Change is inevitable

The training for this half marathon was going to kill me if I didn't make some changes. And those changes needed to start from within.

The Snakebite spin sessions were out. The intensity of the spins wouldn't allow me to recover for my next run workout. The sessions were starting to get intense but I know that those who attended will be ready for outdoor riding when the weather gets better.

My crossfit workouts were the worst part of cross training. The mentality of crossfit is to go hard or go home. Move big amounts of weight. Complete as many rounds or reps as possible. Push yourself to become better with each workout.

My problem was that I needed to balance the running, swimming, cross-training and what little biking I could fit in. Working out at Coca only twice a week was proving to be a detriment, not a benefit. The unspoken competitive nature of crossfit filled my mind each time I stepped through the door.

Unfortunately several workouts fried my legs, ripped up my hands, strained my back or just simply put the hurt on me. It would be several days to a week before I felt back to normal.

I finally had a sit down with Kate and we agreed that I needed to back off. Crossfit was not my primary means of fitness. Triathlon is my first sport which I am training for. I'm not looking to be a competitive crossfit competitor or make it to the "games". I wanted to build my strength so my swim, bike, run would benefit.

I told her I would be scaling back and slowing down during the WODs. I needed to focus on form and endurance. The strength would slowly build up and help my other training. We have both kept me in check before each workout making sure I'm not pushing myself unnecessarily.

It was a major shift in my thinking but one that is better for me. Despite the change I can still tell that crossfit has made me stronger in the pool.

With the reduced training load I was able to focus more on the run. But even with the added rest the pace of the workouts was kicking my ass. I needed to back off on my goal times before I hurt myself on the treadmill. At times my legs were barely keeping up. You definitely reach deep down to keep yourself going so as to not get spit off the back in front of everyone around you. Then you have to reach deep down to not throw up.

My legs were not coming around to the training. The speed was just not there. Was it my age? Was it too many years in long course? Was I coming out of the off season too fast?

Now I needed to make changes to the training plan and that meant the paces needed to adjust. I found the right speed where I would be pushed but not obliterated.

Speedwork would be done at 6:00 min/mile. This was for 400, 800 or 1600 repeats. Maybe a little faster for the 400's since they were shorted.

Tempo would be at 7:00 min/mile. This would be the new race pace. My thoughts of a 1:26 or better finish were becoming dreams despite the goal with a plan.

And the long runs would be at 7:30 min/mile. These still proved to be doable but definitely not easy.

I approached the training and the impending race with a new enthusiasm. I felt good about the changes I made to the training. I would still race the half marathon but I would just need to adjust as needed.

And I'm okay with that.

Game On.

Is it possible to do it all?

I forgot to post some pictures I had taken of our training plan. This is our calendar showing what our training was to consist of.


This is the detail of our calculated paces for this training.


The training plan talked about including some cross training. Swim, bike and crossfit would be my cross training.

I wasn't spending a lot of time on the bike. The team, Snakebite Racing, was holding a group spin class at one of our sponsors, Ride & Workout. These Tuesday classes would be conflicting with my speed workouts so I had to back off on those. Aimee and I were leading some indoor ride sessions at Coca Crossfit on Sunday mornings and that would become my weekly ride time.

I had to keep up the swimming at least a little because of the Cleveland Tri Clubs Big Swim Challenge. So I had to be ready for tackling 10,000 yards.

And I wanted to keep the weight training going at crossfit. I could tell that it was helping with my swimming and I wanted to keep building a strong base for the tri season.

Of course it didn't take long to realize that this training plan was not going to work well with my normal triathlon training schedule. Things needed to change.

Early learning

Before the training plan officially started Aimee and I got super organized....well Aimee did at least. We made up two big sheets of paper with the plan laid out. We had done the same thing with her Ironman St. George training and it worked great last year.

We knew what our paces would be for the speed, tempo and long runs. We even figured out what the MPH would be for those paces when we were forced to the treadmill.

One thing I learned early on is that our treadmill in the basement only goes up to 10MPH, 6 min/mile. My super aggressive goal had me running at 11.4 MPH for my 400 repeats...roughly a 5:20 pace.

Ummmm....okaaaaay. Guess I will need the treadmills at the YMCA for some of my runs.

Once we wrote down the training plan we saw that the official start was the third week in January. So we had some time to ramp up. We were able to ease into the training with some "sample" speed repeats and tempo runs. This is when I started wondering about the paces I was supposed to hold.

But I pushed aside the doubt and held faith that my body would respond to the efforts and rest up for the next workout.

Yeah....rest. We need to talk about that concept....next post.

Time to Plan

"An idea without a plan is just a dream."

Okay so back in December we found a race in Houston. Angie's Half Crazy! Half Marathon. Aimee was excited about the unique Texas sized medal. I liked the idea of running somewhere warm. My sister-in-law has friends where we would be able to crash. The Ohio delegation would be about 6 in strength.

Angie's course is very flat with elevation change of about 25 feet. Total gain over the 13.1 mile course is 102 feet. So it should be fast...right?

Aimee and I found a training plan on Runner's World. The FIRST Half Marathon Training Plan.

FIRST stands for Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training.

The training plan caught Aimee's interest because you only run three times a week. This could be an interesting plan since we are used to swimming and biking during the week also. We both also have additional cross training with her Body Sculpting and me doing Crossfit at Coca.

With only three days of running the plan is rather aggressive. Very aggressive. The example in the training plan shows the paces for a 1:30 goal. I calculated the paces for a 1:25 AND 1:30 finish. As I looked at the training I told myself to suck it up and just do it. The speed workouts are fast but short in duration. The tempo runs are shorter but more intense than my training runs from the summer. It's....doable.

It didn't take long for me to start re-thinking my goals. Perhaps it was the 4 x 400 on the treadmill at 5:37 pace that had me feeling like I would get spit off the treadmill and through the window. Or the tempo runs at 6:37 pace that left me gassed after one mile. And these are the paces for the 1:30 finish...forget about the 1:25 pacing.

I haven't done any real speed work in several years due to all the long course racing. Also coming out of the off season with some lofty goals may not be the best plan of attack, especially since this race is about 4 weeks earlier than anything in the Cleveland area.

So we had our goals laid out and a plan to achieve those goals.

Time to execute.

A Great Idea?

“Everything begins with an idea.” – Earl Nightengale

In December it seemed like a great idea.

Train for an early season half marathon.

Do said half marathon in a warm locale.

Train over the winter and get some of that speed back.

Maybe even set a PR at the distance.

What the hell was I thinking???

Spring has Sprung

Or at least we want to think that in Northeast Ohio. Yesterday was a beautiful day and I saw several cyclists out about about. Now everyone needs to get used to seeing us on the road again with our bikes.

Please be careful out there.



After I saw Christi's comment I realized I should have included the following.......



Share The Damn Road

Catching up

...and it's not only the pictures I need to catch up with. There is a fine line between working on the pictures one at a time and loading them in batches. As you can see I just put up 5 posts in order to get caught up. That is called falling way behind. But I also can't seem to get a picture up each day.

I need to work on small batches every couple of days.

I also need to work on catching up with real blogging.

News about my team, Snakebite Racing.

What my current training is (all you hear is about me being broken).

My 2011 race schedule.

Motivation, inspiration and deep thoughts.

I think I just listed what should be posted next.

Have a great weekend.

Game On.

When you have a broken body

2/09/2011
I broke my body again. Monday night I must have had bad form again at Crossfit. The next day my legs were locked up. Very tight and sore in the quads. It was hard to walk down the stairs. I was finally able to get on the bike for a short ride. Getting out of the saddle to stand or climb was out of the question.



2/10/2011
I tried some electro-stim on my legs. It seemed to help a little bit.



2/11/2011
But the real relief came from the acupuncture and message session with the witch doctor. He helped open up the legs, joints, nerves, etc. Definitely worth the money.

Water - solid and liquid

2/8/2011
I saw this icicle hanging outside the home office window. I love how it curled around the gutter.



2/7/2011
This is the inside cover of the book "Call the Suit". Written and autographed by Sheila Taormina. Remember that name. You will hear it again soon.

Super Bowl Pics

2/6/2011
Super Bowl Sunday deserves more than one picture.

I was getting things ready for our friendly get together. I took the beer and cooler outside to fill up with all the free cold stuff in my yard. Yes...snow makes for an excellent cooling agent. Unfortunately the paper handle on a six-pack broke loose and there were some casualties. Lost three bottles on the garage floor.


Aimee had some great food on tap. The biscuit pizza bake looked yummy even before it was baked.


She made some of her awesome scones and chocolate covered strawberries.


This was the line-up of beer available in the cooler.

We had a great time with everyone. The commercials were funny, half time show barely tolerable...oh yeah...there was also a football game.

Good doggies

2/5/2011
I brought some breakfast up to Aimee this morning. Snickers (left) and Ruby (right) waited patiently for their portion. Unfortunately Aimee was too hungry to share. I didn't share either.

You can tell we are STARVING them to death.....NOT.



2/4/2011
I was in PA working for a customer. The hotel rooms at Hyatt Place are very nice. The TVs have some very nice hookups. I've never used them but it's still a nice setup.



2/3/2011
Last nights Crossfit WOD ripped the crap out of my hands. Knees to elbows on the pull-up rig. Two blisters on one hand and one blister on the other. Owwww.

Bike, Cables and Candles

2/2/2011

The snow accumulated pretty good at the beginning of the month. And it was cold also.



2/1/2011
I finally hooked up the DVD player to the new TV I bought back in September. The problem was I needed some cables. The S-Video cable sitting there.....no S-video on the new TV. Had to buy the component cables instead. Kind of a hassle.



1/31/2011
This candle was a center piece at the restaurant we had a family dinner at.

CTC Swim Challenge

1/30/2011

It was time to the second annual Cleveland Tri Club Swim Challenge and Clinic. We had the Cleveland State University pool for 3.5 hours to swim whatever distance you wanted to. The major options were
100 x100's
75 x 100's
50 x 100's
25 x 100's

There were also two swim clinics available. Last year I committed to the 50 x 100 (5000 yards) and felt good enough to finish with 8000.

This year I was joining quite a few others in a group being called the Big Dogs because we were going for the complete 10,000 yards (100 x 100s).

My strategy was to swim in groups of 500 and take a small break....no more than one minute between 500's. I was very happy with my swimming as I kept a pace between 7:35 and 7:45. I finished in under 3 hours which was a little goal I had set for myself.

Muscle Milk has been attending the CTC events this year and they donated a case of their product for each person who completed the 10k yards. I split a case of chocolate and vanilla with a friend. It was a much appreciated gift.


Game On.

Dogs and Tacos

1/28/2011

I had to change out the batteries on the Invisible Fence collars for Ruby and Snickers. We need to make sure they stay close to home and safe.



1/29/2011

Tacos for dinner. But Aimee and I have been opting for a healthier version.
We used bib lettuce leaves for shells.
Bison meet instead of beef. Could also use ground chicken or turkey.
Taco Seasoning is put together with our own spices...check the ingredients of Old El Paso taco seasoning.
Homemade guacamole.
Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
The shredded cheese is probably the worst part of it all.

Recipe ideas are courtesy of the Paleo Girls.


And you get a bonus picture showing the taco platter we made.

Great Race Nutrition

1/27/2011

I admit my blogging has been spotty at best. But when I have someone to pimp out and I can't even find time to promote his business....that's just not right. I've known Mike for quite a while and I was totally stoked when he started Great Race Nutrition. When I was looking for nutrition products I had to go to several places for what I wanted. I couldn't get what I wanted from one place.

GRN is that site. All of the major, and some obscure, manufacturers are sold through GRN. He has also helped me evaluate several products to see if they would work for me. Mike also has great knowledge about the products to help people determine their nutrition needs. He not only sells the product but he it as well. Mike completed his first 140.6 at the FullRev last September, but his athletic career

One of my favorite options available from Great Race Nutrition is "Flavor Choice". Mix and match your favorite flavors or electrolyte tablets, energy bars or gels.

I have a link on my side bar to the GRN website. Check them out and tell them I sent you over.

Feel the Fire Burning

1/26/2011

I was getting a massage from my go to guy and through certain trigger points I could feel the release of built up energy or heat. The nervous system gets overloaded with all of the training I put my body through. The energy paths through the body get jammed up and need some help to get released.

As he was helping release the energy I could feel the heat leaving my body through my feet and hands. It made me think about a song from one of my favorite musicians..Darude. The song "Burning" fit the bill perfectly with what I was feeling.

I have a fire burning in my soul.

Big Daddy Diesel also came to mind because he is a person who has a fire that is burning with a huge intensity, especially since someone told him he can't do something. I am reminded of the quote from Chinese Imperial Admiral Yamamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor, "We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve". Oh yeah, that sleeping giant is BDD.

So this picture is for everyone with a fire burning in their souls. And I have also included the song "Burning" from Darude.

Game On.

Solving the Puzzle

1/25/11
I was having a rough time on some projects today for work. Some "issues" surfaced and I need to do some research in order to determine the best course of action to take as resolution.

It was stressing me out a little.

I took this picture of Snickers and found some similarities between the two of us.....besides being old.


We put treats in the dog toys to keep Snickers and Ruby entertained and mentally sharp. I watched him working on this toy with stern determination to get the treat out. Nothing was going to stop him from getting the reward inside. Sometimes you just have to attack the task at hand repeatedly using a variety of methods until you get the job done.

Snickers and I have the same drive to get the job done....whatever it takes.

I resolved my work issues. I like a challenge.

Game On.

Mmm...Lemony

1/23/11
Is that spelled right? Lemony..lemonie...lemoniey. Whatever.

That is lemon zest right there. Aimee was making a batch of scones. Mind you that these are not your typical hockey puck scones. These are way better. I'd give you the recipe but then Aimee would kill me.......help me.


1/24/11
Sitting on the office desk was one of my favorite mugs, can ya tell why. I had some hot chocolate in the morning.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

1/22/11
It has been very cold around Northern Ohio. Let's face it...it's been cold everywhere. But that didn't stop the Snow Queen (Aimee) and I from getting together with our friends for a morning run. The temperature was -4F when we started and the snow was ankle deep on the trails.

After the run I took this picture of Aimee's eyelashes proving that she is the Snow Queen.

We ran with our friends Dale, Tina, Deb and TriGuyJT. You can read JT's blog post at Iditarod for Humans.

Me, Aimee, JT, Deb, Dale, Tina

Some may call us nuts for being out there, but spending time with friends out in the cold weather........

that was beauty in the eye of this beholder.

Game On.

Cycling Legs and Pink Glasses

1/20/11
As I was getting ready to spend some time on the bike trainer I looked and down decided to take a picture of my leg in my Pearl Izumi shorts.


1/21/11
During my annual eye exam I was waiting at the counter and found these cute sunglasses for kids. Yes I did try them on and they did fit.