A back and a bike tire

Less than a week to go until my first tri and I've had to deal with the first obstacles of actually seeing my goal to the end.

First I was riding my bike on Saturday when I heard a POP. Not exactly the kind of sound you want to hear. I immediately thought it was a popped tire, but realized that my tire was still full of air, but my rim wasn't spinning true. My neighbor, a bike expert, took a look and realized that I broke a spoke. So 20 bucks later and my bike is now better than new.

Second, on Monday my back decided to "twinge" when I got out of my car at work Monday morning. I've had a long standing experience with back spasms dating way back to an incident in a silo with a silo unloader. Now my back decides to spasm about once a year, and usually at the worst times. This time it's going through spasms, but they aren't bad and usually go away after stretching. I should be okay by Sunday, but it's just another bump in the road.

It's sort of like life - just when you really can see your dreams and goals in sight a challenge comes along that forces you to refocus. I guess that which challenges us just makes us stronger.

Or as a good friend of mine would say, "No Place But Up!"

13 Days and Counting

My first triathlon is only 13 days away, on September 26 in Whitewater. I've been working on a 16-week training program that really helped me get ready (or at least I think it will). I'm able to swim the 500 meters in about 15 minutes, which is quite an improvement from when I started. And I can do the bike (about 14 miles) in an hour and the run (3.1 miles) in about 30 minutes.

My goal is to get 'r done in less than 2 hours, and I'd like not to come in last. So we'll see what happens.

More to come . . .

Twitter TIme Trial

Lance Armstrong and Chris Lieto (2nd place in Ironman Championship last year) competed in a TTT - Twitter Time Trial today on the Big Island of Hawaii. Lance won the 14-mile race by 15 seconds. It's said that Lance will do the Ironman championships next year - that would be fun to watch.

Here's the picture of Lance's final time.

Where have you gone, Joe Triathlete?

Well, I'm back. It's been two months since I wrote my last post. Since then I have been training, but not full time. I took about three weeks off over the Holidays to go with my family to Disney, enjoy Christmas and enjoy New Years.

So how am I doing? I'm still struggling with swimming, but I can at least go the required distance. It just takes twice as long as I need it to. I can swim 10 laps in 20 minutes - needs to take me 10. So I'm going to have a couple of lessons and see if that helps.

My running is fine - I can do the three miles without a problem. I haven't biked since November, mostly because we've had snow on the ground and we haven't had many mornings above 15 degrees. Once it wamrs up in a couple of weeks I'll start again. I'm not too worried about it.

One thing I have realized is how hard it is to train in the winter. Cold weather sucks. I really hate having to put on three layers of clothes just to go out for a run. It takes motivation just to get out of bed in the morning, and takes even more motivation when it's dark and cold. So I don't think I'll do a spring triathlon again. I'd much rather workout during warmer weather.

Still not sure I'll be able to make the triathlon I want to do at the end of April. It all depends on the swim. If not, I'll definately do the one in September. But we'll wait and see.

So I'm up and blogging again. Give me a shout out if there's anything you want me to talk about.

Seven tips to fix bad swimming

This is a great article about how to fix bad swimming habits. I identified several of my own bad habits that I'm going to try working on the next time I'm in the pool.

In need of a new diet plan

When I started this whole triathlon thing I weighed just over 265 pounds. I realize that trying to pull that much weight through water, pedal it on a bike or carry it over a 5K run was going to be hard. So I've been trying to lose the weight, or at least transfer fat to muscle.

I dropped to about 255 in about a month, but over the last few weeks I've started to add back on weight so that I'm back up to 260. I realize that I've added in some muscle, but I can still feel the fat.

I realize that over the next few weeks I won't be able to cut much weight, with vacation and Holidays coming up. But I don't want to gain any, either.

One thing I love is meat. Growing up as a farm kid, it's in my blood. This is an interesting video about how to eat meat "responsibly". Save for the eroneous comments about hormones and antibiotics--we all know there aren't antibiotics in meat and there are exponentially more estrogen precursors in a salad than a steak--his ideas are pretty good.

Following in family footsteps?

"World Champion Cadel Evans has been named the 2009 Australian Cyclist of the Year and received his third Sir Hubert Opperman 'Oppy' medal." The award goes to the most outstanding rider from all disciplines each season who is considered to be The Australian Cyclist of the Year.

No, the award isn't named after me. It's named after Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, an Australian who held more than 100 distance cycling records. Oppy rode a bicycle from the age of eight until his wife Mavys, fearing for his health and safety, finally forced him off the road in 1994 on his 90th birthday. When he died of a heart attack, at the age of 91, he was on his exercise bike.

One of the greatest cyclists the world has ever seen, Oppy's lifetime achievements spanned horizons far wider than his sporting fame. He became a Menzies and Holt government minister, and was also Australia's first high Commissioner to Malta. Add to that his role as a long serving councillor for the Association of the Blind, patron of the Sportsmen's Association of Australia, and a Victorian president of the Prior of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. A letter writer extraordinaire, Oppy was the sender of serious and humorous Oppygrams.

I'm guessing he's not a relative, at least not close. But hopefully some of his cycling genese run with mine.

My training schedule

My first race will be a sprint at the end of April in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It is a long time from now, but I have a lot of work to do. Here's how I plan to get ready.

From now through the end of the year:
     Mondays - Swim or Eliptical
     Wednesdays - Run or Swim
     Fridays - Bike
To get my stamina and endurance up, I'll work to extend my workouts each time, instead of trying to get faster in a set amount of time.

January - February:
     Mondays - Swim or Eliptical
     Tuesdays - Run or Swim
     Wednesdays - Swim or Run
     Thursdays - Bike or Swim
     Fridays - Swim or Bike
During these two months I will complete the distances that I'll have to cover in the race.

March - April:
     TBD. I'll need to start bricking workouts so I can get the transitions down. Closer to the race I'll work on doing all three components at least once each week.

I put this together based on the article I read on one of my newest favorite tri sites.

Five things you need to know about training

This is a great article for beginners to learn about the important aspects of triathlon training. Hardest for me is the consistency - my schedule doesn't normally allow for me to get a workout in on a consistent basis.

Also, I'm going to try going to the breaststroke when I swim - couldn't hurt based on where I'm at now!

Improving shoulder strength

This is a great video about improving an important body part - shoulders. I'm going to try this to see if it helps with swimming. Let me know if it works for you.

An American Runner

I thought this might happen when Meb Keflezighi won the New York City marathon last weekend. With a name like that, I knew that some would question his nationality. He's been in the U.S. since he was 12. Doesn't that make him an American?

After all, don't we have a President that has had considerable international addresses in his past? I think he's considered an American, isn't he?

Madtown no. 13 best place to live for a triathlete

Triathlete magazine picked Madison, Wisconsin as the 13th best place for a triathlete to live. Here's what the magazine's editors had to say:

"No. 13: Madison, Wis.

Population: 228,775

Median Home Price: $218,000

Why it’s on our list: Wisconsin’s capital city may have truly horrible winters, but the “cheeseheads” make up for it by packing more into summer than just about anyone else. “Mad-town” is a big city and a college town at the same time, which creates a fine balance of work and play. The city is built on an isthmus between two expansive lakes, which means there’s always a place to swim. Madison also has some of the most challenging yet quiet roads in the Midwest just a few miles west of town.

Live here if: You’re looking for Berkeley,Calif., mixed with Chicago.

Don’t live here if: You hate being pestered to sign some progressive group’s petition while you shop for groceries.

See the rest of the list here.

Tough but good week

For the first time in a long time I worked out each day this week. My foot is feeling better and I finally got over my cold/bronchitis. I worked out 45 minutes on an eliptical on Monday, swam on Tuesday and Thursday, biked on Wednesday and ran this morning. Each day was hard, but after taking most of the last two weeks off I could tell that I missed the work.

I gained a few pounds, too. While I'm down to 258, I was down to 255 until the layoff.

This week I'm travelling Monday and Tuesday, which always makes it hard to work out and eat healthy. But most hotels now have a good fitness area, so I'll see what I can do to at least move forward on stamina.

Onward and upward -

An inspirational story

I ran across this story tonight about a gentleman in Texas that just completed his first triathlon. Last summer he weighed 470 pounds - this summer he competed in a triathlon at 220. Awesome.

One thing that he said that I think is very powerful - his goal with his first triathlon was to complete,  not compete. And he enjoyed the journey, even through a significant setback. My goal with my first triathlon is to do the same thing - enjoy the journey. It will be so hard to get there, I don't want it to fly by so fast that I don't enjoy the journey. After I get the first one done, then I can worry about competing.

Onward and upward!

Wisconsin Pride!

Awesome picture of my buddy Lance Fox from Everest this spring. Go Bucky! Go Pack!

Taking a break

This week I've only worked out one day, biking my normal seven mile ride. My cold turned into bronchitis, and I decided that it would be best to get some rest. My son was sick all week, and my daughter actually stayed home a day from school. Now my wife says she's not feeling well.

Must be the change of seasons.

I'm actually looking forward to getting out and working out again on Monday. Until then, rest, rest and rest.

Avoiding the common cold

I've had a cold all week and was only able to work out on Monday and Tuesday. I'm feeling better and looking forward to starting to work out again on Monday.

Here's a great article about how to avoid a cold.

Another great cold remedy is what my parents called a Hot One - here's the recipe:

Cup of hot water
Shot of whiskey
Teaspoon of sugar

Enjoy!

Like climbing mountains

One of my good friends is Dr. Lance Fox. Lance is a veterinarian that works for Alpharma Animal Health, and last spring he summitted Mt. Everest. He did this despite having only started climbing three years ago. He did it to honor his Dad, spreading his ashes at the top of the World. He set a goal, identified his dream, then worked hard to make it happen. It's not like he had a simple dream - he decided to climb Mt. freakin' Everest. Course it's not like he's done a triathlong - but he's an inspiration to me.

He's a little crazy - like taking a cheesehead to the top of the mountain. And he dewormed yaks on the way up.

Here's one of his quotes:

"Dream Big, Pursue Your Passion, Smile Often and Laugh A Lot. Life Is Short So Live It To The Fullest!" - Lance Fox, 2009

Here's a video about a program Lance is working on to take this positive message out to kids.

Triathlon nutrition

Sorry I haven't blogged for a week - I've been at a trade show.

Came across this good video from Livestrong about nutrition for triathletes.

Bright lights on the bike trail

I ride my bike on a paved bike trail. This morning it was dark and I could see headlights in the distance. At first I thought somone had parked their car in a clearing and shined their lights up the path so they could see while they walked. But the lights kept getting closer and closer. They got so close that I was looking for somewhere to ditch so I wouldn't get run over.

Then, at the last second, they came together and it was then that I realized that it was actually two bike riders with lights on the front of their bikes. Freaked me out, though.