Tag Archives: training

Looking Back While Moving Forward

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To quote a famous song, “What a long strange trip its been”.  Looking back, I can remember sitting in the bleachers watching my friend complete an Olympic distance triathlon.  I remember thinking on how cool it would be to cross that finish line, to be in that exclusive club. Then I remember looking at my belly, knowing I was 40+ pounds overweight, and saying to myself “Who am I kidding? I’ll never do that”.  Well, with determination, and an attitude that I would not give up on myself any more, not only did I reach that dream of completing an Olympic distance triathlon, I shattered it by going to Raleigh, North Carolina and completing an Ironman 70.3!  Talk about an exclusive club.


Thanks to my coach Jenni and the E11even Athletics team, I trained properly and stayed healthy, and finished my race strong and ready to keep going.  After the race I had a two week break where I did no running, and only light biking and swimming.  Coach Jenni said the first week was to let the body heal, and the second was to take a little mental break before starting training again.  But, what to train for?  I completed my goal, and while I always have the next goal in mind, this was one goal that I could not decide on my own.  It required complete honesty from my coach, my wife, and myself, and after my “mental” break, it would be time to talk.

So I talked with my wife and discussed my new goal.  I had her blessing, so the only hurdle was my coach.  Jenni has always been up front and honest with me, even when the honesty can be hard to hear.  I trust her without question, and respect her opinion, so I nervously gave her a call.  What would she say? I was actually scared dialing the phone. Would she agree with me? Tell me that my new goal wasn’t obtainable?  What would I do if she said it wasn’t a good goal?  We talked for a long time.  I was surprisingly happy to hear that not only did she like my new goal and supported it, but she said she would be more than happy to train me toward making that goal.  She then asked if I wanted it, really wanted to do it, and I said “yes”. We talked about possible events over a couple conversations, and for right now we have penciled in an event for 2017.  It’ll be in early October (I hope) and hopefully much cooler than Raleigh was.  So I think I’ve stalled enough.  Here is the main goal penciled in for 2017:


If you noticed that there is no 70.3 at the end of the image, it is not a mistake.  Although at times I think about it and think about breathing into a paper bag.  The goal is to do a full 140.6 Ironman.  I have over a year to build on where I am now, but as Coach Jenni said “Your weekends are now officially over”.  They will be replaced with long bike rides (Jenni said that I will do several century (100 mile) bike rides during my training), more runs off the bike, although the swims won’t change that much.  Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to the challenge!  I’m looking forward to watching myself improve in ways I never thought possible.

I just hope I get in and get registered in time, and that they don’t change the date.  They are still prepping to run the 2016 Maryland Ironman, so the 2017 race is not open yet.  That gets me a little nervous, not knowing if you’ll get in until you do, and then freaking out yelling “Oh my God!! What have I done?!?”  But then you come down from the ledge, take a deep breath, and get to work.  After all, it just another 70.3 miles more than Raleigh, right?  Ok, where’s my paper bag to breathe in??

But honestly, I cannot believe looking back, at how far you can come when you don’t give up on yourself.  By constantly pushing to improve, you can do amazing things, even train for an Ironman.  I started by slowly running a mile, slowly biking about 5 miles,  and barely able to swim 25 yards.  In less than 7 years, I went from that to training to swim 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles.  What a (not so) long, strange (and wonderful) trip it’s been.

And it’s only just beginning….

Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

Funny How Things Change…

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It’s funny how life changes before you.  Sometimes it’s gradual, where you don’t even notice it until someone else points it out to you.  Other times it changes so quickly that you hardly have time to react.  In the past few years I’ve experenced both of these types during my lifestyle change, and noticed how my life has went from one thing to another, a nd what sometimes looked impossible was actually rather easy after all.

From late night TV binging to early morning rises to get a long run in; from seeing how much ice cream would fit in a bowl to how much protein was in my energy bar; from struggling to cross the line at my first sprint triathlon to training for my first 70.3; it has been an amazing change and quite an incredible journey.  There has been worry that I wasn’t good enough, struggles to get through, self-doubts, and sometimes even pain, but in the end there was always satisfaction, happiness, pride that I could do it, and that I didn’t give up on myself.

The other day I was looking at my workout schedule that my coach sent for the following week. On Saturday I had a 30 run that said “off the bike” but no bike scheduled.  On Sunday, I had a 3 hour bike scheduled and then an 11 mile run.  I wondered if it was a mistake, so I emailed my coach to ask.  But what surprised me wasn’t that I caught it, it was the following line I wrote with relative ease:

 “I’m game if you are, just wanted to clarify.”

Wow.  I looked at that line after I wrote it.  Did I really mean that? Was I really up to riding for three hours, only to jump off the bike and run for eleven miles?!?  There was only one thought that came to me:

“You can do it”

It’s funny, I would have never considered that a few short years ago.  I still feel like that overweight guy on the sidelines of the triathlon, watching my friend cross the finish and wishing I could do that.  Now, suddenly, I am beyond that.  With every new day brings new uncharted territory in my fitness journey, and I am the only person that can blaze the trail.

I have a running mentor who I love dearly.  She started to focus more on yoga, as I continued to run.  One day we ran together and she was asking questions.  Then she smiled and said “The student has become the master.”  I felt happy that I had learned so much, but saddened that I had grown beyond my mentor and was somewhat on my own.  She is still there cheering me on and supporting me, but she wanted me to know that I am no longer a “beginner” runner.  

Now I have been given a great opportunity. I am coaching a half marathon program at Fleet Feet Sports in Des Moines.  I set up the running schedule, workouts, map the runs, answer questions the runners have, pace the distance runs as well as lead the way for the Wednesday hill/speed workouts.  I have a lot of help from Andy, Claire, and the pacers, but it’s quite an honor to be asked to ‘coach’ the group.  That is something I would have never dreamed of.

Another way you change, sometimes without noticing, is your appearance.  The other day, I ran into a friend of mine that I have not seen for months.  He looked at me and exclaimed “How much weight have you lost?” I told him that actually I haven’t lost any weight recently.  He looked me over and said “Then you have added a lot of muscle because you have really leaned out”.  After he said that, I looked in the mirror.  It was true, I had leaned out a bit.  I hadn’t noticed it until he pointed it out to me.

Today we are running in the Des Moines Leprechaun 10k. It’s a fun run, and it’s my third year of running in it.  However, it should take me 50-55 minutes to finish the race, but my coach has me scheduled to run for 1:50 today.  So it looks like I’ll be pausing my Garmin long enough to cheer for my wife and my friends, and then running off again.  I would have never guessed that would be possible a few years ago. 

 Funny how things change…

Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

The Hot Chocolate 5k, Training, and the New Math

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It is absolutely amazing what you can accomplish in one year.  A year ago, my wife completed her very first 5k at the Hot Chocolate 5k.  I remember her saying towards the end of that race how she just wanted it to be over.  Well, we lined up again for the Hot Chocolate 5k one year later, and she has accomplished an amazing amount that anyone would be proud of.  In one year she ran a 5k, a 10k, a 10 mile run, a half marathon, a couple sprint triathlons, and an Olympic distance triathlon!  So it was a coming home of sorts, as we toed the line for the start of the race.

The race went well, even though we accidently started off with the 5-mile group.  The race was relatively flat and fast, and I was able to finish in 25:39.  Julie finished only a couple minutes behind me, and we met up and went to get our printout of the times.  Julie came in 5th in her age group!  This from a person who wanted to only finish just a year ago.  I looked at my slip, and asked if it was correct… I finished 2nd in my age group!  That was quite a surprise.  Here are a few photos of the event.

   
   
The other day I needed to run for 1:15 and to control my heart rate and keep it under my maximum aerobic level.  So I went to Gray’s Lake, where the path is nice with a 2-mile loop.  I have ran many miles around that lake and made many memories there.  I even posted that on my Facebook page, saying I was about to make some more memories, before starting my run.  I was surprised how right I was.  As I started out, there was an event where walkers were looping the lake.  As I got closer, there was the gingerbread man waving at the walkers.  It’s not every day that you see this, so I stopped and asked for a photo.

  
More happy memories made while running around Gray’s Lake.

The other day my coach had swim drills on my schedule. The calendar said 1700 yards of speed work.  I printed out my workout and headed for the pool.  I was about halfway through the workout when I looked at the distance on my Garmin 920XT.  Something wasn’t right: I was at 1000 yards already!  I counted the drills that I had completed, and it totaled 1000 yards.

So, I continued the drills, and I finished with 2200 yards.  I totaled up the entire workout, and it was 2200 yards.  So somehow the calendar was askew with the schedule, or it’s the new math.  Either way, I got a great swim in.

The training continues.  It’s amazing what the body can do.  I was frustrated the other day because I didn’t hit the marks on the bike that I was supposed to.  Then I started looking at the workouts for the past month, and that turned my mood around.  I run, I bike, I swim, and at times I do all three in the same day.  How can you be frustrated with that?  Today I swam over a mile, dried off and changed clothes, and got on a spin bike for over an hour.  I am blessed and amazed at what I have been able to do in five years.  You can do it too.  It just takes a goal, determination, a plan, and the desire to pursure that goal.

Live healthy, be happy.

Travis

Training, Mentoring, and the Blood, Sweat & Beers 5k

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Time for an update.  Training is going well, although at times I think my coach is conspiring with my wife to knock me off for the insurance money.  Ok not really, but if they are my coach better get a 60-40 split.   The training is going well so far. I like the structure, but worry every time the new workout schedule is posted thinking “how the heck am I going to get this done?!?”  But somehow it does get done, and I feel a sense of accomplishment on knowing that I am committed to this plan, and put it above a lot of other things.

For example, we just ran the Blood, Sweat & Beers 5k for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to support Team in Training. It was held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, and it was a nice course with quite a few hills (short and steep) to make it challenging.  Julie and I ran it together, and when we finished, we received a cool mug, a bowl of chili or a corn dog (I had to get a corn dog), and all the beer we could drink for free from Exile Brewery.  Exile Brewery is a local brewery that has amazing beers with names such as Ruthie and Hannah, and they have donated a lot to events such as this one.  So please support them by stopping by and tell them thank you, that way they know its appreciated.

Now, having explained that there was free beer involved, you would think that we would have stayed until the well ran dry.  This was not the case.  I had a beer and a half, and we decided that we needed to go because we still had swim drills to do sometime that day.  So we said goodbye to our friends and headed home to grab our swim bags and hit the pool.  That is what I mean about putting our workout commitment above other things.  One friend said to me that “the beer isn’t even close to running out”, but that didn’t matter to us.  What did matter was getting our training in and to focus on our long term goals.

Mentoring is about to wind up for the season, and the groups graduation run is the Hot Chocolate 5k on November 1.  It’s a fun run, pretty flat, and some pretty nice swag at the packet pickup.  We decided to take the group on a pre-race run of the course so they would know what to expect.  It’s been an amazing experience watching these people develop their abilities in running, and I hope that they continue long after the class is over.

Here are the totals for the week, and a photo of the cool mug we got for the 5k yesterday.  I have a bike ride to get in today (1:30 total) so I better get moving and get the tires aired up.

Running – 6 workouts – 19.59 miles

Cycling – 1 workouts – 26 miles

Swimming – 4 workouts – 3.35 miles

Strength training – 2 workouts – 1 hour

  
Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

Training, Training, and More training

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I haven’t posted since I completed the Des Moines Triathlon, and I guess the reason why is that there hasn’t been much going on.  Just training, training, and more training.  Here’s a quick update of what has happened, what’s to come, and what the future holds.

My wife and I completed the Capital Striders Running Group’s “Capital Pursuit” 10 mile road race.  It is my wife’s longest run to date, and I was proud to run beside her all the way from beginning to end!  We completed the race in 1:46:53, which is an awesome time for a ten-mile run.

  
Here is a before and after picture of the Fleet Feet Sports Des Moines gang at the Capital Pursuit.  Looking at the top photo, there’s Heidi, Tom, Julie, Me, and Claire.  We had a great time, and we plan on doing it again next year.

So, what to do after a 10-mile run? Why, go on a 15 mile bike ride of course!  Our friends Karen and Mel met up with us, and we rode to lunch and then back.  It was a great day of working out and being with friends!

  
I have decided to drop out of the IMT Des Moines marathon, and change my entry to the half marathon.  There are two reasons why.  First, even though I could make the 26.2, I feel that I didn’t get enough long runs in to make a decent run of it.  I’d rather play it safe than to risk injury.  The second reason?  My wife has decided to run her first half marathon!  This from a person who said she’d never run THAT far!  She has amazed me.  In one year she has completed her first 5k, 10k, 10 mile run, sprint triathlon, olympic distance triathlon (open water), and now she’s going to run her first half marathon!  So very proud of her.

After the half marathon, we hit training mode once again.  We want to increase our swimming distance so that swimming a mile is easier than it is now.  We want to increase our biking distance, which means with winter coming, we need to get a second trainer.  We use “Sufferfest” videos for our indoor training.  If you haven’t seen these videos, look them up at http://www.thesufferfest.com.  They are awesome, advanced cycling videos that will really give you a hard workout.  The last one we did was called “ISLAGIATT”.  It was a two-hour hill training lesson in brutality that left me panting, sweating, and starving.  Only towards the end of the video did I realize what “ISLAGIATT” stood for.  It flashed on the screen just I wondered what the hell I got myself into… “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time”.  As I wiped the sweat off of me and the bike, I knew it was a good idea, although after the first hour I would have doubted that. 🙂

We will also increase our running distances, so it becomes easier when we do our brick workouts.  As the temps in Iowa fall with the leaves on the trees, our open water swim time is growing short.  Soon we will be forced back to the shelter of the indoor pools at the YMCA, but that will make it easier for us to do our swim/bike or swim/run bricks.  It will also make being able to do a test triathlon easier, since we won’t be lugging all our equipment to the park.

I’ll end this post with some photos we took while on a bike ride the other day.  Be sure to look around as you exercise outside.  You never know what you’ll find, like a carousel!  This one is at Union Park in Des Moines.

   
    
   
Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

How Do You Find the Time??

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This question was asked of me the other day, “How do you find the time?”  They were referring to my exercise and training schedule.  It’s a valid question, and one that I answered quickly.  I replied “If it’s important to you, you’ll find the time to do it.”  That is true, as we find time to relax, inndulge in hobbies, go out with friends and family, if exercise is important to you, you will find the time.

The issue I am running into is finding enough time to do all the training I want.  I am not a paid athlete, so I have to have a job to pay bills, pay for insurance, and buy training equipment.  Training with my wife is a blessing, as she understands the need for working out, and we get to spend time together.  But with a house to maintain (or try to), three dogs, friends and family, you start feeling the pressure of trying to squeeze in everything, and you have to start getting creative in order to keep up the pace that you want.

I am currently training for my first Olympic distance triathlon and my third marathon.  I am heading into the long run portions of marathon training, and just last weekend I needed to complete a long run of 14 miles.  I mentor runners on Saturday mornings (which I love), and on Sunday we do a swim/bike/run brick.  So how do I fit a long run in with whats going on already?  It was pretty simple: get up early Saturday morning, run 8 miles to Fleet Feet Sports where the mentoring group meets up, stay loose and refuel and run 6 miles with the group!  As the miles increase however, that is goinng to get harder and harder to do.  But for right now it’s working.

We are also training on the swim portion of the triathlon without wetsuits from time to time, just in case the race is not wetsuit legal (due to the water temperature, according to USAT rules).  We are working on staying calm and just swimming, working on form and distance.  In fact, that is today’s workout since I have a day off from work.  I am taking my bike in for a tune up, and then hitting the lake.  When my wife gets off work, we may swim a second time.  

It amazes me and impresses me when I think of all those people that have completed a 70.3 Ironman or a 140.6 Ironman, thinking about how they found the time for all that training, and still tried to lead normal lives.  Hours in the pool, on the bike, running the streets, and still maintain a job and a family.  Where do they find the time??

They just do.  If it’s important to you, you’ll find the time.

It’s that time now.  Time to hit the lake.

 Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

Nerves, Asthma, and the IceBreaker Triathlon

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Sunday was the IceBreaker Triathlon at the Walnut Creek YMCA, and I thought I was ready. This was a sprint triathlon where you swim 400 yards in a indoor pool, take a non-transition (not counted) break to go to the spin room, ride 10 miles at a preset gear, take a non-transitioned break to the treadmills, and then run 2 miles. I trained, I was ready … or so I thought.

Having borderline asthma, my doctor advised me some time ago to pre-treat with an inhaler before starting any exercise. He knows how hard I train, and feels that it is better to prepare by pre-treating. So as I was changing in order to meet my 7:50 a.m. pool start, I took two puffs off my inhaler. I was good to go. I swam 400 yards easily just two days before, so I knew I could do it.

What I didn’t plan on was nerves. As we entered the pool to warm up, I saw that I was in the lane closest to the bleachers. Not my favorite spot to be. I felt like everyone was watching me. I started chatting with my lane partner … he had completed an IRONMAN! Yikes! I told myself to just swim my pace and take it easy, as there are other events (bike and run) to conserve energy for. No sense trying to race someone who can swim miles.

The horn sounded and we took off. The first 100 yards went well, and I was trying to keep an even pace. But every time I would breathe, I could see the crowd, and the water was churning more than when I trained. I started to feel tense and a little nervous, and suddenly my chest was tightening. All I could think of was that I had used my inhaler, that this shouldn’t be happening! But it was, and I had just passed the 125 yard mark.

I got to the edge marking 150 yards and stood up. My counter asked if I was ok, and I told her I was having a little trouble breathing and needed to catch my breath. She said “you can walk in the shallow end, just keep moving, you’re ok”. So I walked a few feet and started swimming again. I was devasted and embarrassed. I trained for this, why was this happening?

After a couple of laps I had to walk a little again. My counter, bless her heart, was so encouraging and congratulated me when I finished, saying “You did great! 8:36!” I was shocked. Even though I had to catch my breath, I beat my time on Friday (when the swim was easy) by almost 30 seconds!

I got out of the pool and changed quickly in my tri-suit and bike shoes, and carried a bag with my running shoes in them so I wouldn’t have to go back to the locker room again. I know that there was no transition time, but it doesn’t hurt to train. Then I headed upstairs to the spin room.

As I got set up on a spin bike, one of the volunteers explained to me that once I got the spin bike to gear 12, they would start the count. I was to notify them when I got close to 10 miles. But I had a slight problem; I remembered my dear friend and mentor Stephanie doing this very same triathlon the year before, and I know she was in 10th gear … so that’s what I had trained on for long distances when on a spin bike. What I didn’t know was that there were different settings for men and women. Now, two gears may not sound like a lot, but it felt like going up a 10-mile slope. I got it done, but not nearly as fast as I would have liked, coming in at 25:54.

I left the spin room and headed for the treadmills. I quickly changed shoes and checked in. I got on and started running. I usually avoid treadmills, even though I own one. I prefer to run outside, as my previous posts have hinted at. but after shredding my legs on a 10-mile upward slope bike ride, I finished the run at 18:05. The total for the triathlon was 52:35.

My dear friend, running partner, and now training partner Kara finished her first triathlon in under 48 minutes. She was amazing. My wife Julie finished her first triathlon as well, bad back and all, in 54 minutes. These two ladies are amazing, and truly an inspiration to me.

I learned a few things to work on before our next triathlon in May: (1) Work on becoming a stronger swimmer. (2) Learn to control my nerves and not worry about what others think. (3) Train harder on the bike on harder gears, so the next time this gear will be easy. (4) Learn to relax and enjoy the moment. We did have a great time, and it took an amazing amount of work just to be able to get here and attempt an event such as this. While this was my third sprint, it was wonderful to see my wife and one of my dearest friends become triathletes. Now, on to training for the next one.

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Kara and I posing after completing the IceBreaker Triathlon.

It’s going to be a great year!

Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Pool

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A funny thing happened on the way … We’ve all heard that line before, stating something unusual just after the beginning of that sentence. Well for me, that is what happened to me today as I headed to the pool to swim laps and do some spinning.

I have been really worried about triathlon training, because … well my swimming sucks. Blame it on asthma, or some unknown fear, but I have been struggling as of late in the water, and I can feel the tension mounting. My running and biking skills are fine (everything can be improved upon), but it’s the swimming that gets me. It’s my weakest link, my achilles heel if you will and I have been pushing so hard to get better without success. My friends keep saying it will come with time, but I feel caught in a rut, and I’m frustrated.

Until today. On the way to the gym, I said a little prayer asking for a peaceful swim. Not an amazing swim or one where records are shattered, but just a nice peaceful swim. Boy did I get that prayer answered! I started off by swimming 150 yards freestyle, and it felt pretty easy. I then then swam an easy 150 yards with a float between my legs. I was already at 300 yards! I usually max out at 400 yards! I then did 100 yards with fins on, and then freestyle for another 100. I then rotated from freestyle, float, and fins for another 500 yards, and totaled out at 1000 yards! I then got a kick board and kicked another 4×50 yards for an additional 200 yards.

The amazing thing in this whole process is that I was never nervous, never panicked, and just kept going. It felt great to enjoy the swim and to get some decent (for me) yardage in without the worry or fear. I can’t say it will always be like today, but I sure hope so!

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

What To Do, What To Do…

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This Sunday marks a week since the Des Moines marathon. My body is still in recovery mode, but my mind is trying to figure out where to go from here. I have had people ask me “Are you done now?” thinking that one stops after running 26.2 miles. But I know that my fitness and lifestyle change is one that is for life, and that means never falling back and returning to old ways. So while the body recovers from one event, the brain starts thinking up all kinds of ways to torture the body some more.

I already had one goal in mind even before the marathon started, and that was to train and run a 50k (31.something) race in 2015. That is still very much part of the plan. My dear friend and training partner Kara came up with the other goal, to train and compete in a olympic triathlon. Kara has never done a triathlon of any distance, and I have done only a few sprint triathlons, but never anything close to the olympic distance (1 mile swim – 25 mile bike – 10k run).

We had done a little pool training earlier in the year, but it tailed off as the marathon distances got longer. We have set a couple of mini goals of competing in sprint triathlons (one in January, and one in spring), and then training with our friends Connie and Eric on open water swimming. So now we work on getting pool time in and increasing distance in preparation for spring.

Kara and I met this morning at the YMCA, and I got 400 yds swimming in to Kara’s 500. We then toweled off and met on the track where we ran 3.1 miles. It’s going to take a little getting used to again, this dual and tri sport training. You can feel the difference in your muscles as you start the next exercise, and trying to get them to switch gears takes some work. But I am confident that we will get it done, just like we handled marathon training, together.

I am also doing a 30 day cardio and ab challenge hosted by my friend Lindsey. We have completed week one, and I never knew how weak my stomach and ab muscles were. I hope that working the core and abs daily helps with my other exercises as well.

Live healthy, be happy!

Travis

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Crossing the finish at the IMT Des Moines Marathon … together!

Marathon Weekend

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It’s finally here! Race weekend has arrived. I just returned from the packet pickup where numerous vendors were selling everything from medal hangers to shoes to clothing to chews. There was some serious bling to collect, and my bag was pretty full by the time I left. Now it’s time to rest and get ready, as the Des Moines IMT Marathon is Sunday.

My hip is still bugging me, but not to the point where I would even consider dropping out. I have been taking it easy, taking Motrin, and even had a cold laser treatment on it. I will probably run an easy three tomorrow and then it’ll be go time!

I will post on the race as soon as I can. I am so excited for my running partner Kara, as it’s her 1st full marathon. She is going to be awesome! The members of the iCan Running Group will be running as well and showing how awesome they are! I hope I can watch each and every one of them cross that finish line and forever be known as a marathoner.

This is marathon #2 for me. Wish us all well and send positive thoughts to us to help us power across that finish line!

Live healthy, be happy!

Travis