Messed around and did a Sprint Triathlon today

Today was a “throwback” kind of day.  A typical day for me a few years ago, when I was chasing my IRONMAN Arizona dream.  A day consisting of all three triathlon disciplines of swimming, biking and running.

The weather was an unusually windy day for this time of year.  I first noticed the windy conditions crossing back from my lake swim, when I thought someone had put me in the washing machine cycle.  The water was quite choppy, but I really enjoyed it.  I just imagined dancing with the lake instead of fighting with her.

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After my swim, it was off to get the kiddos to school.  After my extended T1 transition, I hopped on Zapata and decided to go for a one hour bike ride.   Having set no goals other than to ride for an hour, I experienced a level of freedom and enjoyment that I haven’t experienced in awhile on the bike.  No cadence, no HR to monitor, no speed checks, just me and my sleigh rolling down the street.

I can’t believe it’s been almost three months since riding my bike.  All of this 5K run focus has left me time strapped for my other sports.  I quickly remembered how much fun it is to roll along versus pounding along the pavement.

With the exception of a little shoulder and tricep discomfort, I felt exceptionally spry and energetic during my first bike ride in eons.

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I guess this is what they mean by end of the road.

 

Zapata was happy to be back on the road again!

My one hour bike ride flew by exceptionally fast and it was time for T2 and to get in my daily 5K run in.  Except this time my 5K was a brick, because I was running directly off my bike ride.  I had forgotten how tough it is to run off the bike.  My legs felt heavy for the first half of the run, but I was able to find a slow pace I could maintain.  I dare not push the pace due to risk of aggravating my hamstring and glute issues.

All in all a great day and a wonderful remembrance as to why I love triathlon so much.

I haven’t worn my trisuit in quite some time!

 

Life balance 5K run #215 & Lake Swim #367

  

   
With all this 5K run concentration, my other disciplines such as bike, weights, and swim drills have been suffering.  Due to my worry about over taxing my body with a daily 5K run I have been putting off the other things I love to do.

Well today I’m making the decision to get back on the bike, weight training and getting to the pool to do my swim drills.  I will still use the lake for my distance swim work, mainly because I think it’s important to keep a balance between loving what you do and getting good training in.

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So today my training started with my usual Lucky’s Lake crossing.  Due to having to get the kids ready for school, I can only do one crossing.  I never seem to warmup properly and my first 500 meter crossing is stop and go with some elevated heart rate.  Once I’m warmed up however, my breathing settles down and I’m able to swim much more relaxed.  I love looking at the sunrise as I’m swimming across the lake.

As far as my run went today, I’m still experiencing some discomfort in my left hamstring and glute.  No matter how much treatment I get on it, it seems to only offer temporary relief.  The pain as suspected comes right back the next day.

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Halfway to my goal of running a 5K daily for one year

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My day started like a lot of my days with a lake swim at Lucky’s Lake.

A bit chilly out this morning.

I love this sign!

After my two lake crossing this morning, I reached a running milestone. Day 183, which means I’m officially half way to my goal of running a 5K a day for one year. 183/365=50%.

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I’m amazed that I’ve made it this far considering the nagging injuries I’ve incurred.  The journey has had many twist and turns that’s for sure.  Like right now I’m currently struggling with some nagging right glute and hamstring issues.  These issues have really slowed down my running.  I dare not push the pace, for fear of being derailed for a longer period of time.  I have to somehow keep running while at the same time allowing my body to get some rest and heal.

You’ve heard of the term “dog days of the summer”?  That’s what my quest currently feels like.  Each day it seems to be a grind to complete my 5k run.  A part of me longs to do other activities that I have put aside for fear of injuring myself.  Activities such as basketball, weightlifting and cycling have not been part of my routine for awhile now.  This has been the longest time I haven’t cycled in three years time.

I do plan on adding some light weightlifting to beef up my physique and make my body more resistant to injuries going forward.  The problem is that I can’t push too hard as building muscle requires rest and recovery.  Is it possible to build muscle on minimal rest and recovery?  We shall find out, as I’m going to take a before and after picture to track my weightlifting journey.

I wanted to capture the halfway point of my 5K/Day journey with a nice photo

I love bamboo

I’ve really become dependent on running with music.  I’m finding motivation by running with a different playlist everyday.  Before I started this running quest, I loathed running with music and just enjoyed the sound of my breath and feet hitting the pavement.  I would like to get back to running without music, but for now the music is a good motivator for me to continue the streak.  Also running in different locations that I’ve never run before adds motivation and “childlike” intrigue.

Instead of my normal what have I learned list, I’m going to talk about what has been the easiest part of my journey and what has been the hardest.

The easiest part surprisingly has been the actual running itself.  I’ve got the 5K run down to such a routine, it’s just a matter of doing it.

The hardest part has been documenting my journey.  It seems that I’m having trouble keeping up with recording my runs, how I’m feeling that day, challenges, blogging etc.  A close second would be taking the time to address my injuries properly.  Getting more massages, acupuncture visits, roller therapy to really address my injuries.

I’m looking forward to learning more about myself on the second half of this journey to a year’s worth of daily 5Ks.

 

 

 

 

Enter the next pain to deal with glute strain? #164 consecutive 5K

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Ooh ouch ooh ouch could be a song today as I ran my 164th 5K.  I have officially developed some sort of glute injury that hurts with every step of my run.  How long will the pain last?  How long will it take to heal?  Will this last the remaining 201 days of my year of consecutive 5Ks?  I’m mentally prepared to endure the pain if that is the case.  I can barely sit at my desk without the sharp pain starting from my right glute and all the way down my hamstring.  I’ll address it with some acupuncture and massage therapy and see how it goes.

I did manage to work in a “dad’s basketball camp workout” with my son before my run.  It was a hectic day and I’m really feeling tired towards the end of my 5th night of 3rd shift work. #can’twaittosleepatnight

 

 

Run thought day 161st 5K

https://www.strava.com/activities/448403033

Oftentimes when I run, I have creative and thought provoking ideas.

My thought while running today’s was……..What if you’ve never discovered your greatest talent? Try something new and out of your circle of comfort.

What if you are missing out on your greatest challenge because you haven’t tried anything new since high school?

Get out and discover all your gifts!

As a side note, I’ve developed a slight glute issue from running too fast.  Sigh, I wonder how long it will take to heal?  Better make another appointment to the Acupuncturist.

 

Day #150 of consecutive 5K run (a late post)

I love running paths and running someplace new.

A unique view, doing my post run stretches on my back.

A beautiful duck, who is quite comfy around people. It had zero fear of me, even running by him.

My first run at Gaston Edwards Park

Shameless selfie

My app that keeps track of all my runs

 

Has it really been 3 months since I’ve blogged?  You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!  You know what has distracted me is posting quite a bit?  The answer is posting on Facebook/Instagram and not porting my activities over to this blog.  To be totally honest, I don’t have time to post to all three everyday.

I have to make some decisions about what is the best way to communicate with the largest audience.  Facebook seems to be the easiest to use via my cell phone.  Posting to this blog seems to require me sitting down at my laptop.  Whereas, I can post to Facebook while I’m pretty much anywhere with a few minutes to spare.  Look me up on Facebook for the latest on my activities.  I will be revamping this blog soon, so more to come.

What have I been up to?  I guess the best way to start is the latest adventure and work my way backwards.  As you can tell from the title, I’m still pursuing my quest for a complete year of running at least a 5K a day.  I’ve just completed day #150 https://www.strava.com/activities/442060722/embed/c43d5137463c147c8fd07f5f398f5a148c6e2918  As a matter of fact, you can add me as a friend on Strava to see all of my 5K runs and times.

So what have I learned so far in regards to running everyday for 150 days straight?

1. Forces you to spend some time on you everyday
2. anything you work on everyday will improve
3. after reaching a certain point, momentum begins to assist you
4. You can still perform with injuries, I’ve suffered a sprained ankle, shoulder, muscle spasms that cut off my breathing, hip flexors, knee soreness and of course ye ole hammy.
5. I choose very carefully the things I do as to not injure myself or put myself at risk of not completing my 5K
6. My mind is now asking the question, “where else can employ this consistency in my life”
7. Never put yourself last, or your goals will be last too
8. you can’t outrun a poor diet.  No matter how many miles I run, it can not compensate for my poor food choices.  I shudder to think of how much better I’d look with a cleaner diet.  God please give me more strength.  LOL
9. My goals have to be high to motivate me to achieve them
10. Sometimes you just need a little music to get you through
11. Equipment is critical
12. Stretching and warming up are keys to avoiding injuries
13. My body can heal and still continue to keep going
14. Whenever you need a little motivation, just run somewhere new.  The freshness of the new sights and sounds will keep you engaged and entertained

That is the good news, my running continues to get stronger and stronger.  The bad news is my swimming and biking have been taking a back seat to keep this streak alive.  On days where I have only enough time to swim, bike or run, I have to choose running.

In addition, I’ve started coaching my son’s basketball team.  Coaching has taken up any remaining time I might have left.  I’ve been studying plays, drills and how to get the best out of 4th and 5th grade kids.  It’s not as easy as I would have thought.  It is a rewarding experience as the kids keep asking me to coach the next league when it starts.  Basketball has changed quite a bit since I played back in the 80’s.  LOL

 

 

 

 

Morning run with my daughter Amaya (aka The Female Flash)

Me and the Female Flash couldn’t keep the sweat out of my eyes.

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Today was a chilled run day today.  No biking or swimming on the agenda as my body is tired.  My daughter Amaya decided she wants to come running with me.  Now Amaya is not a long distance runner, she is a sprinter.  But she wanted to get a decent run in and hang out with Dad.  We had a good run, good conversation and she made the run so much more enjoyable.  I see Amaya doing big things this year in track.

Today was also day 51 of my 365 consecutive days of 5Ks quest.

 

Day 40 of 365 5Ks and a 2 mile swim

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What a way to start the day! Nature is truly amazing. Did a 2 mile swim, followed by my 40th consecutive 5K run.  My first crossing was a little rough as my goggles fogged up making it really difficult to sight.  I’m also only three crossings away from reaching my 300th crossing at Lucky’s Lake!  There is no badge or award for 300 crossings, but I think I will celebrate in my own way!

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My goal is to run 365 straight 5K runs.  Over the past 40 days, I’ve suffered through hip flexor pain, muscle soreness, hamstring tweak, back spasms, and rolled ankle.  The rolled ankle was from playing my kids one on one basketball after training, not a good idea.

All in all I feel really good when I run.  I realize that it’s going to be key to monitor my effort level as to not sprain or over do it on any particular day.

My new Altra shoes have been a big help to keep me running strong. When you start to get some nagging injuries, sometimes it’s good to look at the wear and tear on your shoes.

 

Swim run bike kind of day

My weekend nirvana

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Today started out stressful as I took a last-minute phone call at work that made me late for my now “spiritual” Saturday morning lake swim.

However,  with minimal warm-up I was able to have my fastest swim.  It’s funny how sometimes form review of swimming can hurt my performance and sometimes it helps.  Often times if I review some swim techniques before swimming, I’m too much in my head and I have a terrible swim.  Over the past weeks, I noticed my times not really improving (and actually getting slower), so I felt like I had nothing to lose by reviewing my swim form.

I followed the tips from my training time with Endurance Nation last year.  Endurance Nation has you focus on the following:

1. Front quadrant swimming ie, keeping your lead swim arm out in front of you until your recovery hand is at your head
2. Focus on pulling the water back versus pushing the water down
3. be as streamline as possible, reduce frontal area and drag, this can be done by good body rotation
4. breathing as rotation, not head lift (breathing with one goggle still in the water to avoid head lift)
5. using your lungs as a fulcrum, ie, finding YOUR balance point where you have your legs raise up naturally instead of kicking them to the surface

There’s more to the guide, but this is the high points.  I’m not sure which one of them helped the most, but I had my fastest swim ever at Lucky’s.  I wasn’t even trying to swim fast, but when I looked at my Garmin, I was a bit surprised at the time.  I’ve had faster times at the lake, but with buoy or wetsuit assisted.

After a great swim, it was onto the run part of my day.  This is day 36 of 365 5K runs.  I’m thinking more about not pushing myself hard everyday and to leave some runs for just enjoyment and not time.  I’m also getting concerned about possible overuse injuries as my quest to run 365 consecutive 5K’s continues.  I had a bit of a hamstring “twinge” while swimming, so I decided not to push my run as a precaution.

It always feels great after running, somehow I feel reconnected with my primal self.  I imagine staying in shape for the hunt coming up later as I chase down a deer or something.

My daughter Amaya had a basketball playoff game today at 11, so I got a break in the action as I watched her have her best game of the year.  She’s in a boys league, but they almost won the game as they tired out towards the end of the game and the boys came storming back.

We went out to celebrate her successful summer basketball camp coming to a close by going to wing house.  After saying our goodbyes, I was off to sleep.  Or so I thought……

I decided at the last-minute to take Zoey out for a spin.  It had been too long since I rode her and I do no want to lose my bike fitness again.  I didn’t know if I would have any energy left in my legs after the swim and run.  Therefore I told myself that I’d go for an easy ride.  It’s so hard for me to do easy and I ended up going fast and PR’ing some of the bike course.

All in all, today was a good training day.  Also a good time spent with my kids and their activities too.  I feel best when I give time to both.

 

Swimming the “dynamic duo” lakes today

Kayakers providing safety for the swim

Many nice people showed up to partake in the festivities

Up high to enjoy the view

Awesome pancakes that would put IHOP out of business!

 

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Today I had the distinct pleasure of swimming in both Lucky’s Lake and Jack Beattie’s Lake today.  One crossing at Lucky’s Lake, followed by a 1 mile swim at Jack Beattie’s place. I didn’t know how much time I had to get from Lucky’s Lake to Jack’s place or what to expect, so I only did one crossing at Lucky’s Lake.  Upon retrospection, I probably could have gotten away with doing two crossings at Lucky’s instead of the one because I found out I had a couple of hours between Lake swims.  Nonetheless Lucky’s lake was awesome as usual, but I was overwhelmed by the grandeur and hospitality of Jack Beattie’s family and friends.

While driving to Jack Beattie’s place I remember thinking “am I headed in the right direction?”.  I had this thought because my GPS began to take me into a very prestigious neighborhood in Winter Park.  I began driving by beautiful million dollar estates on my way to Jack’s lake.  Well little did I know that Jack Beattie’s swim was in back of Jack’s beautiful estate home too.

While still in awe at my surroundings, I was greeted with open arms, smiles and a killer breakfast of pancakes (strawberry, blueberry and chocolate chip), muffins, sausage, fresh fruit, mimosa just about anything you could want for a great breakfast.  All of this great food and friendship the for cost of just showing up.  I think this is what they are talking about when they say the best things in life are free.  I could not have imagine a more perfect Saturday as an open swimmer.

The swim itself was amazing.  The swim was in a triangle shape course with plenty of kayakers, etc to keep you safe.  The water clear and fresh, I felt like I could drink it if I got thirsty.  On both sides of the lake were million dollar mansion to enjoy while swimming if you so desire.  It was really hard to focus on the swimming as there was so much beauty to take in.  I did stop a few times to take it all in as this was my first time, I was less concerned about my time to complete.

God willing, I will be a participate of this annual activity for years to come.  Thanks Jack, thanks Lucky you guys are what give me hope for humanity!!