This Weeks Workouts

Sorry for the lack of posting here lately. I've been working alot of hours at work, and while I've always found time for my workouts, I haven't always made time to post about it here.

This week is a rest week, so the workouts are much easier than I'm used to these days. Monday night was a 15 minute run. I did this on the treadmill, as it's hard to find that short of a route in my neighborhood. 

Tuesday was, as normal, a rest day, and Wednesday had me doing 25 minutes on the trainer. That went pretty well, but, like most training rides, was pretty boring to talk about.

Tonight was another 15 minutes on the treadmilll. I was able to up the speed for all 15 minutes tonight and I'm finding out I can go faster for farther then I ever thought possible. 

I'm not sure what workouts this weekend will bring. Certainly my scheduled time in the pool on Sunday, and I was planning on a long run for Saturday, but it turns out I'll be at work for six hours and I have plans in the evening, so we'll see if I have time to squeeze in a run on Saturday or not. I'm finding myself looking forward to my workouts because I like the way I feel afterwards. I can't wait to see how this all pays off during my first race.

Thursday and Friday Night Workouts & Thoughts on Swimming

I forgot to post on Thursday evening and didn't have time last night, so let's get caught up with what I've been doing.

Thursday evening after work I ran thirty minutes on the treadmill and went 2.683 miles. It was a good workout and I felt good at the end of it. Out of breath and really sweaty, but good.

Friday night I swam 1,350 yards in 29:59. My training plan called for half an hour in the pool, so I managed to hit that right on the head. I purposely gave myself less rest this time around than I'm accustomed to this workout. My longest rest was around 1:10. 

My first set consisted of 5 x 100 on a 2:00 interval, followed by a little over a minute of rest. Then I did 5 x 50 on a 1:00, followed by another minute or so of rest, then swam 400 yards. After another minute or so of rest I finished out with 2 x 100 on a 2:00.

The workout was very satisfying. I was a bit apprehensive about it. Not nervous exactly, but defintely a bit worried about the low rest periods. I was afraid I'd have no rest between the last few 100s of my set, but that wasn't the case. I always had at least 5-6 seconds to recover and catch my breath before starting again. I know that doesn't seem like a lot of time, but in the competitive swimming workd that's almost an eternity. It was enough time for me to stand up and get some breath back before starting the next 100, and I was very happy I was able to do these on a 2:00 interval. When I first got back in the water back in July, there was no way this would have been possible. 

I was very happy with the swim workout. It was hard, which is ideal, but not quite so hard I felt I couldn't do it. I'm going to keep the low rest midset going forward. Hopefully it will help make me faster again. I know that with the distances I'll be swimming at races, especially the half-Ironman in October, speed is definitely not the name of the game, but I can never help thinking "In high school I was finishing 100s easily in 1:20-1:30 without being too winded", and that's what I want to get back to. That goal is likely slightly unrealistic as I'm no longer swimming for two hours a day five days a week, but I'd like to get my average time down from 1:50ish to 1:35 to 1:40. At that point, doing 100s on a 2:00 interval wouldn't be nearly as bad as it was Friday.

It always amazes me how much swimming helps clear my head. For the last two days of this week work has been crazy and I'd been fairly stressed about it and most of my thoughts were consumed with work, but swimming always helps me clear my head.

When I'm biking or running, my brain doesn't really disengage. I'm thinking about what I'm doing and usually trying to convince myself to keep going. (I'm especially bad at this when I run, telling myself to make it just one more minute, or one more quarter mile, just to repeat the exact same mantra once that minute or quarter mile is done). 

When I'm swimming, however, I don't have to think that way. I think because I swam for so many years, I subconsciously know I can do the yardage, and that frees my head up to work through all the cobwebs that have accumulated. All I know is that when I went into the pool on Friday, I was in a bad mood and my head was spinning from thinking about everything that needed doing at work, but when I was done all that stuff was neatly packed away in a box and I was no longer stessing about next week. I can't explain why swimming works this way for me, but I'll take it. 

Wednesday Night Run

I got 25 minutes in on the treadmill tonight. I'd planned on doing two miles outside, but once I got home I really didn't feel like getting bundled up to go outside so I decided to just jump on the treadmill instead. 

The run went well. I got in 2.22 miles in 25 minutes. As usual, the first three to six minutes were the hardest. Once I got past the first part, it got easier. Near the end, again as usual on the treadmill, I felt like I could keep going. I upped the speed for the last three minutes, and actually felt better running faster than I had for the rest of the run. 

I almost didn't work out at all today. Since Monday I've been feeling a bit run-down. I'm not sure if I'm just tired, or if I have a bit of the flu, or if I'm overtraining a bit, but I've been feeling very tired this week. I'm glad I worked out because I felt better afterwards, but I had a hard time convincing myself to do it. Hopefully I can get caught up on sleep this weekend and be back to normal next week.

Swim Workout 1/19/15

I got 1,100 yards in today in 24:57. I did 10 sets of 100 yards on a 2:15 interval, then rested about 40 seconds then did 2 50s on a 1:00 interval. 

I was very pleased with the workout. I pushed myself hard tonight and stuck to my sets. I can tell I'm getting better in the pool.

Running Workout 1/18/15

I did 2.66 miles in 31:33 today. I chose to run around the neighborhood today instead of up in Kearney.

Despite being almost half the distance of yesterday's run, today's was quite a bit harder, for a few of reasons. Firstly, the area around my house has much steeper hills than Kearney. It's not that Kearney is flat, but the hills there are rolling as opposed to the steep hills around my house. Secondly, I've never ran two days in a row before, and I think my body was still trying to recover from the five miles I put it through yesterday. I was also overdressed - I had on a light-weight sweatshirt and would've been fine in just the tee shirt I had on underneath it. I probably would've been a bit cold at first, but I think I would've been happier in just the tee shirt.

Overall I was happy with my run today. I was wanting to walk less than a mile into it but pushed myself to keep going, and I'm happy I did. Today was also the first time I didn't even look at my watch to see how far I'd gone until I got to the end of my run. I usually track my mileage more than I should, but I avoided the temptation today and it worked out well. I just ran, and it felt good.

Overall, though, I'm glad tomorrow is not another running day. I'm looking forward to swimming and cycling and giving my running muscles a bit of a rest. I won't be running again until Wednesday, and I'm looking forward to the short break.

Today also marks the three week mark in my training plan. I've yet to skip a workout, and for the past two weeks I've added Saturday runs to my plan, meaning I've worked out six days a week for those weeks. I'm already starting to see a slight reduction to the size of my belly, which is one of my main goals. All I have to do is keep following my plan and I think everything is going to work out great.

Saturday Morning Run 1/17/15

We went up to Kearny today and ran on the trail near the high school. I got in 5 miles and ran all of them. I finished in 58:22 with an average pace of 11:40 minutes per mile.

To say I'm a little bit surprised I ran all five miles is a bit of an understatement. About 2.25 miles in I didn't know if I'd be able to run all five, but I pushed through and managed to keep going. What was even more suprising to me was the pace I ran it at. When I ran two miles earlier this week, my pace was 12 minutes per mile, so to have a faster pace at this much longer distance surprised me considerably. I was expecting a 12:30 or 13:00 minutes per mile pace. 

Five miles is by far the most I've ever ran at one time in my entire life. My previous record was the two miles I did earlier this week, so to get all five miles in without stopping to walk was a big accomplishment for me. 

The trail up at Kearny was nice. I'd never ran it before, and I liked it. There were some rolling hills, but nothing super-steep like here around our house. I'll definitely go up there again.

Biking Workout 1/16/15

Not much to say about tonight's workout. 45 good, hard minutes on the trainer. Got a really good sweat worked up and got a good workout in. 

Swimming Workout 1/15/15

Got 1,150 yards done in 24:58 tonight. I did 3 sets of 300 yards on a 6:30 interval, then rested for almost two minutes, then finished out with 5 sets of 50 yards on a 1:00 interval.

The workout tonight was good. I've been trying to increase the distance of my longer sets at least once a week, building up to 2,200 yards eventually (roughly the distance I'll need to swim in the half Ironman in October). 300 yards is certainly not the longest I've ever swam, but it's a good start in my bid to rebuild endurance in the pool.

I can tell I'm slowly getting better. The long distances are getting easier and the short distances are getting faster. The last time I did 5 sets of 50 yards on a 1:00 interval, I wasn't able to get the last set done with any rest. Today, I had about two seconds of rest before the last set. It's not much, but it's better than no rest, which means I'm making progress.

Running Workout 1/14/15

After work tonight I got outside and ran 2 miles. I actually ran all 2 miles and didn't stop to walk once, which is a big achievement for me. I've done that on the treadmill before, but never outside, so getting it done was a big deal for me. I average a 12 minute per mile pace and finished in 24:02.

The first .3-.5 miles were the hardest. Once I got over that hump (and got my body warmed up) I just kept rolling. There were a few times I was really wanting to walk, mainly close to the top of the few big hills I climb, but I pushed through it and hit the downhill part before I knew it, where I was able to catch my breath.

The progress I've made in the past two and a half weeks amazes me. Three weeks ago I would never have even contemplated running two miles all at once. In fact, back then, my plan was to slowly ramp up my intervals, starting with running .3 miles and walking .1, then every week adding a tenth or two of a mile to my run portions. The thought of doing more than half a mile at a time seemed impossible and scary, yet today I ran 2 miles. It just goes to show what a little bit of working out can do.

I'm also amazed by how much better I can feel after a workout. After dealing with some stupid people at work today and annoying slowdowns in traffic on the way home, I wasn't exactly in a good mood when I walked in the door. After running, I was in a good mood again.

Tonight's run was a good one. I'm planning on 5 miles this Saturday, and I'm actually looking forward to it, something I never thought I would do.

Monday Night Swimming & Biking Workout

After work today I got to the pool and got 800 yards done in 19 1/2 minutes. I did them on a 2:30 interval. Once that was done, I went home and got in a half hour on the bike trainer.

The swim went pretty well. Like planned, I took it a bit easy in the pool after my shoulder started hurting during my workout last Friday. There was no pain today, which is great. I think I just freaked out a bit when it started hurting last Friday. The pool was especially crowded tonight, though. For the first time since I started going to the community center, I had to circle swim. It wasn't a big deal, just not something I'm used to at the community center.

The trainer ride went OK. I got tired easily tonight, likely due to doing it after a swim. It's been months since I've done that particular workout, so I'm not quite used to it yet.

Overall tonight was a good night for working out. I wish the biking portion had gone a bit better, but there's always the next one to get after it.

Bike Workout 1/11/15

I did 45 minutes on the trainer this afternoon, focusing on low resistance with high RPM. I prefer that kind of workout as it saves wear and tear on my knees and still gets a massive sweat worked up. I think almost all of my trainer rides will be low resistance/high RPM, as that seems to work well for me.

It was a great workout. I got my heart rate elevated and I really enjoyed the ride. I need a new rear tube, as mine keeps going flat, but that won't be hard to fix in the near future.

I almost didn't work out today as I've been feeling slightly sick all day. I don't have the flu or anything, but I had friends over late last night and made the mistake of having two cups of coffee after 9 PM. The end result was that I couldn't fall asleep until around 3 AM this morning, so I've been very tired and lethargic all day, and it's left me feeling a bit sick. It felt like a hangover minus the headache, but after working out I feel great, likely because I got my blood flowing and finally woke myself up. In the end, I'm very very glad I worked out, which is usually how I feel after I work out. I've been slowly learning that I always feel better after working out, which is why I forced myself to start today. It ended up being a good thing.

My legs felt great today. I was a bit curious to see how they'd feel after yesterday's four mile run, but no ill effects thus far. I've ran 4 miles a few times before, but I've never actually ran as much of it as I did yesterday. Typically I'd take breaks around .4 or .5 miles, instead of after every mile like yesterday, and I've always noticed that my legs were a bit sore the next day, so I'm glad that's not the case today. It's a good indication of progress being made.

And speaking of how my body feels, my right shoulder has felt fine all weekend. I think I was just a bit paranoid when I felt it hurting in the pool on Friday. I'm not a hypochondriac by any means, but I am very paranoid of old injuries flaring back up. Since it's happened to me before, I have a hard time telling my brain that everything is fine and that nothing is actually really wrong in the heat of the moment. We'll see how the swim tomorrow goes, but I think everything is going to be OK with my shoulder.

Running Workout 1/10/15

Got an outside run in for the first time this week and it went great. It wasn't part of my training plan (today was planned as a rest day), but my training plan is built around a Sprint triathlon, which ends with a 5K (3.1 mile) run. I have a half-marathon to do in April, so I knew going in I'd be adding some running mileage to my training plan.

I took last Saturday as a rest day and it almost drove me nuts not doing anything. Tuesday is also a rest day, and two rest days felt like too many, especially since one of them was on a weekend.

I got 4 miles in today, and ran 3.7 of it. I was doing intervals of 1 mile running followed by .1 mile walking, and it worked well. I won't say the last .7 miles (my last running interval) was exactly fun, because that part really kicked my butt, but I was happy I got all the running mileage I wanted done. Overall, I finished the 4 miles in 49:28, which equates to an average pace of 12:22 minutes per mile.

This is the best running workout I've ever done, and I'm happy to have done it outside. Running outside is much harder than me than running on a treadmill, so being able to run 1 mile nonstop multiple times is a huge victory for me.

More and more I'm seeing the benefits of consistent training in all three disciplines. I have no doubt that the training in each discipline is helping me in the other two. Running and biking feed off each other by strengthening my legs and getting my lungs accustomed to the exertion, and swimming especially helps the other two as it improves my breath control and breathing in general. I don't know if anyone one discipline is helping me any more than another, but I'm certain that if I was only running, or biking, I wouldn't be making strides this large this quickly.

There were multiple times this week I really felt like skipping my workout (last night in particular, as I was at work later than normal), but I kept forcing myself to keep doing. I read once that "It takes 4 weeks to notice a change in your body, 8 weeks for close friends to notice it, and 12 weeks for the world at large to notice it". I'm not sure of the veracity of that statement, as I found it on the internet, but I'm choosing to believe it. Tomorrow's workout will mark 2 full weeks of working out almost every day, and I want to give it the 4 weeks to see if I do see a change in my body.

It's not that I haven't already started noticing changes; everyone that's been reading this knows that I've been impressed and happy with the progress I've been making with my workouts. But I have yet to notice a real change in the mirror, and while that's not the main goal, it is a very important secondary goal to me. I got into triathlon mainly to do a triathlon (and eventually an Ironman, so I can go around saying "Yeah, I'm an Ironman, just like Tony Stark"), but also to help me lose my gut. I'm not really self-conscious about my weight in general, but I don't like my gut. My weight isn't a big factor to me; if I weighed what I do now but didn't have a gut, I'd be happy. But I do want to lose my rather expanded middle section, and I'm hoping I'll start to see progress on that front over the next few weeks.

To that end, I've been trying to slowly modify my eating habits. I'm trying to snack less, and when I do snack I try to go for fairly healthy alternatives like green apples and sunflower seeds as opposed to chocolate and potato chips. I've also been drinking more water and less beer. I'll never cut beer out completely (I like it too much for that), but I'm down to one or two a week with dinner instead of 3 or 4. I'll still occasionally have one when we go out for dinner (especially on special occasions), but I've even cut back on that. Hopefully soon I'll see the improvement I'm looking for.

Swim Workout 1/9/15

Did 1,500 yards in 35:13 today in the pool. It was a great workout, but man, did it kick my butt.

My first set was (5) 200s on a 4:15 interval. After that was done, I took close to 2 minutes of rest, then did (5) 50s on a 1:00 interval. I rested another 2 minutes, then did a 100, followed by a 150 after 20 seconds of rets to round out to 1,500 yards. I had initially intended to finish out with (2) 100s, but ended up deciding I'd rather add 50 yards to the end of my last set to get to 1,500 yards.

I think my intervals may have been a bit fast for my current fitness level. I only got roughly 10 seconds of rest on my last two 200s, and I literally got no rest at all going into my last 50. But it was good. The fast pace/low rest is a good way to get better, but I think next Monday will be a slow pace/long rest day just to help me recover from tonight's workout.

Tonight was by far the most taxing workout I've had since I started this journey. I can't say I'm entirely surprised that my most taxing workout came in the pool. I've swam for so long that my subconscious knows exactly what it's doing, even if I don't realize it.  I instinctively know just how hard to push myself without making myself so tired I can't continue. I haven't got that nice little instinct for running or cycling yet, so I tend to hold back a bit in both those disciplines because I'm deathly afraid of injuring myself to the point that I can't compete in my races.

That being said, I may have overdone it a bit tonight. My arms, especially my right shoulder, are quite sore. My shoulder is the most troubling - my senior year in high school I developed tendinitis in that shoulder and had to do nothing but kick workouts for 3-4 weeks, and I'm honestly worried about that flaring up again due to the repetitive motion inherent in swimming. We'll see how I feel after this weekend, but even if it feels fine I'm expecting Monday night's swim to be much easier to help ease my mind regarding this.

Treadmill Run 1/8/15

I did another 25 minutes on the treadmill tonight and got 2.214 miles in, slightly more than last Monday. I upped my speed by .2 MPH for the last 2 minutes. Next time I do a treadmill run, I'm expecting to up it for the last three minutes, and just keep increasing it by one minute each successive run.

Tonight's run was much easier than Monday night's, likely because I knew I could run for all 25 minutes because I'd already done it. To tell the truth, I could've keep going for more than 25 minutes, but I'm sticking to my training plan pretty religiously, and that called for just 25 minutes tonight. It's funny; three weeks ago, I would never have thought it was "just" 25 minutes of running. This is why I'm sticking to the training plan: I've done it this far and I'm already seeing huge gains.

Tonight was also strength night for me. My training plan doesn't call for any weight training, but I wanted to add some in. Some extra upper body strength will certainly come in handy during the swim portion of a race. Since I'm making the strength training up as I go, I'm starting out pretty lite - only two days a week (Sunday and Thursday). I bench press about 75 pounds in 5 sets of 10. I'm not entirely certain how much my bar weighs, but I've got 30 pounds of weights on it. I then curl about fifteen pounds, sticking with 5 sets of 10. Again, I'm not sure how much my dumbbell weighs, but I've got 10 pounds of weights on it.

Tomorrow is a swim day. With 35 minutes of swimming called for, it's the longest swim to date. I'm looking forward to it. I think cycling is probably my favorite discipline, but swimming is by far the one I'm best at, and I like the fact that it's so low-impact. Not entirely sure what my sets tomorrow will consist of, but I'm leaning towards (5) 200s on a 4:15, followed by (5) 50s on a 1:00, then a few 100s on a 2:15 or 2:30 to round out to 35 minutes. We'll see if that's what I end up doing or not.

Bike Workout 1/7/14

I got thirty minutes in on the bike trainer today. Not too much to say about this one. It was quite a bit easier than my last trainer ride because it was fifteen minutes shorter, but I still got a good workout in. I concentrated more on high RPMs today than previously.

The new pedals continue to impress. At this point I've pretty much said everything I have to say about them and won't likely mention them again.

Beyond that, not much to say today. Pretty plain jane workout this evening.

Swim & Run Workout 1/5/15

After work today I went directly to the pool and did my swimming workout. I got 900 yards done in 19:57. I broke my workout up into four sets of 200 yards on a 4:30 interval, followed by one 100 yard set to finish up to 20 minutes. The swim went fairly well; I was happy to be swimming 200s again (the 200 yard free was one of my main races in high school), and was glad to see I could probably drop the interval down to 4:15 the next time I do these.

As soon as I was done swimming, I came home and ran for 25 minutes on the treadmill, covering 2.20 miles. I decided on the treadmill instead of an outside run not because of the temperature (because I can bundle up enough to make that a non-issue) but because of the condition of the sidewalks in our area. On the way into the community center to swim, I slipped once or twice on patches of black ice in the parking lot and was unwilling to risk that happening while I was running, so I opted for the treadmill tonight.

The treadmill run went great. 25 minutes is the longest I have ever run at one time in my entire life. During the first five minutes I was very much wanting to stop and walk, but I kept telling myself "At least get to a mile". Once I got to the mile I had less than 15 minutes left, so I convinced myself to just keep on trucking and I'm glad I did. Tonight proved to me that I am getting better at this stuff, and that I am getting back into shape.

I doubt I'll ever be as in-shape as I was in high school, but I can get fairly close. Tonight was the first really big sign of progress for me. I've seen other small signs along the way. like not falling over on my bike all the time, or managing to actually work out consistently instead of for just a few days, but tonight really showed me I can actually do this.

Today was a good day.

Bike Workout 1/4/15

Did 45 minutes on the trainer today. Got a good sweat worked up.

The new pedals continue to impress. I'm quite glad I switched. Today though my feet started hurting around the 30-35 minute mark. It's not totally new; it happend on long outdoor rides with my old pedals, probably about the same time frame. Somewhere between the 40 amd 45 minute mark I realized they were no longer hurting, so hooefully if it happens during a race I can back off a bit and get them feeling normal. I'm not worried about any Sprint tris; those will be done and over well before my feet should start hurting. If this continues, however, the Half-Ironman in October should prove interesting.

Garmin Vivofit Review

I recieved a Garmin Vivofit activity tracker/pedometer for Christmas this year and have been wearing it since. I'm not new to the world of pedometers as I've used a Fitbit for numerous years, but the Vivofit is a bit different, but in a good way.

The Vivofit is worn around your wrist and doubles as a watch. It has one single button that cycles between the different displays: time, date, steps taken, number of steps left to meet your goal, miles walked and calories burned. If you have been inactive for an hour or more, a red bar appears on the top of the display, acting as a reminder to get up and walk around. 

I've used multiple Fitbits in the past, including the Flex and the Force (prior to the recall and subsequent release of an upgraded version; I have not used the Force that's currently on the market). The Flex was a small band that used four lights to tell you how close to your goal you were, but that was the only display; if you wanted to know exactly how many steps you'd taken, you had to sync with your phone. The Force was a bit larger and doubled as a watch, much like the Vivofit. You could scroll through different screens to see different stats, just like the Vivofit.

The main difference between the Fitbit Force and the Garmin Vivofit is that the Force had a rechargable battery. Every two or three days it required recharging. Because of this, the display was not constantly on. If you wanted to check the time, you had to press a button to activate the display. The Vivofit comes with a replacable watch battery that Garmin claims is good for about one year. The display of the Vivofit is constanly on, so all you have to do to check the time is glance at your wrist, just like with a normal watch.

Comparing the Force and Vivofit products, I'm a bigger fan of the Garmin. I tried the Force but was eventually forced to return it when it was recalled. The battery charging port on the Force was on the back of the device, so it made contact with the skin, and the chemicals used in the charging port gave me a rash (which is why it was recalled). Fitbit, to thier credit, gave a full refund to everyone who sent the Force back, so props to them for running their company well.

Even if I had not had to return the Force, however, I would still prefer the Vivofit to it, simply because I don't have to charge it or activate the display to check the time. I also like the fact that it tells me when I've been inactive for awhile. More than once i's got me up and walking simply to remove the red bar from the display.

When compared with the Fitbit Flex, the Vivofit is the clear winner for me. As stated, the Flex has no display beyond four lights, which I didn't care much for. The lack of a display on the Flex also brought up another issue for me; the fact that I had to wear it and a watch. The only jewellery I ever wear is a watch and wedding ring. I didn't much care for the additon of another band on my wrist, but obvioulsy this is a highly personal gripe with the Fitbit, and most people won't be bothered by it. The Vivofit simply replaced my normal watch, so there's no extra jewellery to worry about.

The Vivofit also tracks sleep. Simply by pressing and holding the one button on the unit, you can place it into "Sleep" mode. It then tracks how long you sleep (based on a second button press in the morning to end sleep mode) and how well you slept, based on how much you moved during the night.

Another good thing about the Vivofit is that it uploads to the Garmin Connect app. This app is the same one that my Garmin GPS watch uploads to after I get a workout done. Having everything all in one place instead of spread over two apps is nice.

My only gripe with the Vivofit is that the display is not really backlit in any way, which means if I'm somewhere dark (say, a movie theater), I can't check the time. This also makes it a bit of a hassle if I forget to put it into sleep mode before I turn the lights out. The display on the Force could easily be read in the darkness, but not so with the Vivofit. Overall though, this is a minor complaint and won't keep me from using the unit.

If anyone is looking for a fitness tracker, I would advise they look into the Vivofit. There are alot of options available on the market these days, but the Garmin Vivofit is a good one.

Matt Mason "Cowboy Up" Memorial Triathlon 2015

I finally got around to signing up for this race again today. While this race isn't one of my A races this year, I'm very much looking forward to it. The only other race this year I'm anticipating more than this one is the Border Wars Half Ironman in October.

The Matt Mason tri was the very first tri I ever signed up for. In fact, it was this specific race that really got me into triathlon in the first place. For a number of years I'd always thought "Doing a triathlon would be fun", but I never did anything about it because I didn't own a bike and had no idea which race to do. Then I found this race.

The Matt Mason Tri is a memorial for Matt Mason, a Navy SEAL who was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 6th, 2011 (the Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down by a RPG). Those of you that know me know that I'm fairly patriotic, and that of all the U.S. Armed Forces, the Navy is by far my favorite. From 8th grade through my senior year, my only plan after high school was to join the Navy and get my dolphins (servicemen who serve on submarines have "earned their dolphins", as they are the only branch of the Navy that wears a dolphin pin on the uniform) and be a career Navy NCO on a submarine. Then, on the day I went to sign up just before graduation, I found out that my asthma is an automatic disqualifying factor. I couldn't even get a desk job with the Navy.

As this race is a memorial for a fallen Navy SEAL, it obviously has a very heavy patriotic theme, This appeals to me very much. When I stumbled across this race in the middle of last year, I knew it was something I wanted to do, so I signed up for it and began training. This race is the reason I'm doing triathlon today.

Unfortunately, the 2014 race was cancelled the day of because of inclement weather, so I have yet to actually do this race. For that reason, I'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait to do it. The finish line is lined with American flags, and there are volunteers handing flags to all the racers shortly before the finish line. It should prove to be a quite moving tribute for a fallen hero.

Friday Morning Swim 1/2/15

I got back in the pool today for a good swim. My training plan called for 30 minutes of swimming, and I hit that almost exactly by swimming 1,000 yards in 29:58.

I was hoping to get a few hundred more yards in, but at the 500 yard mark decided to change my workout up a bit. The first 500 yards were done in 100 yard increments on a 2:15 interval. After the fifth 100, I gave myself 3 minutes rest and then began a set of ten 50s on a 1:30 interval. After the fifth 50 I gave myself 2 minutes rest and then finished the set out.

I decided to change the workout midway because I know from experience that doing the same thing over and over again (all 100s, or all 500s, for example) is not the best way to improve. Adding variety to my swim workouts helps, so I changed my plan of twelve 100s on a 2:15 interval to five 100s and ten 50s.

Overall I was very pleased with the workout, and I'm not even unhappy I didn't hit the yardage I'd planned on. It was a great workout. For the first time since I started training for triathlon, I got out of the pool feeling faintly like I was going to throw up, which for me is a good sign. That feeling is how I judge if I've worked myself hard enough in the pool or not. I had it almost daily when I was swimming in high school, so I know when I get that feeling that I've done well in the water.  My high school swim workouts were the most grueling I've ever done, so to get that feeling again today was a bit of a victory, even if I didn't hit my planned yardage, because it let me know I really worked myself.

As I was doing the workout I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't getting all the yardage I wanted in, but now that it's done and I've had time to reflect I'm not disappointed at all. It was a good workout, and that's what matters most.

Run Workout 1/1/15

Got out and ran 2 miles in the cold today. It was a good run, better than my last run. I ran more and improved my time, which is always the goal.

This time around I got the 2 miles done in 24 minutes and 31 seconds, as opposed to 26 minutes and 7 seconds last Monday. My average speed went from 4.6 mph to 4.9 mph and my average pace went from 12 minutes and 47 seconds per mile to 12 minutes and 12 seconds per mile.

Overall I'm very happy with the run. I again did intervals, with the base being .3 miles ran followed by a .1 mile walk. I mixed it up some today though; once during the first mile and once during the second mile I stretched the runs from .3 to .4, which obviously helped me lower my time and pace.

I was happy with how I felt during the run. The .4 mile segments were taxing, but not overly so. Next week I'll likely up all my intervals to .4 miles. My next run is Monday, and I'm looking forward to it.