February 2012
18 posts
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New Swim Record
Put in a 5k in the pool! Took me about 1hr 45mins. Followed up with a light 5 mile jog. No substantial knee pain! Hopefully this is a good sign.
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Block 6 - Week 2 Recap
Depressingly low mileage this week, and no running whatsoever. Trying to get my knee back into running shape.
Swim - 7500 meters
Bike - 60 miles
Run - 0 miles!!!
Hope your training is going better than mine!
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Computrainer
I had my first experience with Computrainer yesterday, and let me tell you, it was much harder than I thought! Me and my friend Ben, a two-time Ironman finisher, road the first 60 miles of the Ironman Texas bike course. I averaged 18.6 mph, which is faster than I plan to ride during the actual race, however, I was at 85-90% of my RPE (rate of perceived exertion) the whole time. Usually, at 90%...
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Med School Interview
Just got an e-mail from Wayne State University. I have an interview scheduled for April 3rd!! Who knew they interviewed so late in the year? Until yesterday, I still had 5 schools left to hear from, and I just assumed they were all rejections at this point. Maybe that means Baylor will still call?
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Block 6 - Week 1 Recap
This past week had several positive aspects about it, and one, giant negative aspect. Let’s start with the PROS:
1. I put in three, long workouts in the same week. 4600 meter swim on Monday, 22 mile run on Wednesday, and a 108 mile ride on Saturday. All the workouts were successful, and completed at the speed I had intended.
2. I used my 6hr trainer ride on Saturday as a “trial...
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New Run Record (again)
Put in 22 miles on the DREADmill today with a 1% incline. Took me 3 hours and 7 minutes, or about an 8:30 minute per mile average. Still not as fast as I would like…but it is acceptable. Finished up with a 1000 meter swim. It was supposed to be 1500, but I wasn’t getting enough oxygen and started blacking out! Since I didn’t exactly feel like entrusting my life to the...
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Pacing The Ironman
I’ve been really stressed about my pacing for Ironman Texas. I’ve done three Ironman70.3’s, but I have no experience with longer tri’s, or even marathons. So I did what I usually do when I have a question…I went to the Internet!! The place with all the answers! :) I found this article that tells me how to calculate my Ironman pacing based on my half-Ironman times....
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To All My Fellow Triathletes:
CHECK THIS ARTICLE OUT - So You Wanna Be A Triathlete
Here are a few snippets:
1. Check your ego at the door because chances are someone fifty pounds heavier than you will lap you in the pool. Not to mention she will be ten or fifteen years older than you, too.
2. You will have early morning workouts. Really early.
3. You will be up while others are sleeping.
4. You will discover a whole...
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Block 5 Recap
I don’t think that I have ever enjoyed a recovery week as much I as have these past 7 days. I usually dread the downtime and severely reduced training that embodies the nature of recovery weeks. However, the three week build that led up to this recovery week was almost more than my body could take. Each week I was breaking into new ground in all three disciplines.
It is hard enough...
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Go Lance Go!
Can’t wait to see how Lance does at his first Ironman70.3! I’m sure he is going to smoke it! It will be interesting to see how he compares to Chris Lieto on the bike portion?
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100 Days
Only 100 days till Ironman Texas….my heart-rate jumps just THINKING about it! So nervous!!!
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Block 5 - Week 3 Recap
This has easily been the most brutal week of my training so far. Obviously, Week 3’s are typically the most difficult because I am finishing up 21 straight days of training with only 2 days of rest, and, Week 3’s contain significantly more miles than either Week 1’s or Week 2’s!
However, this Week 3 is almost at the apex of my training calendar…so all of my long...
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“People can’t understand why a man runs. They don’t see any sport in it, argue...”
– Glenn Cunningham - Maybe the greatest American “Miler” ever…
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More Miles
Swam 2500 meters this morning in 53 minutes, followed by a 9 mile run, averaging 7:40 per mile. That puts me at 8400 meters swimming and 34 miles running for the week! My body is shot! Somehow, I have to find it in me to bike 5hrs 40mins tomorrow morning. Bleh.
In other news, I got some new training nutrition. This stuff goes fast!
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New Run Record
Its official…I am CERTIFIABLE!! I ran 20 miles today…ON A TREADMILL!!! Then swam 1500 meters. This ties my run record. Thank goodness I don’t have anymore long runs for 2 weeks!!
Run Time - 2:48:28
Avg. Speed - 8:25 per mile
Incline - 1%
I would really like to see my average speed drop to 8:15 or 8:00, I’m just not sure that is gonna happen while I train for Ironman....
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My Triathlon History
I’ve had several people ask me how I got started in the world of triathlon, so I thought I would take a few minutes to share a little history. In the fall of 2008 I had a runner friend who invited me to run in a local 10k. I had been running for probably a year, but up until that time it was solely for exercise. I still remember toeing the line at the start of the race, my stomach in knots,...
January 2012
13 posts
14 tags
Block 5 - Week 2 Recap
This was a week full of new milestones. I broke 30 miles running in a single week, and at the same time broke 150 miles biking in a single week. I was hoping to break 8000 meters swimming, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
It’s amazing how different your body can feel from week to week. Last week my long run was 16 miles and my long bike was 90 miles - both workouts were...
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"Planning" vs. "Feeling it out"
There are a lot of theories out there on “how to run” and “how to train properly” for various events. Overall, I think that all the theories can be narrowed down into two particular approaches - “Planning” and “Feeling It Out.”
Planning - a theory that involves creating a plan based upon current fitness levels, and a realistic understanding and...
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Running
Do you ever lay in bed at night thinking about your run the next day? The anticipation and excitement keeps you up? You wonder how your body will perform, you wonder when that second wind is going to kick in, you wonder at what point you are going to hit that “high” that makes each step seem effortless. The thrill of it keeps your brain too active to allow sleep….I’m...
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Block 5 - Week 1 Recap
This week has been a true test of my endurance. I did a 4000 meter swim on Monday, breaking my swim distance record. Wednesday I did a 16 mile run, the longest run of my Ironman training thus far. Lastly, on Saturday I biked on my trainer for 5 hours, or about 90 miles, my longest bike ride to date.
This week has also made me very nervous about the Ironman. How am I going to finish? Better...
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HACKED!!!
So apparently my Tumblr has been hacked! I thought that was only a facebook thing? I just changed my password…hope that solves the problem.
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Block 4 Recap
I’m pretty sure I got more sleep this week than I have in a long time. I slept in till 8:00am every day for 7 straight days! I haven’t done that since high school! With the continual increase in training volume, I know that my body needs more and more rest to compensate for the energy expenditure, so I don’t really feel guilty about it.
My feet are really starting to kill...
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Gotta Love Yoga!
P90X Yoga Day! Hello Tony Horton! I am so ready for your overly and some times obnoxiously chipper attitude!!
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New Swim Record!
As much as I hate rest weeks, I know how important they are to proper training. They say that recovery is the “4th discipline”, and I believe it. I wasn’t very disciplined during my recovery swim today. It was supposed to be a leisurely 2000 meter swim, instead, it turned into a 2000 meter race! There were some other triathletes swimming in the lanes with me, and they pushed...
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Block 4 - Week 3
Well I believe that I am finally back to full strength! I just finished the longest trainer ride of my life - 4.5 hours! I estimate that to be right around 80 miles. I use a fluid hydraulic trainer, and it is extremely hard!! First of all, the resistance is much more than on the open road. A leisurely pace for me on the road is about 18mph, however, on the trainer it’s about 13mph....
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Block 4 - Week's 1 and 2
Well, it seems like I’m back to rebuilding my strength! Sometimes it feels like I’m starting all over again! But, each day I can tell my strength is returning more and more. By the last day of week 2 I would say that my strength was about 70%. Hopefully by the end of week 3 I will be back to 100%.
On the upside, I got a few new toys for Christmas! I got a new aero helmet and a...
December 2011
4 posts
10 tags
Block 3 Recap and other stuff
Well, it has been 27 days since I last posted! Things got really crazy in my life, which prevented me from keeping up with this blog. I’m not really one for excuses, but here are some “reasons” that I haven’t been posting! :) First, I had a med school interview (which went really well by the way), then finals rolled around, and then graduation…lastly, and most...
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Injury Report
Well the injury to the back of my neck, my right levator scapula, is about 95% healed. I still can’t completely rotate my neck without some pain, but it is mostly better. Unfortunately, I have developed a new injury - a pulled muscle in my left scalenes (middle and anterior fibers). This injury is healing much faster, and affects my swimming much less than the old injury, but it is still...
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Block 3 - Week 2 Recap
Maybe I need to make an addendum to the post I made a few days ago. I think I said something about there being no excuses to skip a workout in Ironman training, however, I found a good excuse - Medical School interview! After 10 weeks of training I finally missed a workout, but, I feel like it was a good day to miss. I was still exhausted from my 15 mile run earlier in the week (which I...
November 2011
13 posts
11 tags
No Excuses
Snow covered roads = no excuses…Ironman Training stops for nothing! 1500 meter swim and 15 mile run, here I come!
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Block 3 - Week 1 Recap
After only one week of training in Block 3, I am already feeling the affects of the increased volume. Combining the extra volume with even less sleep and more stress because of finals, results in greater fatigue. Most triathletes are well acquainted with fatigue. It is an old friend that never completely leaves. However, if fatigue is not properly managed, you can start to see its affects...
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“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the...”
– Vince Lombardi
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The Dilemma
I have a chance to go see Ohio State play Michigan at the Big House this weekend! I know that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I am scared that it is going to interfere with my training. I am scheduled for a 4 hour trainer ride on Saturday, and we are going to be spending the majority of the day travelling to and from Detroit, as well as the time spent actually watching the game! Not...
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Bad Morning/Great Workout
It’s amazing how you can wake up in the morning feeling absolutely terrible, and then go to the gym and bust out an amazing workout! I truly don’t understand it. After all three of my alarms went off, I was finally able to drag myself out of bed at 5:30am - 30 minutes later than I had planned. I ate a single piece of wheat bread with a thin slice of peanut-butter on it, to give me...
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“People do not lack strength; they lack will.”
– Victor Hugo
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Block 2 Recap
Well, I am officially done with Block 2 of my Ironman Texas training schedule. Eight weeks in and I haven’t missed a workout! Its kinda sad, but even after eight weeks, I’m still probably not fit enough to finish an Ironman 70.3. It will take another 4 weeks of training before I can say that. My neck injury is still nagging me. I’d say I’m about 75% recovered…but...
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Block 2 - Week 3
Despite injuring my neck, I have still been able to complete every workout on the schedule. There have been times when I have been in considerable pain, but if there is one thing that triathlon teaches you, it is pain management and strength of will (but I guess that’s two things isn’t it?). I take Flexoral and Ibuprofen everyday, and that seems to help. I would say that my neck is...
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Professional Bike Fitting
Since it just wasn’t practical to buy a brand new tri-bike for Ironman Texas, I did the next best thing - I took my bike to Fraser Bicycle in Detroit, and got it converted (as much as possible) into a tri-bike. I have to say that it was quite an experience. The whole process took about 3 hours. The guy dropped my handlebars several inches by removing the spacers under the stem, and...
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“It is only through the taking of risk, that the greatness of reward is truly...”
– Kyle Garlett
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First Injury
I guess I always knew it would happen, I just didn’t know how, and I didn’t know when. I got my first injury today - I pulled a muscle in my neck. My right Levator Scapula muscle, if I’m not mistaken. It hurts to extend, laterally flex, and rotate my head. I don’t know how I’m going to swim tomorrow! I am going to ice it hard-core tonight, and try not to do...
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“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will...”
– Charles Bukowski
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Block 2 - Week 2
Week 2 of this block was a very solid week. I’m starting to think that week 2 will always be the strongest week in each block. I will be nice and warm from week 1, but I wont be as fatigued as I am during week 3. Either way, it was a solid week.
On Friday, I am going to Fraser Bicycle in Detroit to get my body bio-mechanically analyzed, and custom fit to my Specialized Tarmac Elite road...
October 2011
8 posts
8 tags
Block 2 - Week 1
Usually the first week after a rest week is pretty rough for me. I don’t know why, but rest always seems to inhibit my training. However, if I don’t get rest, then I end up over-trained or injured. It is a strange conundrum that I have yet to figure out. Fortunately, this week was not as rough as I had originally anticipated. Once again, I was able to complete each of my scheduled...
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Weight Problems
I don’t understand my body! During the first few weeks of training, I was steadily losing weight. However, over the last several weeks, I have gained back all of the weight I lost, plus a few extra pounds. It doesn’t make sense, especially because I have been putting in more miles running/biking/swimming than I did in those first few weeks…and my diet hasn’t changed.
I...