Let’s rewind a bit and head back to where this all started. About 3 years ago in February 2007 my wife said I was looking fat. Now, to be honest I was looking pretty chubby at the time and I was thinking the same thing about myself but for some reason something finally snapped inside. At that moment I decided that I would do what I always had wanted to do and to race in a triathlon. That night I signed up for the TimpTriClub Triathlon which was a little more than three weeks away and set out to get ready for the race. My training wasn’t anything special and three weeks later I proceeded to finish what would start now become one of the loves of my life, Triathlons. I have since raced in over 25 triathlons and more than 30 running races and have lost most of the fat that my wife quipped about that one special night …  and I am so glad she did say something.

Let me get this out of the way if you didn’t already know it. I love triathlons! I love everything about them, the training, the anticipation, the traveling, the competition both personal and with others, the feeling you get after finishing one. I just love everything that has to do about triathlons. After leaving football  I needed something to compete in and motivate me and triathlon has taken it’s rightful place.

Even though I have done a bunch of triathlons over the last 3 years, including a couple Half-Ironmans, I have yet to conquer the biggest of them all, the full Ironman triathlon. 2.4 miles of full-contact swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running to top it all off … in the same day! The Ironman is the  Everest of the endurance sports world. After watching the 2009 Ironman World Championship I hastily decided and registered, just like 3 years before, for the Ironman Coeur d’Alene (In Idaho) on June 27th 2010.

Fast-forward now to the present and I am 3 weeks into my official training schedule. Things are going well as I decided after much research to follow the 24 week  training plan from Multisports.com and also available from the book  Start to Finish Ironman Training 24 Weeks to an Endurance Triathlon by Paul Huddle and Roch Frey. One thing I have realized is that Ironman training takes a lot of time and requires a lot of help and understanding from family, friends and neighbors. Slow days require about 2 hours of training and heavier days can get up to 4+ hours worth of training. It is time consuming but my family and I believe it is worth it.

So if you see me running or biking on the streets make sure to honk. If you feel like I have checked out and haven’t seen me for a while now you know where I am at. If you really need me you could probably find me running or riding around Spanish Fork  somewhere.

The only failure in life is the failure to try,  right now is the time to achieve your goals and become great.

You might think I am joking but I am being totally serious. Since the Spudman Triathlon on July 25th, 2008  I have not ran more than 4 times a month. This is pretty sad … and dangerous considering the fact I raced in a half ironman, a  marathon and 2 sprint triathlons during those seven months. Not to mention being totally embarrassed considering my finishing times in each.

I now weigh 185 pounds, which is not bad considering it is my normal weight, but it  is 17 pounds heavier than I was on July 25th,2008. I want to get back down to 170 pounds as soon as possible for training purposes and I am going to find out how long it takes to lose all those extra pounds I picked up from Taco Bell, KFC, McDonald’s & Burger King. If I can lose the weight quickly I might just write a blog post every so often telling everybody what I am doing to lose the blubber. To lose the weight I will be training consistently and watching my diet,  sometimes. I will not be using any Super Duper weight loss pills or magical elixir formulas. 

So tell me what you guys think, how fast do you think I can lose the excess blubber hanging around my belly and butt?  Comment to this post and the person that comes the closest will win a FREE bakers dozen from Krispy Kreme Donuts! Seriously!

I woke up early on Saturday and drove to Scofield for the 2008 Scofield Triathlon. I had heard it was an awesome race so I pretty excited to see what everyone was raving about.

The swim started off perfect. Not too many racers which means I only got kicked in the head a couple of times and the water was amazing. I felt good throughout the mile swim even though I hadn’t swam laps in a month or so. The swim was a double loop around the buoys and I did my first lap (half mile) in just under 14 minutes. The second lap took about 15 minutes to finish so I ended up with around 29 minutes for the mile swim. I was pretty stoked because 29 minutes is a PR for me. I averaged 1:40 per 100 meters which is not too shabby for a mile swim.

The first transition was pretty slow because I couldn’t get my biking gloves on. I really need to work on my transitions. The bike started out great except about 3 miles into the course some guy drove up next to me and told me I was going the wrong way. I ended up going about 5.5 miles off course and decided to just try to convert it into 25 miles instead of biting the bullet and going 31 miles because of the mistake. Also, my leg was cramping up so I didn’t want to go the extra mileage. After telling a race judge I turned my bike around at almost the right point and actually ended up going a little bit longer than I needed to. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to place so I wasn’t too worried. The rest of the bike went great and I ended up with a 1:17 split time.

The run started pretty bad as it usually does. The worst part was the first 200 meters which had a crazy incline. My legs already felt like jello so it just made them feel even worse. The weird thing is that not only did they feel like jello but also big heavy stumps at the same time. It took about 2 miles for my legs to feel normal but after that I felt good. The last half of the 10k felt great even though I wasn’t going to fast. The funny thing is I always question in my head why I run these triathlons during the run portions. It always seems to hurt the most during the run so I just try to forget the pain and think about how good it will feel when it’s all over. I can only imagine how much it will hurt when I do my first full Ironman.

The last .2 miles of the 6.2 were probably the longest I have ever run. I swear it was an extra mile. I saw a lady biffed it hard right in front of me with only .1 miles to go. Her body just completely gave out and she landed pretty hard on the pavement. Thankfully there was a lot of people there to help her including some encouragement from us racers.

It felt so good to finally be done. I finished with an official time of 2:52:33 which is a PR for me. It would have been better if I hadn’t gone the wrong way on the bike but I was satisfied with my performance. I found out later that If I would of ran the sprint distance I would have ended up 2nd overall in my age group for sure with a good chance at taking first. Oh well, maybe next time I will be smart run the shorter distance. I also got to see my good friend Mike Merrell at the race which was a nice surprise. It was his first tri and he did awesome! I highly recommend the Scofield Triathlon for anyone that wants to race it.

Top 3 hardest so far

1) California Ironman 70.3 – March 2008
2) Xterra Mountain Sport – August 2007
3) 2008 St. George Olympic Triathlon – May 2008

It was pretty windy in the morning but I did not expect it to affect the race that much. I had never had a windy triathlon before so I didn’t know what to expect.

SWIM: The swim started off like normal: freezing waters, fighting for a spot and getting knocked around in the mean time. Once I finally got into a rhythm I had to turn on the buoy and bam!, we had to start swimming against the waves. Holy cow was that tough. We had 2 to 3 foot waves that we had to swim into and it didn’t get any easier the rest of the swim. I think I drank at least a gallon of the water and thats no joke. Everytime I would come up for a breath I would get a mouthful of water. It seemed like a never ending swim. I actually thought one of the buoys had blown away because I could never get to it. I ended up about 6 – 8 minutes off what I should of got on the swim. I found out later that after we finished they canceled the swim for the people that did the sprint tri because the waves were just too big.

BIKE: The bike was like the swim. We had to fight against the crazy wind about 3/4 of the ride. At times I was tilted sideways just to keep me from being thrown off the bike. One time the wind was so bad that I was going 12 miles an hour on a downhill that I would normally go about 30 miles an hour. Even though the wind was tough I felt pretty strong most of the way. The hill wasn’t that bad at all especially compared to the hill at the California Ironman. I started feeling real good at about mile 13 and came up with a decent time considering.

RUN: I was not a happy camper during the run. For those of you that don’t know about the St George triathlon, what makes it “special” is that the run is basically in sand dunes most of the way with a big hill that you have to basically climb (2 times in the Olympic distance). With the wind, the sand dunes, my burning calves and a poor attitude I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. The first 3 miles was brutal but I finally pulled out of it after that. The last 3 miles was definitely not a “breeze” but it was somewhat enjoyable.

I ended up finishing with a total time of 3:18:24. Who knows how much better I would have done if wasn’t sick. I figured that everyone was about ±10% slower overall because of the wind so my adjusted time would have been 2:58:04 which beat my goal of under 3 hours. Too bad it doesn’t count.

Dave also ran his first Olympic triathlon with a time of 3:30:51 and adjusted time of 3:09:01 which is pretty darn awesome. Tammy, the kids and my mom where also there to cheer us on. Thanks you guys, It really does help us when you are there to slap our butts and tell us, “Good Job!” We love you for it!

All in all it was a good day. No one died, Dave and I both finished and the St. George Triathlon lived up to it’s history of being one of the best if not the best triathlon to do in the state of Utah. Good job Brogg, you Rock!

I did a brick workout today for training. I biked about 12 miles in 35 minutes (HR avg: 175-180) and then ran a ghetto slow 5k in 28 minutes (HR avg 180 max 187). I ate a large dinner about 30 minutes before working out which was a very bad idea. I was about to chuck the whole time running so I shortened my run to just a 5k. I really wanted to get in 7 miles today but, oh well.

I need to kick it into a higher gear so I can be ready for the St. George Triathlon. I am starting to get nervous which is a good sign because It shows I still care about the race. I want to get under 3:00 hours this time which is definitely doable if I have a decent day.

If you read this please comment. I don’t care what you say just show me that you are reading it and I will forever love you. I always appreciate the little comments I do get.

Crazy wind today and it got the best of me. I am kind of mad I didn’t break 50 minutes but the wind was just too strong. I had some good split times but I cant remember them perfectly. Mile 1: 7:20 Mile 2: 15:10 Mile 3: 23:40 Mile4 : 32:10 Mile 5: 40:50 (all Wind) Mile 6+ (all wind)

*** Update *** After looking at the mileage again I realized I ran about 6.5 miles instead of 6.3 in 52:40. Which means my 10k time was about 50:20 for a new personal best! Woohoo. In no time I will be at 40 minutes . I still need to break the 50 minute barrier though.

In a way this is good because it 1) gets me more motivated to qualify for the race and 2) allows me to tie up some loose ends before having to compete in a full Ironman. It’s almost just like what 207 Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack said, “If I had won the race my first try I wouldn’t be the racer I am today.” This was in reference to 2002 after his 1st Ironman World Championship where he was in a position to win the race but bonked on the run and failed to finish, he finally won in 2007. Of course It is a little different with me because I am not even in the race and I will never win it but if I had gotten in this year I probably wouldn’t be training as hard to be a qualifier, I would just be training to finish the race.

Because of this minor setback I have made a couple new goals. These Goals all have a end Date by July 2009

1) Half-Marathon time at 1:25 or below (Current time 1:53:15)
2) Bike mph up to 22 average (Currently average 19-20 mph on a great day and 15 mph on a bad day)
3) Swim 1.2 miles below 30 minutes (Swam a 40 minute 1.2 miler in Cali for the 70.3)
4) 70.3 time under 4:40 hours ( Ran a 7:02:44 in the California 70.3)

What this means is that I need to get at least 30% better within the next year. This will be tough but I am definitely motivated enough. Wish me luck… ok, maybe it will be better to wish me some hard training.

It started with a 1.2 mile swim in sub 60 degree water, moved to a 56 mile grueling rode bike through the mountains in Camp Pendleton and finished with a hilly 13.1 mile run along the beach and the Pacific Ocean. In the end I finished in 7 hours 2 minutes and 44 seconds… much longer than my 6 hour optimistic goal but I didn’t really know what to expect. Even though I was an hour off, 7:02:44 is just fine for me… now I have something to beat the next time.

My cousin Tyler (from Tammy’s side) tore it up and finished in 7:34:37. Rock on Tyler! I can’t wait to do another one with you.

Race Pace Run: 70.3 Miles Triathlon . Time: 7:02:44 – Cal: 5009 – HR avg: 156 – HR max: 198 – Rate: 10

Stay tuned for full coverage of the day…

With this triathlon bug I have come down with I signed up myself and my business partner Dave to do the Xterra Mountain Sport in Ogden. Holy hard is all I can say, what a day! Xterra is the off-rode triathlon. It’s a run, bike and a swim with a twist. Instead of: swim in the lake, bike usually a long flat road and then a run on the same road, the Xterra is a swim in the lake, mountain bike up, up, up a one lane mountain trail over rocks, branches (and other people) and run up yet another mountain. I would have to say this was probably one of the most challenging things physically and mentally I have ever done.

The weekend started out pretty frustrating from the start. I had to rent a mountain bike because mine is horrible. I was never able to find a good rental so I had to settle on a Diamondback full suspension rental that probably had the cheapest component set on the market. The drive up to Ogden/Snowbasin took 2 times as long as it should have because of the traffic and to top it off I forgot my wetsuit and clip in pedals. The pedals are what really got me nervous. The rental pedals were worn down plastic clunkers with no clips or straps. I kept imagining myself slipping off the pedals continuously during the race. The funny this is the exact opposite it what happened.

On Friday night before the race we went to the athlete check-in. The race venue was awesome. Tons of sponsors booths, a live band, fun stuff for the kids, food, the Xterra University tent with the top pros. One of a kind. We also got the cool stamp on numbers you see in the Ironman races instead of the usual Sharpied numbers. We had a fun time, Broc was able to climb the rock wall and rappel down, Bailey played on the playground for a while and me and Dave learned a bunch from the best Xterra athletes in the world at the “University tent”. We then went to a local Italian restaurant on the historic 25th street and had a good meal to prepare for the race ahead of us.

Saturday morning it was 7:00am and I was flustered even before the race had started. I am usually in a calm, focused mood before a triathlon but I couldn’t stop thinking of the plastic pedals I had to race with. We went the night before after dinner to Wal-mart to find some cheap cage pedals but with no luck. Dave sang some songs to me and turned on some upbeat music to get me into a better mood and it helped. I finally decided to ask one of the sponsors, Bikers Edge from Kaysville, and lo and behold they had the clip-ins I needed. What a relief they were, I can’t thank them enough. Go check them out if you need any cycling stuff http://www.bebikes.com/. I was feeling pretty good after finding the pedals, I had brought my clip in shoes so I was now ready for the race. We had to set up our bike and swim gear at the first transition and then drive up the mountain to set up our run gear at transition two. Dave and I got kind of nervous after driving up the mountain and realizing we would have to bike up that same rout with over 3,000 feet of rugged off-rode trails. We took a bus back down to T1 where the full-distance was just about to start. Some people on the bus were doing the full-distance and were stressed because they almost missed the start but congrats to whoever the lady behind me was for actually making it and finishing 2nd overall in her age group. We had about 20 minutes to wait for the sport distance to start and I started getting nervous again. It was getting pretty cold out and I forgot my wetsuit so I wasn’t looking forward to jumping in the water.

After testing the water in Pineview reservoir I was pleasantly surprised that the water felt perfect. The race was seconds from starting and I was ready to go. With the canon sounding I was off and the human blender started. More than any other race, this swim was crazy! I was getting kicked and grabbed and punched and it was nuts. I was still able to pull out a good swim, it wasn’t as fast as I wanted but what could I expect without my wetsuit. I exited the water at around 15 minutes. T1 went good and fast ( The timers didn’t actually get my time so it seems they made one up) and I was off on my bike.