Reflections on knees, icepacks, and early morning gym time

Sometimes I wonder why I started so late to really get serious about fitness.   Wouldn't it have been better to become this dedicated to it at a time of my life when I would only need to ice my knees if there was actually an injury?  Now, at age 41, I ice them as a precaution!  :)

I am glad that we work in a world where our desks are contained within our cubicles and not open to the world.  That way, no one can see the legs of my jeans pulled up over my knee and the Ziplock bag of ice ace-bandaged to said knee.  Thus, I can suffer the ravages of middle-age in quiet privacy...

Today, I did roughly 1/3 of the distances I need to do to for a sprint triathlon, although I did it backwards LOL.   At my gym, it makes more logistical sense to do the treadmill and bicycle first, and then the swimming just prior to getting ready for work.  Still, I power-walked for a mile, biked for 4.5 miles, and then swam 300 meters.  Sometimes I catch myself thinking that it doesn't feel like I'm doing that much, but then I realized this morning that it was 1/3 of my triathlon, and I realized I am making progress.

Of course, I'd really rather run the mile on the treadmill, but I'm approaching that with caution to take care of those knees.. :(

I'm looking forward to advancing to the next stage of my fitness regimens.  It's time to kick it up a notch and really shed these pounds that have been holding me back!

Reflections on a 5k

This past Saturday I participated in my first 5k.  The race was hosted in Plano, TX, by the Heroes for Children organization.  This wonderful cause was created by two ladies who lost kids to childhood cancers, and the organization provides assistance to families who are enduring similar troubles in their life.   I am very proud and honored to have run my first-ever 5k (and first ever athletic event of any kind) in support of this organization.

I did pretty good on the 5k, considering that I had never done one before and am nursing a balky knee.  I am not quite far enough along in my training regimen to run 3 miles yet, so I walked about half of it and ran what I could.  I did finish on a run, though, and logged a "chip time" of 40:41.   I'm quite pleased with that, as my only goals for this were to finish and attempt to finish in less than 45 minutes.  I was just below the average for runners in my age/gender division.  

Some random thoughts from the events of the day:

1.  I was saddened that my family was not able to attend the event and watch me run.  The vagaries of the fall soccer season for my boys prevented that... but I know my lovely wife and handsome boys were cheering me on in spirit.

2.  Some guys would scoff at this, but I could have sworn some moisture from Hurricane Ike got in my eyes during the pre-race ceremonies as we heard the tale of the founders' kiddoes that died from cancer, and were introduced to children who are currently fighting the greatest fight of their young lives.   Somehow the moisture got there about an hour before it started raining.  Go figure.

3.  A young man named Carson, who is battling cancer, has a LOT of people who love him.  They were all there, in powder-blue tshirts emlazoned with "Carson's Crusaders" on it.   I think I counted at least 30 or more.   My prayers are with that young man... he is looking great right now, and I hope that he continues to kick his adversary right in the teeth.

4.  I saw one of the Geico cavemen there.  I kid you not, there was one guy in the crowd with quite a beard and hairdo.....

5.  And then there was the guy in the kilt... and he ran the 5k.  I passed him at one point.  Fortunately, the tropical storm winds had not arrived yet... I had no desire to see how authentic his mode of dress was.....

6.  In mile 3 of the run, I figured out that I was a "pacer".  I powerwalked most of the third mile before running the final 1/8 or so to the finish.  However, when I powerwalk, I am really booking it.  Consequently, I would pass people all the time who had dropped to a walk as well.  I would get a ways ahead of them and then they would run again, just a little bit past me, then drop to a walk again... and I would pass them again in short order.    I began to get the sense that they would say  "Hey!  the fat guy is passing me again... I gotta run!"  :-)

7.  Doing athletic things makes you appreciate food afterwards.   The body has a sense that you've earned it to some degree.   A sausage biscuit with egg NEVER tasted so good as it did Saturday morning.

8.  Finally.... my feelings about my first 5k are in no way reflected by my spot in the final rankings.  I knew I was not ready to 'compete' in any fashion.   But this 5k is the first milestone that I can point to in my quest to live a more active, healthy life.  I entered a running competition and I finished, and finished on my terms with a good run.  It is something that I am extremely proud for having done, and I can't wait to do another one.... and to someday do one after having climbed off my bike, 2/3 of the way through a triathlon!

Phelps still has nothing to worry about...

But the swimming is finally getting better!  I finally have figured out how all the parts work, and now I'm swimming pretty consistently.  There is still a lot of refining to do, and I keep a constant eye on my mechanics, but now the basic stroke is built, and I'm toodling down the pool in good fashion.

The key was the breathing.  I finally settled on a "2" breathing pattern.  (Breathing on the same side, every time that arm comes up out of the water over your head).   The trick to it was learning to take smaller breaths, rather than gulping a big lungful, which is what I was doing before.  This didn't work because I didn't have time to exhale it before it was time to breathe again, and you need to have it timed where you have exhaled it all through your nose and are ready to inhale as soon as your head comes out of the water.  Once I learned to "half-breathe", it all started to fall into place.

I'm no speed demon, but I was surprised at how quickly I can get down the pool now that I have the basic stroke down.  Feels pretty good, actually.  Now, I can really start to train for this portion of the triathlon, working on refining the mechanics and stretching my endurance.  

I still have a long way to go, but now I can really get started on the journey.

Michael Phelps I'm not....

About a month ago, I decided that just losing weight and getting into better shape was no longer good enough.   In a moment of contemplation and thinking about my personal goals and life-dreams, I had a temporary lapse of sanity and decided that I was going to train for a...... triathlon.

Yes, you read right.  A triathlon.

Now, before you go off looking for a burial plot for me, understand that I have no pretensions about doing an "Ironman".  That is the one that most people think of when they think "triathlon".   2.25 mile swim, 113 mile bike ride, and 26 mile marathon.

I don't think so, scooter.

Nope, I'm shooting for a "sprint" triathlon, something a little more in the realm of us mere mortals.  1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride, 3 mile run.  Much more doable.  Really.  Surely.   Just...... too bad the swimming comes first!   Ah, swimming- that glorious realm of the "I could swim to save my life if I needed to, but I don't really want to admit that if I fell off a boat, I would probably freak and drown in plain site of the life ring floating next to my head"

The swimming is the only portion of the triathlon that gives me the sweats.  The portion that sometimes makes me think-- "what on earth am I doing?!?"   I can ride a bicycle.  I may come in last over 13 miles, but I know how to ride a bike.  I can run... and if I'm tired, I can walk.  Been doing that for 38-some odd years or so.  But swimming-- ah, therein lies the rub.

And so... now I'm training to be a competitive swimmer.  Now I need to get ready for an 800m swim.  That's 8 laps in an Olympic-length pool.   16 laps at the pool in the 24-hour Fitness gym I frequent.  And I have found out that competitive swimming is HARD.  15 minutes in the pool is far more exhausting than 45 on the treadmill.  Hands down.

My coach (my beautiful wife, a former Water Safety Instructor), is teaching me, helping me develop a better crawl technique.   My previous crawl (read:  flopping thrash) would be the equivalent of a Picasso... all the parts are in unexpected places.  So now,I'm trying to work on bettering 15 million parts of a swimming crawl stroke, and put them all together sometime soon enough to actually start swimming using this new-fangled crawl and build up my endurance for the triathlon.  Somewhat like this:

1. Head down
2. Left arm back, elbow tight to the body, rotating the upper torso.
3. Left elbow out of water, bent above line of spine and head.
4. Left arm enters the water, hand at an angle, directly on the centerline of my spine just in front of my head
5. Left hand turns slightly, catches the water, as I pull back.
6. Meanwhile, the right arm is already pulling back, elbow in, ready to come out of the water.
7. Oh yeah... I'm supposed to be kicking.  Divert mental resources to the legs, ah, there they go... they are moving again, participating in this madness rather than acting as a sea anchor
8. Right arm forward, centerline, catch....
9. Left arm back, elbow in, up, centerline, catch....
10. Right arm forward, centerline, catch....
11. Still kicking?  Yes, good!  I'm forgetting something... what the heck is it?  Oh yeah... I NEED TO BREATHE!
12. Ship a mouth full of water and stop the lap, gasping.....

Happens all too often, unfortunately....

sigh

I'll get there.  I've given myself a lot of time to do this, and I've got determination like you wouldn't believe.   This triathlon goal means a lot to me, maybe more than any goal I've ever set for myself.   And, if nothing else, I have a new found respect-- above and beyond what I already possessed-- for the men, women, boys, and girls who do this *swimming* thing for competition.

I may not be Michael Phelps, but suddenly he seems even a little bit more like a Swimming Superman.

Lessons from Six Flags

This past Saturday, my family and I went to Six Flags over Texas in Arlington.   Yes, for those of you familiar with an August day in Texas... we are insane.   Actually, the reality is that we try to live within our means, and we had some free tickets.   Normally, Six Flags is a significant expenditure for us, as a family of five.   Two of our boys are already over the 48" line, even though they are only 8 and 7, so they are full price.  If we just drove up to the park, and walked up to pay.... it would cost us about $250 US just to get in!   

However, on this day we had 3 free tickets thanks to their summer reading program, and we had to use them by August 9th.  So here we are on 9 August (naturally), getting our trip to Six Flags in before the tickets expired.   In 100 degree heat.  In August.  And the place is packed.   So what are the lessons from Six Flags?

First, all of this hard work I've been doing to lose weight and get in shape is paying off dividends when I least expect it.  Had I done this exact same outing last summer, I would have bonked by mid-afternoon, and would have been suffering.  I probably would not have left, so that my kids could continue to enjoy it, but I would have been miserable.

And I was not.  I did not hit my wall until after 9:00 PM, as we were wrapping up and heading home.   That was such a blessing to have the energy and stamina to enjoy this day with my family, no matter what the temperature.  On a further note... we were going out to our car to have our picnic lunch, and my wife and kids were sagging a little from hunger, so I offered to double-time it back to the car and have all the sandwiches and drinks ready when they got there.   My wife eagerly agreed  (of course!), and so I power-walked to the far end of the parking lot in the hottest part of the day, threw all the stuff from the Jeep into the shady tree area, and started making sandwiches.  As I sat there... I realized I wasn't even winded... and that felt really good :-)

On a totally different note.. I really want to know where my 8-yr old got his daredevil gene.  He just loves any activity that is dangerous... rock-climbing, roller coasters, you name it.. he wants to try it.

So what's the problem?   Well, Daddy is not really a roller coaster guy.  :-|  Never have been.  It's just not my thing.   As it turns out, one of the few top-notch roller coasters that Matthew can ride at Six Flags is.... the Texas Giant.   Yes, he's too short for the Titan and the Batman and the Mr. Freeze, etc.  But he's tall enough for the Texas Giant.

And of course... he wants to ride it.  You can tell it's the highlight of his day at Six Flags.   Mommy has ridden it before and refuses to do so again.  He's too young to stand in line and ride it by himself.  And he's looking at me with those big brown eyes, and paternal pride is on the line.

All I can say is... thank goodness for martial-arts-style mental focusing techniques.  Whoever designed that roller coaster needs to be institutionalized.  Or tarred and feathered, then deported.  Excommunicated.   Something.   Because he is one sick, sadistic, warped person  :-D

But I did it.  I guess that makes me a hero in Matthew's eyes, at least for one day.  I could see it, and he was so happy that he got to ride it.  The things we fathers do for our children!

Random thoughts for the day:
1.  Watching Olympics until after midnight combined with getting up at 0445 to go to the gym combined with being 40 years old?  That's some bad juju, very bad juju.
2.  I have my permanent call sign from the FCC now!  My amateur radio operating license is KA5RWW.  Now I just need to scrape up enough money for a radio :(
3.  Went to put my sunglasses up in the holder in the van this morning, and they came apart in my hands.  Somehow the frame broke right above the bridge.  Bummer.   I only wear cheap sunglasses (I am too rough on them), but I had really liked this pair, and they had lasted 6 months or so.  Oh well.

I'm addicted....

To working out. I've been going to the gym every day now for weeks. 3 days of weight training and 4 days of core strengthening exercises and cardio work.

At the end of last year, my previous employer brought in a motivational speaker at a company meeting. The speaker's name was Gary Guller, the only one-armed man to ever climb Mt. Everest all the way to the North Summit. After listening to Gary speak, I did some research on climbing Mt. Everest, and got a better grasp of the unique challenges he faced (namely: the Hillary Step), and the thought struck me that I had no more excuses for my overweight, out-of-shape physical condition.

You can find out more about Gary and Team Everest here:  Gary Guller  and Team Everest '03

I hung up the Team Everest poster in my office, and included a sign underneath it saying that "If a one-armed man could take a team of quadriplegics and persons with other disabilities to Everest base camp, and then climb to the north summit, then I could lose 60 lbs in 2008".

So I started.  I started doing cardio work on the treadmill, changed my diet  significantly to a doable and reasonable plan suggested by Men's Health  (Belly off!), and went and had a full physical from my doc.

My resolve was only further strengthened by the death of my mom in February, at only age 63.  She died way too early for modern times, primarily because she didn't take care of herself.

So I got even more serious.  After changing jobs and losing access to the little free gym I was using... I bit the bullet and joined a top-notch gym.  And then, after mucho discussions with my wife, we actually budgeted the money for a personal trainer.  (Due to my Everest inspirations, I call my trainer my "sherpa" )

Now, I'm working out 7 times a week.  It's a lot of hard work, but I have more energy to expend throughout the day, my clothes are fitting better, and I've lost around 25 lbs and over 5% body fat so far.

There's a long way to go, and it takes a lot of commitment, but I really feel like I've gotten over the commitment hump.  Indeed... I'm addicted to feeling better about myself :)