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.

When life tells you it is time to change priorities for a while\ I am sorry!

I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I have to say that I am sorry to all my readers, to the companies that I support and that have supported me. To friends, family and social media friends and family for not blogging in awhile however it is when life has to step in and take control. I started a new job the June where we had training from June 2nd to August 23rd. During this time, the training was so redundant that by July I was able to blog almost everyday while here at work. Then training was over and I had a schedule of 5am to 2pm. Now for people who know me I am a night owl. I usually go to sleep around 2am even if I have to get up at 6:00am . So having to get up at 3:45 in order to make it to work by 5am, meant I had to go to bed sometime around 11pm which was so foreign to me. After about a week and half of that schedule and one morning zoning out while driving to work which caused me to drive a mile past my exit to get off the interstate, I said to myself that this schedule just wasn't going to work for me. With this schedule I thought originally that it would be great. I would get off at 2pm be able to go straight to the Y (once I had gotten to a point where I could join) get my swim training in, then later in the day still be able to get my bike and/or swim in. However after that issue of driving past the exit to go to work, I walked into work that day scared and worried that I could fall asleep at the wheel coming to work. Someone was looking down on me cause by the time the boss got to work, first thing he did was ask me if I could switch my hours to 8am to 5pm and I jumped at that opportunity quickly. But in doing a new job or new position within a job, priorities have to change sometimes. When I was working 5am to 2pm, I would get home take what I would hope would be a 30 to 1 hour nap, then get up and enjoy the rest of my day before going to bed around 10 or so. However that little nap would become 3 hours. So it would be like I was getting home at 5:30pm just like before the difference was that I only had about 4 and half to 5 hours to get stuff down instead of 8 to 9 hours when I was going to bed at 2am. So get up around 5:30 get ready for the gym, get to the gym around 7:30 cause of spin class being over so I would have access to the bikes. Get down with workout at 9 then have an hour to eat and go to bed. That left me no energy to do anything else. No blogging, gaming or even just watching more than 1 show on TV. So things that I enjoyed suffered. I took another whole week off from training cause when I would wake up from my "nap" I would still be so tired due to the fact that it technically wasn't a nap but my body trying to sleep. You know when you nap too long how you feel even more tired and exhausted then before you went to sleep. So now after a week off from training then a week on, then I got a sinus cold which I could not breathe at all. Before we I was weightlifting not being able to breathe thru your nose was not that really big of a problem. Breathed thru your mouth, pound the weight up and go. However Triathlon training and not being able to breathe is not the same LOL. So that was another week off from training. So now we are feeling better and tonight is back at it. I am eager to get back at it but there is other things going on in my head that I will talk about in another post (right after this one LOL)

So again to Mio Global, SOS Rehydrate, Align Footwear, Swiftwick Socks, Skratch Labs, Jaybird, Gu Energy, Prime Nutrition and other great companies, I am truly sorry I have been quite on social media and on my blog. I was re-tweeting everything you guys would post but now Twitter for Android doesn't let me know when you tweet something so I have to figure that out in order to get back to the Re-tweeting. I have made it a mission to post something to the blog everyday even if it is short from now on. 

Listening to what your body is saying to progress in your training/Mio Link

Training feels great while you are doing it. You get out there, get in the rhythm, sweat, push and when you get done you are spent but feel great about it on the way back home. Once you get home, you do your after workout ritual whether that is using a Normatec, foam rollers, frozen Sprite bottles with water in them (ME), stretch, elevate legs etc. Then the next day you just wake up, maybe sore or a little pain in a small spot somewhere, but think oh that is fine. You repeat that 3 to 5 days or more a week. But that pain doesn't go away, or you feel more tired than normal, or your heart rate is higher than normal during your training or when you wake up. Do we really listen to our bodies or does our Ego get in the way? Then we are so shocked when we are sidelined by an injury and think back to all the little pains we felt leading up to this injury.

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.

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!!!

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.

Saturday's Workout: I could have run all day with my MIO Link flashing Green!/MAF Training

If you have been following along for the past month, my last workout of the week is my long ride. So this workout was a 5 minute warm-up with an 85 minute ride. Now this whole past week I have been pushing around 90 rpm the whole ride instead of the normal 80 rpm. So I not only increased the time in the saddle but also the cadence as well. Which has been an interesting push of the legs. On this ride I made sure to hold 90 to 95 rpm for at least half of this workout just because it was going to be a long ride and a seat time building workout (hope that makes sense LOL). It was a very good ride. Legs felt great the whole time. Got what I call micro cramps at the last 5 minutes which is later than normal so I can tell me legs are getting stronger and having more endurance. Also the numb and pressure pain in the buttocks region lol didn't come on till about 10 minutes left of the ride. So the last minutes of my ride are the push through the pain part of every ride. I have pushed through and overcame the pain by adjusting my seating and mentally pushing through the pain. It is the little victories that keep me going and feeling accomplished on top of the time in the seat and distance in that time. One definite way that I know I am increasing my endurance and stamina, is the MIO Link stayed blue to light green the whole ride. Which means I have more intensity at a lower heart rate which is progress.

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.

Start 3rd month training/Staying in the Green with MIO Link

This week has been the beginning of the 3rd month of training. According to http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=730, the 3rd month adds swimming to  the bike. However since I have already been doing the bike and I added run to it plus I have not been able to join the Y yet to start swimming, I have decided to just stay with the last week of the 2nd month increasing the resistance and I will gradually increase the time in the seat over each 2 weeks. I will also increase the resistance every month.

Man what a difference it was from resistance 4 to 5!! It was like I was pedaling uphill the first time on Monday. I had a 40 minute ride and by the end of 40 mins, I could definitely tell that I had pushed my legs more than I have. Wednesday was my 50 minute ride again at level 5 for right now. I always do a 5 minute warmup usually at level 1 just to get the blood flowing thru my legs. However after Monday's session, I found out that level 1 warm up isn't enough of resistance to get my legs ready for the level 5 constant ride. So Wednesday I did my warmup at level 3 to help with the change. Now I am checking my ego at the door, the http://www.lifefitness.com/commercial/grouptraining/lifecyclegx.html has up to 20 levels of resistance so I have many many levels still to go. At increasing the resistance at 1 level per month, I will be at level 14 by the time the 2015 Triathlon season begins in March. I just can't tell you how great I am feeling before, during and after each workout.

I know I go on and on about the MIO Link but I could not even imagine training without the use of a Heart Rate Monitor. And the Link is so great cause you can keep track of what zone you are in just by the color of the flashing light on your wrist. Don't have to slow down cadence, take hands off bars or any other unsafe practices to be able to see what you heart rate is. You set the training zones using MIO GO App then you don't have to worry about anything after that. The good thing about increasing the resistance is that it now is putting me in my Zone 2 or my MAF zone almost for the whole time in the seat. So I am training my body to burn fat first before using my glycogen storage for energy.

Speaking of MAF zone, it is also a great feeling to be in the Zone 2 the whole time now during my "run" LOL. Now I put run in quotation marks and added the LOL cause it really is a super fast walk. I am right there on the edge of a fast walk and starting to run. If I go to running then my heart goes to red, so I am walking fast as hell. It is an ego check for sure cause I so enjoyed running however the benefit is my Plantar Fasciitis has not been bad at all. I just keep saying to myself "I am building base and doing it the safest that I can to keep injuries to a minium.

Friday is my long ride. 5 minute warmup, 80 minute ride, abs then my run\walk. I just got down with yesterdays training and I am already looking forward to Fridays!! I AM ADDICTED!!!!

Again, thank you so much for taking your time out of your day and reading this posts. It does many a lot to me. If you would like please subscribe to that it will come to your email with every post I do.

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.

2nd month TRI training/MIO Link/SLS3/ZOOT Sports/Prime Nutrition/ALR/Pre & PostJYM/Sof Sole/RAAM LOTR

I have had this blog going almost everyday since May 24th 2014, and in that span of time I have had over 612 people that have taken the time to read my blog posts!! That is so humbling and amazing to me. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HAS READ EVEN ONE OF MY POSTS!!

First off let me start by saying that I am truly sorry for slacking off these past 2 days. It has been a very busy week. I have my kids this week for the start of my summer time with them. So I am getting up at 6 am, getting them up, dressed, fed. At the same time I am getting in the shower, dressed, make my lunch then get them out the door. They get to stay at my mom's house during the day while I am working. So full day at work, then 45 minute drive to get them, take them back home. I fix or pick up dinner for them (I stopped eating fast food unless it is Wendy's salad which I will explain in another blog by itself.) Then on Monday Wednesday and Friday I go to the gym after they have eaten. They get some gaming in then it is showers then bed and do it all over lol. So I got behind from posting and I am going to get caught up now.

Tomorrow marks the 2nd month of Triathlon training with an 80 minute ride plus abs and my run. Mondays training was a real good session. Had a 40 minute ride then my run. I can tell you that it does feel so good to be able to run since having the attack of the Plantar Fasciitis on my left foot. Now this does not go away instantly so I had to stop running for 2 weeks, research methods to easy and prevent flare ups and I purchased a set of Sof Sole insert that is made specificaly for Plantar Fasciitis. I can tell you hands down that they make a huge difference while I am running and day to day. When I am not running I put the Sof Sole inserts into every single shoe that I wear now. Absolutely no pain what so ever during the day. 2 things that I have learned that I have started to do to help manage the Plantar is as soon as I wake up in the morning I pull my toes back toward me and rub right where the heel begins on the bottom of my foot. What I have learned is that during the night while your Plantar starts healing when you wake up and instantly place weight on your foot it retears the microtears that were created from running the day before. By rubbing your heel and Plantar as soon as you wake up, you break up any scar tissue and get blood flowing to the Plantar which helps warm up so it won't tear. The second thing that I have learned and have started doing was I took 4 Sprite bottles filled them almost all the way up with water then put them in the freezer. As soon as I get home while I am drinking my post-workout concoction of Gatorade + Prime Nutrition Glutamine and ALR HumaPro tablets, I roll the frozen Sprite bottle under my left foot for a good 15 minutes to control any swelling that can happen. Just doing these 3 things has helped tremendously. So if you have Plantar Fasciitis, please go and purchased some Sof Sole inserts. Only $19.99, I will make a huge difference.

What can I say about MIO Link that I haven't already said? What a great amazing device! And even though I am a guy, I tell as many women that I know that they have to get this. I can only imagine how uncomfortable a chest strap for women can feel. It is so convient to just be able to look out of the corner of your eye to see what zone you are in. So if you are not seeing green and are seeing blue, need to push a little more. If you are seeing red, need to back it down. I have a Samsung Note 2, I have downloaded the MIO GO app on my Android phone. It lets you set up to 5 different training zones which is great for many different types of training. The App links up by bluetooth with the Link seamlessly. However the iPhone app has so many more features than the Android app for right now. The additional features from the iPhone will be coming over to the Android app some time soon which I am very excited for. Please if you are tired of the rubbing and chafing of a chest strap, then pick up a MIO Link. Works with Bluetooth and ANT+, IPhone and Android phones, so here is no excuse not to run and get one.

SLS3 FXC Compression Sleeves in Lime Green I am seen when I walk into the gym lol. So far they have been great. As someone who is still a beginner in the Triathlon field, my long rides and running have made my legs drained and a little sore. So far I haven't felt drained or any soreness in my calves nor have I gotten 1 shin splint. I use to get shin splints all the time but since I have been wearing the Compression Sleeves I have not. I will do a SLS3 FXC Compression Sleeve review this weekend after my long ride plus run tomorrow.

I will be looking at getting a new pair of shoes from a running store here in the very near future. I currently have a pair of New Balance 690 right now. I do like them however I just purchased them off the shelf and with no expert to see how I run to pick the right shoe for me. I have been interested in what ZOOT Sport has to offer due to Dave Mirra uses them. Now I am not usually a follower of what celebrities use, but Dave Mirra has been an inspiration to me with his Triathlon training and races. He has interacted with me on Instagram many many times which is so rare nowadays. As soon as I get a pair I will be doing a review of them. Also ZOOT has interacted with me on Instagram as well which let me tell you is huge in my opinion. If companies take time to interact with people that takes time out of their day follow the companies it can easily make them a loyal customer for life just for that reason alone.

Prime Nutrition has been helping me with my nutrition both during and post training sessions. I use the EAA and Glutamine with Gatorade every training day. During my ride I mix Gatorade with the EAA to keep my going and hydrated. For the post workout, as soon as I get done I take Gatorade and mix it with their Glutamine. Also so that I get my protein intake right away, I take the ALR Industries HumaPro tablets. I take 6 tabs each time. Here is the link to exactly what makes HumaPro such a great protein source: http://alrindustries.com/products/humapro-tablets . By taking this combination of Gatorade/Prime Nutrition/ALR HumaPr, my recovery time and hydration while working out has been great. What I am looking for now is a good pre-workout supplement. Like I posted before I was sent a 4 day sample of X2 Performance. I tried them and I can not say if I experienced anything different than when I didn't take them. Dr. Jim Stoppani has a line of pre and post workout supplement line that I have been interested in trying. He is great with interacting with people on Social Media to. Now it might be a day before he responds but he is bombarded with question on Twitter all the time. If I decide to get his supplements I will review them on here like I do with everything that I use.

Finally again a shout out to the incredible team of Dave Mirra, Micky Dymond, Dave Zabriskie and Ben Bostrom for their effort in the Race Across America which is still going on. Currently they are in second place only 3 km behind the 1st place team. Also a huge shout out to Rick Tillery who is handling the support vehicle and helping to keep the riders going since there is no stopping until they cross the finish line. Follow them on Twitter at @LegendsoftheRoad and on Instagram they have taken over the Bicycling Magazine account. Also don't forget you can donate to their racing on GoFundMe.com.

Thank you guys so much for your patience and understanding of the slackness of mine lately. Stay tuned for more of my training, iRacing, and hopefully many more reviews of many different products for the viewpoint of a 40 year old gaming triathlete!!

Mirra, Bostrom, Dymond & Zabriskie Race Across America/ Legends of the Road/ Yield to Life Y2L

This is going to be a little shout out and support post for these amazing guys and all 130 teams that are competing in the Race Across America. I will start out with what the RAAM (Race Across America) consist of. This is directly from Legends of the Road website:
          The Race Across America (RAAM) is a 3000 mile transcontinental race considered the pinnacle of endurance cycling around the world. The race has been around for 32 years, and draws competitors from over 27 different countries. 

Beginning in Oceanside, CA, relay teams have just 9 days to complete the race to Annapolis, MD. The racers experience the true Americana culture, landscape, and varying climates. 

As a comparison the Tour de France is about 2300 miles long and is spaced out over 3 weeks. 

Now about the team: 

Ben Bostrom is an AMA Superbike, Supermoto, and Supersport Champion. He has been successful both on the national and international motorcycle racing scene. In the last few years, Ben has been racing mountain bikes professionally for Specialized, including an 11th place finish at the 2013 Leadville 100. Ben will be joining forces with his good friend, Micky Dymond, to race RAAM 2014. He will also be competing at the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb as part of the Ducati Factory Team and will again take part in the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race.

Micky Dymond is a two-time AMA Motocross Champion and an AMA Supermoto Champion. He was a pioneer of freestyle motocross and was instrumental in getting freestyle motocross into the X Games. He has also held the record and has been a class winner at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. After becoming an avid cyclist over the years, he has set his sites on racing RAAM on a 4-person relay team in 2014, and solo in 2015. Micky will also be competing in several supermoto races and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2014 as part of the Ducati Factory Team.

Dave Mirra is the most successful X Games athlete of all time, competing in BMX and RallyCross. He is considered to be a true icon in the sport of BMX and making it a staple of the X Games. In addition to continuing RallyCross racing, Dave has recently turned his intense competitiveness to triathlons, finishing 4th in his first Half Ironman. He will be competing in Global RallyCross and more Half Ironmans in 2014.

David Zabriskie is one of the world's most popular cyclists not only for his raceresults, but also for his multifaceted ventures and his off-the-wall personality. Dave has posited himself as one of the best time trialists in the World. Recently retired, Dave still spends many days on the seat of the bicycle. Zabriskie was seriously injured when a car struck him during a training ride in in 2003. This prompted him to start the foundation Yield To Life, which he devotes much of his time to today.

I found out about this Race Across America by following Dave Mirra (GET IT!!) on Twitter and Instagram because of his training in Triathlons. So being someone who supports people in the community when I can I started to get information on this and I am following them on TRACTALIS. Not only are they competing in this race they are also riding for Dave Zavriskie's organization Yield To Life which brings awareness to safety on the road between cyclist and vehicles. 

Right now as of 2:00 pm EST 6/16/2014 they are in Colorado with a 36 km lead over 2nd place on Highway 160. They started the race at 3:00 pm EST time on Saturday 6/14/2014. I would personally like to thank all of their sponsors for helping them achieve this great task at winning this presitgious event THIER SPONSORS . Also you can help them by donating to them thru http://www.gofundme.com/LegendsoftheRoad . 

I will be adding updates thru out the next days till the race is over in all of my blog posts to let people know where they are in their ride and where they are placed. Thank you again for reading this and hopefully they inspire you to donate to their attempt.

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.

MIO Link gave me the green light :-)/Legends of the Road tackle RAAM

What a great workout yesterday. Had a short 35 minute ride, then abs and run so I decided after last week's short ride that I would incorporate sprints into my short ride but still make sure to keep it in the green zone on my MIO Link.

So I did more reading about MAF training. I came across the www.philmaffetone.com website who is considered the creator of MAF training plus in my search I found out that 1 of Phil's students was Mark Allen 6 time Kona Ironman champion.  And on Mark's website I found this article  http://www.markallenonline.com/maoArticles.aspx?AID=2 which really goes into detail some what on the training. Phil Maffetone has a great book from what I have heard called The Big Book of Endurance and Racing. Which I will be getting very soon to help me with my training. Now according to the article on Mark Allen's website this can be used for all endurance training. So with keeping my heart rate the same both bike and run is great.  On the bike 5 minute warm up, then into the sprints. 3:30 minute sprints with 3:30 rest period between sprints. By using the formula my zone is 140 to 130 bpm again both for the run and bike. So for the sprints I doubled the resistance  from 3 to 6 then back down for the rest periods. 100 rpm during the sprints and my normal long ride pace of 80 rpm during the rest period. Man what a blast it was! Pushing my body to a place where it hasn't been before while keeping it in my Maximum Aeorbic Factor training. Seeing the light on my Link flash green to light red but making sure not to push it past to solid red. It felt great to push my body to this area where it hadn't been before. Sweating and a tad out of breath during each sprint was amazing. I would get down into the tuck position during the sprints which actually help keeping the cadence at 100 rpm. Friday will be my long ride of 70 minutes.  I will make sure to take my X2 performance to see what difference it will make since I didn't get a chance to last ride.

For people who might be interested in what my ab workout is: bicycle, corkscrew, double crunch crossover, hip raises, jackknife crossover, Heel touches, Side plank rotations. No rest, start out with 10 reps each and then add more reps as it gets easier in groups of 5. So 10 to 15 to 20 reps etc. This will cause you to go into your green zone or even higher lol. From there it was on to the run.

Now again I CAN PROUDLY SAY I AM A RUNNER CAUSE I LOVE IT! But I am still starting from no base so I have not got to very far distance yet but I am still proud cause everyone starts from the ground level. However, I have got to learn on check my ego at the door with my run. And it isn't really that. I love to run now and want to run. But in order to stay in the zone, I have to pretty much walk at a fast pace to stay in it. So I am up in the air about what to do regarding the walk or run tell my Aeorbic base is built. More than likely I will use the training to keep my running in the zone and just check it at the door. Love the changes I am seeing inward and outward in me. I am starting to see abs in places where i have dreamed of having them :-).

Now on to a huge shout out to: The Legends of the Road! Ben Bostrom, Micky Dyamond, David Zabriskie and my friend Dave Mirra will start this Saturday in the Race Across America or the RAAM. Please if you have a chance check out the website http://www.thelegendsoftheroad.com. It is a race from coast to coast of the USA. This the 32 year of the race and to give you an example it is 30% longer than the Tour de France. Thanks to their many sponsors for allowing them to do this. 

Again thank you for reading my blog and following me on this journey. 

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.

Longest ride yet with Mio Link/Thank you to these people/Planet of the Ape Podcast

So I am sitting here on the couch thinking to myself, how do I cover this whole weekend in my blog since I didn't do it one day at a time. I decided that I would cover each thing that happen this weekend with its own post. So the first one will be about my training on Friday night.

It was my long ride of the week and also the longest so far of my training 75 minutes plus 5 miles (still making up for not being able to run). I strapped on my Mio Link, had my Gatorade + Prime Nutrition EAA Watermelon all mixed up in my bottle and completely forgot to take the X2 Performance. So I will have to wait for next Friday to take it with my next long ride. Got on the bike at Pivotal after making sure everything was set up, plugged in my training zones into the Mio GO app so that I would stay in Zone 2 for the whole ride. And off I started pedaling keeping my cadence between 80 and 85 rpm. One thing that some people might not think about is sitting on a very skinny seat for almost 2 hrs and not having a lot of natural padding lol. I have built up the tolerance of riding in the saddle to about 45 mind now without any kind of discomfort. But at about 45 to 50 minutes it begins.  So I had another issue with sitting on a skinny seat that I finally found out a fix for. Not to get to detailed let's just say sitting on a bike seat for awhile can make a certain male specific area go numb lol. Now by going from a seated position to the aero tuck position has fixed that interesting issue. And from what I also found out was that it can help with the saddle soreness of long rides. Stayed in the target zone, took nice swigs of the Gatorade + EAA every 10 mins to stay hydrated and just got into a rhythm while listening to Pandora. Once I hit the last 2 miles of the +5 miles, I was struggling for sure. I don't know if the X2 Performance might have helped or not. It wasn't an energy thing, it was small little cramps in the back of my legs and just being so uncomfortable in the rear area from sitting for that long.  But rides like these is what pushes our body to go further and further each time. 19.2 miles was the farthest I have gone so far and felt so proud and excited for going that far. Starting Monday I am going back to riding then going straight to the treadmill for a run. I am amazed to say this but I can't wait to get back to running. Again I am taking that very slow to not get injured and I will incorporating the motion of slower is faster training. So I will be using the Heart Rate Training by Dr. Philip Maffetone. It is used to develop the Aerobic system first before working on the Anaerobic system.

Many of people that I would like the thank for motivation and inspiration!

Stephanie Stephens Johnson is such an inspiration and motivated person. Mother of 2 who is also training for Triathlons, Marathons, and UltraRunning. Find her blog under her tag on all social media RunTriMom! Glad to call her a social media friend.

Tammy Hassenpflug is another great woman that shows amazing strength and will to compete in Triathlons and brings motivation to many people.

Dave Mirra is another one that most people know already from BMX competition,  XGames, Global Rally Cross and Rally Racing. He has been training and racing triathlons as his new sport to take on. Following his Twitter and Instagram accounts have been keeping me motivated. And it doesn't hurt that he liked a couple of pics that I posted on Instagram lol.

Rowena De Belligny (I hope I got that right) and Mio Global together!! She is also a mother and Mio Global brand ambassador ( which one day I hope I get that title) and a top age grouper in the Pacific Asian triathlon races. Such a great blog to follow like RunTriMom's. Rowena's blog is ironmummy.com. Please look at her blog too.

And now something completely off topic. My brother @savagegm and his best friend @aberandall have started a podcast about The Planet of the Apes whole lineup of movies, books, comics, and TV show. You can find them at
http://goapepodcast.blogspot.com/2014/06/episode-0-dawn-of-podcast.html?m=1 listen in if you liked or still like anything that has to do with Planet of the Apes both old and new alike.

Well thank you so much for taking the time and reading this again. I will be posting other blogs with what else happened this weekend and of course stay up to date from now on so this doesn't happen again lol. It is a learning process.

Getting stopped twice @ gym cause of my Mio Link/ X2 Performance does it work?/ Prime Nutrition Recovery/RunTriMom

UYesterday's workout was a short 25 minute plus the usually 5 miles that I have added to make up for not being able to run. So I didn't get any blue the first workout with the Link cause I had my zones set on Running Zones. So after figuring out mathematically my max HR (I know I should do a true test but I am still learning), I decided to add sprints for the 25 min part. So I did 2 minute 30 second sprints at 95 cadence then 5 min "rest" at 80 cadence at half the resistance as the sprints. One thing that was very interesting was when I was bent over in the aero tuck position the Link would be showing that I was in my target zone but if I kept the speed the same and sat up with my arms straight on the bars it would go to the red. That was very interesting. It was great being able to just catch out of the corner of eye the light blinking letting me know what zone I was in. I was stopped by 2 people at the gym asking me about the Link cause they have heard it but never seen one in person. They loved it and said they would be picking one up. Women if you are reading this and want to get started in HR training, PICK one up. No chaffing under the chest region.  I am friends on Facebook, follow on Twitter, Instagram, and her Blog Stephanie Johnson (@runtrimom), she is such a motivational person. I told her about the Link and how it doesn't rub the sensitive area on women and she sounded like she jumped all over it. So good to spread the word of a great company to people. Today ride will be 75 minutes plus 5 miles and will be at the lower zone so I will see blue today lol. I will start on Monday tracking my resting HR by putting the Link on as soon as I wake up.

It has been a little hard to judge if X2 performance is working or not. I definitely feel like I have more energy while I am working out but they have been short workouts. Today's long ride should give me I very good idea how it works. There are two good things that I know for sure. I am more focused during training and it doesn't not keep me awake with the natural caffeine.  Can't wait to try it again tonight. I have 1 left from the samples that were sent to me. On their website it did say that some people have to build up taking it to feel it's full effect.

I can't say enough about the great people at Pine Nutrition.  Even though their products and their backgrounds are for the fitness/bodybuilding area.  You can use them for endurance training. Since I have been mixing their EAA with my Gatorade during rides, then taking their Glutamine with Gatorade, I have felt hardly any DOMS the day after. Since today will be the longest ride that I have done Saturday will be a huge test. But I have faith in their products. Go to their website www.primenutrition.com and check out what they have for you.

Again thank you so much for reading this, it means a lot for you to take the time out of your day and look at this.

Evil Geniuses at XGAMES Austin/New job/MIO GLOBAL LINK/X^2 Performance/ COD:Ghost

So yesterday was my first day at my new job. Bilingual IT Service Desk using my French maybe 26 times a month.  Doing level 1 IT helps for Meritor. Good group of people. Such a different group of people. Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and me French speaking people. The Service Desk will be running 24/7 and I have the M-F 5 am to 2 pm shift. Yesterday was just day one and going over how tickets are handled and clocking in etc. Real basic information. We won't actually start taking calls till July 26th. So have a long time of training.

So the day finally came!! My Mio Global Link came in the mail yesterday. Huge thanks to Mio. I can't wait to start using it tonight. It was charged out of the box but just made sure it was fully charged. Fit great, so light on the wrist. Downloaded MIO GO from Google Play Store. So quick found the Link right away. I will be using it to go over all my training and even using it first thing in the morning to monitor my recovery.  They are such an amazing company with forward thinking product and mentally.  Stay tuned for a daily update and training sessions using the LINK.

X^2 Performance signed Dave Scott to their team and had a great webcast Q&A. There was an issue and X^2 gave everyone who signed up a free shirt and samples.  This has been a supplement that I have been wanting to try and it came in the mail yesterday as well and I can wait to give it a try tonight before training. Mid distance ride tonight. Going to give my left foot another week to heal. It is so much better, but I am dying to start running.  Updates to come on how this product is to take a few hours before going to bed.

So jumped into some Ghost last night as well. Had some great games, it is almost like a switch was turned on and started to get several games positive while still playing Drop Zone Objectives.  But when I start getting tired or my thumbs start hurting it goes downhill from there. It is true what people say, to get good at these games it really is just practice practice practice. And it comes out of the blue too. All of a sudden you are playing better and faster. Was a really good gaming session.

Don't forget to pull for Evil Geniuses this weekend at X Games Austin!!!!

Wayne Taylor Racing/Long cycle ride/COD GHOST

Sitting here on the couch watching a great finish to the United Sportscar Championship, great win by Wayne Taylor Racing. Love watching Jordan and Ricky Taylor racing.

Yesterday TRI training was my longest one so far. While I have been on non running status, I have added 5 miles to all my cycle rides. So 75 minutes plus 5 miles or 1.41:00 on the bike. Since I am still just beginning and not wanted to get injuries and just getting the seat time in, keeping cadence at 83 plus or minus a few. So 19 miles done then the brutal ab workout afterward. Again can't say enough about Prime Nutrition EAA and Glutamine. Loaded up my big water bottle with Gatorade and Prime Nutrition EAA. Finished the ride not dehydrated at all. Then when I got home, instantly go with Gatorade plus Prime Nutrition Glutamine and ALR industries HumaPro for instant protein uptake. No leg soreness this morning at all. Can tell that I pushed my legs the farthest they have been. They feel a little heavy is the best way to describe what it feels like the next day when you work your legs past their comfort zone with good nutrition and supplementation. Woke up this morning and didn't even think about my left foot. So healing is coming along well. Again Plantar Fascittis doesn't go away you just manage it. So fingers crossed for Monday running after my bike.

As far as racing and gaming yesterday, was suppose to do League Indy 500 last night. Went to the gym early in order to be able to get in. Was told the wrong time and could not get in to the server. So that is 2 Indy 500 races where something outside of my control caused me not to be able to race it which blows! So did a Skip Barber race at Mazda Laguna. Started from the pole first time this year, had a second lead by turn 4. CHARTER INTERNET GOES OUT AND DISCONNECTED!!!! SO PISSED!! If I make a mistake that causes me places or the race, I learn and move on but to go out cause of something that I can't control, kills me. Internet came back, log back in, join dead last 2 laps down. I was so much faster than most cars I pasted 7 cars by the end of the race and and looking at the time would have finished 2nd if wonderful Charter didn't go out.  Took a beating in IR points. Was so mad just decided to regroup and go again today. So jumped on COD Ghost cause it is Double XP weekend.

Still learning FPS and Ghost maps, so I am not a running and gunning player.  I pre aim and crouch walk around every corner. While everyone goes for the Drop Zone (all I am playing right now) it always go very wide and try and take out the opposition from the flanks to help my players holding the Drop Zone. From watching all the footage of Pro Gamers playing on MLG, I have seen what I thought was all the maps on Drop Zone. Then COD throws in one I have never been on. And oh boy how sucky can I be!! I feel like if you get on a team and work together you can play just as good as the pros. Good tactics and working together can beat anyone. Now it pains me to say this but I do feel like a Scuf controller or modify your controller to be like one is a must now. Which I am giving Scuf a little more time just to respond to a slowly going away fan of theirs even not buying one yet. The ability to jump, shoot and crouch in one motion is huge. I am still plugging along. I feel like when I go positive or even I have won. I am a cautious gamer and will always be like that. I feel like quickscopping and C4, is such a weak player mode. They way they aim assist and hit boxes in the game works. You just have to have the player in the circle of the scope and the game makes the hit. Then C4 what can you say. People take KD  (kill to death ratio) as the be all of how to judge someone. Have you seen pros play against each other. More times than not they don't go positive cause they play for the objective.

One last thing, Indy racing is on right now at Belle Isle. And I will honestly say. Will Power is the dirtiest driver and race control protects him so much. Just dirty and knows he will get away with stuff. Stay tuned for more rants, workout and thoughts from me and thank you again for reading this blog.

Disappointed with eSport teams/Dropped the ball lol

Sorry I dropped the ball yesterday and didn't get a chance to post. On Wednesday I started a new ab routine into my TRI training and I am feeling the effects today for sure and have to do it all over again today lol. Speaking of training, today is the long ride. 75 minutes plus 5 miles so looking like about an hour and 30 minutes on the bike plus the ab workout. Foot is getting better so looking forward to getting back running. It isn't my strong suit so I really have to get going with it. Swimming is the unknown. Can't join the Y just yet. Starting my new job on Monday, something completely different than what I am use to. I am excited and scared at the same time. My whole life all I have been chasing is the $$$. My self worth has been centered around $$. I think that is why I have stayed in sales for as long as I have. Now this new position is hourly. Early hours but will be done by 1pm each day so it is almost like I will have most of my day available to me. Except I will probably be going to bed by 10pm lol. I get to use my French and it is in the IT world which is what I have been wanting to do. Should take about a week to get my French back to being fluent.  I think a change from sales to just working will be good to help me prioritize what is actually important in this world; Life, family and health.

I will be doing reviews on this blog of many different things that intrigues me and is applicable to TRI training and Gaming. I have been getting great reception from the Triathlon world regarding these blog. Mio Global has stepped up and great things are in the mail coming to me. Can't wait to get started using one of their great products and me doing what little bit I can to promote them. My boys at Prime Nutrition have been great as well. Just to get a response on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram from them or anyone from who I take the time out of my day to write about on this blog. I have become very disappointed in the eSport community with their lack of interaction with its fans or people supporting them. They ask you to follow them, watch their streams, buy the controllers from Scuff gaming but won't take the time to even favorite or re- tweet some giving them a shout out. Again the only person that has done anything as close as interactive on any social media was CrsBurnsoff from Team Curse COD. I have tagged Scuff gaming, Turtle Beach, Tritton Audio, MLG, Optic Gaming, and even a company I pay monthly service to iRacing. Call it butthurt or what you want but it is use that makes what they do possible and they forget that. I have gotten followed by a ton of amateur competitive COD gamers and think that is the way I might go. Supporting the up and comings just like I am an up and coming blogger. 

That is enough for me. I will be uploading my Skip Barber race at Mazda Laguna and I will be running in a leagues Indy 500 and will upload that one as well to my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/bcutler71352003.

Thank you for all the people who take there time out of the day to read this.  Whether you get something out of it or just think I am crazy.  Wish I knew who read it so I can thank you and give you a shout out of thanks. If you want to subscribe to this or my YouTube channel it would mean a lot.

Great Pool Day/TRI training/Curse COD

Going to be a short one tonight/this morning. I am getting started real late and I am getting very tired.

Had a real good day. Went to the pool for a couple of hours today to start getting a good base tan going. Pretty much going to go to the pool everyday this week. I have some good news that is starting on Monday June 2nd that I will share with you then.

Triathlon training month 2 week 1 day 2. 35 minute cycle ride with an additional 5 miles added on to it to make up for my left foot healing. 12.5 miles total felt great.  Of course had my go to workout drink of Gatorade and Prime Nutrition's EAA watermelon. It is so delicious,  then after the training I immediately go with be post workout drink of Gatorade and Prime Nutrition's Glutamine unflavored.  I also take 6 tablets of ALR's HumaPro for my proteins.  They are great cause they are formulated for humans and your body uses 99% of the protein rather than only like 15% with Whey.  Plus go to www.primenutrition.com and www.alrindustries.com and get some of their great products. Now another Triathlete from Google+ named Jilian Towar shared with me Herbalife's Hyrdate instead of Gatorade. I am also thinking about SOS Rehydrate and Nuun tablets.  I am still talking with her about it and might give it a shot and of course like everything else I will be giving my review of it on here. 

Got home from the gym and got in 2 iRaces driving the Indy Series Fixed at Richmond. Now it has been almost a year since I drove this car.  Did real well for that much time off.  Finished 10th in the first race out of 19. Just took it easy,  got the new race jitters out of the way.  Second race finished 7th of of 18. I realized how much I loved racing wheel to wheel at almost 200 mph. There is always someone to race against. Will be doing a ton more this week and a lot of Skippy at Mazda Laguna. Will also be uploading to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/bcutler71352003 the first race in the Indy car. 

Finally wanted to give a shout out to @CRSBURNSOFF. He is on the Pro COD gaming team of Curse. Really enjoyed his stream tonight on MLG. Thinking I might be switching from non-fan interactive Optic Gaming to Curse just cause of him and that he interacted with my post on Twitter. And call it childish but if someone takes their time to talk about you in their blog and tags you in it in social media acknowledge them at least.  Very disappointed with Optic right now but maybe that is just a sign that Curse is my team.

Have a great night and will be posting again tomorrow.