bunch of chemistry demos. Here's a link to some of his 'at home' things to do: http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/homeexpts.html
Please be careful and wear safety glasses and gloves!

I forgot some of you guys were Scientists

My last entry reminded me some of you were scientists, maybe even Chemists. So here is my dilemma. I have an idea for a children's sermon on how the blood of Christ washes your soul clean. So, what I want to do is to take a beaker full of fluid probably like clear or milky and explain how sin enters your life and it turns dark (at this point add something to turn the fluid black or darker). Then give a little talk about how the blood of Christ cleanses your soul, pour in another liquid or powder, doesn't matter, that then turns the beaker red, then the final thing is to add the last thing that turns the fluid milk white or clear (I figured clear was next to impossible so I am shooting for white). What do you think? Possible or impossible. I know going from dark to light is the hard part especially as quick as a children's sermon, but if it precipitates something at the bottom I can work in a whole filter thing to a new beaker in the context of the sermon. Let me know. I have asked some others and I get blank stairs.

Give Mine Another Month

I am not counting calories as intently as Matt, but I have gone to one plate of food at Dinner. I also don't buy food from the local restaurants. And my biggest vice especially when I am tired is Soda Pop and a Little Debbie Snack Cake or three. I am only having a soda on Sunday's and have gone to the caffeine free kind. I have cut out the snack cakes (I know that is awful for a guy who eats so well otherwise). I looked around the store and found if I want something sweet, one serving of plain animal crackers (which with kids in the house we usually have) or two small peppermint patties. Both items relatively low in fat and mostly 80% unsaturated. My alcohol content has been five glasses of wine and a beer since January 1. In a two month period last year those numbers were turned around which is also helping on the calorie end.

I have also gone to making sure my breakfast is a protein (yogurt, nuts, cottage cheese) and fruit. My lunch is under 400 calories. And as mentioned one plate, not heaping, things nicely separated for dinner.

So my plan was genius, cut out the amount of junk and eat less total, who would think that would work. I weighed myself at my in-laws on Wednesday (we don't have a scale at my house) and I was under 220, it is a needle so it looked 218 ish. This would be 7 lbs since my Feb 7 weigh in. My activity level has increased considerably this week. I will be interested to see my weight at the official weigh in on March 7. I know I said I was going to wait to announce how things were going, but everyone else is talking, a New Year's resolution of mine was to be more sheep like, so I am just following the lead.

I don't have any races planned until April, so I think 10 more lbs would be awesome, hopefully that can be accomplished by April 1. I, too, shall re-think at that point. Oh, by the way most days when I do the mental math on the calories I have been under 2,500 so I assume I missed something worth a 100 to 200 calories, so I would say 2,400 to 2,800 a day for me currently. The mental math three weeks ago told me I was pounding a good 3,200 or better most days. I likes to eat :)

Why has this turned into Matt, Shawn & Craig love fest. Where are you people? We need team members, supporters, chiming in. You Supporters, we know your not doing it, you know your not doing it, let's here from you. You team members, what have you got going on? I don't know most of you so this is your chance to let me in, so when we are in New Hampshire it is like we are life time friends getting together for a big reunion. What are you working on? Scotty I haven't got to barb you in weeks, months ... What's happening? How is Dad life going? Do you ever get to blow up anything cool in the lab (I have some ideas for you)? Eric, I know I have set myself up for humorous comments from you? I know you are dieing to make fun of me? I can feel it. Get involved, this is about life, not just swimming, biking & running.

Are you inspired? Come ON!

Me too

Well, I weighed myself this morning expecting to be terrified, since I have been eating everything and doing virtually no exercise other than an occasional push-up or dumbbell press. In the last two weeks, I have consumed two family sized bags of Doritos (with Jalapeño cheese dip!), gone to KFC, eaten 2 pounds of hamburger in one meal (yikes!), consumed many boxes of cereal, mostly at midnight, and generally disregarded all sage advice about how to lose or maintain weight. I have run no more than 5K. So imagine my surprise when I got on the scale, and I was still in the same place I had been the last time I weighed myself. I had to try to explain this to myself. Here is my reasoning: All my muscles are turning back into fat, which weighs less.

I guess if I just run and don't lift at all, I would be a lot better off as far as running goes. Biking could probably benefit from some deadlifts and squats. Swimming would probably be best prepared for by swimming, so maybe that's the way to go. I doubt I'll be able to stick to that. I like being strong. Now I'm hoping I can go through another cycle of dieting and drop 10 pounds this month.

Time to change the diet

Tomorrow being March 1st and about a week out from my first race of the year, it's time to change my diet. So I'm going to start adding in more calories to give myself more energy to work with. I've read many places that it might be possible to continue to lose weight just as fast because I'll be able to exercise more/ more intensely. We will see.

Fortunately, the fit day program has some "reporting" to it. Here is what my average has been for the last month (Feb):
2451 Calories a day (actually a bit higher than I expected)
50% 323 grams from Carbs
24% 62 grams from Fat
23% 131 grams from Protein
4% 12 grams from Alcohol (lower than I expected, Ha Ha)
Max weight during that window of time was 188. I weighed in this AM at 180.

Looking at that same report from Jan 31 back. I only had tracked about 2 weeks. (jan)
2144 Calories average per day
42% from Carbs
28% from Fat
29% from Protein
1% from Alcohol
Max weight Jan 3rd 198. Min weight 187. Jan 31st weight of 188.

I know that I made adjustments in my diet to reduce my fat % along the way. The biggest change being my use of butter. 2nd biggest change being salad dressing choice. I now choose balsamic vinaigrette most of the time.
The 3rd change may have caused the protein drop as well. I don't eat steak or hamburgers as often.

So what do I do for this change. I decided this might be a good place to start.
0.8-1.0g of fat
5-7g of carbohydrates
1.2-1.8g of protein
per kg of body weight per day for highly active athletes.
1g of fat has 9 calories, and protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram.

Currently 81.81 Kg
Carb Range should be 410-572g. Currently 323.
Protein Range 98-147g. currently 131.
Fat Range 65-147g. Currently 62.
Calorie Range: 2617-4199. This is a big range. Maybe with this plan you have to eat according to your planned workout for the day?

So maybe my plan from Jan is a better place to start? 180x16 is 2880 calories, 180x17 is 3060.

Or a similar calculator
Which gives me: 3072 Total calories per day
Protein Grams: 135 Grams Per Day.
Protein Calories: 540 Protein Calories Per Day.
Fat Grams: 51 Grams Per Day.
Fat Calories: 461 Protein Calories Per Day.
Carbohydrate Grams: 518 Grams Per Day.
Carbohydrate Calories: 2071 Carb Calories Per Day.

Another Calculator with some good reading.
One more article.

So it looks like I should shoot for 2800ish then expect that I'll go over by a few hundred as I did with my previous plan. I'd like to continue to lose weight but I'd like to do it by increased workouts. I'd be ok with losing half a pound a week at this point. That would get me to 175 or under by June 1st. Which on most "fitness charts" would put me at the lowest point of "moderately overweight". Ha ha ha.... sigh.

Brooklyn Half Marathon

As you might have noticed on the sidebar, I signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon today. One of my friends from college will be running with me and maybe one of the guys from swim class.
It's familiar territory as the course passes just a few blocks from where I lived in Brooklyn from 93-99. Can't say I spent much time at Coney Island or Prospect Park but we drove Ocean Parkway quite frequently.
I'm hoping this will be a good target/focus to work towards. I keep thinking that I'm weak on the bike and I should maybe focus on that... I guess I've decided that building my run endurance is probably going to help me the most in overall fitness.
So my plan is to modify the Hal Higdon intermediate Half Mary schedule into my workout schedule once I get back from Florida. Here's hoping that the warm weather will follow me up from Florida.

NY Times Article. Weight Training/Endurance Athletes

Weight Training/Endurance athletes
Not sure there is really much to take out of this to be honest. I think I've said this before about a NYTimes article...

100's Day

As of Today only 100 days until the Mooseman. At my kids school they celebrate 100's day, which is the 100 day of school that year. It gets moved because of school cancellations, but they have a big party. It was a big deal for Levi in kindergarten and it was a big deal for Eleanor a couple of weeks ago.

100 Things from the web:
Before you Die I just did number 48 the other night.
Ordering Pizza
In an Elevator

I couldn't find 100 things for triathlon but here is top 10 for somethings:

Swimming
Before a race
Cycling inventions

A couple Triathlon Blogs Not as cool as ours:

Triathlon Magazine Blog
Mooseman report Blog
Another Report from a Blog
A Photo of T1 AT the Moose
Audio Report about Mooseman
Mooseman Athlete from Last Year - Nice
You Tube Prep Report fro Mooseman
What the Finish will Look Like

Happy 100 Day!

MapMyTri

http://www.mapmytri .com/find- workout/united- states/wv/ weston

This link was sent to me about a local triathlon.

If you search Bristol, NH it has a couple Mooseman maps.

Matt Never Rests!

Incredible. From the spreadsheet Feb 12 was the only day he didn't workout. As Garth & Wayne would say, "We are Unworthy".

Wetsuit Decisions

I had been looking at whether I should rent or buy a wetsuit. I figured if I found a rental in the model I wanted to buy then I could buy with a bit more confidence as I would have already raced in it.

Well today I found what looks to be a great solution.
Buy a Wetsuit
I think I'm going to have to make this happen after the Florida trip. It might cost me a few more dollars but I think it will be worth it.
Anyone else want to make a trip to the city?

Stuff

Had a good run Saturday, a little problem doing steps about 5 hours after run, but I got better by Sunday morning. Definitely a muscle thing, no joint pain and walking on flat was fine. I need to run more during the week, but just trying to keep some mileage up on the weekends. Could not get time Sunday to run or do anything (I really wanted to do). Was out late Saturday, took Tamara & kids to a play, "Wiley & the Hairy Man". Very good, at Fairmont State University. Then church, we had to get there early to teach a class on parenting (that could be a shock to some people, based on my younger days responsibility level). Then Tamara had a choral concert after lunch on Sunday at WVU. A two hour event, three hours with getting there early for rehearsal. No offense to Genine, but one of the pieces was a viola & organ duet with a choir humming and chanting in the background. It was a good 25 minutes long, I appreciate an artist as much as anyone, but after about 10 minutes I had my fill. It was all love songs, luckily some were humorous jazz ensembles about love. I think I heard at least 5 different languages not including the chanting/humming. They always have a piece in Latin, plus French, Italian, German and English.

Then we stopped at Panera bread for Dinner, I got a chicken salad, dressing on the side with an Apple. Gorgonzola cheese was the only thing with lots of fat. Only ate half the salad (rest is lunch today) and the apple. Weight loss is going good now, I will save the results for March weigh-in. I don't want to predict something I can't back up in case I fall off the wagon or there is some official scale discrepancy.

Running during the week has been an issue, but I have come up with a solution. I have stated before I hate my treadmill, also it is in the basement, which is not a pretty place to be. So, Tamara called me into the room last week while she was watching TV. She had stopped on HSN (we only get 12 channels, by choice, on our cable, so sometimes it is tough to find something to watch). She said what do you think. I said if you use it too and we can do it in the living room then let's go for it. We bought the:

Brenda DyGraf's AirClimber Stepper with BodyCord and Workout DVDs

I saw Brenda on the TV, it was probably worth the price just for the DVD's (this was a very male oriented statement and I was just kidding, kinda). I am excited to have an aerobic exercise that I can do without the spiders and out of a dimly lit area.

Bike is not all the way together yet. I am not sure why because I am excited to have it, but he dissembled it quite a bit to get it to me. Should have done this week, unless this week turns out like last week. I am still looking to take my Presidents day holiday or at least 4 hours of it. The first 4 hours was spent in a lawyers office finalizing my will, which by the way is a smart thing to do if you haven't done it yet. My understanding is that without one probate can be a hassle. I didn't make any living will decisions. If I can still blink maybe I can be useful to society, of course you could argue or some could, I am not too useful currently, so maybe that is not something I want to define now.

More Graphs from the bike

Each Gear 1 Minute:

This is the 39 front ring. Stepping through the gears holding a cadence of about 77.


This is 39 on the front ring stepping through gears, holding about 85 for a cadence


53 on the front stepping through the gears, 70 for a cadence. It falls off at the end.





I did this because I wanted to see if the power was actually tracking properly.

University Swim Coach Clinic

I had to post this video. I've been watching a ton of stuff trying to get the big picture. It's much easier to practice if you understand how it's all supposed to work. I feel this video hits many key points well. Maybe because I've been looking at this stuff so much. You tell me. I liked his comments regarding sprint vs distance swimming, I'd never thought about that at all.
The 2nd one I thought was good because of the exercises.

Another Race for Us

I thought maybe we should enter this race.

Looks a little less demanding.

Bike Trainer and Polar Software

So I started with small chain ring on the front 39. And Big on the back.
The back is 26,23,21,19,17,15,14,13,12
So at 1:00 I'm on the 23.
That jump in power at 5:00 has to be wrong, don't you think? The switch is from 19 to 17.
Yes I also only did 30 seconds on the 12 cog. HR was 168 that's tough effort for me.
At 10:00 I'm on the 53 on the front and 26 on the back again. As you can see I didn't get very far into the progression.
I was hoping this was going to be more informative, but I think I need to adjust something when I'm on the 39 and 17-12 to get the readings right. Thought I'd share anyhow.

Swim Tip: Don't do this

If you use some product to keep your goggles from fogging and it says rinse completely. Make sure you really rinse it well.
Last night I guess I didn't get it as clean as I should. A bit of water got in as we were doing the 1000yd swim and I just let it be, didn't think anything of it. At the end of the night my right eye looked EVIL. Didn't hurt terribly just really bloodshot.

Here is what NOT to do. Don't put Visine or any other eye drops in. I tried this thinking it might help. It just about sent me through the roof. Just use water and an eye cup or just leave it alone.

Workout Options

This is one of the routines I did yesterday at the gym.

Crossfit dumbbell workout

I did 3 sets with 40, 50, and 60 pounds in each hand. Not quite up to the guy in the video, but I think I can get there.

As they say in the metatag, it's tougher than it looks. I've decided to try to do more deadlifts, squats and lunges in an effort to maximize my pedaling power, since I don't have many other strengths in this athletic endeavor. This routine is pretty good for the quads.

I tend to enjoy the workouts that involve using the whole body in realistic ways, which doesn't happen so much with machines. Of course the potential for getting hurt is much higher, but I like to think the potential for being functionally strong is much higher too.

I'm digging the kettlebell too. I'm glad I finally got to play with one. If I weren't in the gym, I would try more adventurous stuff like throwing it up in the air and spinning it around, but I'm afraid of dropping it. I gotta buy my own. The one at the gym I use is 35 pounds, but I think if I were gonna buy one, I'd like to go with a 50 pounder. Why duplicate the one I can get there?

Maybe I'll have to make a video about functional strength and put it up on YouTube. It would be more convincing if I had washboard abs, of course. Maybe when the sun comes out and it warms up, I'll burn off all my fat and make such a video.

Swimming Woes

The Master's class in Morgantown was canceled this semester due to lack of interest. So, I have to have a long discussion with my current pool managers to see when the remodel will occur. Because the University in Morgantown is my other choice, that is still in the reasonable stage, but they really limit non-staff and students. I can get a pass that allows me to go every Monday and Wednesday evening for $35 from Feb 25 to April 25 This follows the end of the swim team season and the end of the semester. It works out to about $2 a visit if I go twice every week.

The local clubs or gyms that have pools are getting close to $100 a month. Well if you want to go month by month which is kind of what I want to do. At $100 a month I probably should have signed up for a class at WVU and just not gone, take my "F", just to have total access to the student rec center and the literally endless amount of hours that it is open. Something like 6am to 11 pm weekdays. and 10 pm weekends. To be young in college and not care about sleep or waking up for that matter (or be Shawn) . I know some of you are probably saying what is he lamenting about even the high choice is still not bad. Well, I live 15 to 20 miles from these places, with current gas prices that would be almost $5 in gas for a swim workout. Maybe I will bike to class, of course that is in the dark (both ways currently) in a state were road shoulders have not been invented yet. We are happy to have guardrails, it keeps the drunk drivers from plummeting to their death into the ravine.

Union Holiday/ BRICK!

Wake up at 5AM, make oatmeal/applesauce/fiberone caramel mix. Drink some Mango Juice then some Blueberry Juice. Set the laptop/DVD up in front of the bike in preparation for the brick.
Oddly it's 60 degrees and raining outside, going to make for a nice run later.

Swim Class, not too awful. Again he's really trying to get my technique down so he's not having me sprint as often as he typically does. To be honest, I don't think I was rotating as well today. I think I was more on it last week. We do a repeat of ( 4x100, 8x25), I'm forgetting some stuff I'm sure. Then I do 600 with Pull Buoy. I stay another 15 minutes after class to work on Total Immersion drills to see if that will bring the balance and rotation back. 1 12oz Gatorade during the workout.

Back home about 8AM. 2nd Breakfast (hobbit style). 4 Eggs 2 yolks (omega) 3 spouted wheat toast (no butter), more blueberry juice. Prep the bike with 2 full bottles of Gatorade. Luna Bar within reach for more calories along the way. I intended to go the full 27 miles on the bike, then go run 10k. I chickened out, I decided that I should go 20 miles to make sure I had a chance at a good run. I did chug down about 44 oz of Gatorade on the bike and the Luna bar.

I didn't realize it was getting even warmer out and it had stopped raining. I should have just changed shoes and been off and running. Instead I took about 5 minutes before I got running. It didn't take long to settle in just under 9 min/mile pace. I think my biggest problem during the run was the stitch that kept getting me. Left side in the area just under the lowest rib. Could be diaphragm issue I suppose, I never really got my breathing in through my nose. I had to walk twice for about 20 seconds to let that stitch chill out.
Got home chugged down more juice and water 32 oz and stretched out.
My watch tells me I've burned 1750 calories between the bike and run. Add another 800 in for the Swim... 2500 total. Good to know for future fueling.

Overall, I'm pleased. No cramping issues. I should have weighed myself before the bike and run. Could have been helpful for hydrating info. As it was I decided to weigh myself after stretching out and I was the lowest I've seen. 181.5, which means I'm still plenty dehydrated. I'm not surprised. I'm actually considering more fluid on the bike. I've got 2 bottles already and I might add another holder behind the seat. Once it warms up, I'm guessing I'm going to need all of it.

There you have it. Now I've got to get the nail out of the car tire and get it patched up. You know, real life stuff.

16 Weeks to Mooseman

Why does that sound like it's right around the corner?

Annual Illness

Well, I'm sick again. Feeling like a truck hit me. Weak, tired, sore, headache...I hope it isn't Lyme disease. I got in a sauna over the weekend, and those are known to activate latent viruses, which is what I think happened. I wish I could do the sauna-thing every couple of days. Haven't found a local one yet.

My workouts have plummeted since we got the dog and I'm not doing well in keeping up with the classes either. It's too much. I can't figure out how to fit everything in right now. I suppose the good news is that work has been pretty entertaining lately. I'm making some video games for kids that should go live on the web before too long.

I also got a grant to develop a new product that could be the basis for a business. Pennsylvania is trying to stimulate new businesses in the state by giving R&D grants for a specific genre of products, and I was lucky enough to win one of those. So just another log on the fire. Wouldn't want to take it easy or anything. Heaven forbid. Then of course I am going to commercialize my swim apparatus after I prove its value in the Tango. Did you know people are selling fins for 250 bucks a pair? And considering that I will be going faster than any fins allow one to go, I should think I could charge at least that. I'm thinking I should be able to do the two and a half miles in 25 minutes this year, so divers should be lining up for a crack at these puppies. Well, I might be living in a fantasy world, but it sure is fun here.

Swim Technique

Coach is really on me for technique right now, which is great. I'd rather be slow and correct than fast with no hope of getting faster.
He wants me to get down to 16 strokes per 25 yds. I think a week or so ago before we got back into working on my technique 25 strokes was probably my average. If I go slowly now I can do it in 18.
The way he described the catch and scull was very helpful:
Once your forward hand is out in front at the catch. You then want it to feel like you've anchored your hand there and you are pulling your body over that anchor point.
If you pull straight back, it's no good. It will feel like your hand is slipping from that anchor point.
If you scull, pull to the inside then out past the hip, it should feel as if you are pulling yourself over that anchor point.
Another way to look at it, is the point you place your hand into the water is the same place it should be pulling out of the water. Relative to the pool that is.
For whatever reason, that really clicked with me tonight. So currently I'm really working hard on my rotation and now adding this catch/scull/pull. I imagine I'll be at the pool this weekend to work on this outside of class/group swims. Doing a ton of 50's with good rest between should help me hold the technique.

A few updates

1: The Fundraiser Site is up and running.
http://tinyurl.com/2qdbjk

2: I'm out for the 2nd Half Marathon this year. I didn't realize how popular the Lehigh Half Marathon was and it sold out already. So I'm now searching for other races to fill the void.

3: Possible Races: Bassman International, Brandywine Duathlon, Long Bike Ride.

4: I signed up for the Mountaineer in June, I don't want that to sell out on me.

5: Because the like the photo I put together for the fundraiser. Here it is in high def, if you click on it that is.



I'll have to remember to do this for the relay teams.
Feel free to use this in your email / letters to folks.

Looking back and comparing

Here is my post just over a year ago. Where I finally ran 5K at a 10 min/mile pace.
Last night after my first 1.5 mile lap, I decided to push the 2nd lap to see where I was a year later.

1st lap on 8:54 min/mile, 2nd lap I pushed above race pace, 7:43 min/mile. Finished 3.08 miles in 25:30. I'd imagine being 15-20 pounds lighter is playing a part, I think I have 10 more to lose.

I'm kind of bummed I didn't keep better records on the swimming early on. At the moment I feel I should be able to swim 2 minute 100's for a mile if I'm well rested just for the sake of comparing a year ago.

The bike is still the big question mark. I'm figuring for the Mooseman I'll have to be very conscious of my HR and try not to go out too hard. Otherwise all this run training isn't going to matter. I'm sure I'll be well under the 19mph I was close to at the sprints this past year.

Just wanted to get this info down in a journal. It's been interesting to look back on the old posts to see how things change. Our original Tango posts were all about "just going to have fun". Then as it got close it became "I plan on leaving it all out there". Ha ha!
Good Times! It's going to be a fun summer.

Tons of pool time

The new masters class schedule is Mon/Thurs 6AM 60 min. Wed/Fri 8PM 90 min. Tuesday night I swim with Steve because he hasn't been able to make it to masters swimming for quite awhile. He's the one that competed in Lake Placid last year. So he's been there done that, nice to be able to ask him questions.

As you can see Wed 8-9:30 PM then Thurs 6-7AM is a tough schedule I was curious how I'd swim this morning. Well, at 4AM I woke up with my abs/ribs cramping on the left side. That's a new one! I'm ordering electrolyte pills, I've got to try them out and see if that's the solution.

Swim tip from today: I was fishtailing my legs behind me which increases drag. So the fix is to move my hand entry further from the center line. Meaning I take my hands further to the outside than I had been to start the stroke.

I think next Friday night the Swim Video guy will be at our Masters Class. So we can pay him for a DVD of our swim. Personally I would like a video of everyone's swim with coach's commentary about each. I would think that would be the most useful but I doubt that will happen. I'll sign up for it anyhow, I have low expectations. Maybe it will surprise me.

February Weigh-In

Well, I gained. Two pounds. I don't suppose the cheesecake and Boston Cream Pie on Sunday was the only culprit but I am sure it didn't help.

We weighed in early because a couple people were going to be gone the end of the week. I saw three people lost over ten pounds. I think the highest was 12. One guy hasn't weighed in yet. Three people gained like me. The others lost 1 to 5 lbs.

The new goal may be that we can lose a whole employee in this process. If we all average over 15lbs lost that would be an entire person.

A Couple Home Remedies

I wanted to pass on some herbal/natural remedies.

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). I have been taking it for a couple years for stomach ailments. If I get heatburn I would take a tablespoon. The theory is that heartburn is caused by gases from imcomplete digestion. This occurs because of a lack of acid. So, ACV actually breaks down the food in your stomach more completely. Unlike AntAcids that stop the process altogther. Once, again my wife got me onto this. One night I could not sleep because of bad heartburn, I had laid there for a couple hours, she said get up and take two tablespoons of ACV, so I did. Literaly less than 10 minutes I was fine and fell a sleep like a baby. I take it now anytime my stomach is upset. I even took it recently, both morning and night when the kids were sick with the flu. I would be the only one who got the flu that didn't vomit.

Here is a another link, the reason I bring it up is it also is suppose to help in weight loss.

http://www.applecidervinegarweightloss.com/benefits-apple-cider-vinegar.html


Body Elimination is another favorite topic of mine.

http://store.naturalnirvana.com/nwana2.html

Another item I have taken in the past is a product called Naturalax #2, by Nature's way. This puppy definately makes you go. This may be a sensitive topic, but it is important to note that most of the American diet causes your nutrient absorption to stop or be reduced due to impacted fecal matter (note I mentioned John Wayne and Elvis in a previous post). This was one of the first herbal products I took consistently. I think it was 1997 I took at least two every day for a month. I won't get graphic, but stuff came out of me I was amazed at. I definately use it now only when things aren't regular. The formula comes from Dr. John R. Christopher’s lower bowel formula in his book. You could make it yourself based on his theory. I read his book, he gets a tad more graphic. He lived be only 74, dieing in 1983.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Christopher
http://www.amazon.com/Rejuvenation-Through-Elimination-John-Christopher/dp/B000VBTSXS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202133086&sr=1-5


My all time favorite elimination guy is Dr. Norman Walker, he was 99 1/2 years old when he died. The claim is he took his daily 4 mile walk, laid down for a after lunch nap and never woke up. He was free of disease or ailments of people half his age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_W._Walker

All this said, my soon to be 92 year old Grandma is living in Williamsport, PA by herself, still drives to church and her hair appointments and occasionally to the store. She has lived on homestyle, add the butter, salt and fry it in a pan cooking for her whole life. Meat, potatoes, and real sugar. You could say, well, she is on a cup full of pills, can't lift her arms above her head, and is in constant pain. She is living, reads the bible through in a year (6 years straight), and does at least one crossword puzzle, a sudoka puzzle, and writes a letter every day. Oh, she makes at least two outfits for each girl a year.

Wow that was way too long, but I wrote so if you made it this far you have read it.