Sometimes it's best not to think about it...

Once in while I'll get asked about how I deal with the volume of training that is involved. And it can seem a little overwhelming when you think about it, which is why I try not to :) Don't get me wrong, a lot of thought and planning goes into the training schedule, but when it comes down to completing the schedule, I've learned to just take it one workout at a time.

Today was a good example. On the schedule was a trifecta... all 3 workouts; swim, bike, and run (ok, elliptical actually). If I look at that in total, it's easy to get discouraged. Instead, I just take it a step at a time, which ended up like this:

First up, the swim. Head off in the morning to the pool. The drive there I always think sleeping sounds like a lot more fun, but feel fine once I get going. The swim is actually pretty invigorating, and by the time I'm done I feel pretty good. Head back home to eat and get to work, feeling good so far.

Next on the list is the bike. I use my "lunch break" to get in an hour on the bike trainer. I am reading a good David Balducci novel while I ride, so it ends up being a fairly enjoyable hour; and wakes me up a little from the afternoon doldrums.

Finally, the day ends with 30 minutes on the elliptical. Listen to the ipod and enjoy a few songs, and then I'm done. Now I can go enjoy the evening, feeling that good kind of tired you get from day of solid activity.

See, that wasn't so bad, was it? Now I just have to not think about the weight training and running coming up tomorrow! :)

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Re-introduction to my bike

It had been 3 weeks since I'd actually been outside on my "real" bike (picture at left is from last year's LoneStar Triathlon), as I had been doing my rides indoors on the bike trainer, so I decided we should become re-acquainted. Went out on Sunday and rode about 46 miles, at which point I was out of drink and getting very cold (sweat combined with cool headwinds can do that). It was nice to be outdoors and see other living human beings and some sunshine for a while, anyway. I needed to get in 15 more bike miles, so I jumped back on the trainer and finished off the remainder. Then a quick change and back on the road to run 3 miles. Makes for a long Sunday afternoon, but compared to the hours I used to spend watching football or basketball, I consider it a good trade.

Started out this morning with a good hard swim (about 3400 yards total), and will close out today with 20-25 miles on the bike trainer. So far, so good; as i'm feeling good about the workouts and not getting burnt out. I want to take advantage of the cooler weather for building up my fitness "base"; as things can get pretty rough in the summer when it starts hitting 100 degrees. That computrainer (indoor bike trainer) may just end up being my best friend...





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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Nothing like a new gym!

Our local rec center recently underwent a major renovation and expansion. I'd been there for my daughter's swim team, but today I finally joined and did my first workout (6 miles on treadmill). I love a new gym with everything clean, working, etc. And the treadmills are in front of a huge window facing out to a splash pool and a park, so that makes it a little easier to deal with treadmill (aka dreadmill) running.

In other news, I purchased a used computrainer that should get here in another week or so. It's basically a souped-up bike trainer that hooks up to your computer and has all sorts of functions that help make trainer (drainer) rides both more productive and more interesting. Here's a link that has more info if that piques your interest.

Well, off to my granddaughter's birthday party. She is now 6 years old, man does that make me feel old!

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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No rest for the wicked

or maybe no rest for the stupid?... Either way, started easing my way back into things this week. Rested Monday, just a little bit of weight training on Tuesday; then yesterday got back to the morning swim class, 15 minutes on the elliptical (start working the legs a little again), and a little over an hour on the bike trainer. Later today I'll try an easy run and see how the quads are doing.

It feels real good to have that first marathon done and be recovering from it quickly. That makes me more confident that I can get through the April races (1/2 IM and marathon), recover a bit, and then move into full-blown ironman triathlon training mode.

In regards to the Hope for Kidz program, I hope that somewhere, somehow there will end up being a few more people that learn about the program; and a few more Haitian children that end up getting an education. So, if you're reading this, don't forget to spread the word :)

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Austin Marathon report

Another one down! Had a good race yesterday... stuck to the plan in regards to pacing, and finished right where I was targeting (3:39:34). The best part was that I was able to feel relatively good for the last 10K, which often can be a very tough and painful part of the marathon. My pace for that last 10K was actually a few seconds faster/mile than my overall pace, so holding to my goal pace earlier on (when you often go too fast due to race day adrenaline) seems to have paid off.

It was a nice day for a marathon. Overcast and grey for the first couple hours, but the sun eventually came out. The temperature started in the low 50's and ended up right around 60. For me, that's about as good a temperature range as I could ask for.

Nothing too exciting to report about the race itself. Just kind of plodded along through the miles, trying not to think too much about how much further I had to go until I got to mile 20. When I hit that and still felt OK, that was a pretty good feeling. As mentioned above, that last 10K can sometimes be pretty brutal; where you just swear that someone is playing with you and moving each mile marker further back.

So, now I turn my attention to the LoneStar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon. Time to get a little more into the triathlon mindset; which primarily means getting back to the bike. I have been doing a fair amount of biking, but need to bring it up a notch or two. Can't neglect the running, either; since I have Boston Marathon two weeks after the LoneStar. That's going to be one of the more interesting stretches for this year...

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Race Schedule:

January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED

January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED

February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run) -> COMPLETED

April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run)

September 19: Redman ironman distanceTriathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

Day before marathon thoughts

OK, went to the expo this morning and got my race packet/number, so now I just need to get things ready for the morning and I'll be good to go. Hoping to get at least a reasonable amount of sleep tonight (5-6 hours), we'll see how that goes.

I haven't really said anything about my goal time for tomorrow. Last year I was a little under 3 1/2 hours, which allowed me to qualify for the Boston Marathon (an advantage to aging is slightly easier qualifying times...). Since I am not going for a Boston qualifying time this year, and with a long year to go, I'll back off that pace a little and hope to get something around 3:40 or 3:45. If I start getting too sore or tired towards the end, I'll do a little bit of walking and may come in somewhat slower. The only way I can see coming is faster is if I just have one of those days where the stars and planets align and everything feels great. Stay tuned :)


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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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A word about A,B, and C races

Still tapering for the marathon on Sunday. Did my last swim and bike for the week yesterday (nothing like jumping in the pool at 5:30 am sharp). Today I did a 5 mile interval run, and tomorrow I will do... NOTHING! Yeah :)

My last post I mentioned the marathon this weekend not being an "A" race, so I thought I'd elaborate on that just a bit. Races are the fun stuff, so I like to do them; but you can't peak for every race that you do. Training plans are designed to gradually build up your speed and endurance, peaking about 3 weeks before the race, and then tapering down until you're ready to bust out the gates for the race. You cannot do that for multiple races in a year, so you have to figure out which races are the really important ones, and then build the plan around those. For the lesser races, you fit them into the schedule, but your training and tapering are not designed specifically for those races.

My key races this year are the two ironman distance triathlon races (OK Redman and IM Cozumel). Next level down would be the Boston Marathon and the Longhorn 70.3 Half Ironman. With the Austin Marathon being early in the season and just over 2 months before Boston, I didn't want to do overdo the training leading up to the race (you can't just train full tilt the entire year); nor could I afford to build in a full 3 week taper like I would for a critical race. So, I made sure I did enough training to have a good day and not get injured, and enough tapering to have relatively fresh legs. We'll see how that works in a couple days!

I guess I need to somehow incorporate some pictures in here so things don't get too boring, so here's one of me in Haiti with my "Haitian daughter" Valodia. Kids like her are why I'm doing this, after all :)

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Tapering for the marathon

This weekend is the Austin Marathon, which is the next race on the list. I'm currently in taper mode, which is a *concept* that almost everybody agrees with; but almost nobody agrees on exactly how to do it. The basic idea is to rest enough to allow your body to recover from the previous weeks/months of training; while still retaining your fitness level. For me, that means this week I'll cut way down on run mileage, and cut off the swimming and biking after Wednesday. Today I ran 6 miles of intervals, where I run for a while at a fairly easy pace, then do short 3-4 minute intervals of running a little faster than my expected marathon pace. I'll do 4 or 5 miles in a similar fashion on Thursday, then that will pretty much be it; other than perhaps a mile or two on Saturday just to feel loose and fresh on Sunday.

Tapering makes endurance athletes crazy (crazier than normal that is...). You start feeling all the aches and pains, you feel heavy and slow and lethargic, you're convinced you are getting sick, you're doing too much, you're not doing enough... not to mention all the stressing over race-day strategy, weather, clothing, nutrition. Luckily, this is not an "A" race for me this year, so I am not super-stressed. I think my wife and daughter are pretty happy about that :)


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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link
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Race Schedule:

January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED

January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED

February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)

April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run)

September 19: Redman ironman distanceTriathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

Introduction and Background

Hello, and welcome to my blog... Thank you for taking the time to read some of my posts, and please make sure and visit the Hope For Kidz website (also linked below)... The kids need your help!!!

The starting point for understanding what this blog is all about is my involvement the last few years with the people of Haiti. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and the third poorest nation in the world. Despite that, the people there are a wonderful and friendly people. In particular, the children of Haiti have an amazing energy, and will capture you with their smiles and laughter. I have participated in annual trips there going back to 2005, and have grown to love the country and its people.

The second half of the equation is my passion (i.e. obsession) for endurance sports. I have been doing marathons and triathlons for a number of years, and each year I seem to escalate the level of insanity... There is a benefit to being healthy, both physically and mentally, but overall these pursuits can become a fairly selfish thing.

So, in an effort to balance my more selfish pursuit of marathons and triathlons with the less selfish goal of helping the people of Haiti, I am dedicating my racing this year to raise awareness and funds for a wonderful program that provides an invaluable service for the Haitian children.

The program is called "Hope For Kidz", and it provides desperately needed education for the children in Haiti. That is really the main source of hope for Haiti; their children simply must become educated in order to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. There is no free public education system there, and most families cannot afford to send their children to even the most minimally priced schools that are available. It is not uncommon to see children in their teens who have not gone beyond a first or second grade education. However, for only $200/year; Hope For Kidz provides a child with a full year of elementary education, all school books, two uniforms, a pair of shoes (often their only pair), medical checkups where available... and HOPE!

You can directly sponsor a child, or you can contribute funds to the program to help with the school facilities, supplies, teachers, training, etc. By the way, if you can't sponsor a child by yourself, consider teaming up with other family members, co-workers, church groups, etc. Every little bit helps!

I'm calling this campaign "500 Miles Of Hope". The 500 miles represents the over 500 miles of swimming, biking, and running that I will be doing in my racing events this year (see below for details). Keep in mind, that is just 500 miles for the actual races... In order to be able to accomplish that goal, I am estimating that I will log approximately 5000 miles or more in training. Not that such foolishness should be rewarded :) ... but hopefully it can at least serve a useful service and bring attention to some kids that really and truly need your help!

As I move forward through this year's journey, I'll be keeping this blog current with information about my races and training, as well as thoughts and updates on Haiti. So, make sure and bookmark the blog and check back once in a while, maybe even throw in an encouraging word once in a while :) By the way, no need to tell me how crazy I am... where do you think the "pocolocoman" moniker came from???

Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Race Schedule:

January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED

January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED

February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)

April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run)

September 19: Redman ironman distanceTriathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

*** There may also be a couple additional shorter triathlons (and possibly a 102 mile bike rally); but these are the main races that I am committed to.