Motivation

Check out the "Inspirational First Tri Story" I placed under the Tri Link section. This guy sounds like me, at least when he started training. I only hope I have the same level of success he had!

Start of Week 2

No, that's not the pool I swim in, however I would love it if it were. The pool I swim in is at the 24 hour fitness center in Anaheim Hills. It's a 25 meter pool that is half covered and half out in the open air. For the most part, it is not crowded, but sometimes I need to share a lane with someone. My only real issue with the pool is it needs to be cleaned more often. I sometimes see strange organisms floating in it as I swim by. Gross, I know!

This was the start of my second week of training and so far, so good. I must admit I was a bit sore (in the legs) on Monday when I did my swim in the morning and the run in the afternoon, after work. But I am glad I did it. For my swim, I was scheduled to do a 20 minute workout and I was dead-set on getting in 800 meters in that time. Well, I almost made it. 20.06 was my time. The good news is that is over two minutes faster than my 800 meter split time for the last swim workout. My form was a little sloppy, but I am working on it.

The run in the afternoon after work was hard to get myself up for...I was beat. But I forced myself to go down to the gym at work and run the 25 minutes on the treadmill. Once again, I was glad I did it. I started out at a 9:50 pace for the first 15 minutes, kicked it up to a 9:31 pace for 5 minutes and then to 9:13s for the last 5 minutes. I was sweating my a@# off by the end, but I felt good. A little soreness in my right hip tells me I need to pay Dr. Austin a visit (My Chiropractor, he's the best!)

That's all for now. Catch you later...

First Week Complete

I made it through my first week of training. It certainly did not help that I still had to complete my final paper and presentation for the Masters program, so I was running on little sleep. But I made it nonetheless. Although I am not happy with my level of fitness at this point, I know I can improve quickly under this training program.

Today, I rode the bike for 40 minutes, as the long ride of the week. I headed north(east) on the river trail and turned around at Yorba Regional Park (20 minute mark). I marked the time when I hit 11 miles (38:15), which is a 17.2 mph average. Not too great for such a short distance, but once again I was glad to complete it. The speed can come later.

Nutrition has been decent too. I have been eating less and cutting out the junk food. I did have a couple of Guiness last night, but it was a friend's birthday party....c'mon!

Tomorrow is the start of week 2 and two workouts in one day. A 20 minute swim and a 25 minute run. More to follow...

Good night.

Rest Day

Today is my second rest day of the week and I am enjoying the rest. Just to catch up, here is my last two training sessions:

Thursday, the 25th
Run on the treadmill for 20 minutes; I really did not feel like doing it. I got little sleep the night before and was heading to school from work that day. But I forced myself to go down to CB 34 and get in the run. I was really glad I did becauseit ended up a great workout. I started this time a bit slower (10 min/mile pace) and slowly accelerated through the 20 minutes, ending at a 9:13 pace.

Friday, the 26th

Once again, not much sleep. We decided to celebrate our FINAL class of the Masters program that night along with Brianna's birthday. I got to sleep around 3 am (This partying stuff is for the youngsters). SO, although I did not feel like it, I did drive over to the gym in the evening to get in my long swim of the week. (30 minutes). It turned out to be a pretty good workout. At the 800 meter mark, my split time was 22:50 and at 1000 meters, it was 28:39. Not very fast, but I am just starting. I marked the 800 meter time because that is the equivalent for a half mile, and will be the distance of the swim in the Long Beach Tri. So at least I know I can complete the swim at this point. From here, it is about improving my form and my speed.

That's all for now!!!

My First Bike Workout

You would think with all of my cycling experience, this should be the easiest of the three different workouts for me. Yet today during my first bike workout, it was not as easy as I thought. I rode for 30 minutes as my training program indicated, which I am not used to. Normally, I ride for distance but for triathlon training, its all about the time. I got just over 9 miles in for that time (actually 31 minutes and change) for an average speed of 16.4 mph. Not bad for not having ridden, but not that great either. I guess I have time to improve.

On another note, my nutrition is going well so far, but I have yet to have any beers. Once that happens, I may not be able to keep away from the nachos. :)

Day 1 of the program

Well, I did it! I actually started the training today. I started off with a 15 minute swim at the 24 hour Fitness in Anaheim Hills. The swim was fine. I completed 550 meters in that time, which is not too bad. I will be running for 20 minutes this afternoon as well. The picture here is of our Cabo San Lucas vacation a couple of years ago. This is my happy place that I go to when the workouts get tough, as I imagine they will in the future.

Training Begins Tomorrow

Well, the time is upon me now. I have officially signed up for the Long Beach Sprint Triathlon, which will take place on Sunday, September 20, 2009. Tomorrow is the first day of my 13 week training program. I got the training plan off of a great website called "BeginnerTriathlete.com" and it looks like a pretty good program. Tomorrow, for my first workout I will be swimming for 15 minutes and running for 20 minutes. I will most likely split the two up since its the first day and swim in the morning before work and go for a run after work in the evening. I will be logging all of my workouts in a training log....just not sure which one I will be using yet. The important thing is to write everything down....how much I weigh, what I eat and drink, how I feel during the workouts, and how much sleep I get.

My First Post

Hi everyone! I have decided to begin training for my first sprint triathlon and I thought blogging about the training process would be an excellent motivational tool. So welcome to my triathlon blog and check back early and often for updates on my progress. Wish me luck!