Only 21 more weeks until the Ironman Coeur d’Alene and I am getting more excited as the days go by.

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.

If you haven’t already made your guess, you better do it fast because it has only been 2 days and I have already dropped 3 pounds. And, if you don’t know what I am talking about look at the post just below this one.

I am learning that it is dang hard to stop eating the food that makes me and everyone else fat. Saturday night, after posting my 15 pound challenge, I proceeded to eat KFC and right before bed I had 2 eggs with toast and a bowl of cereal. The exercise wont be the hard part of this, it will be the eating part. Why is it that best tasting foods are also the ones that are so dang unhealthy. I just don’t get it. With all our innovation and advanced knowledge we should be able to make a Whopper that helps us lose weight.

 

Saturday Medium Run 5k on course 1. Time:25:59 - Cal: 368 - HR avg: 179 - HR max: 195 - Rate:8 -Pace: 7:46

Monday Medium Run 6.5 miles Time:55:30 - Cal: 833 - HR avg: 182 - HR max: 193 - Rate:7 -Pace: 8:32 Pace

I ran the 7 mile SF Memorial Day course again after feeling deflated from last Thursday’s workout. I Felt great even though Mark pushed me along the first 3 miles. I love my night runs. They have always been the best.

Race Pace Run 7.03 miles in Spanish Fork Time:56:36 – Rate: 8.5 - Pace: 8:03…grrrr

I went for a 12 mile bike ride with Brandon but first had to repair both of my tires because they were flat from the Utah Half Ironman. It took about an hour to repair and then we were on our way. Not even a mile into the ride my front tire blew again! This makes 5 flat tires the last 3 times I have rode my bike. It is starting to get annoying not to mention expensive. After yet another flat tire fix we were on our way again and luckily no more flats for either of us.

Medium Pace Bike 11 miles up to Payson and back Time:35:10 – Cal: 469 – HR avg: 167 – HR max: 180- Rate: 8.5

Once I got back home I pulled some weeds and was also able to get Mark Monfredi to come running with me. We did an easy 5k on course 1.

Medium Run 5k on course 1. Time:24:37 – Cal: 371 – HR avg: 180 – HR max: 196 - Rate:7 Pace: 7:55

Today was one of the best workout days ever.

To start it off my neighbor Merri and I ran the first annual Best Buddies 5k. Everyone else on the block bummed out so It was just us and we represented well. Merri was the 3rd girl finisher and 7th overall and I was 3rd in my age group and 11th or 12th overall. Around the 1 mile marker the front of the pack and the rest of runners split up. A police officer that was supposed to guide everyone directed the front of the pack the wrong way and I was the first of the rest of the runners that made the correct turn. It was pretty sweet for me because I was in the lead for about 10 seconds until an ex-BYU cross country girl flew past me. Merri ended up running more than 4 miles because she stayed with the front of the group that went the wrong way. I ended up with somewhere around 22:50 for my 5k and luckily Merri had her new gps watch (check out her blog to see it) because she was able to get a time for her 5k even though she ran longer.

At night I rode my bike up the mountain and had an awesome ride. I was surprised because it has been almost a month since the last time I took my quintana roo for a spin. My legs felt great and the ride was perfect. I was feeling so good that when I got home I ran another 3 or so miles and pulled out a 23:45 5k. It was awesome to say the least. For me it is pretty rare to feel smoking good after a training session but tonight was great.

Top 3 best training sessions in no particular order
– Saturday night 7/12/2008 bike ride up the mountain and 5k night run (2nd workout of the day)
– Wasatch back 6.4 mile night run (2nd workout of the relay and the day)
– March 20 something 2008 short night run.

I think I am starting to see a pattern. Looks like the 2nd workout of the day at night is the best time for me to have awesome workouts.