2012 Progress Report

I have been reflecting a bit lately as I finalize my goals for this year. I have to admit, 2012 was a pretty good year for me. I lost nearly 40 pounds. I ran my first 5k, my first 10k and my first triathlon. Well that may sound great now, but sometimes it's difficult to see the progress we really are making on a day to day basis. That's why it's good to take a look back from time to time and see how far you really have come. So, I checked my Runkeeper log file today to see what kind progress I really have made. On this date, two years ago I weighed nearly 250 pounds. I ran 2 miles in 30:10. That's a pace of 15:05/mile. On this date, one year ago, I weighed 240 pounds and ran 1.5 miles miles in 20:44. That's an average pace of 13:49/mile. The progress was admittedly slow - 10 pounds in a year and a little over a minute off my pace. But it was progress nonetheless. With that, and the added motivation of committing to a race in August, I was really able to turn 2012 into a positive year. As of yesterday, I weigh 206 pounds. My run this morning was 4.3 miles in 35:33 minutes. That's an average pace of 8:13/mile. No only is that farther than I was able to run last year, its a five and a half minute per mile faster pace!And that's the kind of progress I'm hoping to continue on into 2013!

Take a moment and think about how far you have come in the last year. If you are just getting started, think about where you want to be a year from now. Don't get caught thinking "I can only run this far" or "I'll never lose that much weight". It doesn't really matter where you are now. What matters is where will you be. Just remember to take some time to look back once in a while to see how far you have come.

Maybe it's bragging a bit but I actually find it motivating to share my successes with others. I've put a lot of hard work into it and I'm proud of how far I've come. I am also motivated by reading about the successes of others. Feel free to share your progress here.

Lets make this a good year!

2013 Goals

One of my primary goals this year is to accumulate mileage. After reviewing my last years training, I see that I did indeed make quite a bit of progress. That being said, I think I still have a long way to go - especially if I want improve times and go farther.

Here are my base and stretch goals for this year:

               Base       Stretch
Run        500mi     750mi
Bike       750mi     1000mi
Swim       30mi         45mi

I like to set a stretch goal because it gives something to keep pushing for beyond my primary goal. It sets that bar at the next level to keep me motivated and gives me no excuse to stop once I reach my goals.

I have two target races this year. I will be running other races, but these are the two i am using to measure my progress. The first is the Presque Isle Triathlon this August. My goal is to finish with a time of 1:15:00 or better. That is a 15 minute improvement over last year.

My second target race is the Blueman Triathlon where my goal is to finish the Olympic Distance course. I've never done more than a sprint distance triathlon, so this will be a first for me.

What are your goals for this year?

Victory For Voices 5K/10K Race Recap

Date:                     12/02/2012

Location:              Nockamixon State Park, Quakertown, PA

Distance:              5K or 10K

The Victory for Voices run was started in 2011 to raise money and awareness both Autism and Childhood Apraxia ofSpeech.

Goal:  Finish the full 10K race in less than 55 minutes (9:00 min/mile pace). 

Results

Time:                     51:49

Average Pace:       8:21 min/mile

Place:                     36th place overall (8th in Age Group)

Review

The course was a 5k loop around Nockamixon State Park.  It consisted of partial road course and partial paved trail course through the woods and next to the lake.  At the half way point runners could decide if they wanted to finish with a 5K or continue on for a second loop to make a 10K run.  The path portion of the course wound through a nice wooded area and then along the banks of Lake Nockamixon.  Although, the fog was so thick that you could barely see what is probably a very scenic state park.  

It started out as a cool foggy day.  Although, for the second of December, I suppose it could have been much colder.  It was a chilly and damp 38 degrees in the morning when I arrived.  There was a relatively small turnout (236 runners) and registration went smoothly. 

The race was originally scheduled a month earlier but had to be cancelled due to weather.  The race began with an almost 200 foot climb over the course of three quarters of a mile (or a 5% grade).  That’s 61 meters over 1.2K for those metrically inclined.  After the initial climb it was basically all downhill and flat for the rest of the course.  The hill was a little bit of a challenge for me on the second loop but I was able to get through it and keep moving. 

Overall, It was a nice run. It looks like it would be a very nice park to visit in better weather.  There is a triathlon there in next year that maybe I'll run. Independence Triathlon or Quakerman Triathlon

Lessons Learned

1. If you have a GPS watch, make sure your memory is not full before you start the race.  I was not able to record my data from the run because I no memory available before the race started. 

2. Verify before the race that all your equipment is working.  See number one.  I did not check my watch and didn't notice that I wasn't tracking any data until halfway through the race when I attempted to record my split time. 

3. Turn off audio queues.  I had my iPhone on my arm to record my pace I was using my Glympse APP to allow my wife to follow my race progress.  I also thought I would use Runkeeper to track my race.  The geek in me wanted to do a comparison between the tracking on Glympse, Runkeeper and my watch.  I accidentally left the Runkeeper audio queues on.  So after a mile I started getting time and pace announcements.  And since I wasn't wearing headphones, they were played out of the phone speaker.  That's annoying to both me and the other runners so I turned it off. 

10 Tips for keeping motivated during the winter months.

It’s that time of year around here again.  The air is getting cold outside. Under the covers on my bed seem more and more appealing every morning.  Tis the season for big meals and lots of baking and booze.  For me, this is the hardest time of the year to keep up with consistent exercise and training.  

Here are 10 motivation techniques to keep moving through the winter.

1. Set Goals for next year

Don't have any goals yet!?  What are you waiting for?  Get ready for next year’s resolutions.  Set a weight goal, a fitness goal, Scope out races for next year.  Give yourself something to work towards.  If you need help coming up with some new goals, checkout my post on Goal Setting.

2. Focus on your goals.

Remind yourself why you are working out.  What are you training for next year?  Post your goals in places where you will see them every day.  Keep them in mind as you work out.  Remind yourself that there is a reason for your madness.   

3. Sign up for Races

While you ultimate goal may be that Olympic triathlon next July, signing up for intermediate races in the mean time can be both a great way to stay focused on working out by setting a short term goal to work towards.  You can also use these races as a measure of how you are progressing toward that final goal.   

Beginnertriathlete.com race finder

Active.com Race Finder

4. Easy on the Booze

Hangovers equal a bad workout (at best) - likely a missed workout.  I just recommend planning for the after effects of the Holiday office party.  The day after might be a good time to plan a "rest" day into your weekly routine.  And of course the obligatory community service announcement - Celebrate responsibly and Don't Drink and Drive!

5. Easy on the junk food

It is very easy to go overboard on the sweet stuff in the winter.  All the extra cookies, cakes and pies - mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Just because it is there doesn't mean you have to eat it. 

5b. But, remember to eat junk food too

It is ok to celebrate the seasons with a little holiday food.  But wait... Didn't I just say to ease off the junk food?  It is ok to allow yourself some cheat time with the diet.  If you are staying consistent with your workouts, eating a few extra cookies won’t ruin your progress - and it might just keep you sane.  If everyone is eating Christmas cookies and drinking eggnog and you are over in the corner nibbling on carrots and celery sticks, you might start to feel a little bitter.  Go ahead and indulge a bit.  

6. Ask for new cool gear from Santa Clause

I admit it, I'm a geek when it comes to new gear.  Once I get something, I have to go and try it out right away.  So ask your honey for some new shoes, or that new Heart Rate Monitor you’ve been eyeing up - whatever it will take to get you moving.  

7.  Be flexible with your workout schedule

The weather sometimes may limit your outdoor activity or you ability to get to the gym.  Have a backup plan.  Do a workout at home.  Get on your treadmill or have POWER 90 or  P90X at the ready.  Don't let the weather be an excuse to not work out at all.  

8. Continue to record your progress

You can find motivation in seeing your progress, even in the off season.  See yourself getting closer to your goals.

9. Keep talking

Keep telling everyone what you are doing.  The more you talk about it, the more people you tell what your goals are, the more motivated you will be to keep them.  Why does this work?  Mainly because of guilt... but it works, so use it.  Plus, I find that the more people I talk to about what I'm doing, the more they get involved.  It is a great motivator to see people take up exercise because you inspired them.  Maybe you can convince someone to do a race with you in the next couple of months, or pick up a new training partner.  

10. Put your stuff on and get going

It gets harder to tell yourself no once you are dressed for the workout.  Get your gear on, and get moving!

Do you have any special motivation techniques you use to keep yourself going in the winter months?  I would love to hear them.  Feel free to share.

Six Steps to Getting Anything You Want

Do you want to reach your peak?  Your maximum potential?  I believe there is a six step process that successful people go through as they accomplish awesome things.  That's it.  Six easy steps.  This is a summary of the steps - the cliff notes version if you will.  Let me know what you think.


Stay Awesome!!

Step 1: Find Your Vision

The first step to achieving anything is to figure out what it is that you really want.  What is it that you really want to accomplish?  What do you want to be?  How do you want to live?  This step involves determining what your dreams really are.  Remember to think big; but try to find out what it is that you are truly looking for.  For example you might say I have a goal of earning a million dollars.  But what is it that you are really after.  Is it financial security?  Perhaps it's a legacy you want to leave to future generations of your family.  Think about what it is that is driving you to these thoughts.  That is what you are truly after.  Knowing the root of your vision will make it more meaningful and more motivating as you begin to pursue it.

Step 2: Set the Stage

Time for a reality check. Time to acknowledge everything in your life that is holding you back.  What?  Didn't I just say start dreaming?  That's right I did.  And if you really want to get to the place in life you are dreaming about, you better find out where you are.  If you don't know where you are, you will never know where to start.  And if you don't know where to start how will you know when you are finished.  This is about understanding the negative forces that are working against your vision; it’s also about acknowledging the positive forces as well.  You need to see the whole picture, so you can make a plan and measure your progress.

Step 3: Create a Plan

Step one says determine what you want.  Find out the end state you are trying to achieve.  Step two says figure out where you are starting from.  Step three is about connecting the dots between the two.  What is it going to take to go from where you are to where you want to be?  Your plan should be based in reality of what is reasonably achievable.  For example, if you set a goal to lose 30 pounds, don't make a plan to lose 30 in a month.  It may be possible but it’s not likely that you will keep it off.  Try to spread out the time frame.  Remember, you have a lifetime to accomplish your goals.  If you extend the time of losing that weight to 6 months, you only have to lose 5 pounds a month, or one pound a week, or 2.3 ounces per day.  Now that doesn't seem hard does it!?  It's OK to start small and take baby steps, as long as they keep you moving forward.

Step 4: Get started

While it sounds obvious, this can be one of the most difficult steps to take.  Taking that first step toward your dream can be a daunting feat.  You are about to embark on a quest that could dramatically change your life.  There is a reason this is Step four and not Step one.  That is because completing the others first makes getting started an easier step to take.  Remember by this time you have solidified what it is you want, you know where you are starting from, and you know the path you are going to take to get there.   All you need to do is begin!

Step 5: Stay Motivated

i find that successful people find was to keep themselves motivated.  When you are in the middle of working toward your goals, it can become easy to lose sight of what it is you are really working hard for.  Especially when life throws some unexpected challenges your way.  A big key to this step are setting intermediate goals during the planning stage and celebrating your successes along the way.  Remember don't celebrate by doing things that work against your goals.  If you are paying off debt, don't go out and buy a brand new TV on credit once you pay off one card.  Or don't eat a chocolate cake to celebrate losing 10 pounds.  While these may sound like exciting ways to celebrate what you have accomplished they can end up being demotivating and the ultimately work against your goal and make it that much harder to accomplish.

Step 6: Repeat!

Say what?  That's right it is critical to keep refining this process.  You may find that along the way your dreams change, or that life changes them for you.  Perhaps you now have a family and saving for college becomes priority number one.  Maybe you realize that you didn't set the bar high enough for yourself when you first started.  Maybe 30 pounds wasn't that hard to lose, or half way there you see the progress you are making and decide that 50 pounds would make you he healthier person you are striving for.  So take another look; go back to step one and go through the process again.  This time aiming higher and achieving even more than your thought you could.

Race Recap - Presque Isle Triathlon 2012

Presque Isle Triathlon 2012
Date: 08/25/2012
Distance: Sprint
Swim:     0.35 mi
Bike:     13 mi
Run:     3.5 mi

Goal: Finish, standing up and with out having to stop or walk
Stretch goal: finish in 1hr 30min or less. 

Swim:     17:10.20
T1:         03:38.55
Bike:      38:35.20
T2:         00:48.60
Run:       31:11.45
Total Time:     01:31:24

I was Very anxious to get started.  I wouldn't say nervous so much just anxious.  I could feel the adrenalin pumping through my veins. We showed up on time, got checked in, inked up and chipped. We were ready to go.  I knew 11 other people at the race so it was pretty exciting to have everyone around.

The water looked pretty choppy that morning.  The evening before, we came out to the lake to take a swim and check things out.  The water was smooth as glass.  Not the next morning. Once we stepped out of the hotel I was a little worried of what it was going to be like at the lake. The wind had picked up over night and was blowing pretty good in the morning.  Of course being a novice racer I was too ignorant of open water swimming to really be afraid.

One last minute change by the organizers and we were ready to go. On race day, they announced a change to the starting format from age group waves to a time trial start.  I had never heard of a time trial start.  Apparently, it's when everyone gets into a single file line and starts the race one at a time.

Time to Race!!

Swim
Water temperature was comfortable, in the mid 70s.  I was able to run a good 20 meters or so before swimming was the faster way to go. ...Wow! I was not prepared for the chop. I had done all my swim training in a pool.  I guess there is a good reason that everyone is always saying to practice open water swimming.
The swim course was set up as a triangle.  The back leg was by far the hardest for me.  We were swimming parallel to the shore and across the chop.  At one point, I took three consecutive breaths where a wave crashed directly into my face.  That was it; I had to stop and regroup.  I knew I could swim the distance but I had to get my breath back first.  Luckily, I was near one of the lifeguards in a kayak.  A 30 second break holding into the end and I was good to continue.  Finally got out of the water and in just over 17 minutes.  That was a lot longer than I had anticipated and a lot longer than I trained for. 

Transition 1
A quick jog up the beach to T1 to get my bike.  All my pre-race research said "set up your transition area so you are good to go when you get there".  So I had my transition area laid out ahead of time and I was glad I did.  It definitely made the transition go smoothly.  The only struggle was the shirt (I was wet OK..)  I had the race bib pre-pinned to the shirt and that got a little caught up when pulling on my shit.  Shoes on - helmet on - heart rate monitor on - a quick power gel and I was good to go.. I grabbed my bike and started jogging out of the transition area. 

Bike
No pedal clips or toe straps on Big Red.  Just jump on the bike and go.  "Make sure you are out of the transition area and your helmet is strapped on before you get on the bike" is all I kept hearing in my head as I got ready to go.  I think they said that 10 times in the pre-race meeting. 
I am happiest with my performance on the bike.  Considering that I was riding a mountain bike, I think that a pace of 2:58/mile is pretty decent.  My average pace in training was only 3.28min/mile.  That's about 20MPH.  Of course, it helps that the course was very flat and the wind wasn't much of a factor on the road.  One quick loop around the park and that was it.  It was fun and reassuring to catch up to and pass some people who had clearly passed me in the swim.  At the same time it was humbling to be passed by someone nearly twice my age who started minutes behind me.  Over all it think it was a good ride.

Transition 2
T2 was a pretty quick turn.  No shoes to change.  No cloths to change.  Just jump off the bike run into T2 and rack it, take a quick drink and head out of T2 to the run. 

Run
I was actually feeling pretty good at the beginning start of the run.  My adrenaline was pretty high and I was happy after what felt like a good ride.  I settled into a nice steady pace and just ran it out.  It was awesome to hear people cheering each other on as the runners on the return leg were passing those of us going out.  What a great bunch of folks.  The end of the run course lead through a small wooded area that opened up for the last 50 meters or so to a crowd of people cheering every finisher on.  What a relief I could see the end!  Awesome!  I did it!  Triathlon Complete, check that one of the bucket list. 

Lessons learned
1. Practice open water swims  
- Everyone said I should do it and I didn't.  ...I really should have.  Swimming in the open water with waves and currents is a completely different beast than lane swimming in the pool.  If you have never done it, make sure you practice it a few times before you race. 

2. Learn to recognize wave direction and turn my head the other way when breathing
 - This sounds easy enough, but it took me a while to figure out.  I really wanted to breath on my right side and every time I did there was a wave there to hit me in the face.  Once I calmed down and figured this out, things got a lot easier. 

3. Transition zone setup is good
 - I am glad I took this advice.  I had my transition area laid out before the race.  I think the biggest benefit was T1 where I needed to get all my gear ready to go.  I had my shoes, shirt, helmet and fuel all laid out ready to go when I got in from the swim. 

4. Get a race bib belt
 - This would have been very helpful, especially in T1.  I had a minor wardrobe malfunction because I had pre-attached my bib number to my shirt.  When putting my shirt on I was worried about ripping the bib.  With a belt, I could have just snapped it on and been done. 

5. I need a road bike
 - Big Red did good for me and I am happy with my performance.  But she is just not built for the road.  I was consistently being passed by people just cruising along at a moderate cadence, while I was pedaling as fast as I could in top gear the whole time.  

Wrap Up
All-in-all the race went well for me.  I am happy with my accomplishments.  I did what I set out to do, I completed a triathlon! - How could I not be happy?  During my training, it came apparent to me that I would probably make it through the race, so I set a stretch goal of 1hr 30min completion time.  I just missed that mark by 1min 24sec.  I'm very OK with that. I learned some valuable lessons during this race and I plan on applying them to my training, and future races.  Now that it is all over, I can say that I want to do it again.  I lost a lot of weight this past year, and got into the best shape I have been in a long time.  Perhaps longer distance races are in my future.... we'll see where that goes.

...Back to The Swing of Things

Hey I back... well I'm still here anyways. 

It has been a month since my first triathlon..... Aaaannnnnd I've been kind of taking a break.  As a matter of fact I really haven't been working out much at all.  I trained nearly a year for that one race and I am very happy with my results.  I just needed some time to do something else for a little while.  And well it was a nice break, its time to get back at it.  I believe I can say I have officially been bitten by the race bug and I fully intend on racing again in the future.

In the works right now:
A recap of my first Triathlon (Presque Isle Triathlon 2012). 
A new race schedule. - That's right I said schedule.  Meaning I intend to do more than one race in the next year.
A set of updated goals.
A new workout schedule.
And of course updates on gear, workouts, motivation and all the other good stuff I like to blog about. 

Check back soon for more updates.

Until then, stay Awesome and keep training!