Ouch

Holy Moly! The run wasnt the greatest this morning as I felt like I had a hangover. Goad, I only had 4 beers last night. I got the distance in.

Movie: Mission Impossible II : A bit slow in the first half with not too much action.

No swim as Im off to bed early. Not well at all. Ill move the swim till tomorrow.

Awesome!

One of my Sons favourite words is awesome. That describes my ride. The high today was 80 and I got out while it was 60. T-Shirt and Shorts, Marvellous. I cycled 16 miles faster than I have all year and it was very enjoyable. I think my all weather jacket restricts my breathing a bit and acts like a sail slowing me down. Excellent training aid then!

4 beers at 5 with a friend and then soccer at 9.20. The soccer went ok but I felt ill all night after the beer. Time to cut back.

Knee seemed fine.

Rest week, Yay!

OK so the mood today is tired, really tired. I had to work late last night, till 1am. It really upset my training, this work thing is getting out of control.

Run: 2.5 Miles went well but was hard. I ran at a 12 minute mile pace to rest. Movie was Mission impossible, good move. A bit slow on the action.

My knee was a bit off today. That's the first time in a week!

My mood after the run was bad. I felt down and tired. This is a symptom of over training so I skipped swimming tonight and went to bed early.

Busy Day

Today started with a bike ride in temps of 25F (-3C). So the wind chill was a wee bit chilly. The bike went well and I was on a tight schedule as I had soccer at 11am. It was a pitty I couldn't cycle later as it was a beautiful day. One cool thing was a guy in an Audi was checking out my bike! One not so cool thing was the idiot who overtook me at a corner while I was doing 22 and slammed his break on to a halt. That one was fun.

Soccer was a bit like a brick workout. Running for the first 15 minutes was mad. The legs just wouldn't work properly.

Then it was off to Great American Beer Fest meeting. What a busy day.

3mile Run - 1 Mile Swim woo hoo!

Hooray! 3 miles! Run went well as I still had steam in the tank at the end. I walked another mile too for the whole cardio, cardio, cardio philosophy. I had bad news this morning from my Sister. I'm hoping all will work out. I also got hit with the news that I wasn't given all the information on another thing from my past. This put me on a downer and it probably took me an extra hour to get on the run. Recognising my mood was probably the reason I could run the 3 miles.

2 swims in 1 day. I took the kids swimming where David was able to ride all the slides as he can now swim well enough.

My swim went well. I was very tired at the start but I got it in. 72 lengths! Now that would be 1 miles. That's great news. Then I went home and collapsed on the couch.

On an up the house in Dunoon may be sold. S can get her house, W & S can have a baby in peace.

Crap news at work

Well work took a tumble for the worse today. Another 7 days unpaid leave! Now I understand this is to try and keep jobs then why are they laying off 5,000 people. Oh that's right we bought a company and hired on 5,000 people so we now have to lay off 5,000 other people. I would also have saved the money I am paying for buying vacation this year. Sometimes the leadership team are a bunch of arses.

Anyway the cycle went well. Still at a slower pace than I would like but, hey, early days yet. Most of the paths were clear. They actually snow ploughed them. Thank you Westminster council. On the way back I was a bit tired and ended up on a gravel trail I didn't mean to go on. That took cycle cross to a new level!

It was good to get out and the gamble with swapping rest day payed off. It snowed about an hour after I finished. Perfect timing!

Netflix

Well its my dayoff. It snowed yesterday and Im gambling on the snow melting enough that I can cycle outdoors tomorrow. The trainer in the basement is a torture machine.

So I have bee running on the treadmill a lot and will continue with that for quite a while due to my weight. As the distance goes up it get increasingly more boring. So Netflix is my friend. I started this a few years ago, I like movies and instead of sitting on the couch I can run and watch them. It works really well. So from time to time you will see Movies reviewed. Its amazing which movies are action packed and which arent. You need a steady stream of action to stay in the mood for running. So thats the plan we will see how it goes.

Snow Day!

Its a snow day. Everyone gets the day off work except me. That's the bummer about being able to work from home. So its running in the basement and swimming in the gym for me.

I blew my planned times for training as I had an unexpected docs appt. So I got the run in late today. It went astonishingly well. Ran 11 minute mile and then a 12 minute mile with the last quarter being a 11 minute pace. I decided to keep the pace going to 24 minutes so I run an extra 200 meters! Woo hoo! Then walked a bit up hill with average heart rate.

To say I'm a bit freaked out my the IM would be an understatement. Today I remembered a walk I did at 10 years old where I completely ran out of steam. No one waited and they were getting the search party ready. I hope to avoid that this time!

Movie for the run today: Aeon Flux.
Enough action so helped out. More on Movies on my day off.

I got the swim in. 60 laps. Boy was it hard, the gym was a zoo. I couldn't get a locker the gym was so busy. Of course the Pool was empty, apart from the usual people on the phone or people just hanging out. A wee bit tired now.

Going well

Hooray finally! The BP is down a bit, the at rest heart rate is down and I lost 2 pounds! Life is grand.

I checked out the weather this morning and it said rain in the morning and snow in the afternoon. Obviously they got the timing wrong and I could have got my cycle in this morning. So its off to the trainer again. I got ten miles in and a lot of pain. So I stopped. Indoor cycling sucks. No Beer today and no Soccer. The game got called as the storm hit at 4:30 and it was a good one. Hopefully it will melt by Thursday.

1st "Push Week"

So the run went well. I managed to get in 2 miles half at 11 minute miles and half at the bummer pace of 12 minute miles. I learned never to trust Anakin Skywalker either. Oh yeah, I run on a treadmill just now as I am a bit heavy and don't want a stress injury.

The swim sucked. I never got it in. D is out of swim lessons so we headed to 24 hours fitness, 15 minutes of filling in forms for D and I to go into the child care and then off to the pool. Only to find a bunch of people in a class. I was well Miffed. I did get the exercise of the kids coming with me in so I can stream line that for next time. With this lapse its time to pull out the spreadsheet and start some hard planning.

The spreadsheet worked well the last time. Splitting into hourly blocks things like work, Family time and training time. Tomorrow is weigh in and health check. Things had better be on the up!

20 Miles and the Mini Haha

Well I did my first 20 miler of the season. I have signed up for the Super Sprint Mini Haha in Broomfield too. For a seasoned cyclist this may not seem like much but 4 years ago when I signed up for my first triathlon - the mini haha - 10 miles was a whole commitment. I had D in the trailer and couldn't run a mile. So 4 years on I'm thinking 20 miles isn't much but it still kicked my but. The furthest I have ever cycled for any training is 30 miles (For an Olympic) so this is going to get interesting. I used to cycle about 36 miles every night and more at the weekend when I was 18 but that wasn't yesterday.

The cycle itself was a bit of cycle cross in places due to all the snow. The snow made the views fantastic, I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out. I waited until 2 to get rid of much snow as possible but the grit trail was very muddy. I also found a new hill which was a major challenge. I'm huffing and puffing up the hill and some guy goes flying past me as if its a bump in the road. I'm hoping that will be me in a couple of months.

The really crazy thing is from my house its a constant uphill until I turn round. Usually its a headwind too. I look forward to getting some rides in this summer when I can drive somewhere and enjoy all the cycle.

No Soccer today so that helped.

Looking forward to next week. Its the push it week so lets see what I can do. Then its down time for the following week.

I'm well chuffed with my "long" run today. I got in 2.5 miles and walked for another 10 minutes up hill. I was planning on going till 60 minutes but a twinge in my hamstring and concerns on my knee stopped that. Its a fine line between training and over training.

Swim went well. After approximately 8 months off due to various injuries I pulled out my Target of 60 laps (1500yds). I'm well Chuffed with that.

Knee status - still swollen and the back of the knee has been giving me pressure pain. I was rubbing it this morning and found a lump. Doh! After the run the swelling was down slightly and no egg on the back of my knee. Not playing soccer on Friday night was the right decision. During the swim it started to stiffen until I stopped pushing off with that leg.

Nutrition Status: I took a Myoplex lite chocolate shake 30 minutes before the run and swim. That helped. I spoke to a Friend yesterday and he said that not drinking enough plain water really effected his performance. I have been drinking more water again and I think that helped too.

Overall a successful day. Hopefully I can get some momentum from this.

I decided today to get a new Photo. It will be after the Mini Haha if I get in. K needs to be in the picture as this whole thing needs to be a Team effort.

Getting down on weight and fitness.

Crikey this was a bad day. I had to cycle and stress at work has made it a hard week. K went out the kids wouldnt go to sleep. I finally got on the bike at around 9pm after eating a load of rubbish too. Oh I couldnt cycle outside as we got about 12 inches of snow. So its time for the trainer. Turns out being my weight and cycling on the trainer is very hard on the crotch. I didnt manage a full workout but got in 40 minutes.

A very frustrating week.

Cardio, Cardio, Cardio!

Hooray! Things are working out. I blew off a meeting this morning and ran 2 miles. I did it! It wasnt hard! I think a few things helped out here. I ate breakfast 30 minutes before and even if I couldnt run I walked with the incline up and kept my heart rate up. This was a mile stone day on the run.

No swim. I had a wardrobe Malfunction - lost the tie and had no time to do the swim later. K is out tonight I have the kids soccer training. This was a real bummer.

The weather was great today. Bummer I had to move things around as it would have been a great bike day.

Soccer training with the kids was a lot of fun. I was worried but got into it at the end.

Forced Day off. Happy St Patricks Day!

Ok this is getting frustrating. I cant get to Gym/run/cycle due to work commitments. I had to take the day off anyway due to the state of my knee. Ill push everything around this week.

Whats the deal with Weight loss!

Well I weighed myself today. 1 pound. 1 bloody pound! Im kicking my ar** every day and not losing weight. Also I couldnt exersize (No bike) today as I couldnt get away even at lunch. I had soccer and hurt my knee again. Sigh.

Time and Running.

Today at work and all week we have visitors from a company called coverity. This is making it hard to fit in my training. I ran at lunch time after only having some Cheerios for breakfast. Turns out my body wasnt in it. I ran 1 mile and ran walked the next. It was in work too and hate running there. I think I texted K something like the run was Ar**. Ill have to learn to eat before running.

Swim went well. Im up to 54 lengths now. Im still taking it a little easy as I dont want to hurt myself again. I also learned the Pool in Westminster has a lot less Chlorine than the pool in 24 hour fitness. 24hr is too high which is why its always empty. Last Thursday I couldnt sleep due to my skin burning from Chlorine. Still, its free so I might have to keep using it.

Too Much Soccer

Well today I quit my Friday night Soccer for now. I have a bad knee which seems not too bad when I run and cycle but falls apart when I play Football. The outdoor is on an artificial surface to I have given up Friday night. It makes me feel bad but its for the best.

The weather was awefull. No Cycling was accomplished.

Time, HR or distance

So today was long run and long swim. Unfortunately I had to do a state coaching diploma in soccer and was unable to do the long swim. The swim isn't a big deal now as I can still do the distance so I'm focusing on running as that's the struggle.

So running the goal was 2 miles with a stretch of 3 miles. I decided to change that slightly. I ran the 2 miles then walked/ran the last mile. However I set the incline high to keep my heart rate up. I accomplished 2 goals I got the distance in and exercised longer. Hopefully this will set me up for a good run next week.

My knee is still swollen after soccer. Looks like that's going the way of the dinosaur. Not the knee the soccer!

The PDM top - Day off

Today was my day off and a soccer game. I think that's coming to an end, the toll on my body is too great. I got tired and my knee was swollen again and the right foot was achy. I just got out of a boot on my right foot. Maybe its time to cheer them on and watch some kids so others can play.

Now one of the things I was thinking about while cycling this week was a bit of nostalgia. I used to go out on cycles every night after school instead of doing my home work. Some days its was foggy, cold and dark. There wasn't even street lights. One portion used to terrify me as the fog was rolling in and bell would be ringing on one of the yachts in the loch. Verify reminiscent of the movie the fog. I would go like the wind there. So whats that got to do a PDM top. It was my winter top for cycling and it was one of the top teams in the tour in the 80s.

I still have the top and I'm wondering if at the end of this Ill be able to fit into it again. Who knows it might be fun. I have included a picture.

Where does the time go?

So I took the day off today for various reasons. I had one meeting I had to take 9:30-10:30, then a cycle home with the boy and finally a soccer coaches meeting at 6. Somehow with these 3 things is made fitting in a cycle and swim. Well I got them in.

The cycle kicked my but it turns out a stomach upset the night before a cycle leaves your legs in shreds after about 2 miles! I did find a new hill though I can use for training in the future. I also got thinking about that PDM top again. More on that on my day off.

First day in the 24 hour fitness pool I forgot how weird nights are there. The Gym was a zoo and the pool was empty. However that didn't stop the usual suspects from just hanging out beside the pool. Using the phone or my favourite tonight some bloke with muscles wanted to get all sweated up and walk around with his top off. Apparently you can do that even if you don't use the steam room, hot tub or pool.

Anyway Swim went well it felt like an old friend as I use that pool a lot. I just have to remember to swim during the day when you have the pool to yourself. Lovely.

Time off.

Well I took Tuesday off to recuperate as I was exhausted. I didn't want to get injured too early. Unfortunately work (Not fun work) got in the way on Wednesday so now I have 2 days down with no exercise. This sort of thing makes it easy to get demotivated. Hopefully I can pick it up tomorrow. I'm only at the base of the mountain with a long way to go.

OMG!

So I woke up and had a weigh in a day early. I have put on a pound! This put me in a good mood for today. So 2 mile run, my legs are like jelly so that didn't go well. Tonight a 46 length swim, this went much better. I didn't hurt anything!

So its 36 weeks to go and I'm optimistic. Now if you said 24 weeks. There is no way.

Fueling the body is going to be a challenge with Weight Watchers but we will see how it goes.

Proper weigh in tomorrow.

How quick are you gonna get up "Just do it"

Feeling - not too bad. Ready for a ride.

I woke up in a bad mood but ready to. I got my long ride in this afternoon - 16 miles. While I was out on the ride I thought of posting "Bol**** to this" or something similar. The temperature outside was 27F and the last gift my Mum got me was some winter riding gear. Boy did that come in handy today. Now aparently I'm a bit out of shape and have a long way to go but I started thinking of things to inspire me. My music selection was not helping. It kept shuffling to Chris Deburgh "Lady in Red" and Bryan Adams "Everything I do" so that didnt help.

Then I remember the Nike commercial with Lance Armstrong at the end. It took a bit to google but its "How quick are you gonna get up" by The Hours-Ali in the Jungle. It reminded me of how I feel. Knocked down, mentally battered and trying to build it back up. When I look down I think whos gut is this? Where did it come from? Getting back on the horse with "I used to be able to do this easy" is a killer. Its better to just say "I will do this and pick it up". So the add gave me some inspiration today to get through. There are others but this is the one that did it today.

The "long" run

Feeling - tired and sore.
The last 2 days of late nights work and soccer are taking there toll. Work till 3am soccer till 1:30am

So last nights game of soccer went. I made my left wrist go numb and my knee and other wrist hurts. Marvelous. Now is the time to decide whether to take some time off.

I did manage to get the 2 mile run in today. HR was 166 bpm so I decided at the end to walk on an incline for half a mile which brought my HR down to 147. I think I will use this going forward to get used longer distances. Run the planned distance and then walk another mile as a slightly lower exertion. Well that's the plan.

The bummer is that I'm back on the treadmill as I'm too heavy for outside running. I had planned to run and let my son cycle/run beside me. Maybe by June!

I also had to up the pain killers again. So no exercise = very little pain and not so much pills but fatter and higher BP or exercise = pain and more pain killers but lower BP and lighter. Go figure.

So tomorrow: Plan out how many weeks I have and get the training plan figured out, Should I do some sprints with this and have some fun or focus. I'm thinking fun. We will see how the planning goes.

Day 2. A Day off

Well it seems a bit odd to just get day 1 out of the way and Day 2 is my day off. However my past training has shown me that Friday is my best day for a day off. Tomorrow is long run day which will be a colossal 2 mile run!

This time last year my heart rate at rest was 40 b.p.m. and I could push my heart rate up to 155 if I tried hard. Last nights run popped it up to 165 and my resting heart rate is 75. I have a long way to go. Ill be checking these stats on a Tuesday.

More planning will be done this weekend to get my schedule organised. Surrounding D's sports schedule and including family time and, oh yeah, work.

Off to footie and pick up my triathlon training book.

Oh yeah and I worked a 18 hour day at work yesterday finishing at 2am so I'm exhausted.

Today a friend of mine sent me an email through Facebook with encouragement and a bit freaked out I'm doing this. He did one several years ago in the New England area.

Day 1.

Well My wife has been blogging for a while and Im about to enter into training for Ironman so I thought I would start a blog so I can see how I get on.

So whats the big deal? Well Im now a regular experienced triathlete I have done several Sprints and 1 olympic and have never got my weight below 250 pounds. This time the mission is fitness and get off the blood pressure pills! Which should help with the Rheumitoid Arthritis too.

So I was toying with the idea of an Ironman this year and try for Kona next year. The 3 year plan didnt pan out due to external factors such as broken wrist, Shin Heomatoma(sp?) and other minor things that stopped me running and kept me on the chips.

So Day1:
I cycled 11 miles yesterday and it was tough. Back to the start again for what seems the 15th millionth time. Its a mind game. Today I ran 1 mile. Heart rate through the roof! This is not what I want to hear from my body.

Ill start next week with statistics so I can see how Im doing. I plan to use this as a kind of diary. We will see how it goes/