295.0 - Workout This Morning

Even though my parents are in town and I feel like I've been pigging out, my weight has stayed below 300 pounds. After the triathlon, I weighed in at 297.0 I've seen a + 300 number a couple times since then, but more often than not, it's been below.

This morning I got up and headed to the gym. I did 3.25 miles on the treadmill, 3.1 of that was running and the last .15 was walking to cool down. My 3.1 was done in 36:36. After that I did my normal lifting workout:

• 3 X 10 Benchpress @ 135 lbs
• 3 X 10 Lat Pulldown @ 100 lbs
• 3 X 10 Triceps Extension @ 70 lbs
• 3 X 7-Ups @ 20 Lbs
• 3 X 10 Pectoral Fly @ 80 lbs

When I got home this morning, I weighed myself. 295.0! A new low! And it gives me good hope that I can be under 290 by my birthday! Focus man! Focus!

Minus One Extra!

So today we went shopping with my parents. Kohls as I've mentioned is one of my favorite places to shop. So we headed to the Southcenter Kohls. I was going to buy some new shorts as all my shorts were too loose around the waist. (Good problem to have right?) While I was there, there were a TON of clothes on sale. Looks like they're trying to blow out the summer stuff to get ready for the fall. I was looking at shirts. I normally don't look at shirts at regular stores because I typically need XXXL (yes, that's THREE f-ing X's) shirts which requires a trip to a big and tall store to find. But with my new found success in wearing my smaller jeans and buying smaller slacks and trying on smaller shorts that actually fit, I thought I'd be daring and try on a couple of XXL shirts. I picked out a couple of Polo shirts that were on mega super sale and headed to the dressing room. I slipped off my T-shirt and slipped on the polo. You know what? It didn't look half bad. So I tucked it in. Still not half bad. So I took it off and put my t-shirt back on and went to get Teri for a second opinion. She said "No, looks fine . . . turn around . . . yeah that looks good too". I don't think I'll be washing them in HOT water, but they DO FIT! I've lost an X!

As I was walking around the store, I just kept telling myself "John, just remember how you feel RIGHT NOW" It felt so damn good to be able to go in and actually try on a shirt in a regular store and have it fit! AWESOME!

So in celebration of Steve's revised goals for the year, here are mine:

Completed so far this year:

1. So far I've lost 32 pounds (since December) and as of this morning weighed in at 298.0
2. I've completed (and won) the "DaBoyz Fitclub Triathlon" third off the bike, third off the treadmill and first out of the water (thank god for a swimming heavy tri!)
3. I've completed the 50 mile Tour De Pierce Bicycle ride
4. I've completed the Ocean Shores Big Weekend Sprint Triathlon. My stretch goal was 1:45 and I beat that by almost a full 11 minutes! Of 58 participants, I was 10th in the swim, 14th in the bike and . . . ahem . . . 47th in the run.

Still to go this year and beyond:

1. Be Under 290 by August 24th, 2008 (My 38th b-day)
2. Be Under 285 by September 27th, 2008
3. Be Under 280 by December 31st, 2008
4. Complete the 50 mile Dam2Dam bike ride on September 27th, 2008
5. Be able to run 4.5 - 5.0 miles non-stop on the treadmill by December 31st, 2008
6. Be Under 270 by July 1st, 2009
7. Complete my 1st Century Bicycle ride in 2009
8. Complete the Ocean Shores Olympic Distance Triathlon in July 2009

These are obviously fitness goals. I have to sit down and revise my business goals to and hopefully get back on track there as well.

Peace!

My Workout and Hulu

So this morning I set my alarm for 5:30AM. Yes. AM. On. A. Saturday. I headed for the gym. Now other than one or two workouts, Teri and I have been absent from the gym sinice the Triathlon. Fortunately I haven't gained but a pound or two since then, but I know that if I'm not back in the gym on a regular basis soon, that will change. So I was in the gym at 5 minutes to 6 and on the treadmill by 5 after. I ended up running about 2.75 miles and doing my normal lifting workout. A good hour workout and headed home.

Now I've REALLY been thinking about the Olympic distance triathlon I want to complete next year. This is odd for me. Usually when I say something like "Oh next year I'll . . . " I don't think about it until NEXT year. But since the Tri, I've really been stoked to figure out if I have what it takes to do an olympic distance. I've been considering hiring a personal trainer as well. I really need to get some weight off my frame (hoping another 30 pounds by next July) and get my legs in AWESOME running shape. As has followed in the past, if I'm in AWESOME running shape, I'm in AWESOME shape period. I need to figure out how to move my body 10 Kilometers in the swiftest of fashion. It's been nearly 20 years since I've run that far and I've never run that far after swimming nearly a mile and biking nearly 25. So I've got to be DIALED by next Summer.

I've just been dinking around in the weight room, doing exercises I'm familiar with. But my core REALLY needs some help. I don't expect to ever have a 6 pack, but I would like to gain a LOT of core strength between now and then. And I think having someone to guide me 2 or 3 times a month and gauge my progress would really help. I just don't know that I can afford it right now. But if I'm going to do the Olympic tri, I don't know that I can afford NOT to do it either. Ahh, a problem to solve! I guess that's something to think about on the treadmill eh? :-)

NOW, I don't know about you, but finding good quality entertainment on the internet can be a challenge. Finding good quality entertainment on the internet for FREE is even harder. But I ran across a site a few months ago and only recently just hopped back on. Jump over to http://hulu.com/ and check it out. I think it must be a partnership with NBC or something. Most of the shows are from NBC or FOX, but there are FULL LENGTH HIGH RESOLUTION (480p) episodes of shows like Monk, Psych, Family Guy, Burn Notice, etc. available there. There are even FULL LENGTH HIGH RESOLUTION (480p) movies available too. When I'm out at site and bored, the time can go by pretty slowly. Yesterday I watched one of my favorite movies, The Fifth Element, and an episode of Family Guy while I was posting my new listing on line. Today I watched an episode of Monk while I sent my clients new listings that popped up into their MLS searches.

AND watching all this content is absolutely free. And Legal. There are SHORT commercials scattered throughout the shows, but they're usually 15 seconds or less. Which brings about an interesting question. Would we skip commercials if they were only 15 seconds? I know I probably wouldn't bother. My crappy Comcast DVR wouldn't stand for being fast forwarded for such a short period and I'd spend more than 15 seconds trying to get back to the point where the show resumed. But when you've got 2 or more minutes of commercials to watch, it's easy to skip them. Maybe this is a clue for the networks. Add a couple commercial breaks, but shorten each break to one 15 second commercial and I think you have a much better chance of the commercial ACTUALLY being watched. Just a thought. Especially when TiVo and the like have invested lots of money in creating a 30 second skp button. Cut the commercial to 15 seconds or less and you render that button USELESS! Take that little bouncing TV guy! (Don't get me wrong, I miss my TiVo dearly, I'm just jealous)

OK, time to get back to the Big Lebowski at Hulu!

"Skinny" Jeans

So a LONG time ago (geez, feels like AGES) I packed up a bunch of clothes in a tote and stored them out in the garage. These were clothes from another John. The skinnier, more confident John. OK, skinny is probably a stretch, but thinner than I have been of late. Teri has been begging me to get the tote down "just to see". In there are a number of XXL shirts (I usually wear XXXL) and some jeans that are smaller than what I'm currently wearing.

Even though I've been pretty faithful to my eating habits this year, working out, losing weight, getting back some of the swagger in my step, I've been hesitant to pull that tote down because "what if they don't fit?".

This morning I said enough is enough as I pulled on my jeans and after they were buttoned up and zipped, still hit the floor. So I pulled down the tote. I thought I had size 38 jeans in there (I currently wear size 42) but there were only 40's. So there I am standing in the garage in my underwear (ha! you'll be stuck with that image all day!) looking through the four or five pairs of jeans in there. I pick out two of the better looking ones and slide the first pair on. The button buttons without much effort and the zipper zips. VICTORY!

OK, so I'm glad there were not 38's in there. That would have ended up differently, but the fact that the 40's WERE there and do fit is a nice feeling.

NOW, the hard part is actually taking all my 42's (and the 44's in dress slacks), putting them in a bag and taking them to Goodwill. It's funny how emotional we get about all this. The thoughts that race through my mind "Is this really the last time you'll need those?" or "Are you REALLY doing it this time?" If you talk to someone that's been thin all their lives, they'll simply tell you to just lose the weight and be done with it. They don't understand the emotional struggle that goes along with losing the weight.

Last night, I met Teri and some friends at the shotgun range. Teri's friend Kate was there and when she saw me she said "Wow! You look GREAT!" as she gave me a hug. Then went on to say "Oh and you smell good too!" and "I really like your hair that way!". Validation. From the most innocent of sources. Not asked for, simply given. Is there any sweeter reward?

Gym tonight, or a bike ride. The TV is turning into just another piece of furniture. Awesome.

I Am WE Are . . . Triathletes

So back in April, I wrote a post titled "Am I a Triathlete?" after my boyz and I had finished our indoor Triathlon. The question was, because we did it indoors and on exercise bicycles, without real transitions, no open water, were we still considered triathletes? Well, the question has been answered with a resounding "YES! We are triathletes!".

This weekend, Teri, Scott and I participated in Trifreak's Big Ocean Shores Weekend sprint distance (1/4 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run) triathlon. And you know what? We all had an absolute blast! I've got to say as life accomplishments go, this was right up there. All the training this year, all the anticipation, the goals, the encouraging one another, everything came together on July 12th, just after 7:30 AM. When we waded into Duck Lake to receive our instructions and then to hear the countdown FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE, GO! we were about to find out if we had what it took.



I'll give you my notes on my first triathlon, so maybe it can help you through yours? First, lets start with the swim. Now, I grew up swimming in Duck Lake. But nothing can prepare you for your open water swim like swimming in open water. Teri, Scott and I all skipped this crucial step prior to this weekend. Our first open water swim was in Duck Lake for the actual tri. We survived, but I know we all wish we had been training in wetsuits and open water the whole time. First off, I hated swimming in a wetsuit. I hated the arms and the neck. I felt like I was really restricted in my stroke and felt like I was being choked all the time. But once I got around the buoy, I knew I was going to be OK.



Coming out of the water, I tried putting my sandals on, but they kept slipping off with the water, so I went barefoot over the briars into T1. Taking off the wetsuit turned out to be easier than I thought. I didn't dry myself nearly enough, so putting my cycling jersey on was a chore. I could have easily shaved 30 seconds off here. I'm getting quick laces for my cycling and running shoes too. AND I found out later, you're not supposed to have iPods either. OOPS! So I could have taken a few more seconds off by not screwing with that. I also learned my Forerunner 305 does not do well acquiring satellites while moving at 20 MPH on the bike. So next time, it will be on while I'm in the water. The extra 15 minutes of battery won't kill me.



Once I was on the bike, the world settled down a bit. Having done multiple rides over 30 miles, the 12.4 was basically a sprint for me. I went out at about 22 - 23MPH and came back at about 18MPH. (I had guesstimated 20 out and 15 back) The wind was at our backs on the way out and in our face on the way back. I passed a few people on the ride and only got passed by one person. Teri and I waved to each other when we crossed on the bike and I shouted to Scott as we crossed. I counted the people coming back that were in front of me and including the one person that passed me, I was 17th off the bike.



Coming into T2, I pulled off my cycling jersey and put on my dri fit shirt with my number on it. Off with the cycling shoes, gloves, helmet and on with a hat and running shoes. T2 was MUCH faster than T1.

Now running is not my forte, so I got passed . . . . a lot . . . on the run. At least a dozen times I think. I crossed the road to high five Teri when I saw her and again when I saw Scott. I kind of ran/walked the run. But I saved enough at the end for a sprint across the finish line!

I waited around for Teri and cheered her on her way into the finish. It was odd, Teri and I were both sobbing after we finished the race. For me, I think it was just an overwhelming feeling to know that YES! I CAN do a tri, AND enjoy it! And the culmination of completing a 20 year old goal. Teri said similar things, but I'll let her explain what she was feeling in her blog. Then we grabbed some food and waited for Scott to finish. Scott's youngest daughter, Jorja, went out to meet him and come into the finish with him. Very cool site to see!



Teri, Scott, you guys are amazing! You set a goal and you accomplished it! I couldn't be prouder of the two of you! I for one had a blast! Teri talked about doing another sprint this Summer. I'd be down for it. Also, Scott, you and I talked about training for the Olympic distance (.93 mile (1.5 Km) swim, 24.8 mile (40 Km) bike and 6.2 mile (10 Km) run), next year. Still on? :-)

Here are our official times from Athleteslounge.com:

Name	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
John	0:10:20.7	0:03:31.0	0:39:57.2	0:03:28.8	0:37:31.0	1:34.48.7
Teri	0:15:13.5	0:02:44.1	0:49:55.3	0:01:39.5	0:36:58.4	1:46:30.8
Scott	0:22:12.3	0:08:36.5	0:56:00.1	0:01:38.3	1:00:42.4	2:29:09.5

OH and another bonus of doing Triathlon? I was down to 297 today (a new low!) AFTER eating lunch! SWEET! Now, time to get back into the gym and start prepping for the Dam2Dam in September!

P.S. - Thanks Scott for the pics!

Spinning and Lifting

Last night Teri and I headed to the Y. We got there in time for the 4:30 spin class. The class was pretty tough for me last night . . . I think mostly because I'd worked out the previous 5 days in a row and was just plain tired. I did just a little over 12 miles in the class, while Teri said she did 15 . . . but I got started a few minutes late due to some clipless pedal issues and getting the bike adjusted properly. Plus I'm not sure how accurate the "Pilots" are on the LeMond trainers anyway. There was one point where the instructor said "OK, there are 8 of us in the class, but we're racing for the finish line where there are only 7 cups of water, don't be last!" the idea was to crank up your cadence . . . I hit 156 RPM on that little jaunt . . . :-) Maybe a little overkill, but she did notice by saying "I can see one of you that wants that water!" I didn't know my legs could move that fast . . . My shirt was soaked by the time we were done.

I also did my normal lifting routine, but having just propped myself up on the bike for an hour, I had to lighten the load for a couple of the exercises. I won't bore you with details, you can look at Saturday's workout to see the exercises I did.

Also yesterday I went to Kohl's at Southcenter. Today I'm wearing pants that are 4 inches smaller and a belt that is 4 inches smaller as well. Sweeeeeeeeeeet.

4 days to Triathlon!

Chehalis Western Trail

So this morning, Brandon, Chuck and I headed down to Thurston county to try out a new trail. Chuck had ridden it a few times, but it was new to Brandon and I. The trail is the Chehalis Western Trail. It runs from Olympia down to Tenino. We started in Lacey and did 14.5 miles down to highway 507 near Rainier and back for a total of 29 miles. It's a very pretty trail, most of which is covered in a canopy of trees. On the trail you pass golf courses, equestrian centers, farms and residential neighborhoods. We saw people jogging, walking, walking dogs, bicycling and in-line skating. Overall the trail is really nice. It's not as clean as the Foothills trail, but I think that's mostly due to the tree canopy. There are lots of little sticks, leaves, etc. that you've got to watch out for. It's not trashy at all.

At about the 12 mile mark, I could see someone in a bright orange coat up ahead of us on a bicycle. We had been gaining on him pretty steadily for a bit, but I wanted to make sure we caught and passed him before we got to our turn around point. So I turned on the gas and watched my speedometer climb over 20 MPH. I think I saw 23.0 a couple times when I looked down. It took us a few minutes, but we finally caught him with about 1/2 mile to go. He was probably doing 17 or 18 MPH, so I'm sure he was somewhat surprised to hear "On your left" as I went cruising by him. I definitely couldn't keep that pace much longer, but it was fun to reel him in anyway! There were also a couple times going up a grade that Brandon and Chuck got ahead of me, but on the flats or downhill, I poured it on again and caught up with them.

On the way back I wanted to see if we could do a mile in under 3:00. A 3:00 mile is averaging 20.0 MPH. So at mile 21, we turned it on and at mile 22, my lap timer read 2:50! Most all of our miles were in the 3:30 - 3:45 range, so the overall average for the ride was really good, 15.9 MPH moving average I think. Definitely one of my fastest rides so far. At about 25 miles, Brandon and Chuck sensing they were almost done, started to get way ahead of me again. With about 2 miles left, I wanted to see if I could catch them. I didn't, but I only finished about 20 seconds behind them. The ride felt really good and I was able to challenge myself a few times too. I'd like to do the 22 miles to Tenino and back sometime in the near future.

If you're looking for a new trail, this one is really nice. I'd recommend it!

Click on the map below for details about the ride:

Downloading Books - Why Can't We?

So maybe this is the former Adobe employee coming out in me, but I'm really quite ticked that we can't download books. I mean really, all books now days are written on word processors and put through countless edits and re-dos on electronic machines. It's not like anyone uses a typewriter anymore. I know all the concerns about copyright, DRM, etc. etc. blah blah blah . . . but I have a very rapid personality. When I want something, I want it now. So while I'm searching Amazon, there are a number of books I want to buy . . . but I'd really like to download them first and see if I REALLY want them. It could even be a Read-Only deal, no printing. Then credit me the amount of the download purchase toward the real book if I decide to buy. How cool would that be. Their "Search inside" feature is cool, but really for the few pages I get to read, it just doesn't do it for me. And don't even get me started on the Kindle and other electronic readers . . . ick. Just what I need another gadget when my laptop will do just fine. I mean we can already download movies legally on iTunes, so why not books? Steve Jobs, are you listening? You may finally get me to buy an iPod Touch!

Little Si Hike - Gym Workout

This might be a tad long of a post, so sorry in advance if it steals too much of your time! :-)

Yesterday, Teri and I took Taylor on her first hike. We headed up to the Little Si trail. Little Si is the little brother of Mount Si and is a good alternative when Si is covered in snow, or you want a shorter, less steep workout. Little Si is about 5 miles round trip with a little over 1,000 feet of elevation gain. In contrast, Mount Si is 8 miles round trip with just about 4,000 feet in elevation gain. Again, I had my Forerunner 305 with me and again, I was disappointed in it's performance on the trail. Looking at the Forerunner during the hike gave weird readings. Like it said that we only did 3 or so miles, however after downloading the data to Motionbased, it put the round trip at 5.25 miles. So Garmin must be doing some error correction on the fly when downloading the data. It would be nice if they could just fix the device to give you accurate readings while you're actually accomplishing the task at hand. I did remember my chest strap this time, so I do have a nice read out of my heart rate during the hike. My HR never really got above 145 and on the way down, it was a mild 120 or so. I know my aerobic capacity is getting better. Now I just have to work on strengthening my legs so they don't get as tired as easily. Unfortunately that means I'm likely going to have to incorporate legs into my lifting routine. Oh well . . .

The whole thing took us just about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Only 1 hour 54 minutes moving time though. Not too shabby, that averages out to a 2.5 MPH clip . . . I'm happy with that. As it was pretty overcast and misty, the view from the top wasn't great, but it was nice to get out and get some fresh air. Taylor did REALLY well for her first hike. You could really tell that Teri has been working with her. There were a couple times that I thought Taylor was going to pull Teri over or down a hill, but for the most part, she listened. She sat when told to sit, she stayed when told to stay, and she heeled when told to heel. She did great and she'll be a great addition to our summer hikes this year. I think next up we're going to do Rattlesnake Ledge. Here's the chart from MotionBased for the hike and following that, some pictures.



OK, then this morning, I got up at about 10 after 6 and headed to the gym. I wasn't sure how I'd feel after hiking yesterday, but I felt surprisingly good. So today it was treadmill and lifting. I started out at 5.2 MPH on the treadmill . . . I did about 1.25 miles at that pace, then walked for about .10 miles then ran at 5.3 MPH for another .75 miles or so, walked for about .15 miles, then ran at 5.4 MPH for .75 miles and then at 7.0 MPH for the final .25 miles. That last quarter of a mile hurt. But my overall time was 36:29, pretty respectable I think. Then I hit the weight room . . .

• 3 X 10 @ 135 Lbs Bench Press
• 3 X 10 @ 110 Lbs Lat Pulldown
• 3 X 10 @ 65 Lbs Triceps Extension
• 3 X 10 @ 80 Lbs Pectoral Fly
• 2 X 10 @ 30 Lbs "7-Ups"
• 1 X 10 @ 20 Lbs "7-Ups"

So I increased my weight on a couple of lifts, I can feel myself getting stronger. Because of my bum shoulder however, the bench press still gives me some trouble. I need to work on building the muscle around my shoulder so it's not such an issue.

Only 7 days to triathlon. I think on Monday and Wednesday, I may do two a day workouts getting a couple spin classes in there somewhere. Light workouts on Tuesday and Thursday, likely swimming with weights. Rest day on Friday and Triathlon on Saturday. I'm pretty sure I'm ready. I've been visualizing my transitions, and my final time at the finish . . . I won't tell you what it is . . . but I have a dream . . . :-)

With You

With You
By John

Standing there with you
The light dances on the trees
The clouds, they grumble
For just that moment
I feel complete again

Running, SMFH and Lifting

This morning I headed into the gym. I pigged out yesterday, so this was my pennance. Actually yesterday wasn't so horrible, except for a really big dinner at Scott's house. (Thanks bro, it was AWESOME!) But I did drink nearly 5 liters of water yesterday too, so that probably counter acted all the sodium I had . . . or something (I'll just babble and pretend I know what I'm talking about).

So when I got to the gym this morning, I hopped on the treadmill. On my way to the treadmill I got hit in the back with a towel. As I was walking by the SMFH at the time, I gave a dirty look at the guy on it like "Hey, watch what you're doing with your sweaty towels". As I got on the treadmill, I felt hands on my back. I turned around and it was Carl with a big S*** eating grin on his face. Ah ha . . . sorry guy on the SMFH.

I ran a mile at 5.2 MPH, then walked a quarter. I hopped off and got on the SMFH and did 20 minutes at level 5, 66 floors, 1.something miles . . . I hopped off that, did a half lap on the track to cool down and hit the weight room. When I got in there, Jamie Huscroft was there and looked like he was struggling with his weight workout. (NOTE: Jamie NEVER looks like he is struggling with anything) Ironically, the song playing in the weight room was "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited, a classic hockey song. I quipped to Jamie "Don't worry Jamie, it's the music, it's getting to you" he laughed and said "Yeah, that must be it". (Jamie played in the NHL for the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks among others). Anyway, my weight room workout looked like this:

• 3 X 10 @ 135 Lbs Bench Press
• 3 X 10 @ 110 Lbs Lat Pulldown
• 3 X 10 @ 60 Lbs Triceps Extension
• 3 X 10 @ 75 Lbs Fly
• 3 X 10 @ 20 Lbs "7 Ups"
• 5 X 20 Crunches (100)

When I got home, the number on the scale was 299.0. Still under 300. I need to find a way to break below about 295.0 so when I do fluctuate by a couple pounds it doesn't have that defeating leading 3 in the number. I guess it's just hard work and dedication right? Just keep doing it.

10 days to Triathlon!

Running at the Y

So last night (Monday) Teri and I headed to the ol' YMCA for a workout . . . I wasn't much up for a workout after riding 50 miles the day before in the Tour De Pierce, but I felt really good, so I had no excuses. When we got there, I jumped on the treadmill and cranked the speed up to 5.2 MPH. I held that pace for a mile, then dropped down to 3.5 MPH for a quarter of a mile. My intent was to do intervals, so basically for the next 2.1 miles (3.1 miles total, or 5K) I alternated quarter mile intervals with 3.5 MPH walking and 7.0 MPH running. I forgot to bring my chest strap, so I wasn't able to monitor my heart rate the whole time, but I wanted to see how my heart rate was recovering so I used the handles on the treadmill. At the end of my 7.0 MPH sprints, I was around 155 - 157 BPM, which is at the high end of my Aerobic zone according to the machine. Just before starting the sprints, after the 3.5 MPH walk, my HR was down to about 119 - 122 BPM, which in my book is pretty good recovery. The idea of doing intervals as I understand it is to increase your heart's capacity for work. So basically you stress yourself beyond what you'd normally do for brief periods to increase your hearts ability to work and recover. The idea being that you'll see a quicker improvement in your overall fitness versus just running (walking, cycling, swimming, etc) at a steady pace. So while I try to see how I'm doing by running a 5K straight, I also try to mix it up with interval training to try to make those improvements. I think I'm seeing that now. After getting done on the treadmill, Teri and I walked/sprinted the track for a bit and called it a night.

Here's a picture from the Tour De Pierce on Sunday, courtesy of Steve:



Congrats everyone, you all did great on your respective rides! Next year we're all doin' the 50! :-)