Freakin' Cold Outside!!!

What is up with this weather??  As I right this, it is minus 15 degrees outside right now at 1:18 pm....wtf!!!  It is supposed to get down to minus 30 degrees tonight and be the coldest day in like 10 years tomorrow....great day for riding a school bus to a wrestling meet!!  Oh well, no sense fussing over it as it isn't going to change anything other than my mood.  Wrestling season has been going well, the month of January is always a tough month for us with lots of matches, so we will see how the kids are mentally.  The season will be over in about 6-7 weeks, and I can't believe it has gone by this fast.  Hopefully, the snow and cold weather will be done by the end of February, so i can get my training for the Half Ironman started outside. 

Currently, I am riding my bike in the basement about 3 days a week for about an hour each session.  My cardio is fine with wrestling practice keeping me in shape.  My 20 week plan for my race is suppose to start on Jan. 11th, but I will be cutting some weeks off of that and will be starting it as soon as wrestling practice is over.  I am in week 3 of the winter cycling program and my legs are feeling tired, which I assume has something to do with wrestling practice, then coming home and jumping on the bike.....different type of brick workout, I guess.  My winter cycling program will take me to the end of march so hopefully the road and weather clears up so I can get my bike on the road.  I would like to start running again outside after wrestling is over as well.  I have finalized my race calendar for the year and it looks like this:

May 23rd - CB Half Marathon (Leisurely pace to get a race in before the big one on June 6th)
June 6th - Kansas 70.3 Half Ironman
August 1st - Omaha Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
August 16th - Pigman Long Course (Half Iron distance)
September 12th - Ironman Wisconsin (Volunteering this year.....racing in 2011)
October 17th - Des Moines Marathon

This is what I am thinking right now, and I assume there will be some smaller fun runs mixed in as well.  I am going to try not to do any sprint distance triathlons this year because that is alot of time to be away from the family, and I think I can get as much training in on a normal training weekend.  I haven't really set down and thought about time goals yet because most of my races are races I have not done before and the distance is new to me.  I am sure once the training gets underway and the race day gets closer, I will set some goals.  I would like to lose another 10 pounds or so as well this year but I can't seem to drop much this wrestling season, which tells me I am close to my natural weight.  I am not going to change my diet drastically, as I like to drink beer way too much to do that.  I am hovering around 192 right now and mid 180s would feel pretty good on me.  I guess we will see once I get my running going again, as that seems to drop my weight.

That is it for now.....hopefully your new year is going well.....set some goals and go achieve them!!

Christmas Blizzard???

Well the good thing about a blizzard this time of year is being stuck in the house and ample of time to get some riding in.  I completed Q3 of week #1 of the winter cycling program today and it feels really good to be back into the swing of things.  My legs and body feel great and my recovery time hasn't taken all that long.  Today I watched the 2005 Ironman World Championships that I received from my wife for Christmas and it was awesome.  Such and inspiring way to complete a workout.  Too bad those videos are only an hour long because it really passed the time and will surely come in handy on my longer rides.

All in all, I think we received over 12 inches of snow this time and this makes 2 blizzards in the month of December.  If it keeps this up, I think it will be a very loooooooong winter!!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas, as we did.  My kids are growing up so fast and they both enjoyed the events this year.  I think my wife is getting a little cabin fever being stuck inside with the kids going on the 4th day now. 

Have a safe and happy new year......set some goals and go achieve them!!!

Back to Cycling

Well after my month long break from the bike, I decided yesterday that it was time to get back on the horse.  I will be starting my winter cycling program over with week 1 and that started yesterday.  My legs are in pretty decent shape from wrestling but the first day is always hard on your system.  Suprisingly, my legs feel really good today.  I ended up watching "The Miracle" (hockey movie) and it was good at keeping my motivation up through the workout.  I will do another workout tomorrow on Christmas Eve, then again on Saturday or Sunday.  I will be cycling around 3 days a week and the program is 12-14 weeks long depending on the route I take.  That should put me around the middle to end of March, which is great timing so then the weather should be decent and I can get out on the highways. 

My Half Ironman Training program officially starts on January 11th.  It is a 20 week program with the target date of the race of June 6th.  Wrestling season won't officially end until late February, so I will probably just cut off 4-5 weeks of the program.  I really need to start swimming before my program takes off or I am going to be in for a rude awakening.  I am excited about the training but nervous at the same time.  The training volume will be more than I have ever done, so that unknown has me a little nervous.  Hopefully, my body will stay injury free and my mind focused on the goal at hand.  I am really looking forward to this challenge and to stay the course of my goal of finishing an Ironman.

Merry Christmas to all.  It looks like we are on the verge of getting another blizzard, so it looks like we will be stuck in the house for a few days......good training days!!!

Cycling Break

Well wrestling season is in full swing now and I am having a hard time squeezing in time for my bike.  I have taken a couple of weeks off from Jorge's program but I am planning on re-starting the program the week after Christmas.  This will give me a chance to get through the holidays, plus it will get me closer to spring.  It will give me a program to get me through winter, so I can pick right up and go outside in March.  I should have the basement insulated by Christmas time as well, so my biking times should not affect the kids at all.  Hockey season will be starting here before too long as well, so that will cut into my biking times as well since we usually play on Sundays.  The pond is frozen now, so we will be checking the ice to see if it is ready to go. With the winter settling in, it should be great ice all winter long. 

Wrestling has been going really well and my shape is coming back.  Once wrestling is over, I should be able to transition right into the HIM training with relative ease.  The lack of swimming right now has me a bit worried.  I would like to get in a few pool sessions before February just to keep the muscle memory up.  The pool I have been swimming at has closed the pool due to state budget cuts, so that means I have been scrambling to find other locations.  All of the pool locations are at least a 30 minute drive to get to, so I have an hour travel time just to get my swim in.  Hopefully over the holiday, I can get a few sessions in. 

Well that is it for now.  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoy this holiday season with your families.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Decided with this being a crazy week with traveling to Minneapolis to my brother's for Thanksgiving that I would take this week off from my bike training.  I will pick up Week 4 this coming Sunday.  I am having an issue with keeping the noise down and waking the kids up in the mornings, so I have been diligently (or at least kind of) on getting the room downstairs finished.  When I mean finished, just electrical finished up, so i can at least insulate the ceiling and walls.  This should keep enough of the noise down that I can ride my bike in the mornings without causing too much havoc with the family.

We ended up driving up to Minneapolis to spend a few days with my brother and his family.  It was nice to see them and their kids and have our kids play with them and my sister's kids.  It was a great few days with my parents, brother and sister's families.  I managed to get in 2 quality runs while I was up there.  I ended up doing 6 miles on Thanksgiving morning and another 4 today.  It was a great change of scenery running around Lake Minnetonka and the rolling hills provided the right amount of challenge.  All in all my body and legs felt great.  I need to get in at least one run per week now that wrestling has started just to keep my muscle memory up.  I should be able to accomplish this on Sunday's during the course of the season.  I am thinking right now, my swimming is going to struggle until wrestling season is over, but I guess that is the way it goes.  I will have to get it started in March.  That still gives me 3 months of swimming to get me up to be able to swim in the Half Iron.  Well that is about it for now.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Cycling Week 3

http://jorgepbmcoaching.blogspot.com/2009/11/cycling-plan-week-3-hrmrpe.html

Started Week 3 of my winter cycling on Sunday and my legs are starting to become really sore.  I rode my second workout of the week this morning at 4:30 am.  That seems to be the only time I can get my workout in now with wrestling season starting.  I don't want to have to ride at night after I get home from a brutal practice and i don't want to have to sacrifice family time, so mornings seem to be the best fit.  I need to finish the electrical in the room downstairs, so I can get the room insulated.  I think I might have woke up the kids this morning towards the end of my workout.  I normally have the tv on, but I just had it on this morning with no sound so i could at least keep my mind from drifting.  I used my ipod too but apparently the noise of my bike is still pretty loud.  Hopefully I can work on the insulation this weekend if I can finish the wiring. 

Like I said before, wrestling practice has officially begun and it should be an exciting year.  We are probably only goign to have abougt 16 kids out this year, but that seems to be the average here the last couple of years.  Oh well, the kids we do have should be really solid and I am hoping for some quality results by the end of the year. 

Winter Cycling Plan

http://jorgepbmcoaching.blogspot.com/2009/11/cycling-plan-week-1-hrm.html

This is this week's workout from my winter cycling coach.  It is a 3 day a week plan for 14 weeks and it should be interesting to see how my legs hold up.  I will have to fit my workouts in when the kids go to bed but it shouldn't be too big of an issue.