Filled out a medal rack. Never thought I would do this when I started my couch to 5k five years ago…
Medals!
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Category Archives: training
Hacking is tougher on your body than Ironman Training
A lot of my friends wonder why do I do an Ironman? All of that exercise, that training doesn’t it hurt? Isn’t it rough on your body?
This past year, for reasons out-of-my control, I went through a 4 month period where I was hardly working. Re-orgs, layoffs, etc.
As a result I wasn’t really working … But I was training a lot.
In February I got an awesome job at VMware doing stuff I love.
And so I started working long hours, sitting in front of a computer hacking code, learning about internal systems, etc.
And my body fell apart. My arms, shoulder, neck, and legs went numb because I was sitting down for 8 hours straight.
In three years of training, I have never thought I needed to go to the doctor. After two weeks of work, I had scheduled an appointment.
Ironman training, is tough but I have never been as much as a wreck as I was after just two weeks of being back on the job.
Back on track
I started working recently and discovered that the human body hates work.
I am also working on figuring out how to balance life,training and work… The San Jose Sharks used to be a good team so they were in the mix of things I had to balance… Not this year.
As for weight we had a bad week last week but we are on track
The Half-Assing of the Bike Training
The last couple of years, I’ve been mostly focused on finishing my triathlons instead of doing better. This year, I want to go faster.
Going faster means doing everything you did, just better. And unlike when I was 15 years old, time is working against me. Every year gets harder… not easier.
One of the areas ripe for improvement was my bike training. Bike training is boring. And I hated sitting in the garage endlessly pedaling.
And I wasn’t trying really hard. And you can see that from the average heart rate that was almost always routinely below the minimum target range.
Oh the excuses I invented:
- My legs hurt too much
- It’s too hard
- I don’t like this! WAAAAAAAAH!
- I need to pedal at 90 RPM and I can only do it at this more comfortable gearing that feels nicer!
This year, I chose to do something about it. And last night I did my first long bike ride where I chose to not half ass anything.
The pain. The excruciating pain. Oh the pain!
All of these years, I wondered why is biking so much easier than running? And the answer, much like the mystery of my weight loss, was hidden in plain site: because I push a lot harder when I run.
Back on the saddle and son wants to play hockey
I just finished a 1:30 minute brick workout (bike + run). And my son had just gotten his new hockey gear.
All I wanted to do was sit down, all he wanted to do was skate.
We skated.
And skated.
And skated some more.
I was – possibly – the worst hockey player of all time. Nicholas is fast approaching the point where I am not good enough to play.
And therefore, in spite of the pain, I played because sooner than I like he won’t want to play with me…
Christmas Baggage
Skiing, drinking and partaking in overeating have their consequences. I had a great Christmas Eve dinner at my friend Marcin’s and his family and then followed it up with a great Christmas Day Dinner at my house.
Two wonderful meals.
And might I add that if I don’t beat my time because I was off by 4 pounds, it was a fantastic four pounds of melomakarona, applie pie, cake, prime rib, sweet potatoes, and Lord knows what else!
This was more fun than biking in a garage
I went cross country skiing at Royal Gorge
This is what the trail head looked like:
And this is what I looked like:
Christmas is for Eating
Without comment I present to you the most amazing sweets made by the most amazing women in the entire silicon valley area:
And without comment I present the (lack of) weight loss progress chart:
And so it begins
The past couple of years I have tried to get ready for an Ironman. And this blog was devoted to the endless training that was required. There was a theory I would eventually get it done.
Except I haven’t.
I have an admission to make. In life you can do the following three things:
- Family
- Work
- Ironman
But in my life I only get to pick 2 of 3. And I love this kid and his mom
And my master plan to become independently wealthy didn’t quite pan-out 🙂
Part of the reason this blog has suffered is because – well – it was a hard to admit to myself that this was a multi-year plan that got derailed.
At the end of the day, my goal in life is to do an Ironman, and when I see 70+ year old men doing Ironman, I think – okay – I can do this. I am not saying no forever, just for the moment.
And so
a NEW IT begins…
With that reality staring me in the face, for the moment, I will stick to training for 70.3’s. Maybe when Nicholas is older, maybe when my professional life is less complicated or if I ever solve that need to work thing…
In the meantime, my goal is to get a lot faster in the 70.3. Turns out learning to go faster is almost as an insane a challenge as trying to go longer.
And to go faster I have to lose MOAR weight. My thinking is I need to get below 175… Or lose as much weight this year as I lost last year! EEP!
Without further a-do here’s the current weight situation
You’ll notice upwardly sloping curve in November. This coincides with my marathon. I went to Greece and ate MOAR food. And then after the race was over, I was like – WHY STOP NOW!!!!
Early December, I kept gaining weight and I was like – I like this fatter chubbier less sexy me… And then the scale tipped over 200 pounds and I was like – NOOOOOO
And so in early December, I decided the curve had to move in the right direction. This has meant starting my training for 70.3 in Hawaii early and not eating as much.
One funny thing is that pre-marathon I didn’t lose or gain weight. And I have discovered that I was eating all-the-time. I mean literally all of the time. Going back to losing weight has made me appreciate how much food I was consuming…
Week 90: And on the third and final try
The Greek Orthodox Church allows us to get married divorced two and remarried three times. The last marriage is really the last try…
And this too is my last bite at the 5h 41 minute apple.
The first time I did a Marathon, finishing was the goal.
The second time I did the Athens Marathon, I wanted to break 5 hours and finished 1 minute slower than the first time. Who can forget the 5 pictures I took to immortalize my failed attempt at breaking my PR.
And on this my third and final time, my goal is to just beat my PR.