My life as a 40 plus year old newbie duathlete, Online Poker Player, Twitch Streamer and Father of 2
My life as a 40+ year old father of 2 that has just started Duathlon training. Daily thoughts and my training. I just have started to getting back into Online Poker (pursuing that as full time goal) and a Twitch streamer. Out to prove that you are not to old to learn new things. And a father of 2 great boys. Follow me on my life and journey.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
When life tells you it is time to change priorities for a while\ I am sorry!
Monday, August 18, 2014
Listening to what your body is saying to progress in your training/Mio Link
Well this time I listened to my body and took a week hiatus from all training. And hopefully you reading this will think about what I am about to say and why I made the decision to take a break for a week to see if maybe your body is telling you "Hey bud, take a little break and let me recharge." So 2 Fridays ago (08/08/2014) was my last week of the 4th month of my Tri Training for the 2015 season. That workout was the longest, farthest and most resistance I have ever had on the bike then my run afterward had been again the longest and farthest so far. It went great like all my workouts have been so far. Pouring sweat, legs felt great and huge smile when done. Got home did my rolling of my plantars with Sprite bottles frozen with water in them. And the weekend I felt good. I could tell I pushed past my comfort zone by the way my legs felt on Saturday but it was a great feeling. Monday comes along and I can't wait to get back into the gym. I wake up and right away put on my Mio Link to check my Heart Rate. It is about 3 beats higher than normal but don't really think much about it. If you have been reading along, I was changing up my workouts last week. Going from a 3 day a week to 5 day a week schedule. So I was super excited to get in there that night. About an hour before leaving work, I got what I call a hot spot on the back of my Achilles tendon. It didn't hurt but was tender. I start doing little stretches when I can at work. It kind of comes and goes for the next hour at work. When I get home from work, I do my usual thing I always do since because the spin room is used till 7:15pm, I take my little 30 to 45 minute recharge nap LOL.I don't set an alarm to wake up in time to be at the gym by 7:45pm. So close my eyes and take my siesta. When I open my eyes, I am expecting to jump up and get going. However my body had different plans. I feel like I somehow interrupted the Sandman giving me a dose of sleep dust. I am so tried but I am going to go. Swing my feet to the floor, instantly Achilles looks at me and goes "Hot Spot!" so I reach down and start rubbing it. My Ego grabs hold of my mind and tells it "hey we are biking only today so it will be fine. You can stretch it every time on the drop stroke." Okay my mind says sounds good LOL. Then I look at the clock. 8:15pm!!! What happened?? So I put 1+1+1 together and get "I will give myself a day break and go on Tuesday thru Saturday straight" Obviously my mind was not in control cause not only was I going to a 5 day a week schedule but now I had committed myself to 5 days back to back. So Tuesday morning I wake up, check my Heart Rate and it is 5 beats higher than normal, Achilles is still tender and I am groggy as all get out. Just need to work on stretching the Achilles today at work and will be ready to go once I get my Redbull in me. Day goes by, Redbull helped, Achilles isn't a problem all day, I am feeling better about getting to the gym. Get home again *yawn* think I will take my little nap to recharge before heading out. Off to nappie world I go. Wake up feel like I have been drain of all energy, Achilles is now constantly hurting and again overslept. I am now upset at myself. Okay this is it. I will go on Wednesday or question about it and go from Wednesday to Sunday. Still only 5 days in a row (you might see where my mind is and is not working by now) I will be just fine. So not to just repeat what I said before but lets just say Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday, however my mind finally understood math and the 5 days in row was actually 9 says in a row. So once I woke up after 8pm on Wednesday common sense tapped me on the shoulder and said "do you not see the signs??' 1. Your Mio Link has been telling you every morning that you resting rate has been at least 5 beats higher than normal, your Achilles has been looking up at you and saying "Friday you pushed me a little to far. I need so rest to repair and rebuild." and your naps have been over 2 hours (those aren't naps if they are that long, you are sleeping idiot LOL). So that is when I realized that my body had been given me signs this whole time. I think that if I didn't have the Mio Link and I didn't know what my heart was doing it could have gone a different way. So jump to today. Achilles is completely back to normal, heart rate is back to where it has been when I wake up and I felt some what rested this morning when I woke up. And the biggest thing, I am so pumped to be starting my 5 day workout schedule tonight.
I had decided to take a break every 3 months for a week to repair and recharge. But if you are seeing signs from your body, listen to them. Tell Mr. Ego to shut up and take a break. Will a week off set you back? Maybe if you are new it will slightly. Taking a week off now or having to take weeks or month off cause you "powered" through the pain and got injured, you tell me which you would prefer.
Thank you to Mio Link for the help with my training. It has made a world of difference and opened up more possibilities than I had before. Thank you to everyone that takes the time out of their day to read these posts. Hope I can help at least one person.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Lionheart IndyCar Series: The Iowa "Corn Mash" 105 Race Recap
Well what can I say. Fuel calculations you mean witch (to be PC!) I can not believe that this will be the 4th race in a row where fuel comes into play with my race. I am either having to splash and go with just a hand full of laps to go or I run out of fuel on the back straight and the car shuts off crossing the line like at Indy. And this time my mind is tell me one thing and the DashMeter Pro is telling me another.....and I listen to the stupid technology! Any way let get to what happened.
So another good qualifying session by me if I do say so myself. I qualified 3rd which I believe ties my best qualifying position so far this season. However it would be great if I could hold on to those spots. Being a very road race concentrated driver with about a season or 2 of Indy oval fixed under my belt, it makes one feel good when they out qualify people who have many more oval races under their belt. However what gives them the edge is the number of races under their belts. You can be the best qualifier in the history of any series but if you don't know how to handle traffic, draft, passing, clean driving and FUEL (HINT TO SELF!!) it doesn't mean anything. Got to first the race to have a chance at winning the race. So there I am sitting in 3rd thinking to myself. Alright given the fuel runs you have done, not in draft, you will run out of gas at 68 laps. So that is a one stop race. However the tires will last between 20 and 40 laps depending on how hard you drive and what line you take. From the practice rooms and listening to the other drivers, hugging the bottom burns up the tires quick. If you run a mid line around the track then they will last to about the 40th lap before you have to start lifting. Okay pace lap over, pace car in, leader goes and I floor it in 2nd!!! (I have to start practicing which gear is best for starting out based on which track we are at.) I hold my position with some luck but the front 2 get a jump on me probably starting in first. So again I will not give a lap by lap account of everything but the major points and what I took away from this race. Good clean racing till lap 26, the first caution of the race. Starting at about lap 20 maybe 21, Rick Music had caught up to me and we had a close battle for 4th I held him off up to lap 26 then the caution came out. However it must have come out the moment he passed me cause I got my position back. Okay Jeremy lets to math, 120 laps total minus the 26 we just ran leaves 94 laps left. I will run 67 laps then get gas. So that leaves me with 27 laps that I need fuel for after this stop. So a splash for about 7 gallons to be safe.
Alright so here is another part of work that I need to do, PIT STOPS!! I come in sitting in 4th, fuel 4 tires I leave in 7th. And iRacing is good about simulations but all the "Pit Crews" are the same. So where am I losing time? Well after watching the replay that Tony Lurcock does for us every week on YouTube Lionheart Racing Series YouTube Channel (and sitting in 4th didn't hurt LOL) I can see that I come into the pit some what timid. I have the fear of overshooting the pit or sliding into the pit wall. Why do I have this fear.....cause I have done both multiple times. And why have I done both, cause I don't practice my pit stops as much as I should or even at all during practice sessions. And leaving the pits even with the pit limiter on I am nervous of spinning out and into said pit wall LOL. So losing .2 of a second could be 3 places easily. Also I am still getting use to the macro fuel settings you can do in the middle of a race. And after the race that I didn't take tires but didn't know that the tires were unchecked when I thought they were checked. So It is the lack of practice that causes me to lose these little seconds which add up. So out 7th....lets see what happens or I should say where my mind loses all of its smarts.
Up to full throttle again and we are going. Now all my fuel calculations this time are not taking the caution laps into consideration cause I look at those as laps in the bank. WRONG!!! Clean running, then caution 2 comes out. Okay lets run through the math again. Lap 49 plus 67 laps for a full tank run equals 116. Plus the caution laps should be enough to make it without stopping after this. I will just have to conserve my tires as best as possible to have some left near the end. I got this it is taking a chance but the math is sound (in my head). Again due to the same pit fears I come out in 11th. I lost 2 positions before the second caution. Okay starting 11th with a strategy that I feel like will give me a chance to win. Green flag waves and off we go again.. 22 laps later the 3rd and what will be the final caution comes out. Now this whole time I have been running the math for fuel in my head. This time for some unknown reason I look down at my DashMeter Pro, and it tells me that I have enough fuel to make it to the end. Lap 71 to lap 120 is 49 laps. I got this with the fuel I have left according to DashMeter Pro. So I stay out, back to 4th I know I can hold on to 4th so this is going to work. Green flag flies, heart is beating, could this be the first win for me in the series, could my fuel math finally work? HELL NO!! I look down at my DashMeter Pro after getting up to speed and burning fuel. I look at fuel consumption and fuel remaining versus laps left = short 3 laps. But I look at fuel add (which is the fuel that DashMeter calculates I need to finish the laps remaining and it says 0). This is where the brain goes "Jeremy you have messed up 3 times with your fuel math so the DashMeter is right because it is taking caution laps into consideration.....AGAIN WRONG COME TO FIND OUT STUPID BRAIN!) And here I am for the next 45 laps watching the remaining fuel be 3 laps less than the remaining laps. Now I wonder if anyone caught the other mistake I made with the number of laps. In a race that has rolling starts according to DashMeter Pro, you complete 1 lap at the start of the race even though it is the pace laps before the green flag. So a 120 lap race is actually a 121 laps race according to DashMeter Pro. So I am thinking I am going to be 3 laps short actually I am going to be 4 laps short. So with 4 laps left I have to pit. I come into my pit stall with just .09 gallons left. Take 2 gallons and go back out. And where am I after coming back out.....2 laps down and in 14th place!!! I am so upset with myself. I watched the math on DashMeter Pro for over 40 laps and my brain explained what I was seeing was wrong and the add fuel to finish was right. I will have to try again in 2 weeks cause the next official points race will be on the iconic road course of Long Beach. FINALLY A ROAD COURSE.
Well even if I finished in 14th it did take me from 17th in the standings to 12th. I learn some lessons (I hope) and the biggest thing was I had fun (except at the end cause of my mistake). Please check out the video of the race at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqkk57yUMnk. And look out for next weeks race recap of Long Beach, wire frames and all LOL
CONGRATUALTIONS TO THE TOP 3 IN THE TOP SPLIT RACE:
1: Richard Behr
2: Jeff York
3: Danno Brookins
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOP 3 IN THE BOTTOM SPLIT RACE:
1: Chris Lanini
2: Korey Connor
3: Vincent Bluthenthal
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
After 4 months of training "where am I"/ The supportive community that is Triathletes.
Just wanted to give a little update on where I am both physically and mentally. Also I have been wanting to express my feelings regarding the community of Triathletes and their supportive nature to even people they don't know.
I started this triathlon training 4 months ago. As I have said in a previous post, I have always wanted to do Kona since the past 10 years. If you read http://40yroldgamingtriathlete.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-one-sport-can-completely-become.html it says what my reasoning behind finally starting the training. So I made a training decision last night while spinning away on the bike. Ever since I started my training, I have been doing bike/run blocks. My long rides now is about 2 weeks away from hitting 2 hours then I hit the run which is pushing 30 minutes right now then abs after that. So on (what use to be Friday) my long day I am looking at almost 2 hours and 45 minutes, which I understand is nothing compared to once I build my base enough to take it to the 70.3 to 140.6 training levels. However during the week as I increase my ride and run as I have been if I stay with the same training route, I will be hitting the same 2 hours and 45+ minute workouts 3 times a week. With everything that I have started doing in my spare time ie ( blog, Lionheart Racing Series, iRacing, WOW and LOL) the days are just running out of hours for me to get the needed rest to recover from my training. My Tri training is my #1 priority so with how my training is scheduled now, the other things have to suffer. Most of you who are reading this has probably already come up with the decision that I made last night on the bike. I will be splitting up my training for a Monday, Wednesday and Friday to a Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday morning routine. You see what I have been doing to increase my seat time and run time is adding 5 minutes to my ride every week each day and doing the 'rule" of no more than 10% each run workout. That has come to a 65 minute bike (including a 5 minute warm-up) with 1.60 mile run then abs on Monday, 75 minute (including a 5 minute warm-up) bike with 1.60 mile run then abs on Wednesday and a 115 minute bike (again with the same warm-up) then 1.60 mile run with abs on Friday this week. So next week I would add 5 minutes to the bike and the 10% to the run. I said to myself that I would be capping my bike to 2 hours cause as I increase resistance on the spin bike (which is like using a bigger gear) the distance would increase each week instead of constantly increasing my time in the seat. But more so I will be competing at the Sprint and maybe Olympic distances next year. The 2 hour ride right now is almost the complete distance for the Olympic distance. Plus what I am sure a lot of you are saying is "Where is the swimming??" LOL Well that is also that will need to be added to this whole training schedule. I will be joining the Y hopefully here soon. When I was out of work for those 3+ months, it set us back so I had to make some sacrifices and joining the Y has been one of them. If however it doesn't seem like I will be able to join this year, I have already been looking into just competing in Duathlons next year until we can fit that into our budget. Little off subject there but now back on track. Going to the new schedule will keep me in the gym for now more than the 2 hour bike on Monday and Wednesday (once adding the 5 minutes each week gets me to 2 hours) and I will be doing my runs on Tuesday and Thursday until I hit 6.2 miles. Then I will finish up on Saturday with the 2 hour bike plus the 6.2 mile run once I get there. This allows me to build the base that I need plus frees up time in the evening for my #1 fan and my kids when I have them plus allows me to cover more of the other activities that I am doing. Which now includes recording and uploading to YouTube videos of my gaming and racing. I feel like because the past couple of weeks I have been feeling like there just isn't enough hours in the day that things have been neglected ie this blog which I hold almost at the level of how committed I am to my Tri training. Also I have never really said where I am with my run training so now everyone knows. I feel like that is behind compared to the bike plus I am taking it slow and steady so that I hopefully won't get any injuries that could set me back for next year. By my calculations it will take me another 14 weeks or by January to hit the 6 mile mark which is perfect for the 2014 season to start in late February or first of March. With the help of my Mio Link I know that I am staying in my fat burning zone to train the safest best way possible. By training my body to burn fat first then use my carbs next allows me to last longer in a race. I will be letting you guys know how that goes next week. I will be starting to do it this week just cause it is my last week with my kids for the summer and with what is going on with them and me it just works best to go ahead and do it tonight and Thursday and Saturday even though I did my normal block last night. Mentally I am in such a great place when it comes to the training. I am so excited to get started with the swimming part and to compete my first race next year. Other than feeling like there isn't enough time in the week (which I am hoping this new schedule will fix) I am doing great which it has been awhile since I have felt like that. Physically I am still amazed some days at where I have gotten to. I did 21 miles on the bike last Friday my longest distance and time on a bike then went straight to the 1.43 mile run afterward. That might be a lot to most of you but to me it was huge. Also with the help and support of people and companies which I will get to in the next paragraph LOL. I look forward to every day in the week especially the training day which now will be 5 days a week, so I am excited to be able to get my workouts in that I need and not feel like I am losing any time for other things.
I have truly and utterly amazed at the support and help from the triathlon community since undertaking this challenge. I have heard from people that are just like me; beginners, from people who are winning or placing in their age group all the way to pros commenting words of encouragement about what I am doing or going through. Whether it be @RunTriMom in Chicago, @Iron_Mummy in Singapore, @davemirra, @mickydymond, @ben_bostrom (which is still awesome as F$%^!!!), @mburskey, @runhanley, @rudemuscle, @bigdaddyrob5428, and a ton of other ones to companies that have helped me and encouraged me. I got to start with the best and first @MioGlobal. They have been absolutely amazing, supportive and I would not be training the way I am without them. Second but definitely tied for first is @SOSRehydrate for their amazing support and what an amazing product they make. I can't wait to use it again Friday on my long ride and run (be on the look out for a review of their AMAZING product). Align Footwear is a new edition to the Team Jeremy. Having Plantar Fascittis and bad leg alignment their insoles have been absolutely amazing and so benefitail (again another review on the way). @SLSTRI, @PrimeNutria, @Swiftwick Socks, @HTFU (for great clothes), @Tyrsport (which I am hoping will be on Team Jeremy soon), @WattieInk, @Skratchlabs to name just a few. Plus the number of professionals that have either retweeted or Favorited my tweets or blogs.
Again thank you the person that takes the time out of their day just to read this. For the first 2 months, I got 700 views in the first month, another 700 in 3 weeks, then the most amazing thing happened. I got almost 2000 views in just 2 weeks and it is still going strong. I can not say how humble I am by that. I am constantly trying to improve and add things to this blog. Thank you everyone!!!
Monday, August 4, 2014
League of Legends: My Leap into the PVP Deep End and never looking back!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
How one sport can completely become an obsession and take over your life....in a good way :-)/#TrainWithHeart
I have always wanted to be huge too. It is two conflicting goals that I have had in my life. I am 5"8" and have always wanted to be the size of Jay Cutler, Phil Heath or even the GOAT Arnold. I always thought 250 lbs was the weight I wanted to be. I knew what it would take it go from the 165 lb person I was to 250 and I don't mean the weights, food or the time in the gym. I knew it would take chemical enhancement and I was okay with that (or so I thought). About 3 years ago I decided that it was time. So I started the daily routine of eating every 2 hours 7 days a week. Going to the gym and doing absolutely no cardio cause now I am "bulking" LOL. Also went online and got the closes thing to pure chemical enhancements. Now with having those in my system I had to worry about my liver, blood pressure and testosterone production shut down. Oh the things that you have to do to reach your goals in this sport. When I started I weighed 175 and in 6 months I jumped to 210. I was definitely bigger. People that hadn't seen my in years, didn't even recognize me and where amazed. But how healthy was I? After walking up stairs, I was short of breath. My face was always a shade red from the elevated blood pressure. All I thought about was lifting and eating. My Twitter feed was nothing but full of bodybuilders and supplement companies. I snored louder. I just felt like total crap the whole time. Then came the stomach issue. I had to have my Nissin redone because not only had the one I had 12 years ago come undone but my stomach had twisted and was now above my diaphragm and under my lungs. The doctor that did the endoscopy said that people that had the same issues that I had, when they had to go to the emergency room they didn't make it cause the twist in the stomach had constricted the stomach to where no blood was getting to the rest of the stomach. So obviously the gym was put on hold for awhile. And the weight that I had put on started to drop off quickly. I had another habit that was terrible for me. I would kill my lungs at least 15 to 20 times a day and had the most important person in my life (other than my kids) asking me to stop but it is more addictive than heroin. So here comes November 2013. Again on NBC the Kona World Championship is on the TV. And again like the last 10 years there I am on the couch saying to myself "2014 I am going to do Kona in 2 years." Jump ahead to April 2014 and the click.
I don't know where it came from and I don't know why it happened. But I began my training. I stopped killing my lungs cold turkey. I mentally associated that after I worked out even one puff would completely destroy everything I just did in the gym. 4 months later and still not even 1 puff and don't even crave one either. So my journey began. I cleared out a lot of the bodybuilding Twitter feed, I canceled all the email list I was on regarding bodybuilding and replaced all of that with Triathlon athletes, companies and associations. I would find a great group of people that were all doing triathlons not to win but for themselves. The majority of professionals actually interact with their fans on Twitter and Social media. Companies would also interact with their customers. This was all knew to me. Now I am not saying in the bodybuilding world the companies and athletes don't, just that to me more of the pros in the triathlon world would interact with their fans. I would listen to races from all over the world, watch old races on YouTube, read everything I can about what is going on in the triathlon world. I would find a couple of people that would be inspirational to me by following their journey as they trained and competed in triathlons. It was great to see how supportive people in this world is to be so supportive of each other and cheer people that they haven't ever met before.
The training has taken off for me. If I miss a workout just cause of life, I can tell it changes how I feel. I feel like I am going backwards if I miss the workout. I feel amazing after a workout and I have struggles during the workout. I decided to take my workouts to a higher level. Heart Rate training using the MAF training way. Thanks to the innovative and amazing company of Mio Global, I started using their Mio Link. This strapless heart rate monitor was amazing. The Link goes on you wrist like a watch. So there would be no chaffing or uncomfortable chest strap to have to deal with. Being able to see which training zone you are in by a flashing light that corresponds to the heart rate zone you set by their Mio Go App is easy and very convenient. This one thing has taken my training to a level where I believe I will be able to do a full Ironman in 2 years time. So I thank them every chance I get and here I am doing it again. Thank you Mio Global for creating such an amazing helpful product. #TrainWithHeart is their slogan and it is fitting on many different levels.
Triathlon is now part of me and my world. Everyday I think about my training, how the last workout went and how the next one will be. I like, share, + and retweet on a daily basis companies that I support and follow and that have supported me and helped me. Like SOS Rehydrate, Swiftwick Socks, Mio Global, Skratch Labs, Align Footwear and SLSTri just to mention a few.
SOS Rehydrate has really helped me with my hydration during training and just support and motivation. Getting dehydrated is a thing of the past for me thanks to their great product. I will be doing a detailed review of their product in the near future. Also I will be doing a review of Swiftwick Socks and Align Footwear as well.
So I end this humbly and honestly to the people that take time out of their day to read my blogs,to say THANK YOU! I am no English professor, journalist, grammar expert or professional writer. I share this blog with whoever reads this to motivate, help or just entertainment you during your day. It takes putting your ego aside and bringing to the front any insecurities that one might have when they decide to do a blog. So again I can not express enough how appreciative I am of everyone of the hundreds and hundreds of people out that support each other in this Triathlon world.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Lionheart IndyCar Series: The Indianapolis "The Half Quart" 250 Race Recap
Race day was here. I knew that it would be about 2 hours of racing, so I was prepared with my water, already ate (cause it starts at 11:50pm my time) and restroom break. Qualifying went okay not great. Started in 12th. Now in the Indy 500, I didn't get a chance to qualify so they started me in 14th which I then decided to start from the pits cause I didn't know anyone that I was racing with. This is where this great league comes into play. I felt very comfortable driving against the drivers in the top split, so I was very comfortable to be starting in 12th and on the track. Great start worked my way up 1 spot to 11th then the first caution came out which with a couple of drivers pitted put me into 9th. Just to give you an idea what great racers we had, in a 250 miles 100 lap race, we had only 2 cautions in a normal race in iRacing that would not have happened. Just lets you know the class of drivers that are racing in the top split of the league. So again not to do a lap by lap detail of my race (that will come later). I had it set up to pit twice to make it with just enough gas to finish according to Dashmeter Pro. Now speaking of Dashmeter Pro, if the race you are going to do is a rolling start put in 1 lap more than what is scheduled LOL. As an example this race was 100 laps with one pace lap so actually 101. So if you enter 100 laps, Dashmeter Pro will calculate your remaining fuel and fuel needed to finish based on just the 100 laps not including the pace lap. Why am I making a point about this CAUSE I RAN OUT OF GAS ON THE BACK STRAIGHTWAY!! Now when you are going 226 mph it allows you the ability to coast a mile to the finish line. However being mindful of me slowly down and having to coast to the finish line, I dropped down to the access road at turn 3. The downside is you can't take the access road at 225 mph so I had to slow down, so I had to use my brakes which slowed down my coasting ability. When did I realize this? When I got in between turn 3 and turn 4 and thought to myself I might not make it to the finish. I could feel myself starting t raise up out of the seat and kind of scoot my chair forward thinking that would help. As soon as my nose touched the start finsh line the car shut off, I just made it and stayed on the lead lap LOL.
Again another great race, ran with the professionalism and sportsmanship of the Lionheart Racing Series league. If you get a chance, please look us up on iRacing, on our website at http://www.lionheartracingseries.com/ and now on our YouTube channel at Lionheart Racing Series YouTube .
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Training without Ego: One of the hardest thing leaving that at home/MAF Training
Now there is a difference between pushing yourself and letting your ego take over. In pushing yourself, you say to yourself "you can do one more rep or one more set." You push yourself by doing more than you did the time before. Letting your Ego take over is worrying what people think about what you are doing in the gym. As an example, the person beside you is running at a faster pace and you increase your pace to match theirs even though it might be double what you are use to doing. When you have a very good training program in place but go above and beyond it just cause you are worrying about what people think about you while you are training or working out.
Now when you have your ego in your ear and let it take over but you stick to your training program, it will start to make you feel like you are not doing enough, you are failing or not going to succeed in your goals. And that is where I am in my running training. My cycling is going great. I am increasing my cadence, distance and effort all the while staying in my Green Zone. So I can tell that I am growing, getting better and my endurance is improving. However my running (if you can call it that) to me feels like it is never growing, never progressing and the discouragement is growing. I have been increasing my mileage according to the "rule" of 10% each week. I have been getting off the bike, doing abs and then hitting the run straight away. I can set it to a pace that allows me to run about .2 to .3 miles then I go over my Green Zone and have to start walking for .1 to .2 miles then I can run for about .15 and the cycle starts over. I get on the treadmill to run not to walk and run. This is the MAF training is though. You use the 180 formula to determine your Aerobic Zone and train in it. However you HAVE to check your ego at the door. MAF is the best way to increase your endurance and build a base but it is also the slowest way to do it so that you prevent injuries. Last nights training was a high of the fastest I have done on the bike in mph and a low with still having to walk. And it isn't cause I feel like I have to walk like I can't finish the workout but because I go outside of my Green Zone on my Mio Link. I just want to run the whole time but I have committed to this type of training and if it works for Mark Allen for his triathlon training then it has a good history of working.\
So we must just come to the door of the gym and look your EGO in the face and like you would talk to your dog just say, STAY!!
Monday, July 21, 2014
My iRacing Indy 500 or as I call it my pit strategy failure again LOL
I did a couple of fuel runs to see about distance and tire wear so that I could get the data that I could use to come up with what I thought was a good strategy for the race. However after Chicago, I thought to myself "Self, you can do better this time". Why do I lie to myself like that LOL. So I go ahead make sure I have Chris's setup loaded and ready to go. Get another fuel run in before the start of the race. Then formulate a plan: I will break this into 8 25 laps stops getting tires each time cause I get 28 laps on a full tank, and after a full run I have about 75% tires left on the right side. So that is the plan, it will be about 4 laps under a caution to equal saving 1 full laps of racing. Okay keep all that straight in my head while racing 30+ drivers and surviving.
So time for the race. My teammate and me both signed on at the same time, and it said he was 3 minutes ahead on the list compared to my time. Once I told him that we both thought the same thing " this is exactly what happened last time when it crashed". So as his timer went to 0, I waited for him to say "it has crashed". So when he keyed in on TeamSpeak, he said "we are in the same split. I am 8th and you are 14th" I was excited but still waiting to join the race. So as the time ticked down, I crossed my fingers and..........got IN!!
Alright here we go, I have my water, been to the bathroom and I am ready to go. While practicing and seeing people wreck on just getting on to the track, I started saying to myself " I am starting in the mid of the pack. Should I start from the pit?". Let me tell you it may sound like this is an easy decision but it is not. Your ego is in such full force that it tells you that you can make it around any wreck, it won't happen to you, etc. So it was time to grid and it literally came down to the final 30 second till grid before I decided to start from the pits. And boy was it a good idea!!
The race starts, the marshals let us out of the pits and it wasn't even 5 laps and the first wreck has happened. And guess where the wreck happened at???? That is right, right around where I would have started if I had not started from the grid. So +1 to me for my strategy. After another 2 wrecks, which one was my teammate cause of the strong areo push it started to spread out and go green flag runs. So I am not going to go over a 200 lap race lap by lap but just give some oversight to want happened. I started pitting every 24 laps, 16 gallons (cause you can not fill up with half gallons) and 4 tires. All of the pits from about lap 40 till the end were green flag so I would go down 2 laps and get them back when the leaders pitted. And it started to look like I would be able to fight for a top 3 if not possiblily a win with this strategy. Now 1 problem that I have with other strategies in anything I do I get set on 1 thing of the strategy and don't think about everything. And this time was no different. Around the 3 final pit stops, I started to realize that the leader was going a couple more laps longer than he was before. So I started to change my last couple of pits strategy. Do I take on 16 gallons and tires, then a 15 lap run instead of 24 then take a full tank and run it out or do I split the last 43 laps into just 1 stop? So what did I decide to do? Instead of 24 laps then 15 laps then 24 laps, I decided to do 24 laps twice then a splash at the end for the last 9 laps. For almost an hour all I was focused on was the fuel. So every pit was fuel and tires, fuel and tires etc. So the final pit comes and I hit the button on my wheel that I have binded to change the fuel from 16 gallons to 10 gallons. Come to a stop perfectly in goes the gas but why isn't my tires being put on. Fuel is done still no tires, what is going on, check tire page on F3...NO CHECK MARKS! WHAT THE CRAP HAPPENED!! Okay hit button again to check the tires to change, alright tires are going on.....DANG IT THAT MEANS FUEL IS GOING ON. So I leave the pits 2 laps down and a full tank and actually made 2 pits stops instead of one. I would get 1 lap back but not both laps. The leader who had been saving fuel for almost 70 laps if not more. Ran out of fuel with half a lap left, he lost the lead and I caught him on the front stretch. 1 lap down and finished 5th all because I didn't focus on all parts of the pit stop and just fuel. Plus another thing that everyone should do it PRACTICE PITTING. I would slow down too much the first couple of pits that would make me lose more time than I should have.
So to sum up. Practice pit stops in practice sessions, make sure to think about all aspects of the pit stop. My tires could have made it the last 9 laps but cause every stop was fuel and tires when my tires didn't go on it threw me off. Be adaptable during the race and save fuel when you can. My butt was numb, brake foot was hurting cause it feel weird for me to race with my left foot on the ground instead of in a normal position in case I have to brake and my left wrist was shot from all the left turns. I am proud of how I finished and for racing the whole race minus a lap. I can't wait for the Indy race this Wednesday but I am so excited that season 3 starts next week and I will be back to racing with Jon in the DW12 both road and oval.
Friday, July 18, 2014
700 views this time in 3 WEEKS!!! I am beyond humbled and touched!!!
Tonight is the rescheduled iRacing Indy 500 at 8pm EST. I will be running that tonight plus getting a ton of League of Legends in this weekend. I offered to give any little bit of help that I can to Joe Hassert in Spec Barber Ford at Brands Hatch to help him win his division. So that is Saturday night. Plus I have my kids this week so there will be Call of Duty Ghost and Black Ops 2. Also for their birthday this year, I reactivated the World of Warcraft account so they will be doing that I am sure. Plus my longest ride to date and run on Saturday morning. So lots of things to post about this weekend and will try to post during the weekend to keep everyone up to date.
THANK YOU AGAIN SO MUCH AND STAY TUNED FOR A TON MORE TO COME!!
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Lionheart IndyCar Series: Chicagoland "Deep Dish" 150 Race Recap
Waking up in the motor-home to the sounds of 700 HP beasts chasing each other around a 1.5 mile track, saying to myself "I love the smell of Ethanol in the morning!! That smell, you know that E85 smell. Smelled like 1st place." Well that is what happened in my head at least when I sat down and got ready to warm-up for the race LOL. Tuesday night, I got into the practice server to get a good fuel run in order to come up with a good strategy and more than likely different that what every other person would have. I did a full tank run which let me know that the right side tires really took a beating and when they finally dropped off, they dropped off quick. So I came up with almost the same strategy that I had for Miami, which I did not post a blog about (and for that League Members I AM SORRY!!). That strategy was for this race 34 laps pit add fuel to give me just 13 gallons and 4 tires, 13 gallons would give me about 34 laps. So I was looking for a 2 stop race each time going into the pits with about .4 gallons left. Now the strategy was a gamble and that would be what I would have to do cause I didn't have the speed like I had at Michigan and Homestead. During practice myself, Anthony Lurcock and C.C.M (Chris Miller) were doing practice qualifying runs. Now definitely not to brag, but if my memory is correct I qualified ahead of C.C.M for the first 2 races. I knew from Official Series races that he was a great qualifier, so I thought I would be at least close to his Q time. Not even close. The best I could do in practice runs was .8 away. So I knew I had to come up with a strategy that would hopefully let me pit early enough so that "when" a caution comes out I could be lucky enough to be on 1 or 2 lap tires with the fuel I need. However the downside to not practicing on Monday or with a lot of people in the servers, no pack running. So with the help of Anthony Lurcock just telling me it has aero push behind another car and it can push you to the wall, I knew I would have to either lift at turn in or pop out some of the car to catch air, like in NASCAR when they are pushing the car in front of them and have to get air on the radiator.
Sitting in the car, at pit exit, I had my pitting strategy that me and my engineers came up with (okay okay the voices in my head told me it would work with cautions LOL). Qualifying was about to begin. Starting with this race, in order to over come the issues with so many people filling up one room and having to build quickly another room, the admin came up with what I think is a great idea. We would have a Top Split room and a Bottom Split room. The basis of which came down to the top 20 in points would be Top Split and the rest would be Bottom Split with the exception of a Last Chance Qualifier race that took place on Tuesday night where the top 5 would move up to the Top Split. So I had run a 24.690 in Tuesday's practice session, I said to myself "you can good enough, smart enough and you can do better slacker!" LOL. Anyway practice Q and real Q has always been different, 24.729 put me starting 12th. I was where I had never been before starting outside the top 6. So then the aero push popped up in my head. How bad was it? When did it start and when did it end? Is it faster to lift get down then wide open? Or is it better to pop out and get air on the front to bring it down? Yep my friends this is what practice is for!!
Starting 12th mid pack, I already set tires to be replaced and put in my 13 gallons already to be put in. Settling your button to these settings makes it so much easier. Push one button and BAM 4 tires and 13 gallons. Now if you get caught up in the racing and don't stay up to date with what is going on you will pit and start putting in 13 gallons ON TOP OF WHAT IS ALREADY IN THERE! I learned that last race so as we started I would remove 1 gallon at a time to do the math. Now if you remember what I said earlier, the strategy , to me, would work IF there were cautions. Yep you guessed....NOT A SINGLE ONE!!! Which made for some great quick racing but messed my plan all up. After just a couple of laps I saw someone go mow the front straight grass and I thought to myself, nice caution. NOPE!! So then I heard Joe Hassert say "I tapped the wall" again I thought, nice caution. NOPE!! So first stop was going to be at lap 34 under green. By the set rules, I would pull off on the back straight go on the apron of turn 3 to get to the pit. Now pitting has always been something I need work on, cause every time I have needed to pit there has been cautions. Again never ASS-U-ME there will be cautions LOL. And don't DON'T NEVER pull off half way down the back straight and slow to almost pit speed by the middle of 3, stupid move Jeremy. I had to speed up to get in the pits. However when I pitted I had 13 gallons still in the tank, so I unchecked the gas button and just took tires. In and out in no time, back up to speed and out on the track. Now like last recap I will not go lap by lap, but I will say my strategy gave me false hope. About 10 to 14 laps later all the other racers that didn't pit with me or Joe (again for the wall touch), started to pit. When I came out I was 23 2 laps down. Once the other racers pitted I was 12 on the lead lap. So I had only 16 or so laps on my tires and had burned by then over 6 gallons of the 13 I had left. Tires were fresh and I was lite, which mean I was running down people. I just kept saying to myself come on I need a caution, but that last just a couple of laps cause as I got close to having to pit again if one came out then everyone would be the same. So in the pits I go again, 12 gallons to equal a little over 13 total 4 tires and 2 laps down. I had only about 22 laps to go, now time to power it down and watch the other racers start pitting. While I was waiting for the pits to start me and Dennis had some great racing. He was a lap ahead of me but I knew I was faster just cause of newer tires. It took me about 4 laps or so to finally get around him. I mean I tried high runs, low runs, over/unders, under/overs. And finally an over/under out of 2 and staying low got me around him in 3. That is what is so good about this League and the Top Split. I was not worried about racing Dennis so hard. So on to waiting to see the leaders start pitting. Each lap as it got closer I said come on start saying "pitting in". Come on let get started, Come on pit. START PITTING DANG YOU GUYS. Nope it never happened. They went to fuel conservation mode and made it on 1 stop. If the race was about 2 laps longer it would have been an amazing strategy. Finished 17th 2 laps down. 2 laps down is exactly how many laps I went down by pitting. What a great race and NO CAUTIONS WHAT SO EVER!!!
What to take away from this race. THE ADMIN DID IT!! All bugs were worked out, the rooms worked great and it was great fun exciting racing. AND I KEPT MY SPOT IN THE TOP SPLIT FOR AT LEAST ONE MORE WEEK. Next up for me is the Indy 500 Friday night with my Teammate Jon Carrigan then get ready for Monday and Tuesday practice for Indy 250 with the Lionheart IndyCar Series on Wednesday night!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOP THREE IN THE TOP SPLIT:
1. RICHARD BEHR
2. ANTHONY LURCOCK
3. JEFF YORK
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOP THREE IN THE BOTTOM SPLIT:
1.ZACHARY TRULL
2. BRIAN SULLIVAN
3. JORGE ANZALDO
GREAT RACE AND JOB GUYS!!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Lance Armstrong: To look up to and feel betrayed by the same person at the same time
I don't know why I decided to write this. To put down how I feel now so long after the truth came out. Maybe it will make me see how ridiculous I am being holding on to my believe in him, what type of person he is. But even as I type this I have to stop myself from deleting the bad things I am saying. But the same time, I wish I could walk up to him and punch him in the stomach as say "that is what it feels like, that is what you did to this fan, this defender of you, this supporter." Maybe it is the far distance off chance that he will see it and just see that there are still people out there that wants to see him succeed and compete and prove but they are also at the same time feels like they were personally hurt and affected by his lies.
That is all just a inside to me and my thoughts.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
League of Legends: it a heck of a drug!/LOLesports.com
So because of my hectic stressful last week getting ready for the Miami Homestead 150 race with Lionheart Indycar series and getting ready for the ATC 40k Tournament, I didn't get hardly any play in. However the last game I played I went 6/0/9 on bot. I had read or saw a video about how with this game being so muscle memory and tactical, that you should really try not to go more than a full day between playing. So I was a little worried that it had been days since I got on last, when I got on last night. In a video that I watch regarding CDR (cooldown reduction), I found out that you can only have a CDR of 40% and I wondered how much I was using. So we I go to the Rift with just my Masteries, I am at 5% CDR. So I added to my item set last night to bring in more CDR and added The Spirit of the Ancient Golem and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. So game 1, I get an invite from a friend of mine to get in a game. And the weirdest thing happens, I can see the Platform but no one else, no gold..nothing. So I tried everything I could think of till I finally had to exit game then reconnect. And it worked, however everyone was at least level 8, while I was level 1. So this was going to be fun. But I slowly and cautiously I fought my way up to level 13 before we got the Nexus. One thing that I had to work on what my Last Hit timing, and let me tell you by joining the game finally so many levels down compared to everyone else, you make sure you get every last hit you can so you can level up quickly. I think I finished 2/3/9 the first game and the 3 deaths came from just being at a 7 level deficit starting out. Then the second match I did to me real well. That is the match I went 8/0/6 mid against Annie. I stayed in lane, farmed like crazy, poked and harassed, waited to get multiple items instead of running all the time, constantly moved instead of just attacking standing in one place. I also did another item build order which included Spirit Visage and Spirit of the Ancient Golem as the new adds to my list. Now I know it is bots, but I was the first to level 18 had 13.5k gold (which is the highest I have ever gotten) finished with 179 minion kills and I was taking damage and the HP was barely if at all moving. So even if it was bots, I know that my play is getting better just by I increased all of these stats. 179 minions and the 13.5k Gold means my late hit has improved. The more Gold means building better items quicker which means dealing our damage and taking damage. After watching Scarra play Ryze, I paid very close attention to his ability order which I tried to copy. I just need to focus on knowing by feel when the cooldown is over.
PLEASE CHECK OUT AND FOLLOW MY TWITCH.TV/BCUTLER2003. Just stop in see what is going on. I will be setting up more about it here in the future including overlays,voice and graphics.
Thank you again for taking the time out of your day and reading this.
Back in the saddle after a week of rest from Training/MAF Training
Oh Lifecycle GX and Treadmill, how I have missed you!! It felt so great to sit on that saddle, put my feet in, 5 minute warm-up, increase the resistance to a level higher than I have been and just pedal. Now I have yet to hit mid way in the resistance yet, but I am starting to get in the more difficult area for sure. So I planned on increasing the resistance and handling a lower cadence while my legs adjust to the increased work. It was great!! Sitting in the saddle after a 5 minute warm-up, then just pedalling along. About 30 minutes into the 50 minute ride, I could tell that the new resistance setting was pushing my legs to places they have never been before. And that new feeling felt so amazing. Got down with the ride and jumped on Abs. Now I have changed up one exercise from Abs and that is the corkscrew. The twisting was just hurting my lower back, so I added a alternating V-Sit twist. Which has worked just as good if not better. After burning Abs later then it was on to the run.
I have explained and gone over MAF training many times in my blog posts. And I have been doing it for a couple of months now, however even though I am increasing my mileage by 10% each week, the walk run part is getting a little old but that is the way to do it. I have to build up my endurance base injury free and this method is the best way to do it, but that little (or in some people) big monster called EGO starts to try and take over. So when I get on the treadmill and see people running and I am going from a run to a walk every .1 to .2 miles it can be discouraging. I think to myself "I am never going to be able to get to a point where I can run for a whole 5k without walking". But I also say to myself, this people right here running on the treadmill didn't just get done riding on a bike then going straight to a run. So that eases the EGO pain. And I continue along, cause the first time I bike for say 20 miles then run non stop for 5k will be the greatest day and such a accomplishment for me.
Stay tuned for more post and I promise at least 1 a day from now on even if it is just a thought or idea I have. Please if you enjoy these subscribe to this blog. Also I would love to hear from everyone any kind of criticism. Thank you for taking the time to read this as always.
Monday, July 14, 2014
My slackness last week blogging was EPIC but to me understandable.
Tuesday night I got in a practice race, practice then another practice race for the iRacing Lionheart Series Miami Homestead 150. The practice went as well as I could hope for it to. When I jumped on to what I thought was going to be a practice session, however the practice session and qualify was already over. When I joined in it was grid time for the practice session ROTFL. So I will recap what happened with that and the race on the next blog. Which I know is very late but again I had to prioritize this past week. And Wednesday was the race, so far this whole week up to Wednesday I was getting in bed at 2. So again I was happy in a way that I did take the whole rest of the week off from training.
Thursday night was what I call, Painting night with League of Legends chromecast to the big TV. 16 men to paint and get ready for a 2 day tournament to Tennesse. The second largest one in the US. So 4 hours of LOL playing on the tv and 16 men completely done later and 2:30 am getting to bed. Friday night headed out to Tennesse. 48 painful, brutal and unhappy hours later and I got back home last night so very happy to be back in my bed.
Well that is it for right now. Please be on the look out for a recap of the Miami Homestead 150, thoughts on LOL, and training this week. Thank you again for taking the time out of your bust day and reading this blog. Can never say enough how grateful I am that you do.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Does Compression Sleeves work? That is the question.
Once I put them on, I realized why they were so small. They stretched out to fit my whole shin and were very snug. I had only been triathlon training for about a month so, being sore and having shin splints were a very common issue I was having the day after my workout. So I thought this will be a good chance to see if these work. So when I got these in the mail, it was also my long ride and run of the week. Perfect opportunity to test these out. I really really pushed hard that workout to make sure to test them out. After an hour and half ride then a 30 minute run, I was done for the day. I do have to say it was one of my most enjoyable runs that I have had in a long time. It was until about 25 minutes into the run that I realized.....NO SHIN SPLINTS!!! I almost tripped on the treadmill when I realized that. But I didn't get to excited cause it was just one workout so we will have to see.
The next day I woke up and was prepared that as soon as I put my feet on the ground that I would feel the great feeling of sore calves and quads from the workout. I put my feet on the ground and nothing at all. Got up and walked around and could not believe it, not one bit of soreness at all. Plus my legs felt like they did get a workout the day before but they felt like I could go again for another round that day.
That has been a month ago. The workouts have gotten only harder and harder, longer and longer! And absolutely not another case of shin splints, which I could scream from the top of a mountain about. Plus the recovery time is so quick now, I now realize when I watch the pros wear them I understand why!! One thing that I am going to want to try is a Compression Sock, due to my Plantars Fasciitis. So the question that people ask......Do Compression Sleeves work???? In my opinion, YES!! I WON'T TRAIN OR RACE WITHOUT THEM!
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
League of Legends: First experience of AFKers and first loss!
Monday, July 7, 2014
League of Legends: You Addictive SOB!!!
See you on the LOL Addictive Anonymous ROTFL Rift!!
Saturday's Workout: I could have run all day with my MIO Link flashing Green!/MAF Training
Now on to the run. I have been doing since I got my MIO Link, MAF training. If you haven't read my previous post, MAF training is using your heart rate as a way to make sure you stay in your Aerobic Zone (or Green Zone) to train your body to use your stored fat as energy and it is also the best way to train with the least chance of injury. So even though my rides have been increasing and I feel like I am making huge progress, on the run I feel like it is my weakness right now. Now I do know that I am following all the "rules" for increasing distance and also using MAF training, that it will be a slower progress than just going all out. So I have been not increasing the distance more than 10% a week and making sure to stay in the Green Zone (or maybe a little above for a short time LOL) it is a check the ego at the door way of training. So during the run (I still call it a run even though it is a run/walk right now), I got to get up to running speed three times during the run, but here was the best part. After my 90 minute total ride, my legs felt amazing and once I hit the distance I have limited myself to to stay within the 10% rule, I could have doubled that distance it felt like. And the thing is I don't know why or can't pinpoint something that I did different to make them feel like that except I did this workout on a Saturday at 10 am rather than my usual Friday at 6:30 pm. So could it be my legs were more fresh rather than tired from a day of work?
Well there will be a couple more posts coming today. Had a very active weekend of interest for the blog. Stay tuned for more. And as always Thank you for taking the time out of your day and reading this blog. I really appreciate it beyond words.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
What I learn from the MIO Link in TRI Training!/Shout out to single training parents!!
My normal workout all last week was, green zone on the Link on bike, abs and green zone on run. The green zone being determined using the MAF training formula. All week last week it was like this. So I get my boys Friday night after my long ride and run. Have them over the weekend, which means late nights staying up with them and not the best sleep. Come Sunday night to bed early and get up early. Now because I am getting up earlier and do all the things to get them ready in the morning and getting me ready, I don't check my heart rate first thing when I wake up. I had been doing that and getting between 57 and 61. 57 usually the day of my next workout and 61 on the days right after my workout. So this week I am going at it not knowing where I stand. Also with having the boys, I decide that my legs could use a 3 day rest rather than a 2 day rest. So workout on Tuesday instead of Monday. I get in to the gym. Like I have said before same workout from week 4 of Month 2 but increase time in seat by 5 minutes and increase run by 10%. So that means a 45 minute ride after a 5 minute warm-up. On these "shorter" rides I try and stay at 90 rpm the whole ride. Now I want to say again doing this on the Spin Lifecycle GX is different than if I was doing it out on a road bike on the road, cause the Lifecycle DOES NOT have a coast gear. So it is pedaling the whole time at 90 rpm. I don't know who that works out between being able to coast and not being able to. In my mind I am doing a time trial in a race cause they hardly ever stop pedalling. So I get into the groove and see the wonder green light flashing on my MIO Link the whole 45 minutes, I felt great, legs where good, bottom getting more and more use to the seat in saddle. Absolutely perfect. Then on to the abs. Now if you have seen the picture in the post were I showed you my ab exercises you will remember seeing the Corkscrew. Now one thing about this is it can be hard on your back from the lifting and twisting at the same time . I had been doing 23 reps for all of my abs exercises up to that point. So I get to the Corkscrew and I hit 15 and it is like someone is sitting on the bottom of my feet. I can not do hardly any more. I don't understand this at the time. Can 1 exact day put me that far back and have I lost that much in one day extra. Now I know from bodybuilding that this isn't possible. So I split it up into 2 sets of 15. Every other ab exercise no problem what so ever. So on to the run.
This is were if I didn't have the MIO Link I would have had no idea what my body was doing. The last workout on Friday I got to be able to up the pace for a bit and still keep it in the green zone. So I set the speed to what I did on Friday and got started. About 5 minutes into the run, I caught out of the corner of my eye what I thought was red flashing instead of green . So I looked down and that was right FLASHING LIGHT RED! I just thought to myself, there is no way. this is the exact same pace as I did Friday after a ride that was double the time that I just did. Now it was at a slower pace than what I did today but that shouldn't make a huge difference. So quieted my breathing till it went back to green which only took a half a minute. But 15 seconds later there it was again RED RED RED. So I slowed it down and stayed green the rest of the way. However instead of completely enjoying the rest of the run, all I was doing was thinking about "What is going on here" What has changed from last week to this week. My kids!! Now I am not saying Kids will slow down your progress LOL, but what I am saying is that the new added stress of daily chores taking care of them has increase my stress level and has hindered my ability to recover as well as when they aren't with me. Now I would take having this time with me over them not having me for sure. But getting to the title, my run felt the exact same as it did on Friday to me. But if I didn't have my MIO Link I would have never know that I went out of my Aerobic zone and into my Anaerobic Zone. The whole goal of the Aerobic(Green Zone) is to train the body to use fat first before using stored energy. So the whole time I am in the Green Zone I think to myself "Burn Fat Burn Fat show me that 6 pack" LOL. So thank you MIO Link and MAF training to allow me to take my training to another level of knowledge and being able to listen to my body!
So with that I salute the training parents, single parents who have to do their daily chores of child raising, work and still train and recover. HUGE HATS OFF TO YOU!!!
iRacing Lionheart Series: Michigan Season Opener Recap.
Now like I have said before, this is a new car in a new league. And with any new undertaking there is going to be little hiccups the first couple of races. And there where a couple of small ones that happened, however the Admins where all over it and came up with a solution very fast given the problem that so many people had wanted to race the series that 2 qualifying sessions had to be created. That lead to some people being able to get into the qualifying session and some not. And like some of the other practice races we had my Arch-nemesis John Downing took the pole from me on the last lap beating my time by .012!!! However due to the issues the Admin had to enforce the dual session reset. So we had to redo Qualifying all over again. So I would get my chance to try and find .02 seconds to take the pole. However like the last double header race with a Qualifying session before each race my second Qualifying session was slower than the first one. "Dang it" I yelled LOL. My second Q time was .04 slower than my first which put me starting in 6th. John "Arch-nemesis" Downing's time was almost the same time he ran in the first qualifying session. So the task of setting the grid fell on to Joe Hasserts shoulders. Which I didn't envy that at all for him. So in order to accommodate over 43 racers racing this first race of the season, 2 race session were put up.
Now I am not going to give a turn by turn account of what happen, but I will cover the race from my standpoint with my views and opinions as always, I will cover what I consider the highlights of the race to me. Now you will have to realize that this race got done around 2:00 am for me and I had to be up at 6ish so some parts are a blur still to me LOL. Starting 6th, got a real good start got to the bottom as soon as possible cause that is the racing line at Michigan in this car with this setup, however I could see that the 4 cars out of 5 cars in front of me didn't run any or many practice laps with us cause the were taking a high line on the back straightway not hugging the inside line the whole way around. The only person that was trying to get the low line going was John who had done as many if not more practice laps than me. Even if the draft was up high, you would still hold your place staying low. 3 laps in first caution. The person who caused it never before seen their name in a practice session. I am just going to go ahead and cover this. Almost every wreck that happened was from someone who I had never seen in a practice session. Now I could have just overlooked them but I feel comfortable saying that right now. Again this is with about 3 hours of sleep LOL. The first 2 cautions were within the first 7 laps. Just people racing too hard for this early in the race however I say it is lack of practice in our practice servers and races. Now in real iRacing, all the races have double file restarts with lapped cars in the back. Like I have covered before, this series have single file restarts with lapped cars where they are in the line. Now haven been a lapped car 1 lap down during a race, I have been all for this. However there was a hand full of racers that as soon as they saw this they started complaining which showed a couple of things: 1. they didn't do any practice races with us and didn't read all the rules of the series. After the second caution I had made it to 3rd and the first 2 cars came in to pit so I had the lead!! I was excited I knew I had a chance at winning going into the race. Now here is where an issue I have with myself in certain situations. I knew from my calculations that I would have 2 full fuel stops with a 6.5 gallon stop near the end, that was also if we went green the whole way which I knew wasn't going to happen. So I just knew if I could get to 12 laps or more into the race, I would pit which would cover the splash pit at the end early. 3rd caution comes out I am in the lead then the issue comes out. In my head all I thought about was the fuel strategy in my head. So here I am in the lead EARLY in the race and I pit. Hindsight is a BITCH!! What a mistake. But that is racing and once you turn down for the pits you might as well go ahead and follow the plan. So new tires and topped off, it just became 1 more stop race for me. So back out in 10th ready to go. Now here is where I flip on the lead lap position. Being fast enough to lead and knowing that I can get back to the lead having a car start in front of us 4 laps down already hugging what is the racing line there and being involved in the first 2 wrecks, they should get out of the way of the pack 5th thru 11th racing to catch the lead pack. But no unfortunately this person didn't want to do that so after they slid up coming out of 4 there is the wreck that caught me up. So gutted in that. This also brings up a small over look in building the race servers so quickly. How could someone that was involved in 2 wrecks still be able to race at those speeds with only 1 fast reset. I found out afterward that the resets were set to unlimited. So again a small oversight that we learn from and move on. So that person wouldn't even have been racing if it was set to 1 fast reset but got to move on learn and get better. So that was about it for my race expect having a great race with Jorge Anzaldo for 14th and 15th position at the last 5 laps. Which he came out on top, DANG YOU JORGE! LOL.
So in conclusion to me, it was a very successful first race for a new series in a new not really completely finished car. The admin team did a great job handling the issues that came up as fast as they could. I really liked it how they kept us up to date with what was going on. You are always going to have people that are use to a certain type of settings in races ie single file vs double file restarts, that they aren't going to like it cause they aren't use to it. If you would have done practice races with us, you would have know about the way it was setup. I think it was an amazing turn out. Now we will see how many people show up for next weeks race. You will lose some people just from them not liking something about the series cause they can't adapt to things that they are not use to racing with or rules they aren't use to. So the ones that really believe in what the series is and the people showing up, helping out and really supporting the series will be there next week. And to that I say 'I LOOK FORWARD TO RACING WITH YOU NEXT WEEK!"
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOP THREE IN RACE 1 ROOM 1:
1. #31 Michael Chin
2. #22 Marc Melcher
3. #14 Sam Bonsett
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOP THREE IN RACE 1 ROOM 2 (MY ROOM):
1. #14 Danno Brookins
2. #18 Kouichi Kitamura
3. #19 Jeff York