I smoked over a pack a day for 15 years and got really overweight. Now I'm an endurance junkie with lots of marathons, century rides, half and full ironmans, and ultramarathons under my belt. Check back often to watch the progress from smoking 26.2 cigarettes a day to running 26.2 miles, or from Iron Lung to Ironman.
Seriously, why do people like summertime? We've gotten a slight reprieve from the heat this week in NC, and the NFL preseason started this week. So there is hope. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm out of balance right now, and can't seem to get my mojo back on track. The heat means I can only run first thing in the morning, and we're still working on that shed in the evenings. Here's the pattern I'm falling into:
Monday: AM yoga, noon swim
Tuesday: AM run, PM bike/strength
Wednesday: AM run, noon swim, PM church choir practice
Thursday: AM run, PM swim
Friday: AM yoga, noon swim
Saturday: long run, long swim
Sunday: total rest, church, and family day
So I'm getting 4 runs & 4 swims each week, 1 cross training workout, and only 2 yoga sessions. Regular time on the yoga mat keeps the body and mind at ease, and keeps your life in balance. I'm starting to think that I'm missing some of that.
Since I've been keeping this schedule, I've notice that I don't have as much patience with others. I'm getting angry quicker with my coworkers and my kids. It's been a stressful time anyway and I'm just not handling it with my usual calm zen demeanor. Where am I supposed to put in some more yoga time? I think I have to get my time on the mat somewhere to get that mental clarity and meditation time.
I have also recently started attending a men's bible study tuesday mornings at the church with a handful of other guys. This morning I threw out the old yogic saying "Everyone should meditate for 15 minutes a day, and if you don't have 15 minutes a day to meditate then you need to meditate for an hour a day". It got a big laugh and the message hit home. Prayer is talking to God, meditation is listening for the response. Calm the mind and everything else will work out.
Since my fall schedule has a 12 mile swim, marathon, and 50 mile ultra taking up 3 out of 4 weekends in a row I really need to get 25k in the pool every week and build my run volume up into the 40+ miles per week. and the "fall schedule" starts in only 7 weeks! So I can't really compromise the 4 runs or 4 swims per week, and soon I'll get the tuesday night swims back. that's going to be a nice option.
So I have to keep up the volume, and find more time for the mind. so ready to be done with summer.
I had a unique opportunity last Friday night to jump into a hot yoga class, so I jumped in. My buddy Keith was able to join me too so that was fun. He doesn't normally practice yoga, but really hung in there. Friday night we had tickets to a holiday thing, but Kelley's mom is staying with us for a few day while the kids wrapped up school for the year, so I gave up my ticket to the holiday thing for her to go. She had a wonderful time, and I really loved the hot yoga class!
We got into the 6:45 pm class at Indigo Hot Yoga in Raleigh. I think Jen was the instructor, the room was heated to 105* and the class was supposed to be an intense 60 minutes. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
This chick was intense! sadistic, almost evil, and amazingly strong and flexible. Once my body heated up with the room temp, everything got loose and I was able to flex into binds and positions that I can't usually get into. it was so rad. I actually these poses like they look in these totally stolen from google image pics:
and I've never been able to hit those in a colder room. By the time the hour was up we were in savasanah, and I had been pushed way outside of my comfort zone. I was totally drenched in sweat, and my emotions were totally on my sleeve. Finally laying there on the mat I had been pushed so hard in such an unusual way, I gave it all up and got the most amazing release. it was exactly 2 weeks since Gene had passed away (2 fridays ago at 7:30 pm) and I just felt everything process then. I felt like an idiot crying with a lavender soaked washcloth over my eyes in a hot yoga room, but I did it. Every emotion I've been trying to deal with suddenly processed and released.
It was an amazing workout, and the mental clarity I gained is immeasurable. Now all I need is a yogitoes towel and a 10 class pass. It's totally understandable how people get hooked on the heat, I may be one of them now.
Pretty much, since Rev3 Cedar Point, I've been all like
seriously. The motivation was kind of there. I was sort of one day looking forward to maybe getting in to a regular workout routine again one day. But it's also important to really enjoy the offseason. If you enjoy the offseason too much, it gets harder to get back to training weight or get an endurance base back.
In the meantime, regular strength training and yoga really help keep the stress level down. I've been running when I can but not focused on 50+ mile weeks anymore. Yoga is everywhere
At EG's fall outing in the middle of the woods. I am a tree among the trees
I even needed a little help getting my forehead to the floor
I swear that's actually a really difficult pose. It looks like my back is a bit too rounded though. Other Evil Genius involved activities included another tribe meeting at Moe's this time, where the kids learned how to roll burrito's! The kids loved it, and some of them really kept their rolling nice and tight. Great future for these kids in fast food, and all of the jokes that come with it.
Learning to Roll
love: she only put cheese on her burrito
The beard is back, and my hair is starting to grow out. Every year when this happens I'm amazed at how much gray I have, and how much more has come in since last year. The beard has a ton of gray in it this year too! That's quite a surprise.
I am starting to get back into the swing of things again though. Swimming especially is rocking right now. The city pool that's close to my house has been closed all summer for air conditioning repairs, and it opened back up again this week! woo hoo!! Next week our team is supposed to start offering noon practices as well, and that is going to be freaking amazing. If I can actually swim 5 days a week by going Monday Wednesday and Friday at noon, and Tuesday Thursday at night, that's going to seriously rock. Of course the way this offseason has been going
This is more like a before and after to the team. Before the Ironman I felt like the guy on the left, now I look more like the guy on the right, all fat and hairy. At least I got to swim twice this week, and that's only the 3rd and 4th times since the Ironman on sept 7. I keep hitting the wall around 2000 yards, but at least last night I was able to complete the entire workout. And I know that swim endurance base is going to come back quickly, my form feels good and the speed is almost there.
The most important part is that I am truly happy in this moment. Kelley and the girls are all really happy, I'm starting to think about some goals for next year, and revisit the ones I set for this year to see what I have left. I love not knowing what's coming next, because I know it's going to be spectacular. Have a great weekend!
Good news! I have been selected as an ambassador for Yoga Travel Tree! This is an amazing site where you can book international yoga retreats. And if you are interested in going on a yoga retreat, use the discount code "jflynn" to get $100 off! I'm going to add a graphic to the sidebar with the code. Hopefully I'll be able to do some other nice giveaways too.
I first found Yoga Travel Tree on twitter, and I've been drooling over the retreats ever since. They are going on everywhere, and include accommodations & food as well. I've got my eye on Costa Rica for a week. sometime. eventually.
The best part about these might be the food. Some of them include all you can eat healthy foods too. Local fruits and veggies in abundance. bring it on!
The site also has plenty of other tips about yoga, from the pose of the week to teacher training. I'm going to write some for the site as well if I can ever get something down on paper. But this has certainly helped my practice. I've been on the mat a lot since Rev3 CP. It has helped me regain focus and feel balanced as I walk away from ironman triathlons. A whole new appreciation for my Ashtanga practice and my regular time on the mat. So check out the site and drool over the retreats. Then sign up if you want!
Last week was pretty glorious. After such a big week before that, it was nice to recover and get in some easier workouts. I did yoga every morning (finally), and got plenty of s/b/r in the evenings. By about Wednesday I felt normal again. Rest and recover. Then for the weekend we went down to visit my parents in SC. It rained the entire time we were in Greenville, but we still had a blast. And of course, the rain didn't keep the kids out of the pool!
Evil Genius insisted on going swimming in the rain
Do we really need an umbrella in the pool? Yes, yes we did.
EG was doing cannonballs with a huge splash!
Ella's version of a cannonball
This week is back on the Build 2 phase. These workouts are the most intense and race-like of the entire training plan. This is it, the race is 7 weeks away. 3 weeks of build, another recovery week, then a 2 week taper + race week. I've got to be very careful with my recovery strategy in these next 3 weeks. Volume and speed have to come together perfectly for me to get the most out of this very important time. Build 2, week 1 here I come!
(it started Monday with two separate 90 minute bouts on the stationary bike)
There are 11 weeks left before Rev3 Cedar Point 140.6. I've got 4 weeks in Build 1, 4 weeks in Build 2, a 2 week taper, and race week. That means that the build phase starts today! Bring it on.
Last week was a recovery week, and that wraps up the base phase. I took 4 weeks each for a base 1, 2, and 3 style with each one getting a little bit more focused on race intensity and distance. I played it pretty loose on the weekends since I had to go out of town so much. But I have been able to get in some long stuff. Sunday got an easy 16 mile run, and I did an hour and a half on the bike trainer Saturday. Last week I got 3.5 hours on the bike trainer. So it's getting there.
The overload principle I stuck with for most of the base phase had mixed success. It was nice to only have to take on a heavy bike load once every 4 weeks, but the effect of that is that I have no endurance on the bike right now. I didn't overload the bike weeks properly. I am still really digging lots of swimming and running right now, and yoga is going really well on the recovery weeks.
Friday morning was interesting. I took my first ever Ashtanga Yoga class. Turns out, there is an ashtanga teacher in Cary who is 500 hour certified and has been practicing for 18 years. Last Tuesday night I was going through primary series and kept falling on my face, which was just as painful as it was embarrassing. I was trying to learn some of the hand balances and the next moves in Primary Series with no luck. So I decided to seek professional help. The class was a mysore style class, so students could arrive any time, and go through the sequence at their own pace with corrections and assistance from the instructor. I got there about 6 am, and she threw a bunch of form corrections at me. It was amazing. It takes about 5 years to learn the entire sequence, and now that I'm about 3 years into it I'm getting pretty far into the sequence. Into the tough meat of it. So the class on Friday went for about 2 hours and I got farther into the sequence than I ever got on my own. Backbends happened. Backbends! ah yea. That was incredible.
Before lunchtime I was incredibly sore and could barely stand up. How is it that I've been doing those same movements in almost the same sequence and suddenly I got sore? Well I was finally doing them correctly, for starters, and the class took 2 hours where I normally only practice for about 45 minutes. So that must have been it, but it was an unexpected twist to my weekend!
Later friday, of course, we went to Costco. I got Evil Genius pretty cracked up making funny faces, so I'll end with the pic that put her in stitches.
Bottom lip down, tongue folded up to form the giant upper lip.
Also, I realized later that I was wearing the t-shirt from EG's Indian Princess camp a few months ago, and the hat that Ella gave me for Father's Day this year! That's a dad mode level up if I've ever seen one.
March was a recovery and toss-away month. The plan was to swim more to start training up for the 5 mile OWS race and recover everything else.
Swim: 28,100 m, 9 swims
Bike: 105 miles, 6 rides
Run: 70.2 miles, 7 runs, 1 marathon
Strength: 14 times
Yoga: 18 times
That is actually a much higher swim mileage than I was expecting. I'm still not enjoying the bike, but I am starting to ride again pretty regularly. And I am going to run more. 70 miles is pretty good, but I really want to be over 100 miles per month this year.
Mostly I am just absolutely loving the water right now! And the yoga mat. Yoga is going really well. It's getting consistent, and I'm working on a headstand that is just about there. Yoga is the kind of practice that pays dividends in every other sport that I'm trying to tackle, so that's really good.
March 31 was officially the first day of Ironman training. I'm taking a different approach this year. The last few plans I've done were 39 weeks, this time it's only 23 weeks. The primary format breaks down into four week segments. Every week I'm going to overload one sport, then a recovery week. So base 1 is starting with a swim week, where I'm going to swim as much as I can. Then week 2 will be a bike week, where I'm going to try and get 150 to 200 miles. Then a run week, where I shoot for 30 to 50 miles. Then a recovery week, where all of the workouts are short and easy. And that's base 1.
According to the "Your Best Triathlon" Joe Friel book, I loaded up my spreadsheet with his 4 week plans for a base 1, 2, and 3, then a build 1 and 2 phases (that include a half iron test), then a 3 week taper. So my failsafe is to go back to Joe's strong workout plan if I don't feel like this overload method is going to work. But I really hated having to spend so much time on the bike last year, and I feel like only having one heavy bike week out of every four will be a good way to balance that. And it should give me enough time between heavy run weeks to increase that mileage into the 50 to 70 mile weeks without injury problems. Doing that single 50 mile week before the Myrtle Beach marathon led to a huge PR, so I want more of that luck.
This actually started on Sunday. We all got out to the pool in Pullen Park. The kids played in the kiddie pool while I got some laps in. I decided to do 20 x 200 for a 4000m set. Every 5th 200 I did an IM just to help me keep count. That gave me something to look forward to. I could split the intermediate 200's any way I wanted to. some pull, some kick, some stroke work, sometimes just on 20 seconds rest. It was a great workout and a fantastic way to kick off Ironman training before the official date. I also ran 7 miles before church that day too.
Kelley got some video of one of my 200 IM's, it came out really cool, I thought. But it's kind of long.
The coolest part about the videos is that I can see where my stroke got flawed. Some of that is just because 200 IM's will fucking wear you down. they are kind of insane. But I could see when my elbows were high enough and when they weren't, and when my arms crossed the center line and I went to one side of the lane, etc. Very cool to get this kind of feedback.
Then Monday night I hit the RAM practice for 3000, and Tuesday also hit RAM practice for 3100. That gave me 10,100 meters over 3 days. That's what I mean by a volume overload. I'm also going to RAM practice Thursday night and Saturday morning. so it's a really heavy swim week.
The concept for this overload principle was totally stolen from Jason over at Cook Train Eat Race. I also steal recipes from him quite regularly. Thanks brother!
What has me really excited to swim so much?? Well on Saturday I got to volunteer at a swim meet! I have wanted to volunteer more this year, and this kicked off volunteer season with a bang. Adult swim meets are so much fun! I had no idea.
As a triathlete, I tend to stick to the open water stuff. I still have no desire to start off of the blocks. The short fast stuff still seems futile to me, and most of the people that I was timing were much faster than me. But the Dixie Zone 2014 Masters meet really changed my opinions about swim meets. The environment is electric. You see amazing people there from all over the country. I saw 300 lb dudes that were significantly faster than me, and 71 year old dudes that were significantly faster than me. And plenty of younger and thinner people that were also significantly faster than me. I'm not suggesting I would finish last in every event if I swam there, just that the people that did show up to swim were very impressive.
I was a timer at the meet. They had electric timing mats in the water, and 2 timers at every lane. I also got to socialize plenty with my fellow teammates. Some people I hadn't seen in a while were there, so that was great. And as it turns out, a former co-worker from IBM was there and is on the team! I had no idea. So Michael and I got to hang out all day, and that was fantastic.
Swimmers on the block! My friend Jen is in the middle there. and you can barely see me on the left. the head in the crowd with the beard.
timers waiting for the next set of heats
Starters and meet officials.
hospitality area
Swim meets rule!! So much fun. So what was now supposed to be separate posts explaining the ironman training plan, the swim meet, march's totals, and the epic 10k swim days have now, finally, come to a close. Hope you enjoyed the ride. That's how busy I've been. insane!!
I never expected "I traded my convertible for a Volvo" would be quite so cool. The small features this car has makes me think more about less. My favorite has to be the "magic button". Radio controls on the steering wheel are amazing. The "next" button scrolls through the radio station presets, so I just keep hitting it. I haven't even changed the presets from when I bought the car! No clue what stations are in there, I just hit the magic button and smile.
Heated seats. Oh how I love heated seats. I wish more things had heated seats, and I'm actually considering sewing some drug store heating pads onto the seat cushion and back of my recliner. It's like a warm muscle relaxer on a chilly day. ah. may. zing. And I get it with the touch of one button.
Even the sunroof opens and closes with one touch of a button. It's simple. I'm really loving simplicity right now.
Ironman training starts with April. This is not simple. It doesn't have to be difficult either. Give the workouts a purpose, take it one workout at a time, trust in the training plan, and just go execute. It is time to dial in the nutrition, tighten up the vegan tendencies, measure the bodyfat and lean it down. I have a plan. it's time to go execute. More on that later.
Swim/bike/run/yoga all are simple practices. We make them seem complex by burning out too many miles or stressing too much about the type of practice. Yoga is designed to get you connected to an inner peace. When you can feel how everything comes together it is beautiful. Stretching your hammy's on the yoga mat leaves you setup for a smooth run that night. You can feel the same muscles used to hit the bike hard get worked again during a kick set in the pool that evening. Each exercise has its own magic button. And yes I've already gotten in one nice bike/run brick this year. But if I can appreciate the simplicity of each workout for what it is, I will come through this training cycle with a much more positive attitude and get better results. Bring on the simple.
The kids have been tracked out, and that means heading to a grandparent's house for a while. Turns out it was a week, Friday to Friday! Ah the freedom was blissful. They went down to the lake to visit with Kelley's mom and had a great time! The last quarter of the school year starts on Monday. This year has flown by. This month has flown by! March is gone. more on that later.
The next 9 weekends are booked, including volunteering as a timer for a swim meet with the RAM team this weekend. Insane! I wanted to volunteer more this year, I just hope I don't get distracted tomorrow and screw up somebody's time. Since I don't swim in meets I have no idea what I'm walking into. Here goes nothing!
And finally, some seemingly random pictures.
Evil Genius stole my Pine Mountain 40 hat one cold day.
EG at one of her Indian Princess tribe meetings horsing around with the other kids
The kids got haircuts! Bigun only cut off a few inches, but EG went SHORT. I think it's adorable. She loves it too.
It's about time to get back on the horse. After last week only containing one crappy swim, we tackled a cool project on the house. Monday I got adjusted at the chiropractor and it made a world of difference. After that, lazy time was over.
I've been making some great progress on the yoga mat. I even nailed this pose the other morning
It ain't easy to catch that toe
And last night, I actually did a headstand. I only held it a few seconds before falling over, but it was pretty awesome. Inversions are sexy.
One of the problems I've been having on the mat is with my left hip staying closed off. I asked the chiropractor how to get it opened up some, and he gave me some strength training moves to try. Specifically, hack squats, leg lifts, working the lower abs and gluteus minimus, plus that muscle on the inside of my knee. That should also help my IT band loosen up a bit.
It's working, too! My legs are sore from the new moves. I also got in an hour on the bike tuesday night, ran 3 miles wednesday morning, and swam 3100 m thursday night.
Now is the time for regular swim/bike/run to begin. I had my fun after the marathons. I ate cheeseburgers. But the stressful week is over, normal life is back, and it's time to let the regular fun begin. Ironman training starts the first week in April. In the second half of March, I need to swim as much as possible, and getting a couple of double days would be great too. Now is the time to enjoy a nice clean diet and establish a regular workout pattern. If this hip doesn't open up it could lead to some problems when the repetitive motions. Once again, yoga and regular strength training will lead to a successful Ironman training plan.
April and May are going to be PACKED! Check back in to see what all is going on. I've got a plan for my plan.
I am a sterotype living Raleigh, NC with the wife and 2 kids. 40+, endurance junkie with a penchant for marathons, trail, and triathlon races. It keeps me smoke free and happy. I also enjoy organic gardening and healthy eating, and work as a software developer.
