The importance of goal setting...reminder

Two weeks ago I began a "Train just to Train" phase of training in which my goal is to continue to rehab my achilles tendon while maintaining base fitness in preparation of November 1 when I will begin the real training in preparation for the 2011 season. Over these two weeks I experienced first hand why it is important to set goals in training. Two weeks ago I hoped to begin this phase of training but I did not set any specific goals for the week. The result was not good. I rode my bike once, lifted weights twice, and did no other training except for my PT exercises six times. Nearly every day something came up and training took a back seat. I know this is probably the case for many athletes out there but this is not how I have operated over the past year and a half. Over that time training has never taken a back seat. When things came up that interfered with training I always had a plan to fit the training in. Jen and I communicate early in the week what days may be busy and I plan the schedule around those. By not setting any goals I set myself up for a bad week of training. I kept pushing it off the schedule and the result was basically another week off. I knew I could not continue to do that if I want to gain some fitness during these weeks so this week I set some very modest goals...swim two times, bike 100 miles, lift three times...etc. The result was much better. By having those goals I made sure I got on the bike 5 days riding a total of 120 miles. I also swam three times, lifted three times, and did my PT regiment 6 times. The PT exercises are going really well. I'm doing single leg hops with the leg I had my surgery on. I'm also doing some plyometric hops off of stairs. I was allowed to run 10 minutes last night and it was my best run since March before I started having problems. I kept waiting to feel some pain in the tendon but it never came! I was super excited about this progress. The plan is to run 10 minutes every other day this week not so much to gain fitness but to get my achilles ready to slowly increase the running in hopes it is ready to go 100% by November 1. Setting goals ahead of time forced me to make a training plan so I could fit all the workouts in. Jen and I went to Rockford, IL for the weekend spending some time at a water park. I brought the bike with and got a ride in while we were there. Without the goal of riding five times I think I would have left the bike at home. I rode 43 miles on Sunday at 22 mph average. I hadn't ridden that far in 4 weeks. It felt great to be back out for a semi-long ride. My goals for this week are similar to last week but I hope to swim 3 times instead of two. I had a great massage from Laurel Darren on Thursday and my swim afterwards felt awesome. I always feel really smooth in the water after a massage. If you are winding down your season or getting ready for the next remember the importance of setting goals for yourself. Hold yourself accountable for hitting those goals. Thanks for reading. DREAM BIG!

Super Mom, Super Weekend

I've been on a break from training for the past 2 weeks. What I've taken for a break my wife Jen has made up for with her own performances. Jen decided to do the "Triple Crown" this weekend. We started things off by driving to Camanche, Iowa where she would run a 5k on Friday night. She won the race, running 18:30 and picked up another $100.00 check for her efforts. On Saturday morning she entered our hometown race, the legendary Le Claire Tug Run. Jen didn't expect a lot of competition at this race and said she would use it to "recover" for her last race on Sunday. She won the Tug Run by almost 3 minutes in just over 19:00. She was actually 3rd overall including the males. On Sunday we teamed up in the Du State Duathlon for her last race of the "Triple Crown". Jen would run 2 miles, I would bike 15 and then Jen would run another 2 miles. This was a race Jen signed up for as a relay long ago thinking I would be competing as an individual. I had won the race the past two years. This past week I said I would be her teammate if Laurel Darren, her registered teammate was able to find another good runner. Laurel did just that allowing Jen and I to team up together. Jen came in off the first run in 5th place and I put the chip on and headed to my bike. Uh-oh, I hadn't even bothered to check where I racked my bike. I was lost in transition in one of the smallest races I've ever done. That is a good reminder to always check the placement of my bike by counting racks. We were taking turns watching the kids while the other competed and I didn't do anything for a warm-up. This would be my first workout in 2 weeks and I knew it was going to hurt. I also knew it would be fun being on a team with Super Mom. Once I located the bike I got on the road and started pedaling hard. By about 2.5 miles I was in the lead and my legs were on fire reminding me they didn't like racing after sitting around doing nothing for 2 weeks. This race is the toughest bike course I've ever raced on with 4 really big climbs. I typically climb very well but I wasn't on this day. I was able to open up a pretty big gap with the fastest bike split of the race by nearly 3 minutes. I was about 20 seconds slower than last year. This was actually a pretty big confidence booster for me. Last year I was as fit as I'd ever been and this year I felt as un-fit as I've been in quite some time. To be only 20 seconds slower was a good reminder of how much I've benefitted from time in the weight room. That is the only consistency I've had in my training through this injury. Jen finished off the run with the 3rd fastest split on the second 2 miles and we would win the relay competition completing her 3rd win of the weekend. We took this silly picture in our sweet Du State Du hats after the race. It was a lot of fun watching so many locals compete in this event. Congratulations to Judd Allbaugh on his overall win in the individual race. I've crossed paths with Judd out on the bike quite a few times this year and I know he has worked really hard. Also congratulations to Team Tri-Fit member Luke Cooley for his runner-up finish. He has improved a ton over the past year. Finally it was really cool watching one of my 8th grade students, David Zimmer finish 12th overall. David has a really bright future in the sport if he continues to work really hard. Most kids in my class couldn't run 2 miles, let alone do it twice with a tough 15 mile bike ride sandwiched between the 2 runs. His first run ranked 4th and his second one ranked 12th. I was really excited to see him compete so well. Congrats to all the finishers who did this event.

Today I began a new phase of training that I'm not really used to. It's too early for me to begin hammering away when my next race isn't until May 7th but I also can't keep sitting around doing nothing so I'm beginning a "train just to train" phase in which I'll try to gain some general fitness without putting in big hours. I'm going to start with 10 workouts this week (2 swims, 5 bikes, and 3 lifts). I'll add 1 swim to that in the coming weeks so I'm swimming 3x a week. My plan is to start the real training on November 1 when I hope to be at 17 workouts a week. My achilles is feeling better but is still slow healing. I've begun to do some impact exercises that should get me closer to being able to handle the impact of running. Ironman St. George remains the goal. Congrats to Jen on her 3 awesome runs this weekend (4 if you count both in the Duathlon). She's had an outstanding summer and has now won about 10 races. She's awesome and I'm lucky to have her support. She's constantly told me she would give me one of her good achilles if she could and I believe her. Finally, I never posted pictures of Payton running the Junior Bix a few weeks ago. Last year when she was 1 she finished last in her heat and got beat by some kids in the next heat as they were yelling at me to get her off the course. This year she trained up and down the hallways and ran loops around our island in the kitchen proclaming, "I train for Jr. Bix!". From the pictures you can see the results were nearly identical to last year. We're still proud of her for putting in the effort to prepare. Dream Big!

Suffering...Closing the Chapter on 2010

In a recent interview with pro triathlete Andrew Starykowicz he asked me to define "suffering". It as something I had to think about to come up with a definition. It seems pretty easy to know when you are suffering through a workout or a race. You get to that point when it becomes very difficult and the body begins to really hurt. It's much harder to define. Some days in training my goal for the workout includes suffering a bit. This is mostly the case when I do interval workouts. I intend to suffer for the last bit of the intervals and then recover on the easy periods before putting my body into suffer mode again and again. Suffering is never in the plans for a long ride. Sunday I had my own experience with suffering and it didn't take me long to know it was happening. I'll back up a bit. On Monday I began the week with a goal of getting a lot of miles in on the bike. I didn't put a specific number on it but I was thinking 400 for the week perhaps. I decided after my achilles hurt during a workout last week forcing me to run the 2 mile Quick Bix instead of the regular 7 mile as planned that I was going to stop running for awhile. This would give me more time to ride and swim. Monday was a good 50 mile ride and then Tuesday morning was 40 more. My plan was to get a 30 mile interval workout in Tuesday evening. I picked Payton up from daycare before noon and took her to Happy Joe's Lunch buffet in Le Claire and within an hour of eating my stomach was not happy with my decision. Not only was my stomach going crazy but I had a bad headache, body aches, and I was super tired. No more workouts...I suspected food poisoning for the 2nd time this year. Wednesday was awful. I slept 12 hours and felt terrible. I was totally wiped. Thursday morning was more of the same so I went to the doctor and had the food poisoning confirmed. He said it would hopefully run its' course in 48-72 hours. He was correct as I began to feel better on Thursday night. I decided I would resume training on Friday. I swam and biked 40 miles Friday and just felt pretty weak but my stomach seemed much better. Back to my Sunday ride...I left the house at 6:00 a.m. hoping to get in an 80 mile ride with 3 hours in the middle of alternating 10 minutes easy followed by 10 minutes at tempo effort. I did this for 2 hours in a 60 mile ride last Sunday and loved the workout. I began the 3 hours of alternating efforts 6 miles into the ride and I felt decent. At mile 20 I knew it was time to begin refueling with fluids and my Ironman Brew. My stomach did not like this at all. It was like I was filling it up but it wasn't digesting and my stomach grew fuller and fuller. I began dry-heaving with each drink so I stopped drinking. It was super humid as evidence of the huge fog patches I was riding through scared that cars wouldn't be able to see me. Right about mile 50 I felt the suffering setting in. My power numbers on the tempo periods were falling fast and I knew the lack of calories from not drinking was starting to catch up with me. I abandoned the tempo segments and just started focusing on finishing the ride without having to make a phone call for Jen to pick me up in DeWitt, IA. I was sweating so much I knew I needed to drink so I did...and it came right back up. There's nothing like puking on the bike while traveling along at 20 mph. I knew this wasn't good. I also knew it was a sign to put an end to this disastrous 2010 campaign. I was in full suffer mode and I just took one pedal after another until the ride was over. I didn't feel like eating for about 5 hours after the ride.

After the Bix last weekend I ran into local triathlete Derek Radosevich who is preparing for Ironman Wisconsin next month. Derek gave me the lecture that I badly needed to hear about letting my body heal. He reminded me that I only have 1 more year on my pro license and I'll never get to race professionally or realize my potential if I don't heal my tendon now. He was 100% correct. The more I thought about it the more I knew what that meant. I have to take a break now and see if my tendon will get to 100% so I can begin training how I need to if I want to make a pro podium next year. If I wait to take my break I may delay the long break it will need and that could disrupt my training and racing next year. My hope is that I have no trace of an injury by November 1 so I can begin to rebuild my running mileage up towards 65 miles a week in preparation for Ironman St. George which is in Utah on May 7th. So with that I'm putting a close on this disastrous year that started out so promising until mid-March. It's tough to accept how difficult this year has been for me but I know it will make next year all the more enjoyable if my tendon ever heals to 100%. I trust that God has a plan for me and there is a reason for keeping me on the sidelines this year. For now I'm thinking about St. George every day. It will be my 1st professional race, my first Ironman, my first marathon, and I'm also dreaming it will be my first appearance on a podium in a pro race. Although the 2010 chapter is finished this journey is far from over. I have to give lots of thanks to Jen for hanging with me through the tough days this injury has brought me. She always has a great way of putting things in perspective for me. I'm blessed to have a great family and a fun job teaching kids.I'm looking forward to meeting the new 8th grade crew next week as we begin another school year. Watching Payton grow up is a blast and Owen is just getting to the age where he responds to so much. You can see there is a lot going on in his little mind. I recently asked Payton what her dad does for a job and you can find her response in this video I shot on my new i-pod nano. I never wanted something as high tech as the nano but sweating through workouts lead to the failure of my last 5 i-pod shuffles. Thankfully I had the Geek Squad protection plan and they gave me free ones each time the shuffle malfunctioned. After the 5th one was destroyed I decided to upgrade to the nano since the nice salesperson informed me they have a protective case that is sweat proof. Hopefully the sound turns out okay since this is all new to me. He sure smiles a ton and still awakens me from my sleep with his bellowing "Young Warrior" cries often. I also have to thank the sponsors that have stuck with me through this injury. It means a lot to me that they haven't given up on my abilities to handle adversity and come out of this stronger than ever. "The road to greatness is never flat." Thanks for reading. DREAM BIG!

Door County Sprint Triathlon Race Report and results

On Friday morning I headed to Door County, Wisconsin for my first race since having surgery on April 27th. This race would be a test of where my fitness is currently at after three solid weeks of training. Jen and I decided a couple weeks ago we didn't want to take the entire family because it is nearly a seven hour drive and with 2 young kids that would be rough. I booked a hotel in Green Bay, which I thought was an hour from the race site. It was about 80 dollars a night cheaper than staying in Door County and with an 8:00 a.m. race time start I don't mind driving an hour the morning of a race. After arriving on Friday I checked out the only cool place I know of in Green Bay, Lambeau Field. Although I'm not a Packers fan it was cool to see their stadium. The town of Green Bay isn't very big. It was like driving through Davenport and then BANG...out of nowhere is this gigantic staidum.
My wake up call came at 4:15 this morning. I was hoping to eat a small breakfast and head out between 4:45 and 5:00, arriving at the race course around 6. I was not familiar with the course since I have never done this race and I still needed to pick up my race packet and take care of the million logistical things that need to be taken care of at a triathlon as well as getting in a really good warm up since a sprint race requires the body to be prepared to go fast from the beginning. The race was sold out with 1,000 entrants. After breakfast and packing the car I revved up the Corolla engine at exactly 5:00. I turned on the GPS since I had no idea how to get to the race site and my mouth dropped when I saw the estimated travel time at 2 hrs. 3 minutes!! That would put me there less than an hour before the race without a packet. I was in full panic mode as I followed the directions to the on ramp of the highway. Oh crap...the ramp was closed! The GPS did not comprehend that and the nice female voice kept telling me to "turn around when possible." I was really freaking out now. My estimated arrival time was now up to 7:15. I started thinking I may miss this race not knowing if they closed packet pickup at 7:00 or not. About 10 minutes later I found an alternative way to the highway and I started putting the pedal down, drafting behind every fast car that passed me. I watched the estimated arrival time begin to drop and realized the old GPS unit we have thought this 4 lane highway I was cruising on was only 2 lanes with a much slower speed limit than it actually was. I could tell the road was pretty new and thankfully the drive was MUCH quicker than my old GPS friend told me. I arrived in plenty of time at 6:20. It was quick to get my packet, rack my bike, change into my jersey and begin the warmup.
SWIM: I began the race in the elite wave and it was quite crowded since they let anyone who wanted race in that wave. There were about 60 of us on the start line. I walked my way up front so I wouldn't have to swim over people. The swim was only 450 yards but it would prove to be a unique challenge to me. The wind was blowing pretty hard into the shore of Green Bay and it created much bigger waves than I've ever swam in before during a triathlon. You could feel the waves pulling your body in and out with the tide. It also made it much more difficult to see up front. When the horn sounded I started swimming hard. I wanted to get out of the mess that big wave starts can be with people kicking and paddling all over each other. The first bouey was going to be toughest to get to because we were swimming directly into the waves. I saw one guy out to a big lead early and knew that must be defending champ Mark Hauser who is an outstanding swimmer. I was hoping to keep his gap to around 1 minute through the swim. After Mark I was with the chase pack. I was trying to get a draft but couldn't see anyone around me. Just before we went around the first bouey I turned to breath and got a huge mouth full of water due to the wave timing my breath to perfection. For the first time I can remember I panicked in the open water a bit. I reminded myself to calm down and get a few good breaths and started swimming steady again. After making the turn back towards shore the waves were less of an issue and I could see one guy about 10 yards ahead of me. I wanted to try to put in a surge and get on his feet to draft. I worked hard for a couple minutes and caught him but I was shot. I realized I had been pulling about 4 guys behind me and in the last 100 yards they all went by me. By my best guess I was 7th out of the water in my wave which was a great swim for me. The results haven't been posted on the website so I'm not sure what my overall swim ranking was but I felt good about it when scanning the top times after the race. I think I was just over 6 minutes. Mark Hauser was about 1:05 ahead of me through the swim. I had a great transition and was the 4th guy out on the bike.
BIKE: I knew from my 4 mile warm up ride that the bike ride would be really fast. The wind off the lake was pretty well blocked by trees the entire way and the road was nearly dead flat and it was out and back with the only turn being at the turnaround. It was an 18 mile ride with the turnaround 1/2 way into that. I started putting power into the pedals early on hoping to bring the top 3 guys back to me. At one point I could faintly see the lead car. At about mile 4 I passed a guy to move into 3rd place. I could see 2nd but not 1st. 2nd was riding really tough and I was not gaining at all. The gap stayed pretty even until about mile 6 when I decided I needed to move up the effort and really work as hard as I could to pull him back. I kept telling myself if I can pull him back I'll sit 10 meters back and recover with the slight draft you get at that distance. The legal draft distance is 7 meters and I do not race inside that but beyond that is not only legal but smart because there is still a slight benefit. I caught him just before the turnaround at mile 9 and I sat back 10-15 meters. It wasn't as much of a recovery as I hoped as he kept the pace really high. At one point he slowed down and I passed him and he rode behind me for about 2 miles. He also stayed well out of the draft zone. He went back by me around mile 14 and I was content to sit back and let him have the lead into T2. We were slowly pulling back multi-time defending champ Mark Hauser. We entered the transition area nearly dead even. Mark's lead was down to about 7 seconds on us and I felt good about my chances on the run. When I saw the results after the race I found out I had the fastest bike split and my computer had my average speed at 26.3 mph which would be the fastest I've ever ridden a course. I rode the Zipp 1080 front wheel and the Zipp Sub-9 disc on the rear. The combination proved to ride extremely smooth and fast. I can really tell a huge difference at high speeds when it feels like the bike has a motor on it. I'm glad to be rolling on Zipps!
Transition 2: I typically don't make a seperate section for transitions but this is where things began to fall apart for me. Immediately after getting off the bike I got 2 GIGANTIC simultaneous cramps in both hamstrings. I hobbled to my rack and put my bike up knowing this was not going to be good unless the cramps went away quickly. I bent over to get my shoes and I got another huge cramp in my lower ab muscle...oh crap. I quickly stood up tall and leaned back to get that cramp to subside. I slowly bent back over praying it would not return. It did not and I got my shoes on but my hamstrings were still really angry with me. I began to shuffle like a 90 year old who was missing his walker towards the transition exit but I was in major pain. I thought about the time I had hamstring cramps in my first ever olympic distance race and Jen was outside transition yelling at me to quit being a baby. I knew from that experience I had to keep going in hopes they would go away. I finally got out of Transition 2 and onto the run but damage in the race had begun in what is now my worst transition ever.
RUN: After hobbling onto the run course I began to think I may not be able to finish. My legs were screaming at me to stop. I was determined to finish even if it meant crawling along at this 20:00/mile pace. My good friend Stephan Marsh who is doing the 1/2 Ironman tomorrow was watching and he asked me if I was okay. He was worried about my achilles tendon but that was not my concern at the moment. I stopped and stretched my hamstrings. It was the only thing I could think might make things better. After stretching them I began shuffling along and it didn't take more than a few tenths of a mile before the cramps started subsiding and I began feeling like a runner. By 1/2 mile in my cramps were totally gone and my legs felt good. It's amazing how quickly you can turn around something like that. Along with the cramps being gone were also the chances of winning the race. I looked up once I started getting into a running rhythm and I was at least a minute behind the top two guys, probably more like a 1:30. I had on the GPS watch and I was able to run about 5:55 pace the rest of the way. I finished 3rd overall which I feel pretty good about. If not for the cramping I would have had a chance for a great running battle with those guys and it would have been fun. I can't say I would have won but it certainly would have been fun to have the chance to race with them. Complete results with splits can be found at http://www.itiming.com/raceresults/641-dct-sprint-div10.pdf Fellow Team Tri-Fit member Jason Gravert had his best race ever and I was really excited for him. After arriving back in Green Bay I treated myself with my favorite post-race treat...the Dairy Queen hot fudge/peanut butter sundae! Tomorrow morning I'm headed back to Door County to do the swim and bike portions of the 1/2 Ironman Race. I debated afterwards about just going to watch Stephan but I need the training and experience. I am undecided how much, if any, of the run I'm going to do. It depends a little on how my achilles feels in the morning. It was very minimal discomfort today and never got worse. If I do some of the run I have no plans of running the entire 13.1 miles. I wouldn't mind getting my weekly long run in which is supposed to be 7 miles this week. The comeback has begun...Thanks for reading! DREAM BIG!

Feeling Fitter...week 2 of the Comeback

I really started feeling a difference in my fitness this week. I began the week with a day off on Monday after driving home from the wedding last weekend. After enjoying the day of rest with the family Monday I got going pretty well the rest of the week. I put in 4+ hour training days on Tuesday and Wednesday and was feeling pretty tired after a track workout and 50 mile ride on Thursday. Friday I was rejuvenated with a great massage from Laurel Darren. It was amazing how great I felt through nearly 10 hours of training over the weekend after getting the massage. It helped me to recover and get ready for the big weekend of training. Laurel is running an awesome special on 3 one hour massages...$100.00 gets you all 3. You won't find a better deal for 3 great massages and you'll feel awesome after each one. Contact Laurel at 309-230-2484 to book the appointments. I also paid a visit to Dr. Kaminski at Kaminski Pain and Performance Care on Friday because my lower back was pretty sore and he got that fixed immediately. It wasn't an issue all weekend. For the week totals I biked 290 miles, ran 24 miles, and swam 5 days for a total of 16,200 yards. I also lifted weights and did lunges, strides, and push-ups 3 times, core work 7 times, and speed drills twice. My total training time was 26 hours. When I got home from my ride yesterday Jen looked at me and said, "I can tell you are losing weight. Are you feeling fitter?" My answer was a definite YES! I had just been thinking minutes earlier on the bike how I was feeling in so much better shape than even a week ago. It is one more reason to stay consistent through the early struggles that beginning training will certainly bring. When I got on the scale this morning it read 162, down 5 lbs. from last week and down 11 in my first two weeks of training. That puts me at about the same weight I raced a year ago. I had a couple great running workouts this week. I went to the track on Thursday morning to run 4x 800 meters with 90 seconds rest between each. I was targeting a time of 2:45 (5:30/mile pace). I went 2:43, 2:44, 2:39, and 2:33. On Saturday morning I got my longest ride since the comeback of 72 miles and then went straight to the pool for a swim. That night I ran the 4 mile Moonlight Chase in Eldridge with Jen and we went 24:09 (6:02 pace). The pace didn't feel nearly as tough as I expected and Jen tied for 2nd place overall against a tough field. It was fun getting to run with her for the first time in many months. My legs did not feel like I had ridden 72 miles earlier in the day and I know that is a sign that my fitness is coming back when I start recovering that well. My achilles was a little sore afterwards so I didn't run on Sunday. I did a couple 5k (3.1 mile) time trials on the bike Friday night on a road I've done them on before. Last year I did 4 of them with an average time of 7:10. My best time ever through the course had been 6:50. Friday night I did the first one in 6:22 (29.2 mph average). I was pretty excited about that because the wind was only 5 mph at my back. The time I've spent in the weight room has no doubt helped my cycling ability. I do realize however that 5k is not a very long ride and I have a long way to go before I'm where I need to be over the 56 mile 1/2 Ironman bike distance. Next weekend I'm going to test my fitness in a sprint triathlon in Door County, Wisconsin. I signed up for both the sprint on Saturday and the 1/2 Ironman on Sunday not knowing if I'd be ready for a 1/2 Ironman yet. I'll debut the Superman Cape on Saturday in the sprint and then recover as best as possible to do the swim and bike leg of the 1/2 Ironman on Sunday. I'm certainly not ready to run 13.1 miles yet so the run leg is out of the question. I'll use the swim and bike legs as great training and necessary experience. I'll try to post a race report from the sprint on Saturday evening from the hotel. We used to have our cross country runners do an intrasquad meet after 3 weeks of training when I was coaching. I'm using this Door County race to test where my fitness is at the end of my first 3 weeks of training. Thanks for reading. DREAM BIG!

Week 1 of the Comeback...Progress Made

This past week was a fantastic week of training for me. It was my best week in nearly 4 months since the injury to my achilles tendon began. I was able to run nearly pain free every day. My plan was to take a day off running if I ever woke up more sore than the day before but that never happened. It almost feels like getting back into running now is helping to loosen things up and I have had very little discomfort. It actually feels best after running about a mile. For the week my total training time was 22.5 hours. I ran 20 miles, biked 231 miles, and swam 5 times for a total of 14,100 yards. In addition to those I also lifted weights, did lunges, and speed drills and strides all three times. Even doing strides at 90% of my top speed does not hurt at all. I also did core work 11 times. My long bike ride for the week was a 61 mile ride on Saturday morning and my long run for the week was 4.5 miles on Saturday evening. I hope to build on those distances in the coming weeks. On Thursday I went to the track for a short interval session. I did 6x 400 meters with 60 seconds of rest between each one. My times were 80, 79, 79, 77, 77, 73. It felt great to be on the track. I plan to carefully add 1/2 mile each week to my total interval distance. This week's workout will be 4x 800 meters at a target time of 2:45 with 90 seconds rest between each. 2:45 is 5:30 mile pace. Although this is much slower than I was running pre-injury I'm very pleased with the progress it is making. Beginning a fitness journey is never easy. If anyone may be reading this that is just getting started it may be helpful for you to know that nearly every workout I did this week was tough. I feel heavy running, my legs are sluggish biking, and I feel like a whale in the pool. I know that it takes my body about 10 days of consistent training before I begin to feel the benefits. Be consistent and stick with it knowing that it won't be long before you are feeling much better during the workouts. The first couple weeks are always the toughest. If you aren't working out everyday then it will take more than 10 days but not much more if you are keeping it pretty regular. There were many times I wanted to climb out of the pool because I was so tired and I felt like getting some rest would help me feel better the next day. That may have worked but I kept telling myself to take my lumps now so I would feel better on a regular basis within 2 weeks. The other thing that will help me speed up how quick I get in shape is to begin adding interval training into my bike workouts. It will no doubt hurt bad the first few times but I get in shape pretty quickly when I begin doing intervals on the bike. I'm beginning to climb slowly back up the mountain. I need to start seeing the long-term picture of competing at a high level again next summer and use this summer to enjoy building my fitness back up. Along the way if I continue to feel good I may enter into some small races just to help gain race fitness back. I'm praying that the toughest days are behind me. On a very positive note I weighed in at the end of the week at 167 lbs. which is still not my ideal fighting weight but it was 6 lbs. less than last week. I hope to cut a few more this week. It was great spending time with the family and friends on the 4th of July weekend at a wedding near Chicago. Payton did a great job as the flower girl. On the way home I gave Payton some markers to color with and then made the mistake of falling asleep next to her. This picture is what I found when I woke up...ooops! It was also really fun watching mommy win the Firecracker 10k in East Moline on Sunday morning. She's running really tough and I don't think I could hang with her right now. Thanks for reading. DREAM BIG!

The long road back

I can only imagine how awesome the feeling of standing atop Mt. Everest must be. To be higher than anywhere on this planet must be pretty amazing. I also know that the view from the bottom before beginning the climb must be pretty damn intimidating. To be able to look up and not even see the top hidden up somewhere in the clouds must be a bit overwhelming to people who aspire to climb this mountain. It's a little how I feel now as I begin training again this week. The summit of my journey is so far away it's a little hard to even think of the top right now. In March I was getting close but now I'm starting from the bottom again with hopes of getting back there. I don't consider this a continuation from where I was because I'm so far away from that now. What's done is done and there is nothing I can do over. I have to begin where I'm at, and it starts with accepting where I'm at. I got on the scale today for the first time in 4 weeks and I was 173 lbs. I'll try to put that in perspective with a little history because the purpose of this blog is to inspire people to do things in their life they didn't think were possible. Now I'm right there with many of you starting this journey once again. If you are debating about beginning a journey towards a goal that looks unreachable for yourself I would love to have you begin that journey now with me as I begin mine once again. About 2 and a half years ago I weighed in at an all-time high of 202 lbs. That summer I began training at 196. I whittled my way do to 175 by the end of the summer. That was the point I decided to quit coaching and try to dovote myself to the sport of triathlon. When I began the journey of triathlon on November 3, 2008 I weighed 182. I got down to 164 last summer for my race weight. After taking 2 weeks off at the end of the season I began this year at 168. On March 1st I weighed in at 153 just before this achilles injury flared up. Running was so much easier at 153 than it was even at the 164 I raced at a year ago. Now nearly 4 months has passed since I've been able to run and I've gained 20 lbs. It is here I will begin my journey of climbing this tall mountain. It won't be easy. I need to take it one step at a time and make progress up this thing little by little. I have to stay focused with training which has never been tough but perhaps even more importantly I have to stay focused with what I'm eating which has always been tough for me. If I can do that I'll climb the mountain much faster this time than last. I've been near the top once and it's always easier to get back there the 2nd time. If you're beginning your own journey have faith in your progress. Keep the end in mind but more importantly see each day as a chance to get closer to the end. I'm excited to be back on the bike, back in the pool, and most of all, putting one foot in front of the other as I ease back into running. Thanks for reading! DREAM BIG!