Starting over is better than not starting at all.

In this world there are many different factors that can hold one back or derail ones goals of achieving something. That has happen to me but things change. You get going on your life path and think that this time will be different than all the other times before. This time you will be able to stick with your plan and you will be achieving your goals that you have set forth in the time frame that you what it accomplish them. Then life looks at you and says "that is cute when he tries. Lets just do this and this and time to start over from scratch." And so I sit here right now scratch day +1. I have decided this is it. I got knocked down and have gotten back up. I am going to do 2 months of dedicated training. If I stick with it then I will join the Y to add the swimming to my training. I feel like if I can stick to the training that I have in place from a mental stand point, then I will stick with the whole thing and compete in Triathlons next year. I understand that injuries or just normal life events could slow down the plan, but from a mental stand point I can let that stop me. I can say "oh well I will just go back next Monday and start from where I left." Cause what happens is Monday comes around and I find an excuse not to go back on Monday. Then Tuesday the same thing and I am the type of person that has to start on a Monday or it just doesn't feel right. I have created that mentalty in my head that "if I don't start on Monday then I can't workout the rest of that week."

So here we are. I will be doing this blog again while I train. Talking about what I am doing, what works, what doesn't, products that I use and supplements that help me thru my training. I will also be shouting out the great support group that I have behind me on a regular basis.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day and reading this. Hope you stay around for the journey that is about to come.

Training without Ego: One of the hardest thing leaving that at home/MAF Training

Ego: the thing talking in your ear telling you to go faster, to not let the person next to you do more than you, even though you are in pain to keep going. Wait that is all? You can't go farther? You just need to quit!

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!!

Back in the saddle after a week of rest from Training/MAF Training

How does the saying go? You never know what you have till it is gone. Or in this case, till you take a break from it. I was still so very tired from this past weekend. On the way home from work, I was actually worried about falling asleep driving. Now before when I was lifting for pure size, if I took anytime off and was real tired I would just convince myself that I could wait till the next to get the workout in. Well we know how that usually goes, tomorrow comes and you talk yourself into going the next day and so on and so forth till it has been 3 weeks and you just say screw it I will start back up next month. Now I know not everyone is like that and couldn't imagine even saying that. However those people wouldn't have put themselves in the situation to be able to just skip a few days. But this time every day that I took off, I felt like I was letting myself down, losing my endurance, etc. But after I went in the gym for my first workout on Monday and looked down at my MIO Link and saw that I was already in the Green Zone even before getting started I knew it would just get worst LOL.

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.

What I learn from the MIO Link in TRI Training!/Shout out to single training parents!!

So this week has been the first week of having my boys for summer and using my MIO Link. So why do I bring that up you ask? Well let me tell you LOL. This week I got my boys for the 1 of my 4 weeks during the summer. So my typical day now is getting up earlier than normal, making sure they get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, drive them to my folks house (who they stay with while I am at work), drive to work, get down with work, go pick them up, get the back home, cook dinner, feed them, go to the gym, get back, get them in the shower, snack, in bed then get me in bed then repeat LOL. And yes I know that is what the majority of parents, mothers or single mother do on a regular basis if they are working out and handling a family. And it isn't that it is too much for me or that I resent it at all. What I found out I would have never known if I haven't had been using the MIO Link. Now let me explain.

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!!!

End of 2nd month TRI training with my MIO LInk/MAF Training

What can I say at the end of the 2nd month of my training? Down 10 lbs, seeing abs that I have never seen before, feel absolutely great after every workout, mentally I have already embraced and caught the addiction bug of triathlon training. After 10 years of saying every January that I am going to do Kona Ironman, it is a great feeling to know that I am now in a very supportive group of triathlete competitors. Or I should say that I am a triathlon trainee lol. I am looking forward to the 2015 season to begin competing in March.

Friday's workout was an 80 minute bike with abs and run (speed walk lol). Felt absolutely great during the whole ride. My bottom is getting more and more use to being in the saddle for that long. However I will start looking into some chamois cream to help with the sore points that do form while sitting for that long. I have done a little research online about the different creams that are available. Once I select one to go with of course I will do a review of that cream. What type of creams have you guys used and which ones do you prefer?

Abs workout is so brutal but so rewarding! I am now at 20 reps per exsercise. I am thinking of adding 5 more reps which would make it 25 reps then instead of going to 30 reps, just adding another set on to them. So it would be 20 reps for one circuit then 10 reps for set 2. Also I think that I will add a excerise that aims for the upper abs cause it seems to me the workout is very lower and side ab specific.

Now on to my MIO Link and MAF Training since they are now going hand in hand. Using the MAF Training 180 formula, my zone 2 or aerobic zone is 140 - 130. Now according to Mark Allen http://www.markallenonline.com/maoArticles.aspx?AID=2 the add or subtract beats is based on how much you workout a week, which is a little different than from Dr. Maffetone's formula. So I used Mark Allen's base of how much a week I workout. Now some people will say that for Cycling you should use a different number for your zone 2 or Aerobic zone, but Mark Allen says to use this number for ALL cardio training. So that is what I am using. The great thing about the MIO Link is that it has 5 different zones you can set by using the MIO GO app. On the bike to keep it between 130 and 140 bpm right now is a push, but checking what my beats are it is so close to the 130 that I feel comfortable that I am still in the zone during my long ride. So seeing between blue and light green on my MIO Link during the whole ride was a great feeling knowing that my body is using fat first for energy before getting into fuel reserves. Now to the run! It has taken me almost a whole month to finally commit to leaving my ego at the door and shooting for green during the run. And let me tell you to go from running to a high speed walk is something that I have to tell myself we be very benefittal for years to come. If it wasn't for the ease of use of the MIO Link, I don't think I would be doing MAF Training. And for someone who is pretty vain to be honest, it feels real good seeing the flashing green light and knowing that for certain I am burning only fat.

Well there we be many more to come today. I have just figured out that I can't do post on the weekend so Monday's will be post a plenty LOL.

MIO Link Green lights Ride+Run/SLS3 Compression Sleeves/Planet of the Apes Podcast 2

So again I have failed all of you over the weekend by not posting each day. I say to myself on Saturday I will post about my Friday long ride and run and half of the 24 hours of LeMans. But then I am like well I don't want to post about LeMans till it is over. So then Sunday comes along and I realize 24 hours of LeMans is a post by itself. So here we are another 3 piece blog post spread out over 2 days lol.

I have been waiting all week to get my SLS3 FXC Compression Sleeves and on Friday they came in. I got them in Lime Green to go with my Lime Green New Balance shoes and my MIO Link shirt with the logo in lime green. Yes you have to coordinate your attire lol. So off I go to my 70 min ride with a run after the abs workout out.  I didn't make it half way into the gym to someone was stopping me asking me about my Link and the SLS3 Sleeves. It feels good hopefully helping companies that support their community. I thought to myself that I would really push this ride to see if the Sleeves work.  So I did 45 mins of the workout at 95 rpm rather than the normal 83. My MIO Link looked at me smiled and gave me the green light the whole time I was keeping it at 95 rpm. It is so easy to keep track of which zone you are in.  And no uncomfortable chest strap to worry about.  Women take note of you are using a chest strap and how annoying it is.  This is the answer.  Felt so good on the ride,  didn't get any of the micro cramps that I got before on my long ride.  Still too early to definitely say the Sleeves helped. I will have a more specific detailed post just about the SLS3 Sleeves after next week's workout.  But that was the best I felt getting off the bike.

On to the run after another one of my brutal ab workouts.  Thinking next week I am going to push it to 20 reps then after that go to 2 sets of 20/10. Run was great, getting better with managing my HR and keeping it some what in the green.  Still saw a lot of Red Flashing at me from my Link. Left foot was great.  Ice rolled it with the magically frozen jelly jars of recovery lol.

And finally before I go for this one,  which thinking about it might be 4 post this time I wanted to give another shout out to my Brother and his friend with Planet of the Apes podcast.  If you have iTunes it is in there to download but here is the link to episode 2 http://goapepodcast.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-first-official-episode-of-pota.html?m=1 please just take a listen just to support upcoming Podcasters.

Stay tuned for the next ones coming tomorrow.

Treadmill how I have missed you/Mio Link all I saw was red flashing lol

A little background about me and running. I USE TO HATE IT!! It probably comes from having to get up at 4:30 Monday,  Wednesday and Friday morning at The Citadel when I was a freshman. Mandatory knob PT was the worst. So you associate punishment to running very quickly. So a huge major part of Triathlon is running go figure lol. So what did I do to change my mentality?

Honestly I just said to myself this is part of what I have to do so suck it up and do it! And the strangest thing happened, it worked. After about a month of running I got hit with the wonderful Plantar Fasciitis and took 2 weeks off but added additional 5 miles to my bike rides to try and keep up whatever endurance I gained with my running. I was absolutely shocked what the mind can do. I missed running so much. I would walk into the gym and walk passed all the treadmills and would actually be a little sad cause I wasn't going to be able to run. Don't get me wrong I love being on the bike. I think that comes from years of watching The Tour De France both on TV and twice in person. But for me to actually be sad that I couldn't run was just against every fiber of my body. So when yesterday 2 weeks had past and I felt like my left foot had recovered from the plantar, I was smiling ear to ear when I got off the bike. I did my ab workout as soon as I got off the bike and went to the treadmill.

Old treadmill how I have missed you so much!  I felt so good to start that up and watching my bright green shoes going in a little blur lol. Heart pounding, breathing hard and sweat pouring down lol. When I got done left foot was great, absolutely no pain what so ever. Now while I was letting the foot heal, I did purchase a set of insoles for plantar fasciitis which I have been using everyday in every shoe I wear. Plus when I got done and got home I went right away and grab a jar of frozen strawberry jam in a glass round jar and rolled in under my foot for 15 minutes.  Before you ask the jar of jam was so old it wasn't good lol. Feet feel great today and I am so looking forward to Wednesdays workout especially the run. When I realized so much I missed running I realized at that moment,  I AM A RUNNER!!

Now on to the red light flashing at me the whole run lol. Like I have said before, you use the Mio GO app to set your training zones for what you are doing. And on the bike for me that is 117 to 135 for an aerobic zone workout. Which is used to build endurance.  MIO Link set and off we go. I will say that that was the first time that I kept my ride in that zone the whole time. It felt so good to look on my wrist and see the little light flashing green. You can check it out of the corner of your eye and see how you are doing.  Which I am only a month and half into my triathlon training, I am not trying to break any kind of records just building up a base. The stationary bike that I am using to get my seat time and miles on is more than your usual stationary bike. It has multiple adjustments so I have the bike configured for me. But the main thing that is very beneficial is that you can't coast cause it is actually a spin class bike. So for like my long ride when it is 70 minutes plus 5 miles when I couldn't run, it was an hour and 41 minutes of non stop pedaling. I won't know how that breaks down on a road bike when you can coast as rest.

Anyway back on to the flashing light lol. So I got done with the bike and went to the treadmill.  Using my MAF training zones, I figured my aerobic zone to be 135 to 125 to be safe. I changed my training zone on my MIO Link and since I was just coming back from my plantar problem I wanted to go slow. So I set it for almost 2 minute pace slower than what I was running before I got hurt. 15 steps into the run. BRIGHT RED FLASHING LIGHT LOL. Okay I have exceeded my zone and have to back it down. So I started slowing the pace down to get in my zone. Now the best thing to do when you go to the gym is CHECK YOUR EGO at the door. However that is so hard to do. I already couldn't wait to get back to running but in order to get into my zone I had to walk. I just couldn't do it for my first day back. So I realized that I needed to get more information regarding MAF training which I have started doing more research by joining the MAF training group on Google+ thanks to Fred Lechuga which I follow on Google+. So what I did was try to keep my heart rate as close to the top of the zone as possible. Which was still 20 beats per minute more than it should be. So I am hoping to have more information by my next run on Wednesday.  But I can not say enough how good it felt to run again.

Again thank you so much for taking valuable time out of your day and reading this blog. Please like or share or re tweet if you like it. Till tomorrow with iRacing and COD: Ghost grind.