squeezing off a few pounds: 205 to 187 in 3 months

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Dad

Well Friday was an official weigh-in date…187…right at my goal for the date…and the same as it was 2 weeks ago…so this peeling off the weight things has slowed down.

So, interesting that this is the first 4 week period in the past 3 months that I didn’t drop at least 1 pound a week on average…

A few contributing factors that I can think of:

  • the first thing that comes to mind is that my body is adjusting to the new weight level, and exhibiting reluctance to give up more…sort of has my ‘technique’ figured out…the well documented ‘plateau’
  • as the workouts have been longer, I’ve been eating and drinking more during workouts, so not getting the BIG calorie deficit as water only for the 60-90 minute workouts
  • I find that the next couple of days after a long workout…like those 6 hour bike rides, followed by a 1 hour run…my weight remains up a couple of pounds, even though I ran a rather large calorie deficit…presumably in deference to the body retaining more fluids with the BIG carb load during training…or some would suggest in ‘triage’ mode repairing muscles and structure
  • this past week, I’ve had the exercise cut back with that scratchy throat thing and congestion, so very difficult for me to adjust the calories down to compensate…_only_ 11 hours of exercise…age group triathlete idea of a ‘recovery’ week 🙂
  • even though the weight isn’t down much from last month, I do have a bit more upper body and ab definition…my abs actually have some loose skin, that looks a little weird…sort of an emerging 6-pack-ab-look an optimist would say
  • so it could be that with the BIG HIT (High Intensity Training) that I’ve been doing that some muscle has been added onto the old bones, and offsetting a bit more fat coming off

All in all, what used to be 205 on a fat day, is now 190…I’ll take it 🙂

With 5 weeks to go to Ironman Florida, I’m not going to angst too much more about the weight thing…priorities are strong workouts, and getting/staying healthy, so if it takes a few more calories to stay on the safe side of that equation, that’s were I’ll target.

My original target was to lose 10 pounds from 205 – 195…when I blew by that target in 1 month, I re-set the goal to 185…and have been slowly meandering towards it…earlier posts if you haven’t been following…or here for all of if it:
https://irondaughterirondad.com/squeezing-off-a-few-pounds/
https://irondaughterirondad.com/squeezing-off-a-few-pounds-1-month-weigh-in-205-to-194/
https://irondaughterirondad.com/staying-the-course-205-to-185-losing-20-pounds/

So I’m going to leave it at 185, just to keep the focus on the calorie thing for 1 more month…it would be a shame to add back on any weight before I have to cart it around for 12-13 hours on November 5

…and I do have to tell you that this weight management thing is _constant_ work…I have this sense that if left to its own, my body is more than willing to pack on the pounds the moment I take my eye off it…so I _really_ need to stay focused the next 4 weeks…I’ve seen on days that I don’t record the calories as I’m eating them during the day, and then go back later in the day or next day, and re-construct it, that I’ve inevitably eaten more than I thought…

…1 Gatorade bottle of weight to go…185 pounds…4 weeks…count on it

…that’s me giving myself a pep talk 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Weight loss | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Time to setup the Ironman Florida Party Week!

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Dad

Over the next few days, you’ll notice that we’re going to be ‘playing’ with setting up a social network within our blog, specifically targeted at Ironman athlete’s participating in Ironman Florida 2011…we’ve already setup a placeholder for the Charleston contingent…more to come…we considered using a Facebook page…and may still…but really wanted to keep it tighter…the basic idea is that you’ll be able to ‘register’…the registration part to remove spam comments…and then have access to a Group area where we/you’ll be able to post comments, and particularly during the Ironman week be able to catch up with other athletes.

Having been to Ironman Florida, now for the 5th time, I’ve found that it’s a little desolate in terms of finding other folks to hook-up with…for having 2,800 athlete’s in town, if you’re there a few days early, and if you don’t know anybody down there, you may find yourself trying to decide between Hooter’s and the local fried fish restaurant for dinner…and it should be a _lot_ more fun than that.

Every year we do have an open house party on Thursday at our condo at The Summit…BIG place, and great place for Party Central…and then walk over and/or catch up with folks at the banquet at 5pm…and will again this year

Of course, everyone is pretty serious prior to Ironman…especially the first timers…I still remember my ‘first time’…in 2007 at the tender age of 53…the first time is the best

…that Christmas, my brother had a life-size poster made of me crossing the finish line that he ‘presented’ at Christmas dinner…too cool 🙂

…now, my Ironman races are mainly a family after-thought…too cool in its own right…the fact that I race Ironman every year is just ‘expected’…nothing new…too funny…if I stopped…now that would be news…

But this year, I have a _party_ goal…of course, we’re still all serious about Ironman…but sharing a bit of the excitement before and after should just add to the experience…I still need my nap in the afternoon, and obsessive time to make sure that all my stuff is laid out correctly, and that everything on my checklist is accounted for…

…our goal is to make sure that if you’re down there and looking to catch up with like-minded folks, that you’ll be able to do that…easily…I’ll be in Panama City Beach the Saturday before the race, so glad to catch up with folks as you roll into town the week before.

So bear with us as we go through the technology learning curve…and get ready to PARTY 🙂

 

Posted in Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman Florida, Ironman Florida Party | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Fitting Life In

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Daughter

Ahhhhhhhh – Rest Week.

Like the 1 minute walk at the end of each 10 minutes of my run…

Like the calories I get to consume and the end of a weekend training day…

Like the bottle (I mean glass) of wine at the end of a long day at work…

…Rest Week is my light at the end of a 3-week-build-tunnel… a wonderful 7 day period where I have permission to slow down with a reduced schedule, recover and rebuild, and fit Life back in.

And by Life I mean dental work, volunteer work, house work and massage work!

My ‘Rest Week’ this week started off with a 2-hour dental appointment (note to self: don’t book important conference calls after a dentist appointment – hard to be persuasive when half of your face is frozen!). And then the bills/emails/volunteer commitments/bike fits/upgrading running shoes from 2009/ live wiring above my couch waiting to be attended to… I can go on.

And the workouts are still there – and despite the reduced length and intensity – they almost feel like more effort to fit in! Only a 1.5 hour Saturday bike? I almost ask ‘what’s the point’?!

But I think despite the A-type, over-the-top personalities of most IM athletes.. we could all use an ‘excuse’ for a rest once in a while. Unless you’re the only brain surgeon in a radius of 5000km and people’s lives are depending on you being available 24/7 – I think a day or two off won’t affect the rotation of the earth.

‘Enjoy’ your cold Dad 🙂

Posted in Daughter's Blog Posts, Exercising when sick, Recovery | Tagged | Leave a comment

another day off from exercise…what’s with that!!!

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Dad

Yeah…Monday…took another day off

2nd day off from exercise in the same month…last day off was 3 weeks ago…too much fun that time 🙂
https://irondaughterirondad.com/1-day-off-from-exercise-too-funny-that-its-noteworthy/

This time, in deference to recovery…in the few days before my killer Saturday workout, I was feeling a bit of a scratchy throat…and had been hitting some High Intensity Training (HIT) weeks…and decided to do the Saturday workout anyway…which I did…great training day
https://irondaughterirondad.com/how-did-you-spend-your-saturday-112mi6hr-bike-6mi1hr-run/

…anticipating that I may need a few days off after it to let the throat thing get sorted out

So Sunday, the throat was still a bit scratchy…Monday…a bit of congestion, throat felt a bit better…no fever…just not ‘right’…and I’ve had a pattern in the past where sore throat turns into cold/congestion and then exits…so I took the day off to see what’s going on…ok…20 minutes on the mountain bike for some fresh air…but I _won’t_ log it…well maybe…too funny anyway

With 6 weeks out from Ironman, it wouldn’t hurt me to take a few easy days to recover from whatever’s going on…I could keep my bike and run in maintenance mode for a week, and probably not lose anything…in fact some may say, even without the congestion thing, a few easy days/week is a good thing in a training plan 🙂

…I’m not sure though that my swimming can stand much of a break…really wanted to get in some longer stuff this week to get the swim in line with the bike and run training…sadly it’s the breathing thing in swimming that is impacted the most with a head cold/cough…sigh

Slept well…throat not scratchy this morning (Tuesday)…morning congestion though, with associated cough…not bad though…no fever…so with a planned long run today…2.5 hours with some Z3 intervals…I’ll put on the shoes and head out to see how it feels…keep it shorter and lighter than plan…and see how I feel about a swim on Wednesday morning.

…and my wife in her quest for attention…in competition with 15-20 hour training weeks, and extra work time last week and this, rolling out a new software program… is lobbying hard for a trip to New York this weekend, claiming that’ll take care of the ‘spousal attention’ top-up between now and Ironman

…in terms of ‘spousal attention’ I know enough to know that it’s never enough…but may get the trip in anyway if the last-minute deals look good…busy life 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Exercising when sick, Recovery, Running | Tagged | 4 Comments

How did you spend your Saturday? 112mi/6hr bike, 6mi/1hr run

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Dad

Excellent bike and brick run on Saturday 🙂

Race rehearsal time, so 112 miles on the bike in 5:57:38, and then a 1 hour brick run _easy_ to get dialed into my Ironman target run pace of 10:00/mile + :30 (10:30/mile) for the first 6 miles.

The ride was as good as it gets.  As I plan to race it, the first 90 minutes of the bike at a planned 180 Watts so that I have something left for the bulk of the ride…turned out 180 Watts (186 Watts norm)…and a very relaxed 109 Heart Rate average…can’t get better than that for getting a ‘free’ 90 minutes of fresh legs…and the rest of the 4.5 hours at a planned 200 Watts…turned out 198 Watts (203 Watts norm)…it’s a beautiful thing 🙂

Since locally, it’s all hills all the time, I rode over to The Point, a local subdivision, that has a low traffic loop that’s as close to the gentle rolling of the Ironman Florida course as there is in the area…5.6 miles, 16-17 minutes…so short…but no big hills, so good for steady riding…there’s a traffic circle at 1 end, and a dead-end at the other, so a 180 turn required that cuts back a bit of the average speed.

So back and forth, for 2.5 hours in the center of the ride, with a short hydration stop in the center:

  • 1:34:40, 19.9MPH, 202 Watts, 205 Watts norm, 120HR avg, 127HR max
  • 1:08:23, 19.9MPH, 205 Watts, 208 Watts norm, 125HR avg, 133HR max

…nice 🙂

This confirms that 200’ish Watts, gives me 20MPH’ish with steady riding…and based on an average Heart Rate in the mid-120’s, sustainable for 112 miles…all good news.

The last 1:45:00 of the ride, I was still at only 127HR average, even though the heat and humidity was coming up…the ride ended at 79F and 78% Humidity.

…my Zone 2 Heart Rate is 124-131HR, and Power 195-210 Watts.
https://irondaughterirondad.com/pondering-my-final-bike-training-zones/

For those _really_ into the numbers:

  • the 112 miles was a TSS (Training Stress Score) of 293.7…my target for this training ride, and for the Ironman ride is 300…the higher the score, the more ‘cooked’ your legs are…so 293 is great
  • and IF (Intensity Factor) was 0.71…my target was 0.70, so about as perfect as it gets…this is means that I rode at 71% of my FTP (Functional Threshold Power) of 280 Watts

And then the run…that wasn’t as perfect…my legs felt surprisingly good considering the magnitude of the ride that I just did, so I ran over to the local college track to see if I could get my target first-6-miles-of-the-run 10:30/mile pace dialed in.

…I was too fast…which sounds like a good thing, but really isn’t…even with the track, and being able to check my pace at every lap, I was still 9:36 (ouch), 9:58 (ouch), and 9:55 (ouch) per mile.  That would be nice for the last 20 miles…right on target…but the first 6 mile of the marathon I _really_ need to work on containment…give up 2:30 total time in the first 6 miles to give me some hope of pace in the last 6 miles….and since it was 79F, it should have even been  slower than that…I _really_ need to work on getting a better feel for that Ironman run pace, and have the patience to execute it.

Other notes on the day:

  • my throat as been a bit dry and scratchy the past few days…and was again on Saturday morning when I got up…I had largely written it off to 4 days out of 5 in the pool, with the lousy ventilation, and chlorine overload…no other symptoms…yet…so I really had 3 choices…skip the ride, shorten the ride, do the ride…obviously I did the ride 🙂
  • I did the ride because I didn’t have a fever, the irritation felt isolated to my throat, no chest congestion that I could feel, and I figured that if it was going to get worse, it probably would on its own, and I’d rather have the long ride under my belt and be recovering from that, than skip it, and still be in recovery…there was a chance that the training stress of the day ‘makes’ it worse…but it’s all in the ‘who knows’ category…I’m feeling a bit congested this morning, but not horrible…no fever…throat still a bit irritated…so we’ll see how it turns out
  • about an hour of the ride was in the rain…no rain checks in Ironman…I don’t mind riding in the rain…it’s more of a concern about blind drivers and streaky windshields…so when it _really_ started to pour, I pulled over under cover to check the radar on my SmartPhone…very cool app…and saw that most of the rain was to the south, so I headed north…dry for the rest of the ride, once I got out of the rain

So all in all, an excellent training day…very solid ride, great confidence builder for Ironman, and confirmed that my ‘numbers’ are right on the money…legs felt very good off the bike, with lots left after 6 miles.

…burned just over 5,000 exercise calories on the day…great dinner with friends…many Southern Ale’s and ribs…lots and lots of ribs 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Planning, Racing, Testing, Training | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Diana is on her way…that my friends is guts…

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Dad

The current reported distance traveled by Diana is now 92.2 Statute Miles, 82.0 nautical miles, provided by Steve Munatones, the independent observer for the International Swim Federation who accompanied the expedition.
————
Hindered by painful stings and strong currents, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad ended her latest attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida on Sunday morning, her team announced.

Nyad was pulled out of the water shortly after 11 a.m. (Sunday) following injuries sustained Saturday evening and strong cross-currents that were pushing her off course, her team Captain Mark Sollinger said. The 62-year-old swam more than 67 nautical miles — about two-thirds of the distance.

Her swim had been halted Saturday night after being stung by jellyfish and Portuguese man-of-wars, but she returned to the water Sunday morning in an attempt to complete the effort. 
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/25/health/cuba-nyad-swim/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad

 
12:20am (Sunday) Back in the water http://diananyad.com/1220am-back-in-the-water/

—
At 9:40pm (Saturday) Diana is still aboard Voyager and being treated by two physicians. At this moment it appears that Diana wishes to continue the swim but there is no final decision yet.

 —
Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad was stung by a sea creature for a second time Saturday night and was being treated by doctors, her team said in a blog post, leaving the continuation of her swim in question.The 62-year-old, in transit from Havana to Florida, was stung by some kind of presumed jellyfish, the blog said.”Her face and eyes and the area around her eyes are affected. She is out of the water and aboard the transom of the Voyager where she is being treated by doctors. It will be up to Diana to decide whether or not to continue to the swim.”The incident was another setback for the athlete, who was stung by Portuguese man o’ war earlier in the day.
Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad

 
At 10:55am (Saturday), she just had a hydration and a full feeding, and her stroke is beginning to be stronger. Bonnie, Diana and the team are…
  
Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad
 
As of 10:20 pm (Friday) the flotilla is continuing on in warm, calm, windless seas. Onward!
 
Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad

After an hour and a half of treading water Diana began to rehydrate and swim her freestyle stroke.
 
Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad

Chief handler Bonnie Stoll said, “Diana was stung along both arms the side of her body and her face.” Jonathan Rose, a safety diver and..
 
 Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad

Diana has been stung by what we believe is a moon jelly. She is trying to clear herself of tentacles and continue the swim.
 
Jenn Chu    jxchuJenn Chu
So very awesome. RT: @MattCNN: It’s official! @diananyad jumped in the water at 6:05pmET today (Friday)  to start her #Xtremedream swim
 
Diana Nyad     diananyadDiana Nyad
“I knew I was in the best condition of my life. What happened in August was a 29-hour training swim. ” http://ow.ly/6Dnbs
Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Swimming | Tagged | Leave a comment

Diana Nyad to swim from Cuba – Florida…again…tonight!

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Dad

In case you missed it in all the recent political news, and not anywhere near as prominent in the headlines as it was a month ago

Diana Nyad is planning to get back into the water to get that 103 mile / 60 hour swim out of the way…again…tonight…after coming up short a month ago

So the posts that we wrote a month ago…repeat…well, let’s hope that the final article has a picture of her stepping onto the shore in Florida 🙂

https://irondaughterirondad.com/dianah-nyad-still-ticking-while-the-world-comes-apart/

https://irondaughterirondad.com/diana-nyad-61-years-old-103-miles-60-hours-of-swimming/

Here’s the CNN article about the swim tonight:
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/22/diana-nyad-to-attempt-another-cuba-swim/

…from her Twitter account, it sounds like she watched her own documentary on CNN, got inspired by it, and decided to go at it again :)

here’s her website: http://diananyad.com/

and Twitter account…probably the best for breaking news: http://twitter.com/#!/diananyad

What’s with those ‘seniors’ 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Swimming | Tagged | 2 Comments

Iron Daughter Update

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Daughter

45 days to go! Yikes! Time is certainly rushing by, and the start line is feeling closer and closer – it’s hard to believe we’re just under 7 weeks until the gun goes off.

My training so far has been interesting. It definitely feels a lot more compressed than my run up to IMFL ’09 – since my early season training was a bit ‘thin’, I really only truly started getting serious about the whole thing at the beginning of August. The good news is I’m a deadlines kind of girl… the more urgent the better!

And I’m happy to report that so far, it’s going pretty well. My focus has been really really simple – get the workouts in as prescribed.

Comparatively to Iron Dad, we’re pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum. My eyes gloss over when reading the calculations in his posts – very much like my Economics 101 textbook in university which felt like I was learning a second language. I admire the detailed analysis.. I really do… it’s just not for me! I have a HR monitor which I’m pretty sure is about 10 beats off at the best of times, and even then, it’s based on my training zones from 2 years ago which I haven’t re-tested (confession!). So – am I maximizing every ounce of my training? Not likely. Would I do it differently next time? Likely. But in truth what I have committed to in terms of time and energy is manageable, and when it starts to become unmanageable is when I overcommit or overshoot what I think is possible.. .and then, well, I just don’t do it.

Swimming

Without a coach this year, I felt I needed some extra eyes on my swim technique as the more I swam, the worse it started to feel! I am in my second week of a course through a great local company called Sea Hiker – with Founder/Director Peter Scott as our coach. What I am finding particularly valuable in this type of coaching is not only the overall and individualized attention to form –  but learning to relax my stroke, paying attention to how each element of my stroke feels in the water, and the most valuable is the timing of my breath – I had no idea how off I was until now! It’s actually pretty fascinating how much impact small movements can have on your relaxation and efficiency, and ultimately my time out there in the Gulf. The hour I spend in the water with Peter (over an estimated 700-1000m distance) is proving to have a much greater impact on my swimming success than an hour spent thrashing my way through 3000m. So much so that I’ve canned one of my ‘distance’ workouts in favour of an extra day in the pool with Sea Hiker.

Biking

My focus on the bike has been spending as much time as possible in aero position. I have a new aero set-up on the bike, and am trying to teach my body to enjoy it! It’s actually been surprisingly comfortable so far, although as I mentioned to my Dad recently, I don’t think I’m getting my max power out of my current set-up so I think perhaps it’s time to revisit my bike fit before it’s too late.

Running

The run has always been my nemesis.. although it’s definitely feeling stronger as of late. I have typically had a no-fail, slow but comfortable, 8.2km/hr pace (run/walk combo).. which if I could maintain that over 42.2 km I would be THRILLED. My recent 21km run naturally inched up a bit in speed .. and I actually used the extra cushion room to walk for an additional 30 seconds at a time. Definitely not looking to push the run in the least… I would be delighted with a 5:15/5:30 marathon time on race day — certainly a huge improvement from the 7.5 epic adventure in ’09 – how often can you say that you’ve shaved 2 HOURS off of your marathon time?!

Overall

Overall feeling pretty on track! 1 or 2 missed workouts due to ‘life stuff’- but nothing that seems to be setting me back. The logistics of training continues to be perhaps my biggest challenge, more so than the workouts themselves. My BIG training weekends (7+ hours) pretty much rule out a social life with any flare…it’s hard to stay out past 9 on a Friday/Saturday without effecting the next morning’s workout.  But certainly no pity party here – I’m happy to be healthy and consistent in my training.. and hope I can keep it up as the hours and commitment continues to build!

Posted in Cycling, Daughter's Blog Posts, Running, Swimming, Training | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Balancing training in 3 sports…swimming says ‘what about me!?’

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Dad

I have a meeting with Coach Gale Bernhardt today to fine tune my next 4 weeks of training…7 weeks to Ironman…2-3 weeks taper…so 1 month to get the last pieces in place.

…once you’re within 3 weeks to go to Ironman:

your time is better devoted to prayer than exercise

My bike and run training have gone well…solid…so well in fact that one of my primary questions for Coach Gale was/is…from my email to her:

…I have an issue that I wanted to get your feedback on, and was going to see if you had time next week for a quick chat once I had my numbers better organized

 … the question was/is ‘what do you adjust if workouts are going too well?’

 …sounds too funny of course, but I have to tell you that I’m ‘hammering’ the Intensity compared to our 20% criteria, and in the short-term at least, holding up, hitting new PR’s in testing etc.

 So at this point, I was going to run out this week, and see what happens…but I’m like turning out ‘scary’ numbers, and still intact

 …didn’t you say that’s typically 2 weeks before the crash 🙂

So with 4 weeks of training to go, although I want to get to all the fitness that I can, I don’t want to spiral through the top, over-train and break something or get sick…so the constant training theme…push the limits…but not too far.

The one thing that I’m seeing in the quest for bike and run dominance is that I’m stepping on my swim workouts, and not getting the quality that I should there…so need to make some adjustments to ‘protect’ the swim training so that I’m not as tired as I have been on swim training days.

I had a lot of focus on the swim about a month ago, and had very good improvements…as the bike and run have wound up in Intensity and Volume, they’ve ended up crowding the swim training…the swimming is still about 7000 yards a week, 3:30-4:00 hours a week, 3-4 workouts a week…but I haven’t been getting through the workouts as ‘cleanly’ ‘according to the workout spec’ as I should be.

If it were just bike and run, I think I’d be in great shape now, and could continue my training path…but there is that 2.4 mile swim to start the day, and that needs to be smooth, relaxed, efficient…so I will need to pull the bike/run stuff back a bit to make some more room for it over the next month.

…reminds me of a friend of mine that was always complaining that it was impossible to find good help to keep his outdoor pool and garden maintained

…sort of a high-end type of ‘problem’ to have 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Planning, Swimming, Training | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Ironman High Intensity Training (HIT): Bike long rides

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Dad

This year in preparation for Ironman, I’ve worked in as much HIT (High Intensity Training) into each week as I can, using workout guidelines published by the folks at Endurance Nation (EN).

Earlier in the season, I overshot the mark a few times, which contributed to me getting injured and/or sick…so the challenge is to find that right balance between stressing to improve, without breaking something, or over-training to the point that I can’t complete workouts because I’m still toasted from previous workouts…a rather delicate balancing act, since you often don’t know that you’re over the top, until you’re already tanked.

I find that I can’t get in as many of the HIT workouts that EN has in each week of their stock schedule without getting totally cooked…so I use the EN workout specs in a few key workouts each week:

  • my Tuesday long run with HIT,
  • my Thursday fast run Intervals,
  • and my Saturday/Sunday bike rides

…my other bike and run workouts throughout the week are ‘softer’ to ‘protect’ the key workouts, and allow some recovery time.

My long rides on Saturday are both long and hard, and yesterday a good example of a 4.5 hour ride than embodies these principles by including almost 1 hour of Z4-5 & 1 hour of Z3 HIT…followed by a 2 hour Z3 HIT ride on Sunday.

A refresher on Training Zones and Intensity if you wanted to take a quick look:
https://irondaughterirondad.com/training-zones-and-intensity-chart/

Here was the workout…quick explanation…”8′ (3′) @ FTP/z4-5″ means 8 minutes at Zone 4-5 Intensity, which for me, based on a 280 Watt FTP is 266-280 Watts…so HARD…then 3 minutes easy recovery…then the next Interval, down the list:

Type: Bike
Planned duration: 4:30 
WU: 20-30′ @ 65-70%/z1-2/Easy

MS:
â– 8′ (3′) @ FTP/z4-5
â– 10′ (3′) @ FTP/z4-5
â– 15′ (3′) @ FTP/z4-5
â– 10′ (4′) @ FTP/z4-5
â– 8′ (4′) @ FTP/z4-5
â– 5 x 12′ (2′) @ 80-85%/z3; for each interval include 2′ standing WITHOUT spiking watts or effort, ie, standing for position change only.
â– Remainder of ride time is @75-80%/z2, in the aerobars, practicing steady riding: no surges, constant power, etc.

WD: 10′ Easy spin.

Here’s how it turned out…4:42:01 total time, with 2 hours of HIT:

  • 5 x Z4-5 Intervals (266-280W target): 272W / 268W / 266W / 266W / 251W
  • 5 x Z3 Intervals (224-238W target): 231W / 231W / 219W / 230W / 237W

That my friends, at the end of a 17 hour training week, is a _strong_ ride 🙂

I used this specific workout as an example in part because it became part of a forum discussion a while back, with Rich Strauss, one of the coaches at EN, weighing in on his HIT philosophy…he actually used the even harder ‘Advanced’ version of the workout in his example…an interesting read:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3132587;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=-1;

So with 7 weeks to go before Ironman Florida, my long ride schedule on the next 5 weekends:

  • 112 miles Race Rehearsal
  • 4.5 hour HIT Saturday / 2 hour Z3 Sunday
  • 4.5 hour HIT Saturday / 2 hour Z3 Sunday
  • 112 miles Race Rehearsal
  • 3 hour HIT Saturday / 1 hour Z3 Sunday

…_may_ need to cut that back a hair somewhere if I start leaking oil or can’t complete workouts properly…we’ll see how I hold up 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Planning, Training | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

squeezing off a few pounds: 205 to 187 this morning

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Dad

Good news!…at my 2 week interim weigh-in this morning, the scales settled at 187

…this is down from 189, 2 weeks ago…and 18 pounds down from my 205 starting point 2 1/2 months ago 🙂
https://irondaughterirondad.com/2-month-official-weigh-in-189-down-from-205/

…and getting dangerously close to entering my 185’ish Target Range
https://irondaughterirondad.com/staying-the-course-205-to-185-losing-20-pounds/

And once again, since this is the lowest that it’s been my ‘actual’ weight is probably a pound or two higher, but I’d say safely under 190 at this point.

The last 2 weeks have been interesting, so in our picture today, I’ve isolated the last 4 weeks…as you can see, its definatley not just a straight line down.

From my last weigh-in 2 weeks ago (189), that weekend we took a vacation, and enjoyed some over the top revelry.
https://irondaughterirondad.com/1-day-off-from-exercise-too-funny-that-its-noteworthy/

The next time that I was on the scales was the following Friday…one week ago…and I registered a 192….today 187.

Does that _really_ mean that I gained 3 pounds in one week, and lost 5 pounds in one week?…no…I was still counting calories every day, except for 2 days on the weekend, and still within the parameters that I’ve been in for 2 1/2 months now.

There was a bit of a difference last week though…I did my bike test and run test, so wanted to be fully fueled for these maximum efforts, and therefore made sure that I wasn’t short of calories at all…so in essence, focused on letting the calorie balance come back to even each day, rather than a 500 calorie deficit…the biggest adjustment was fueling during exercise with Gatorade and gels…whereas, I’ve been staying on water on workouts up to 60-90 minutes.

What I’ve seen pretty readily is that with the extra ‘carb loading’, my weight went up…one primary reason:

 It is estimated that every gram of glycogen stored is associated with about 2.7g of water

 …and on this past weekend, with 5 hours on the bike, I made sure that I was well fueled going into the weekend, and fueling during the ride like in a race….so 3-400 calories per hour.

This week, I’ve been back on my routine of water only during the shorter and less intense exercise sessions…and therefore, without the BIG carb kick from last week, ‘weight’ back in line…oh and at the lowest point that it’s been since I-can’t-remember-when 🙂

If you’re new to this storyline…my quest to lose 20 pounds before Ironman Florida, you can catch it all here: https://irondaughterirondad.com/category/weight-loss-2/

…next ‘official’ weigh-in in 2 weeks, and _hopefully_ will be settled into a ‘hard’ 187 by then

…a new picture may be in order 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Weight loss | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Swimming update…improving…I think

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Dad

I’m feeling solid about my bike and run results now, and feel that if I can hold the training together, not get cooked, sick or break something, that I have a clear path to increasing the training distances, with quite a bit of Intensity included, and be in good shape at the Ironman start line.

Swimming…I’m just not sure…yet.

The ‘numbers’ though do give me some consolation…my Swimsense watch, although not perfect, and not always exactly accurate, at least gives me some good comparative data.

Four weeks ago, on August 11, 2011:
DISTANCE: 2050y AVG PACE: 2.13 /100y AVG STROKE: 10

 

And from my workout on Monday, September 12, 2011
DISTANCE: 3025y AVG PACE: 1.58 /100y AVG STROKE: 9

 

A part of my swimming challenge is that my swimming days have been stepped on to some degree by the big bike and run days, so it’s been a challenge trying to fit in/find swimming days when I’m not tired/recovering from bike/run days.

My main swim day is a 3,000 Yard swim on Monday, with broken intervals, working on increasing my stroke rate…progressively faster each week.

A few weeks ago though, even though I was successfully increasing my stroke rate, and feeling comfortable at the faster paces, my stroke ‘count’ was still sort of stuck in the 20-22 strokes/25 Yard range (10-11 the way that Swimsense counts it), and I was expending more effort…on my recovery and ‘pulling’…than I should be

…Coach Dinah Mistilis became re-focused on a ‘relaxed recovery’, using my hip rotation and lats more than my shoulders to get the arms forward, ‘softening’ the front end to take out tension, and getting to a more ‘front quadrant’ position…that is being ‘patient’ with the lead arm…oh and getting my head to move for a breath with the hip rotation, rather than lagging a hair…wheew

As a result, it’s become like learning swimming all over again…all the ‘stuff’ that I’ve been working on, now just applying in a smoother, more consistent fashion.

A few things happened:

  • my stroke count came down to 18-20 strokes/25Yards…good
  • I was struggling to get a breath though, since I apparently was ‘propping’ on my non-breathing arm, and so needed to improve my core balance, so that my head rolled to a breath, without being ‘propped’ up
  • I immediately had difficulty in maintaining the faster stroke ‘rate’ since I couldn’t find a way to get those arms back up front with the hips and lats fast enough…without ‘throwing’ them up there like I’d been doing
  • so at anything more that 50-100 yards, I started to struggle, my stroke count started to rise, and I felt like things were coming apart

So for the past 2 weeks, in that 3,000 Yard main workout, I’ve been back to 25-100 Yard intervals…and instead of a long swim in a second workout, I’ve used it to continue to work on form, with shorter intervals, although up to 250 yards.

So what I’ve found is that I do appear to finally be ‘getting it’…although my best stroke counts…in the 18’ish strokes (9 on Swimsense) / 25 yard range, are still at a slow and relaxed stroke rate…not the worst thing in the world, but I’d still like to be ‘faster’ on Ironman day…so the work now continues to see if I can maintain that efficient form, while getting that rotation to turnover faster…and maintain that at longer distances.

…it’s just that 100 yards is not 2.4 miles…so it’s getting to be that time when I’ll need to take whatever stroke that I have to the long-distance dance 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Planning, Swimming, Training | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

butt fatigue…updating my fit and probably saddle

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Dad

With 8 weeks to go, I’m now finalizing my equipment choices for Ironman Florida.

As my rides have increased in volume, I’ve been getting some ‘butt fatigue’ as the hours roll along…hard to stay in that aero position if your butt is asking for…or demanding…relief…so decided it’s a good time to take another look at my bike fit, as well as my saddle….particularly with my new bony butt 🙂

I’ve been riding a Fizik Arione for years, and _reasonably_ happy with it, although never really thrilled as the miles increase, so have sort of put up with it…I’ve felt that it’s probably a bit narrow for me, but good enough…and the result of trying out a number of different saddles a few years ago

A comfortable butt, is first and foremost a matter of a good fit on the bike…the saddle itself and shorts are secondary…in fact, many would say that the less padding in your shorts the better…if your fit and saddle are right

…also goes to my considering Ironman in just tri-shorts with their thin padding, to save transition time…I’ve always made a full change into bike shorts, and then into running shorts…maybe not this year, if I can get my butt comfortable enough to stay aero for 5:30-6:00 hours.

I had a full-blown Retul bike fit early in the season
https://irondaughterirondad.com/bike-fit-today-always-a-great-idea/

And following my own advise, and now having it re-checked.

My fit has been very good this season…strong power, feeling solid on the bike, no strain points or pain anywhere…and butt comfortable enough…although, as the time in the saddle has increased…like over 3 hours last Saturday, followed by over 2 hours Sunday…and this is only going to increase…it reminds me that my butt is not as comfortable as it could be, so maybe something to look at.

I’ve always liked John Cobb’s stuff…http://cobbcycling.com/…he’s one of the pioneers in bike fit and cycling aerodynamics, and a BIG numbers guy…and now focused on his own line of saddles…nice.

…and the shop that I had my bike fit earlier in the season, Bruce Guild at Studio Velo http://www.studiovelonc.com/ in Mooresville, NC just happens to have a ‘demo seat’ program with Cobb saddles…what’s not to like 🙂

So I went to see Bruce, and we discussed the re-fit and saddle options…and decided to try out one of the Cobb saddles first, to see how I liked it…and then move on to looking at my final position again from there.

So last weekend I tried out the V-Flow

…and this week will try out the Plus.

 

On first impressions, the V-Flow was more solid on my sit bones…which is a good thing…although ‘thicker’ than the Fizik, so would take some getting use to…and although more comfortable than the Fizik, still not like sitting in my recliner…although after riding the same saddle for years, part of that would be getting use to the new feel

…so we’ll see how the Plus works out, and then fine tune the fit, to give me as comfortable and powerful a ride as I can get.

You’ve had your bike fit looked at this season…by somebody that _really_ knows what they’re doing…right? 🙂

 

Posted in Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Training | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Pondering my ‘final’ bike training zones

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Dad

With 8 weeks before Ironman, 5-6 weeks of training, and a 2-3 week taper, I’m starting to _really_ get serious

…alright…you’ve probably thought that I’m pretty serious up to now

…that was me being relaxed 🙂

With my last bike test this past Tuesday, because of the hot and humid conditions, I ended up a bit inconclusive on whether I should set my FTP (Functional Threshold Power) at 270 or 280 Watts for training purposes for the next 4 weeks before I plan to re-test…it’s not a huge difference, but enough to make me want to nail it down…go figure 🙂

My initial thought was to be conservative and use 270 Watts…based on my training rides over the past 2 days, that appears to be too low however

I rode just over 3 hours on Saturday…nice cool morning…57F, although humid at 95%…and since it was bugging me, I decided after the warmup that I’d bang out a hard 20 minutes, to see where I was at.

I’ve been using the Endurance Nation protocol for establishing FTP, which is normalized power for 42 minutes: 20 min HARD/2 min easy/20 min HARD

…I like this test because it’s still VERY HARD…and if it makes sense…_easier_ to get to max effort than the 60 minute maximum effort that it’s predicting (preferred by Allen & Coggan)…and the shorter 30 and 20 minute tests…which I don’t really think are long enough to take you right out to the max effort to predict a 60 minute effort….although _easier_ do to more often, and therefore more likely to get done…I may write a post on the various FTP methods at some point, although well documented via Google

…none of it is perfect…at least doing _some_ kind of testing though, I _do_ think is very important for the serious Age Group triathlete…particularly for Ironman, since it also serves to establish target race goals…but I digress 🙂

My all time maximum power for 20 minutes is 272Watts, set 2 years ago on June 14, 2009…my recent test rides have been right there at 270-271 Watts in hot/humid conditions, and since there’s 2 of them back to back, neither one an ‘all-out-til-you-drop’ effort…

…so, I thought this would be a good day to get rid of that old 20 minute maximum power record as well, since it’s been hanging around too long…although since I also had 3 hours of riding ahead, I didn’t want to step on the ride (meaning kill off my legs, so that I had cooked my legs and had no power left), so I set my sights on what I felt _should_ be just-below-max level, and still leave me legs for the rest of the ride…made it a 275W+ target and set off…the result:

new CP20 maximum power of 277 Watts, 152HR max…within that 20 minutes, a new CP12 of 279W (up from 276W)

…had more in the tank…nice…was just holding power @ 270W+…took a few minutes easy roll, then 10 minutes @ 239 Watts, and the rest of the ride was also strong…2×45 minute intervals at the end of the ride…Z2-3 effort:

  • 212W, 19.8MPH, 126HR max
  • 208W, 19.5MPH, 127HR max

Interestingly my heart rate remained lower than it ‘should’ be for the effort…my numbers up to now would seem to indicate at that power my Heart Rate should be closer to 135HR’ish+…of course a lot of that has been based on training and testing in the heat…and Heat Rate is only a secondary predictor of actual ‘work’…but…

So my back-to-back ride on Sunday was set to be 2 hours at primarily Z3 power…so a good time to again see what’s going on, since it would be on tired legs from Saturday….here was the workout specification: 

WU: 20-30′ @ 65-70%/z1-2/Easy
 
MS: Spend as much time @ 80-85%/z3 as possible. Take short recoveries as needed (eat, drink, etc), otherwise it’s time to work! Practice riding Steady: no power surges, stay in the aerobars, etc.
 
WD: 10′ Easy spin.

ABP RIDE (Always Be Pushing)

Another cool morning, 60F going out the door…rewarded again for getting up _early_

Another solid ride…main set, 2×45 minute Intervals…same route as Saturday…with a bit more power thrown in:

  • 218W, 19.9MPH, 132HR max
  • 219W, 19.9MPH, 127HR max

So these 2 rides, look more to me like 280 Watt FTP results…particularly when you factor in Heart Rate…here are my ‘official’ bike training zones, based on a 280 FTP compared to 270 FTP (LTHR is my estimated Lactate Threshold Heart Rate)

Bike Zones
Zone HR based on 145HR LTHR Power 280 FTP     Power 270 FTP
Z1 / < 70%:
< 123HR         
< 195W             < 188W    
Z2 / 70-75%:
124-131
195-210           188-203   
Z3 / 80-85%:
132-138
224-238           216-230
Z4 / 95-100%:
139-144
266-280           257-270
Z5 / > 110%:
> 145
> 308                 > 297

So, if feels to me to get the appropriate training benefit, my power targets should be based on the 280 FTP, or at the very least the high end of the 270 FTP range…like today’s Z3 efforts, should have been more solidly into the 225-230Watt range.

…does it make much of a difference…not really probably, but it depends on who you ask…more of a head thing for me…it was still a solid 2 hour ride no matter what…I just like to have things solidly in my head…less chance to wimp out on a particular training ride if I have tattooed into my brain exactly what I’m going to do before the demons chime in as the legs get tired

…I have a lot of riding scheduled in that Z3 range, and now comfortable that I should be running at 225-230 Watts…not in the 216-220 range where I’ve generally been.

…so that, I guess is a good insight into how I think and train…every day

…as recommended by my coaches, and adjusted by me for balance between the 3 sports, how I’m feeling and what I feel the need to focus on…just about all the time:

  • I count swimming strokes and swim at specific stroke rates
  • I run at my target paces
  • and, train on my bike at specific power zones

fun 🙂

…I know…I’m scaring you…I’ll stop now 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Biking, Cycling, Dad's Blog Posts, Planning, Testing, Training | Tagged , | 2 Comments

5K run test: new 41 vDOT wow! 4:22:00 Ironman run ‘possible’

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Dad

Looks like shedding those few pounds has indeed helped my running speed 🙂

…the goal that I set for myself 9 months ago on December 7, 2010, was to be at a vDOT of 41 prior to Ironman Florida, to set up a ‘possible’ 4:35:00 Ironman marathon (4:22:00 + a little mattress)

…to do that I’d need a 5K run test in 23:36 or faster, so a pace of 7:36/mile or faster

…looks like I’m there now…7:29/mile pace yesterday…8 weeks ahead of time…cool 🙂

Here’s a couple of earlier posts about vDOT and my goals, and our vDOT calculator
https://irondaughterirondad.com/running-pace-vs-heart-rate/
https://irondaughterirondad.com/whats-it-take-for-a-43500-ironman-marathon/

My last test on May 5, 2011 was a 39vDOT , 57F, 32% Humidity…so a perfect running day…Davidson College track, in Lane 7:

7:54/mile, 39 vDOT

And yesterday, same track, same Lane 7, quite a bit warmer 73F and 70% Humidity:

#1: 151HR avg, 157HR max (7:16/mile)
#2: 158HR avg, 159HR max (7:34/mile)
#3: 157HR avg, 157HR max (7:40/mile)
last 400 meters: 157HR avg, 157HR max (7:40/mile)

7:29/mile, 41.64 vDOT

  • 5K: 23:16, 7:29/mile
  • entire test HR 154HR, max 159 HR

Just for yucks, here was my first test this year on January 6, 2011, when I established a 37 vDOT…I was sooo proud 🙂 …now I’m just sooo much faster 🙂
https://irondaughterirondad.com/5k-run-test-nailed-37-vdot/

8:12/mile, 37 vDOT

A few notes about the test yesterday:

  • it was starting to get hotter by the time that I started the test, so should have gotten up earlier, eaten earlier, and started the run earlier…like by a couple of hours…bit mad at myself that I didn’t…but there I was at the starting line, with the sun feeling a bit hot already
  • I deliberately started at the faster pace, since I didn’t really know what my test pace was going to be…a 41 vDOT would be 7:36/mile, and a ‘glorious’ 42 vDOT would be 7:27/mile…I came dangerously close to that 7:27/mile with a 7:29/mile average
  • and I had read an article a while ago, about a test where the maximum results for a 5K were actually produced by going out 6% faster than target…not by even pacing, or the ‘common’ wisdom of a negative split…limited study…but thought I’d give it a try…here’s one reference to the study:
    http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-259-11738-0,00.html
  • and who knows how fast I really was these days with that new, lean body, so didn’t want to leave anything on the table 🙂

…the next thing was at the end of lap 7, with 4 to go, I pulled back the pace for a few 100 yards, since I was suffering in multiple categories:

  • left hamstring was stiff and ‘singing’ to me
  • left side was cramping
  • stomach was complaining
  • and a quick look at the Heart Rate monitor, the numbers were staggering all over the place
  • …so the demons in my head truly screaming…in my effort to try to get out the door before the heat came up, I had obviously cut it a little too close to breakfast, and my stomach was gurgling and complaining…and adding in some cramping on the left side…rats…and then that little trick with the Heart Rate monitor…nice touch…I typically don’t look at the Heart Rate numbers, but my quick concern was that it may be recording my last heartbeats, as I felt overheated and nauseous…

…so I came really close to packing it in…too funny though…my mantra’s kicked in…a little earlier would have been better, but nonetheless welcome…Yoda and then Bruce Lee in my head…

…so after a few seconds, it didn’t ‘feel’ like I was having a heart attack, I decided that the Heart Rate monitor was just being weird…the hamstring still felt ‘intact’…no ‘real’ pain…the stomach and cramping wasn’t going to go away, but so what…so I decided to just get it done…the ‘good’ guys prevail 🙂

…picked the pace back up to the painful level, clicked the watch again, and ran out a full last 4 laps from that point on the track, as fast as I could…man that was suffering I have to tell you…

In looking at the numbers, my maximum Heart Rate…knocking out the anomolies…looks like the Heart Rate monitor went on the blink for part of it…sometimes happens when the strap loses traction….or ‘maybe’ close to death, and a few seconds reprieve was a good idea…did I say that maximal testing is _tough_?…only _really_ got to 159HR, vs. 162HR on the May 5 test…an optimist would say that maximum Heart Rate drops with higher fitness…however my Heart Rate actually faded in the last mile, along with my pace, so I probably cooked my legs going out too fast, and then the heat/humidity started to kick in and finished me off.

To get comparative results to my last test, I removed the few hundred yards of still-going-but-lower pace after lap 7 from the numbers…if I had just stopped at the end of lap 7, and used the time for that distance, my vDOT would have been 40.81…so since I had another mile left in the legs, that would be low…and the softer few hundred yards added some distance to the entire test, but may have made the last 4 laps a bit easier…so not a perfect execution

…of course, the purpose of the test is not to execute a maximal 5K, but rather to get an idea of what my current ‘vDOT’ fitness level is to establish training paces for the next 4 weeks

…so to that end, since the first clean 7 laps by themselves would give me a 40.81 vDOT for the 7 lap distance, and the overall run a 41.64, I’d have to say a pretty clear 41+ vDOT performance…even considering the imperfect execution

…there may even be an argument that a perfectly executed test, on a cooler day would have produced a 42 vDOT, or higher…with my final run test in 4 weeks, I’ll leave it for that…and use a 41 vDOT to set my training paces…I tend to go a bit faster anyway…which now are:

Run Zones
Zone HR Pace
Z1/EP:
< 131
9:59
Z2/MP:
132-139
8:35
Z3/HMP:
140-147
8:17
Z4/TP:
148-153
8:02
Z5/IP:
> 154
7:36

…I have to tell you, this ‘running by the numbers’ is cool stuff…at least for me 🙂

If the 41 vDOT holds up to Ironman Florida, this gives me a potential 4:22:00 Ironman marathon…a 42 vDOT, a 4:17:00…and may as well put it down since I’m dreaming…a 43 vDOT a 4:12:00

…my Ironman run race goal has been 4:35:00…geez…sort of hard to believe that it _may_ be actually possible 🙂

…considering that my fastest Ironman marathon to date was a 5:03:38 in my first Ironman  in 2007 (5:04:52, 2008 /  5:14:25, 2009 / 5:21:04, 2010 ), it looks like I at least have the ‘potential’ to reverse that trend…as impausible as it may be that a 57-year-old guy can improve their Ironman marathon by over 30 minutes…in their 5th Ironman

…and before that’s going to actually be possible, I seriously need to re-wire my running ‘self-image’ to actually ‘believe’ that I can do it…I see a separate post coming up again soon on the mental side of Ironman training and racing…I need to get rid of the little earnest, but fat guy running…’I’m Flash!’…”I’m a lean and fast cheetah!’…somehow not quite ringing true in my head…yet…I need to find something…

…too early to declare victory yet…a 5K maximal test is simply done as a convenience since you can recover quickly from it…’better’ would be a test at a longer distance, but trashes the legs and subsequent training…so to apply it to a 26.2 mile run…particulary after a 2.4 mile swim, and 112 mile bike ride…requires specific training for the marathon distance…and a perfect execution on race day to get near the ‘potential’

…over the next 6 weeks of intense training, and 2 week taper, the trick will be to stay healthy and not break something as I try to sustain the run training that will be necessary to give me a shot at getting near that potential…and then race day execution, conditions and who-knows-what

…by way of example, if the temperature during the run is 70F, with a 41 vDOT, my 4:22:00 (9:59/mile pace) marathon target pace will need to be adjusted for the heat to a 4:41:00 (10:37/mile pace)…I would need a 42 vDOT to have a heat adjusted run target of 4:35:00

…but I have to say, I love the trend…and OMG…a 41 vDOT yesterday is a heck of of a lot better that a 37 in January

…oh yeah, and lose that last 5 pounds (2 x 32oz Gatorade bottles) as insurance 🙂

 

Posted in Achieving Goals, Dad's Blog Posts, Ironman, Ironman Florida, Planning, Racing, Testing, Weight loss | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments