MORNING SESSION RUN: Got my run in today – simple fartleks to start the week. Used the KuttingWeight hoodie – sweated like a damn pig. The pace was fine, but I have a ton of work to do. Noticing that my right knee feels slightly…..weak. I’ll need to focus on a combination of flexibility and yoga sessions to loosen it up a bit. I’m definitely way too tight and my stride is short because of it.
EVENING SESSION FLEXIBILITY: Started my second training session of the day with 15 minutes of stretching. Flexibility is something that I absolutely suck at. Peloton provides some decent videos on full body stretching that helps…..sort of. LOL
STRENGTH TRAINING: Weekday full body workout. Usually takes about 45 minutes. Start with the traps and work down to the calves. Lower weights, higher reps – looking to strengthen the joints a bit – I feel like the Tin Man.
BIKE: Simple 30 minutes. Used the sauna tank top on this one, as I wanted to break a heavier sweat. Mission friggin’ accomplished. Amps up my metabolism later in the day.
YOGA: Wow. I really suck at this. That…is….all.
MENTAL GAME: I’ve begun to build in to my process 30 minutes of mediation right before crashing for the night. And no – I have no idea where my damn chi is.
The keys to success pertaining to the execution of any training plan are:
Training Sessions
Diet / Nutrition
Hydration
Sleep
Proper Recovery / Injury Prevention
Motivation / The Mental Game
So I’ll need to check in with this daily….my goal is to go 6 for 6 every day. Knowing me, however, my training batting average may fall below the Mendoza Line…..Let’s figure out how I did today.
Training Sessions
Started with some yoga. The closest it seems that I’ll ever get to my toes is just waving at them from a sad, sad distance. Then cranked out 10+ miles on the Peloton bike, which I find really enjoyable because it’s an efficient way of burning a significant amount of calories in a 30-45 minute time span. I’m making it a little more challenging by wearing a sauna vest. Why? Because there is waaaaay too much of me, and some of me has gotta go. Finally, I finished up with 2+ miles on the run. Hills, hills hills. Hills are a great thing because the more I do them, the easier Mt. Sonofabitch (also referred to as the 59th Street Bridge) will be on race day. It feels good to be active. I’m using www.trainingpeaks to track my mileage, heart rate, and training schedule – it’s a simple site to use, and it does the job well.
The hill work wasn’t easy, but it provided a great view from the top.
The score so far: ME – 1, The Day – 0
Diet / Nutrition
I’m trying to implement intermittent fasting into my program, where I maintain an 8 hour window each day to eat. Let me tell you – that is NOT easy. After I work out in the morning, my stomach is a damn ticking time bomb. By 9am, my stomach is giving off noises that rival California sea lions yelling at each other while sunning themselves on an Orange County dock. Every day I seem to last a little bit longer before I cave in….but I haven’t made the full 16 hours yet. I’m using www.myfitnesspal.com to track my calories in and out. The goal is to eat less than 2000 calories a day.
I’ve actually done well today. Ate healthy all day with limited calorie intake, and then head myself together when I took my kiddo out for dinner. Instead of heading down the Mexican Food Expressway and dipping off the stuffed burrito exit ramp, I scored some grilled seafood and paired that sucker up with some veggies. Did I enjoy it? Was is absolutely yummy? HELL NO. But I went big with the protein and said nay-nay to nachos. Orale!
Me – 2, The Day – 0.
Hydration
I swore off of soda. So I’m rolling with sparkling water, trying to tell my dense cranium that bubbling water with zero taste is better for me than drinking Diet Coke – zero calories, yet the ability to remove grease stains off of a driveway.
Me – 3, The Day – 0
Sleep
Ha. Next subject. I toss and turn all night. A swing and a miss.
Me – 3, The Day – 1
Recovery / Injury Prevention
I have zero clue what the hell I did to my left shoulder 6+ weeks ago. However, one thing is for sure: I’m not healing the way I used to. I still don’t have full range of motion, so swimming is OUT. I can’t really do much with upper body strength work either, as movements like presses and even pushups trigger a sharp pain dead center of my rotator cuff. I’m going to let this continue to heal by focusing on leg work and cardio.
At least my right knee is back to almost normal.
Me – 3, The Day – 2
Motivation / Mental Game
I’m dialed in mentally and feeling good. I have a game plan and I followed it today…so I have some momentum rolling in to tomorrow.
Me – 4, The Day – 2
Cool. So far my record is 1-0. But hey – in baseball, momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher.
So the next 6-12 months will be very demanding, with numerous endurance events on my calendar. I’m giving myself 60-90 days to prepare for race season….and then the fireworks begin.
In early August, the first marathon on my comeback trail will be Camarillo on August 8th. That’s only 8 weeks away, so I will most definitely NOT be in strong enough shape to put forth an “A” effort. This one will be treated like a long training run: no pressure – just finish.
September has another marathon on tap, with Surf City. It’s an out & back course with a mostly flat elevation profile. I’ll have approximately 12 weeks of training under my belt, so I expect myself to hold a slightly faster pace and perform more in line with what I’ve historically accomplished (which isn’t much – I’ve always been slow). The goal here is to see some progress in the finishing time and pace per mile as compared to Camarillo.
October is where things begin to heat up a bit. Long Beach Marathon on the 10th, followed by the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon on the 24th. I’m looking for an increase in performance with regard to finishing time and pace as compared to Surf City…and I want my time in San Diego to beat my finishing time in Long Beach by a minimum of five minutes. If all goes as planned, these two races drive me into my “A” races in November.
November 7th. New York Freakin’ City. 26.2 miles running through the greatest city on Earth. I’m running with the New York Road Runners Team for Kids – a charity that I’ve been involved with as an athlete and a mentor for the better part of a decade. ( Here’s my athlete page, in case you may be interested in making a donation https://www.runwithtfk.org/Profile/PublicPage/1289/51269 ). If I do this right, I’m gunning for a PR at this event. I want 4:50.
14 days later – on November 21st – I compete in Ironman Arizona. Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles, and cross the finish line before the clock hits midnight. This is a VERY big deal to me. This is the one I want. The goal here is to just finish – because just finishing is a big frackin’ deal. I’m running as part of the Ironman Foundation, and I’ll provide a link in the coming couple of weeks. This is going to be the way I’m planning to celebrate my 51st birthday: by sweating my copious ass off in the Arizona desert.
The following week – November 27th – will be my first ultra as a California resident: the Napa 50k. If I’m going to exceed the marathon distance, there better be some damn wine around.
December may have a triathlon in the cards – but November is a huge month, so I’m not 100% sure yet.
Rolling into January 2022, I’m planning on running the Carlsbad Marathon on the 16th. In February, I’m targeting the Ventura Marathon, and then April 2nd: Ironman 70.3 Oceanside.
