Blahhhhhh

Ok...the winter BLAHS have really hit me and it's taking all of my creative skills to stay out of the blues. Last week I made 70% of my training BUT I still can't fit all my biking and running in my schedule. By Thursday night's swim class, which is getting better and better, I am totally pooped. So getting up and doing more bike/run and run training is just too much.

I have hit a wall and I am hardly anywhere in my training AND i have 3.5 months before I go to FLORIDA 70.3!

YIKES....

OK...I am at work and thinking this through. I have to go swim today and I am completely freezing. The weather reports are calling for massive snow falls starting tonight and potentially lasting for 2-days.

OMG...what am I doing in this country.

Also, all week I have been reading texts from my friend Howard and eblasts from various sources all from Sundance 2011...and all tell me how absolutely amazing it is/was. I didn't go because of a) training and b) work. WELL...neither one has been particularly positive or rewarding...and now I truly regret now going! At least I would have had some fun!

ALL TRAINING (aka: work) MAKES ME A DULL AND DEPRESSED BOY.

Here's hoping for a shift in business/weather and training results!

It is indeed, all about the BIKE!

OK...I had a spectacular swim class last night. I the one hour in the pool at Glendon, I and the other "beginner" did our training and I finished THE WHOLE 1600 metres in the 1-hour allotted. I feel so proud. I also felt exhausted and exhillarated simultaneously. WOW!

BUT...the big fall-back for me with this great class and even all the progress is: I CAN'T GET UP AND OUT THE DOOR IN THE MORNING TO DO MY BIKE TRAINING ON FRIDAYS!!!!

I am pooped...physically and physiologically. I am just tired and sore. And I don't don't don't have it in me yet to crawl out of bed at 5am and get my ass to a class for 6:30am. ARGH!

This is my next big breakthrough. Keep all the other elements going and do ALL OF MY TRAINING...especially my bike.

Notwithstanding my own emphasis on swimming, my coaches are all stressing biking as the key because that will be the longest and most gruelling of the three sports (although running a half marathon after swimming 2k and biking 90k sounds pretty insane to me too).

And now it's too late in the day with the rest of my schedule 10000% booked up to get out there today. SO...perhaps I just consider today my rest day and do it Saturday or Sunday with the other training I have due!

Hmmmmm....

Losing weight and making progress...

SO...I was at the gym yesterday (like I am almost every single day of my whole and entire life...argh) AND I decided to weigh myself. The professional 'doctor's style' scale says I was 208 lbs! That's down another 4lbs from when last reported and a total of 8lbs since commencing the FOUR HOUR BODY approach to weightloss -- which was ten days ago yesterday. 8lbs in 10-days! NICE!!!!

NOW...I had also promised myself to:

a) take pictures daily
b) take measurements daily
c) take weight readings daily

And frankly none of those things are happening...yet...consistently. Nevertheless, I am clearly making super fast progress on this front.

I am also happy to say that I am getting incrementally closer to doing all of my workouts as they are designed and when they are planned. NOT 100%. For instance, I did do 25-minute easy run on treadmill yesterday instead of 30-minutes (not enough time allowed). And I did 400m instead of the 1000m of swimming from Monday on Wednesday after running. BUT it is progress...

I have swim class tonight - which I am on target for - and I am truly HOPEFUL that I will get up on time and go spin for 90-minutes and then run for 20-minutes after @ 7am Friday!

Stay tuned....

Another day another 2km...

OMG...it's been days since I posted and so much has happened.

Biggest news: Thursday of last week I was feeling guilty for not doing my regularly scheduled swim on the previous Monday. So I had a little spare time in the mid-day and thought: "I will go in for a few minutes and swim...just to get ready for the class tonight."

WELL...famous last words. lol

Needless to say, I went in and swam...but for over 1km...but what's even more exciting was that I did it consecutively and almost without rest or at most, short 10-second rests. 40 lengths almost non-stop and with relative ease!

THIS WAS A TOTAL BREAKTHROUGH for me and my swimming!!!

However, what I didn't think about was that I had a one hour swim class that night with my coach pushing me to do crazy drills and super sets. When I told her that I had swum earlier in the day for 1km...she said "that's great...that means you will have swam for 2km's today..." like it was no big thing. Needless to say, it was a BIG thing and I almost collapsed by the end. lol BUT I MADE IT.

Next day, though, I was pooped. And my arms/shoulders were hurting. I ended up sleeping in and missing my 7am bike spinning class! :(

Then the weekend was a total write-off because of full-day course on Saturday and a cold on Sunday. The cold is still persisting, so I decided against trying to swim yesterday. BUT I am happy to report that I made it in this morning for my 2-hour spin on the computrainer. (My coach also told me that the computrainer is more intense than biking outdoors, so 2-hours is more like 3-hours...that might explain why my butt is still sore!)

:)

Ouch...my butt hurts!

OK...I did it. I did my LONG bike ride this morning. And OMG my butt is killing me. It's been awhile since I've been on a bike for 2-hours...not since last summer when I was doing the Toronto-Montreal bike rally and I would be on the bike (with a couple of breaks) for upwards of six hours! THAT WAS PAINFUL...but this was painful too!!!

BUT...lol...I did it and that's what counts. My lower back is also hurting now...which means I probably have to bump-up my core work to strengthen my back. I need to have all these things (back, butt, thighs, legs, etc.) all functional and free of pain or at least tolerant of it. Thank goodness I still have almost four months to go!

YIKES.

On other notes, I have decided to start logging my food again and to log my measurements (including seven body measurements - chest, mid bicep for left/right arms, waist, thigh and mid thigh for both left/right legs; weight and body fat...the latter two requiring me to go buy a new hi-tech scale). I know the value and importance of tracking statistics and I'm doing that with my workouts...so I need/want to start doing that with my body.

I also just read a huge chunk of Tim Ferriss's new book THE FOUR HOUR BODY with focus on the "losing weight/fat" sections. And he STRESSES the absolute necessity of measurements and tracking. I am sure he does NOT advocate daily measuring...but I want to see and plot out what's going on with my body/weight/fat/measurements/etc. He also advocates (and I agree) that BEFORE and AFTER pictures are a very good idea and motivator...so those are coming up soon. I may post all of this -- if I can face the embarrassment. Stay tuned!

Close but no cigar!

OK...its another day and I don't have any more excuses. I had the day-off yesterday as per my coaching schedule. But I didn't 100% fulfill last week's plan. Close but no cigar!

I got more shit from my coaches too. Reminding me that I am now three (3) months to my training camp and four (4) months to my 1/2 IronMan event in Florida! YIKES.

Okay already. A boy's gotta live too. And I have made some great progress. I would rate my success last week at 85%. I made some kind of exercise/practice every single day allotted. Including an hour's training on Saturday in the endless pool with a hangover! That's gotta count for something.

SO...time to buckle down even more and get to work. Today is swimming for an hour and supposedly muscle/strength training...but I am putting that component on hold for another week at least. I also revisited STRENGTHBOX's website and really like the idea of their morning base classes. I also revisited the MOVNAT website and they have their 2011 course schedule up. And, dammit, they were featured in some big US sports magazine at the end of December, which means they will be more popular than ever...meaning those classes will fill-up soon. SO I've got to sign-up soon and its $1700 + travel! AND...Mr. Robb Wolf is coming to town with a one-day Paleo workshop! Argh...so much to do and so little time/money!

When did getting fit get so expensive?

Progress...not perfection!

OK...I didn't do my full workout yesterday which was 90-minutes on the bike and 20-minutes run! BUT...instead of not doing anything at all...I did squeek in 30-minutes on the bike and 10-run/walk. And...instead of getting all pissed at myself and making myself wrong, I am celebrating the continuity.

The big lesson I am learning as I train for my IronMan career (and specifically FLORIDA 70.3) is that consistency trumps talent...or put another way: persistence pays off. AND suprisingly, that seems to be true in most of the rest of my life too. And the area that I have the most difficulty.

NOW...that said, there is also something to be said about making the right choices. And last night I definitely did not. And this is part of the training that I am learning more often than not by experience the immediate consequences of bad choices. I went out on a date last night. Which in and of itself is fine. I had a lovely time. A great meal. Someone really nice. Had fun. BUT...I drank half a bottle of red wine AND I was up to almost midnight. OMG...that does not work when I have to get up the next day and do a full day's work PLUS run for 50-minutes and take a one hour swim lesson!

So far I am on track with the work portion of my day. And I did make it to my swim coach/training session...which nearly killed me. BUT I do not see how I am going to get in the run both from the perspective of the hang-over/exhaustion I am feeling and how much more work I have to do today.

CRAP...but again, it's live/learn/adjust. Persistence (or said another way PROGRESS) not PERFECTION!!!

Swimming in the winter sucks...

OK...yesterday I was scheduled to go to my 'swim class' with others from the Tri-gym. All day I had been thinking about and worrying about and dreading going. It was cold outside! I am a bad swimmer! I'm not in shape! I was really feeling embarrassed. And not liking any of it. AND to top it all off, the class was way the heck out at some college campus in a rural setting and it was late at night! From 8:30-9:30. Which meant I wouldn't even get home til 10-ish. And lately I've been in bed, asleep by 10pm or earlier! Argh.....

Well...I got my sorry ass there with all my fears, worries, concerns and excuses in tow. And at first it was a total DRAG! But then something strange and wonderful happened.

I was NOT the fattest person in the pool...and nobody gave a shit anyway!
I was NOT the worst swimmer there at all...and again, nobody gave a shit!
One of the women in my "beginners" group (everyone that didn't make it last week...oops) said, "You should be over there in the fast lane." NOT! But it felt good to hear that.

And suddenly I was having FUN! A lot of fun! And yes, I still sucked. Yes, I still am a beginner (in my world, BAD) swimmer. Yes, I am still struggling to just breath and get my rhythm down. BUT I HAD A LOT OF FUN! Whenever our "coach" gave us another exercise or stroke or drill or challenge...I leaped to be first to do it.

When I finally got out of the pool, changed and on my way home...I was SO pumped up with energy that I couldn't sleep when I got home at 10:15pm. I ended up staying up watching the JOAN RIVERS documentary (which was/is amazing...talk about driven and never giving up) til after midnight. Of course, I slept in this morning and missed my 2-hours of biking/running...which I have to go now and make up...but it was FUN and I loved it and I can't wait to get back in the pool....which will be tomorrow with my swim coach for my next stroke analysis/lesson.

WHAT WINTER????


PS: I forgot to take my measurements on Wednesday for my weekly follow-up. I did weigh myself at the gym earlier yesterday and I am still 215lbs. Oh yeah, mid-day yesterday, I was passing the gym I use for swimming (Central Y) and I popped in for 15-minutes of swimming before last night's class...just to brush-up to reduce embarrassment. lol

Run...run...run...

Okay...I'm still on track. In fact, today I ran for forty-minutes on treadmill with the main set being hills. I HATE HILLS. Thank God the Florida 70.3 run portion is flat! :)

It snowed tons last night this morning so I went indoors. I really want to run outdoors as much as possible, but although I am good with winter running...fresh snow is hazardous. Also, finding hills here is not all that easy.

I'm proud and tired! Yesterday I also added an unscheduled swim to my day's plan. I am starting to feel more hopeful again that I can do this.

It is now almost four months til Floriday -- 15th May -- and I cannot goof off any more! Down to business...

Statistics and starting over...

OK...well I had a great swim lesson on Saturday and even I saw/felt like I made some improvement. :) Then Saturday night I had a birthday party to attend and let's just say that I didn't behave. In fact, I kind of blew my whole NYE resolution to stop partying! ARGH. Well I certainly paid for it on Sunday!

By Monday I was mostly recovered and went into my Tri Coaching gym for my 'run lactate test' with one of my coaches. Well the good news is that after 40-minutes of running/testing, my coach determined that I am built for endurance running. And, that my body obviously has some memory and experience with long-distance running. My statistcial line for where/when I produce and clear lactic acid is mostly horizontal. I have to improve my numbers, but it's the right shape/look and gives me some advantage. (An advantage that I don't have with biking.)

He also gave me a friendly lecture about it being time to buckle down and get serious about my training because Florida 70.3 is now ONLY four months away.

YIKES!

So....here I am at 5am in the morning typing my blog and getting ready to go off to a 90-minute computrainer class. Its pitch-dark out and -6 degrees celcius...just when I or anybody else would prefer to be snuggled up under the covers...but then again, the prospect of having to perform a half-Ironman in just four months in incentive enuff to get out of bed and out the door....

Neither sleet nor snow nor...laziness!

OK...well I did make it out yesterday, but only for a 30 minute bike ride on the stationary bike and then a 7 minute run on the treadmill. About 1/3rd of what I was supposed to do according to my coach and training plan. OMG...my leg muscles were so stiff...it hurt just to walk. BUT as always, even though there was muscle and joint pains after, I felt better. One for having done something/anything and two for pushing myself...even if only a third of where I was supposed to be.

Having had that experience yesterday, I would have thought that today I would have a better attitude. But when I woke up and saw the snow falling down in heavier and heavier loads...I secretly prayed that my 12-noon swim coaching session would get cancelled. BUT IT DIDN'T. So I hauled my fat (post holiday) ass up to the training centre and got in the endless pool and for an hour, I ground it out.

Interestingly, in the first third, I kept thinking: "I hate this. I am quitting. I don't like swimming. I am no good. It hurts. I'm lousy...etc." I know...I know...not great self-talk, but I was already in the pool and trying. So I was indulging these self-defeating/self-deprecating inner thoughts. But by the 2nd third and especially by the final third, I started to feel better about myself and my swimming. My breathing -- the one thing I am having the hardest time with -- started (just started) to get better. I started developing a rhythm and cadence to my breathing and eventually my strokes even started to improve. In fact, the more comfortable I got, and the slower/easier I took it and the less I thought about it: the better I got.

And, by the end, I was actually starting to enjoy it and I wasn't even tired! :)

My coach had lots of tips/corrections/suggestions for me...and also several compliments. He felt like I had made amazing progress over the course of our five sessions so far...in particular with my breathing. And I am JUST starting to believe that I might be able to do this.

It's funny...I had been carrying on an inner-self-coaching dialogue since I had started this whole undertaking. I have been telling myself to be patient. That I will improve over time. To not be so self-critical...but it is one thing to think it abstractly and while not working out. But to actually fulfill on it "in the moment" and really carry it through is an altogether different experience and skill. Nonetheless...I am making progress however little and/or slowly.

PROGRESS....NOT PERFECTION!

(Side note: I was also supposed to run at least 50-minutes today and I do not see that happening. Tomorrow is supposed to be my Day Off...but we will see.)

Another day, another snow fall...

I have still not kicked the Holiday routine...er rut. Although I did finally sleep last night and got up at 5am this morning...that's an improvement. Since I am like most people, I imagine that I can do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING...and instantaly and/or all at once. But I can't. I am human. And when it's time for the "rubber to hit the road" or rather my feet to hit the bike pedals or pool water or road (or treadmill)...I often balk...especially at 5am in the morning on a cold and wintery morning.

Last night I was supposed to go swimming. But it had started to snow heavily and I had the feeling of an encroaching cold. All sufficient excuses to make me stay home, watch a stupid movie (with lots of hot bodied swimmers) and go to bed. The only good news is as mentioned above, I slept. My first night all week.

Now, this morning, having successfully gotten up at 5am (although my routine and goal is 4 or 4:30am), I am just not motivated to leave the warmth of my cozy house; slip on biking gear and go join my group of fellow crazy triathletes for 90-minutes of computraining. Since that class starts in five minutes and it's 20+ minutes away...I guess I am not going! :(

SO...now I have to make-up today's biking and yesterday's swim! And my legs are still stiff/sore from my measly 3km run two days ago. ARGH...time for some motivation!

“If we want to do it, we can. The only failure is not to try, because putting forth the effort is success in itself.” - Sister Madonna Buder

Muscle aches and pains...

Ok...I made it out yesterday for my little 3km run and today I am paying for all that time off over the holidays!

OMG....2 weeks ago I was running 7km effortlessly and yesterday I could barely do 3km. In fact, I had to walk for about 500m about 2/3rds into it. YIKES. I cannot afford any more time off training...and with all the weight I am carrying...I have to get back on the diet.

I had been religiously following the PALEO DIET. This has so much to it that makes sense to me. And I am prone towards a more high protein/low carb approach -- although my read on Paleo is that it allows for fruits/veggies -- which some other diets don't as much. Last time on it, I did over indulge in nuts/seeds.

So...onward and downward with the weight....and no more booze. OY. Alcohol is so easy to consume and has so many calories...yet so much of a social life involves food and booze...and I have been very social lately.

TODAY: I have a swim session with a group tonight at 8:30pm -- for one hour. Other than the fact that I'm feeling fat and am a bad swimmer, I am looking forward to it. Also today, Cindy - my coach - has given me a new "core" routine...if I can figure it out.

Another day another km...

So far my journey has been spotty this year...and that's not going to fly for a Florida 70.3 in just 4+ months!

One of the things I am having to deal with is 'inertia' and/or bad habits. It seems I picked-up some bad habits over the holidays. Like sleeping in and skipping workout and, oh yeah, over-eating. How come 'bad' habits are so much easier to acquire than good ones?

The last 2 nights I haven't been able to sleep...and that never happens to me. Not sure why. My friend Gio thinks because I have abruptly stopped partying and returned to a "healthy" lifestyle and my body is fighting back...not used to the lack of toxic activity. :) I love this idea, but I hate insomnia.

SO...having missed yesterday's biking on the computrainer, I am forging ahead and going for a short warm-up 3km run in over an hour. I don't want to overtly punish my too too relaxed muscles. I have learned that when I over do things, I pay for it: muscles stiffen and hurt and/or injuries occur or worse, I miss my next day's routine. Since I am now working out 6-days a week (one day of rest) and some of those days two or even three times...I cannot afford to screw around.

SO...3km warm-up run today...swimming and core exercises tomorrow...biking/running Friday and more running & swimming on Saturday - the latter with my swim coach.

NB: Vital information...I am going to start tracking my stats on a weekly basis:

Today: Wednesday 5th January 2011:

Weight: a hefty 215 lbs (yuck...gained 5lbs over the 2-week holiday)

Chest: 42 inches
Waist: 39 inches (omg)
Buttocks: 43 inches (beat that JLo)
Thighs: 25 inches (left and right)
Calves: 17 inches right / 16.75 inches left
Body fat: haven't checked this lately, but last analysis was approx 20%

Kona 2013

It all started a few months ago. August 2010 to be exact.

I had run a marathon in April that same year in Paris. Then completed a 600km bike rally in July from Toronto to Montreal. And by early August, searching for another athletic accomplishment, I completed my first "tri-tri" -- a mini-triathlon designed to introduce newbies, such as myself, to the world of 'multi-sport' or triathlon.

It took place on one of Toronto's islands in the wee hours of the morning and consisted of a 400m swim followed by a 10km bike ride and ending with a 2.5km run. A far cry from a full triathlon or an Ironman, but nonetheless, it both tired me out and hooked me in...

Shortly after I began randomly searching for more tri-tris, sprints and triathlons in my geographic area. I was fascinated. But it was already fairly late in the season and the opportunities were slim and my skills and abilities were not sufficient to extend too much further. But my research did open up a whole new world to me. A world of extreme sports and endurance. Of crazy people pitting themselves against grueling odds and conditions. And something in me was inspired and instantly addicted. Something clicked inside. I felt like I had found my tribe.

Within weeks I had signed-up with a triathlon coach and gym; registered for my first major event: Florida's Half Ironman (http://floridahalfironman.com) on 15th May 2011; started biking, swimming, running every week; bought my first triathlon bike (worth $6,000); hired a swimming coach and generally jumped into an insane and exciting world of obsessive, type A athletes of all shapes, ages and sizes committed to pushing themselves to their personal max.

This blog is a record of my crazy journey to Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona in 2013 -- "the" ultimate IRON MAN event in the world...and all of my trials and tribulations, failures and successes as well as some of the great people I've met and hope to meet in the days, weeks and years to come.