First full week of Triathlon Base Training

So last week was my first full week of triathlon base training.  This included obviously swimming, cycling, running, and a lot of weights.  All I can say is that I am ready to do this!  At first I was very skeptical of swimming, just because of how little training I have. 

Needless to say, swimming is much harder than I thought it was going to be.  Swimming is very cardio and strength centric.  At one time, you are breathing so hard, you just want to catch your breathe, and at the same time, you're just sore from pulling yourself through the water.  At this point, I'm so bad at it that I just want to continue to work on it and get better.  I thank Nick for forcing me to swim that first time, because now that's all I want to do, so I can get better.  Needless to say, the cycling, mostly spinning and the treadmill runs were basic, just keeping fitness up.  But swimming, is a whole new realm.  I can't wait to be better at it.

I also did a lot of spinning and weights.  Did some treadmill stuff, but not as much as I would have liked.  I am going to pick up the running some more this week.  Spinning and weights were a big focus last week.  Probably put close to 50 miles on the spin bike, and about 10 miles on the treadmill.  Weights was also a big focus last week.  I was definitely sore all week, and still sore this week.  It's always a good sore though, when you lift weights.  You know you are sore because you are getting stronger.  Most of my weight lifting has been for endurance (low weight, high reps), which will help with my new sport of choice.

So the journey begins.  I have a Half Ironman in 9 months, and many other short distance triathlons before then.  I feel that this winter base training is going to help me immensely.  I hope to have a healthy and exciting triathlon season and hope the same for you during your endeavors.

Invigorator Compression Sock Review

I was at first very skeptical of compression socks. They always looked "goofy" and just never saw the appeal. Well, that changed quickly. I got a pair of invigorators last Monday, and chose to wear them on my flight to Chicago last Tuesday. Needless to say, it was a quick turn around. All I can say is WOW, they worked great. Especially during the flight and after wards. Legs never felt so good after a plane ride. The next test was after my 5k on thanksgiving.

I ran the turkey trot on thanksgiving, as you can see from my previous post. My calves were extremely tight after the race and I began to stretch as normal. When we got home, I showered and immediately put my compression socks on. This was the true test, and they passed with flying colors. My calves had never felt better the night of a race as they did that night. It was almost as if I had not run my 5K on that morning.

If I were asked if compression socks work, not only would I say yes, but I would tell you to immediately get a pair of invigorators and try them for your self. I will continue to wear mine after my long runs and after most of my other runs, as well as after all my races. Because THEY WORK!

Frozen Turkey 5K

It was a cold and wet morning in Buffalo Grove on Thanksgiving. The temperature when we woke up was 38, and approached up to 40 at race start. It was also raining that morning, the type of rain that doesn't come down hard, but gets you plenty wet. The race started at 8, but we needed to arrive at 7:30 to pick up our packets. We got our packets and went back to the car to stay warm and dry. As we were sitting in the car, my mom said “wouldn't it be nice if the rain stopped for the race?” We all gave her the yeah right look, and I started to get my shoes on. As we were getting out of the car, we saw Barry and Paul so walked to the start with them. As soon as we got to the start line, the rain had stopped. Yes, it was a fantastic morning for a race. 40 degrees, overcast and no more rain. The roads were wet which wasn't much fun if you stepped in a puddle, but I managed to keep my feet dry anyway.



This was the first year of the race, so it was not the best race I have ever been to, but it was a lot of fun. The race started with a 1... 2.... 3.... GO! I started with the front group for the first half mile, until I looked at my watch and realized I was running a 5:15/mile. I started to back off into my pace, and lost a few places because of it. There was a nice little hill around mile 1.5, which I gained a few places back, and then hit the water stop. Just needed to wet my mouth really.

Coming around mile 2, I passed another guy who obviously started out way too fast, and started to decline quickly. As I passed him, he started to try to keep up with me, and was huffing and puffing even more. I kicked it up a notch, and lost him pretty quick.

Turning the corner for mile 3 was great. I looked at my watch to see I was at 19:00 even, and knew I could make my 19:30 goal. I saw the mile 3 sign and turned on all boosters. As I approached the finish line, I heard the slapping of feet behind, so I knew someone was trying to pass me. I thought to myself, no freakin' way!, and took off. We managed to tie, and I managed to finish at 19:36, which was a 6:19 average pace, also putting me in 19^th place out of 300. I was very happy with my time, and felt great for my last race of the year. I ran this race with my brother, who finished in 23:42, and was his second 5K ever. I am very proud of how far he has come in a very short time and have no doubt he could very well be faster than me one day.

One other note, I did have a mild injury after the race. My left knee was sore on Thursday and began to swell throughout the day. I awoke Friday morning, with a full on swollen knee, and took some ibuprofen. The swelling went down and it is feeling much better today as well.

Overall, I had a great season, finished in the top a lot, as well as the middle. PR'd all distances this year, and plan to do the same next year. Next year is also the year of the triathlon, and I am very excited about my Half-Ironman in August.

Happy Runs!

Quick Catchup

Hey Guys,

So it's been almost 6 months since my last blog and A LOT has gone on since then. Briefly, I've been raising a beautiful baby girl and running/cycling and racing. It's been busy.

To start, Steph and I have a beautiful baby girl who we both love more than each other. :-) It has been an amazing experience to be a "daddy" and to see her smile when I come home for the day.

I've also been running and cycling a lot. My biggest race was the Chicago Marathon, which I PR'd at 3:51:42. It was an incredible race and an unforgettable experience.

I have been doing a lot of training since and before the race, starting to slightly prepare for my triathlon season next year. My main race next year is my Half Ironman in August. I will be swimming more come the new year. I'm now trying to build up strength and endurance doing a lot of weights mixed into my training.

That's all for now. I'm going to try to stay more up to date with the blog as my training progresses, so stay tuned for more frequent updates.

Motor Tabs Evangelist!!

I am now an official evangelist for MotorTabs. For anyone that is not familiar with that, they are a company that produces tablets to drop into water for endurance athletes. (my speil) They taste great and work. I love them. I am also a fan of some other tablet drinks, but the others seem to have an aftertaste. Motor Tabs are great, and they taste like Kool-Aid.

You can view my profile on their website at http://motortabs.com/Endorsers/BrandEvangelists/tabid/84/Default.aspx

You will have to scroll down to the middle of the page to see me.

I'm also pacing my boss tomorrow at the Helvetia Half Marathon. He wants to break the 2 hour mark, so I'm gonna run with him and push him to his limit. :-) Just kidding, I'm there for moral support and to keep him motivated. It should be fun, and I'm really looking forward to helping someone reach their goal!

Look for a post race report this weekend.

I've been running

So after 2 weeks of no posts, the only thing I have to tell you is that I've been running. Actually, more than usual. I did 21 miles total over the weekend, and so far for the week, have 31 miles tacked on. I've also been doing a lot of weights, and have noticed a difference in my body. It seems, that according even to our bathroom scale, I somehow lost 10 pounds. Not sure if the scale is wrong, or if my previous weight was wrong, but hey, I'm not complaining too much. I've noticed that I am getting leaner and some of the body fat is coming off. I'm curious to see if my training and times are going to improve.

One other thing I have been working on a lot is my stretching. I'm trying to get myself in the habit to spend as much time stretching as I am running. (Not literally of course) I have been foam rolling as well as some basic static stretching as well. I'm hoping I will see an improvement in my training and times as well.

A couple runs I would like to note were my two runs last weekend. Saturday, I went out on Wildwood, which is a trail system of about 32 miles. I did 10 miles on it and it was great. Weather was in the 60's and overcast. Beautiful run. Kept it at an easy trail run pace, averaging around a 10 min mile. Felt great after the run. Sunday, I went running with Nick. He needed to do 11, and I figured that would be fun. So we met and did not really have a route planned, but just ran. It was great, I think it ended up being around 10.8 miles and we kept it around a 10 min pace as well. Feeling great after the long weekend. Only pain is in my calf, but that can be assumed with so much mileage. I'm hoping that this weekend helped in my training, and i'm sure that once I heal, it will be even better.

This weekend, I'm running a half with Nick, well, more pacing him during the race. His wife registered, but is now injured, so I'm going to take her place and pace Nick to his first sub 2 hour half marathon. I know I can get him there, it will just take some motivating. A 2 hour half marathong is a 9:15 pace, which on a hilly course, can be difficult. But we will mash the downs and the flats, and hopefuly without any injuries. (knock on wood) It should be fun though.

Well that's all I have to report this week. I'll try to get another post in about this weekends race. Enjoy the rest of your week!

A month of updates.....

So, I realize that it's been a month since my last post, and I apologize to all you readers (if anyone even reads this). Not much has happened to be honest. Still running and cycling.



Really, the only update is my 10K I ran a couple weeks ago. It was my best race yet, in my running career. Great weather, my mom was in town to cheer me on, and I finished 9th. It was incredible. I had a blast running it, but also feel like I could have been in better shape. I didn't get to my normal week before routine, because my mom was in town, but it was great. I could not be happier with my finish and time. With close to 500ft of climbing, I finished in 44:40, which is a personal best of mine. Can't help but think that with less hills, that could have been much faster. I also like this picture, I'm in the front and center of the group, and managed to line up to the kid who finished first, notice the difference:


Yeah, you can see why he won. It was still fun. And at the end, they had about a 150m chute to the finish, and me and another guy were tied going into it. I asked him what his 100m time was after 6 miles, and challenged him to a race. He accepted, and we took off at the cones. I won and managed to finish in the top 10.

That weekend was great. After the race we went downtown and took my mom to the coast. We picked up some crabs of course and feasted for dinner. The next day, we took a day trip up to seattle, and visited family and even celebrated a birthday. We also broke out the wiffle ball and Stephanie grabbed that bat and stepped up to the plate with her prego belly. Needless to say, she was amazing. She hit that ball like a pro, and i'm not being sarcastic. She may have done better than me. Here she is swinging like a major leaguer.

So that's all that's going on with me for now. Hopefully will have another 10K in a couple weeks and it should be a fast one. It will be flat and hopefully the weather will hold out.