My Swimming Coach

I went to the gym today with my swimming coach (my lovely wife Kristal who has vast experience in swimming). It was all technique today. I worked on breathing on my left side (drank a lot of pool water today) and I finally started getting it towards the end of the workout. She also taught me how to do flip turns in the pool to increase speed. Yes, I got water up the nose a couple of times which is always a pleasant surprise. I was also running out of breath because I would exhale all my air trying not to get water up my nose. It is getting better with each attempt. Thank you Kristal for all your patience. I'm definitely learning alot from your help. I can tell I am cutting through the water faster. I'll start getting some pics up soon. We are doing the Midnight 5K next weekend which should be a fun run.

12 and 6

So my ride on Saturday ended up being exactly 49.9 miles. I went and bought a camel pack afterward so I wouldn't have to go without water for so long. Yesterday I went to the gym and worked on my swimming technique for half an hour. I got a lot of good tips from Kristal and Youtube. I could tell I was going faster just by changing a few things. Today I woke up and did 12 miles on the bike in 46:03 (used the camel pack and it was great) and then ran 6 miles right after in 48:13. Still feeling good and not much soreness. I'll be doing the Utah Summer Games Triathlon June 19 (olympic distance which is 0.9 mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run).

Four And A Half Hours

Ok... so I went on a bike ride this morning (5:30) and I thought I'll just do one loop of the Ironman course. Yes that was a huge mistake and was a little too far for my beginning stages. I don't know the exact distance yet but I am going to go drive it tomorrow to find out and I'll post it. It took me four and a half hours to ride it. Not record breaking speed but I wasn't going for speed. I had no food and only a 16 ounce bottle of Powerade. Another mistake. I did learn a few things from my ride however. Like take plenty of water and some food. Also after 3 hours of riding, my fingers went numb and I didn't know why until afterward I found out it was because I was putting too much pressure on my palms. My wise father-in-law told me that's a good way to get carple tunnel syndrome. (I think that's how it's spelled) So he gave me some good pointers about how to avoid that problem in the future. Thanks! I got light headed a couple of times from lack of water and food. I actually walked the bike twice for about 5 minutes each time to get my blood flowing back into my fingers because I couldn't feel the gears. Surprisingly my legs and butt are not sore at all. It was a beautiful ride... just a little too long. After getting home I ended up eating alot and taking a nap to get my energy back. I do have to say though that the downhills are really fun. Tonight Kristal and I went to Cafe Rio (heaven on Earth) and shared a salad. Then we went and saw the movie Letters to Juliette which was a very good movie. Tomorrow is my rest day but I'll let you know the distance.

Swimming and Coasting

Ok so I finally got back to the gym this morning and did another 1 mile swim. My time is still the same at 32 minutes but I didn't feel as exhausted when I was finished. The past few days have been pretty busy with work over the weekend, running errands and planning family home evening Monday with the whole family over, and then helping Kristal yesterday with some girls camp stuff. I taught the young women about knots so they could get certified for camp. It's been a fun few days but not much training. I did do some hardcore cross training Saturday morning and Monday night by playing basketball. Ok, not hardcore but it did include some running. After work today I was in charge of scouts as I am the Wolf/Bear den leader. We went for a 5 mile bike ride (which will probably be my slowest time for the next year). It took us a half hour. It was more like coasting then riding. I am borrowing a bike from my awesome father-in-law. It's a good bike that should give me some really good training on the roads over the next few months. Riding the bike today was really fun and I think I'm going to enjoy that part of the training the most. Which is wierd because it was the part I was most nervous about. Thanks to everyone for the great words of encouragement. I'm still way excited about it.
PS James - you CAN do it.

Back At It.... Sort Of

So I took the day off yesterday because after my last workout I got a rash that covered my entire body. I figured out that it was from the perscription medicine that I'm taking to get rid of a scab on my head that hasn't gone away. I think it's the penicillin. My mom and 3 of my kids are all allergic to it. The sweating just made the rash spread all over. Last night Kristal and I went out to eat to Red Robin and I totally over did it. When I weighed myself this morning I was one pound heavier then the other day. That's going the wrong direction. Uuuuggghhh! So I went to the gym this morning to swim and they were doing a water aerobics class so I worked out chest and legs. By the time I finished the class was over and I had enough time to swim a quarter mile. It only took 8 minutes. So for the next 2 weeks I'll be focusing on swimming until I'm done with my perscription. I'll be doing the Utah Summer Game triathlon June 19th. The olympic distance which is 1 mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 6 mile run. I'll be ready for it!

So Sore...

After yesterdays workout my thighs were sore all night. I wondered how they would be this morning. Well I woke up this morning and guess what.. still sore. I thought 'I can't let a little soreness stop me or I'll never make it'. So I went to the gym this morning anyway and rode an hour on the stationary bike. I ended up going 20.75 miles. (Yeah, I felt good about that) I got off the bike, got a drink of water and went straight to the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes. I ran 3.5 miles. Did I mention that I hate running on the treadmill. It just feels like your not getting anywhere. Oh yeah.. you're not. It's wierd... my legs are less sore now then they were when I woke up. Reward for making myself go I guess.

First Swim & Bike

So today was my first day of training on the swim and the bike. I had swam a half mile about 2 weeks ago so I decided to go for a mile this morning just to see how long it would take me. I surprised myself by doing it in 31 minutes. I know Shayne and Kristal.... that's not very fast compared to your standards but I was happy with it for my first mile swim. I then went and did 30 minutes on the stationary bike in the gym while watching Sportscenter. I know I won't have Sportscenter to keep me company when I'm riding in the streets but I'm just beginning. So start out slowly right?!? The highlights of the NBA playoffs made it easy to take my mind off the pain (for some reason baseball highlights doesn't have the same affect. LOL). I went 9.2 miles in the half hour and I was sweating like crazy. I think it'll get better as I get more conditioned to the bike. We'll see. I am now weighing 177 lbs. which is down 4 lbs. from last week. I changed my diet which is helping. Talked to my brother Joel about doing some shorter Triathlons with him in the summer which should be fun and good training races. I'll keep you posted as they get closer. Hasta manana!

And So It Begins.....

Ok.. so call me crazy or nuts but this is something I've been thinking about doing for a few years now. It is now official. I will be participating in the St. George Ironman on May 7, 2011. After watching the Ironman this last weekend I was kind of upset that I was not participating in it and decided right then that I would do it. I am so excited about it and started my training this morning by doing a 6 mile run from my house, up River Rd., down Mall Dr., up and over Foremaster Dr., and back to home. I had to get up at 5 and run because I had to be to work by 7. My excitement level is really high so it was easy to get up. I put my headphones on and the first song that played was "Dare to be Stupid" by Wierd Al Yankovich. I know... how appropriate is that?! Maybe I am daring to be stupid in my own way. Maybe it's something we should all try to do every once in a while. So.. I feel like I could do the swim and the run but I've never been real big into riding bikes so I'll have to do extra work in that area. This blog is mainly to keep me accountable to myself to help get in the best shape possible for race day. I hope you can all enjoy the journey with me as I make the trip over the next 365 days to becoming an Ironman.