Getting Organized

I think it's safe to say that triathlon is not for the disorganized. 

First of all, in case you guys were not aware of this, you don't train for all three parts of a tri at the same time. With the exception of certain workouts (known as "bricks") where you practice two sports at a time to get used to the feel of it, you train all three disciplines separately. While that might make some people sigh in relief that they don't have to swim, bike and run every day, the reality is that you have to figure out your week with a lot of precision if you want to get all your training in there. That means running at tight ship at home and an even tighter schedule.

The last two weeks have been the first with full-on running and cycling and hopefully this week I can introduce swimming to the equation. It has been pretty interesting and quite honestly a lot of fun so far. Yes, fun. While it's easy to get anxious about changes like that, everything has fallen into place kind of naturally. Of, course I'm working hard to not over-do it. The worse thing you can do is to try to do everything at once. Here are some new things I'm doing.

I love the smell of running in the morning...

In the past I have tried to avoid running early in the morning. With the exception of some long runs, all my running usually happens in the afternoon/at night. I try to protect my sleep time as much as I can plus, I admit, there have been some mornings where I have woken up and said "no way" and went back to sleep so I avoid early morning runs. But, you can only cram so much in a week and if you intend to swim, bike and run enough you need to make more efficient use of your time. To be able to swim in the afternoons/nights, I have to run in the mornings. Pretty much all training plans I have seen have two days per week where you both swim and run. As I get ready to start swimming, I have cleared Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to do it so I wake up at 5am to run. It hasn't been as bad as I thought. In fact after running in the morning and taking a shower I feel refreshed and ready to go. It's the waking up part that sucks. We'll see if that sticks.

5:32AM??!!

The wonderful World of cycling

I'm enjoying cycling. I really am. It's a completely different feeling from running. So far I have been careful to acclimate properly by keeping the rides short. As I remain on the saddle for longer and longer, my nether regions complain accordingly but I think (hope) it's getting better. Apart from riding near my house I have been going to the linear park several times as I feel safer there (no traffic = good) and I went to "La Ruta del Ciclista" (The Cyclist's Route). It's a section of public road that the police closes on Sundays from 6:30am to 11:00am so that cyclists and runners have a "car-free zone". The road runs parallel to the beach so you get this breathtaking view while you ride. Awesome stuff. If you do the whole route and come back it's 10 miles. I was a bit nervous being my first time and being the new guy but not only did I find tons of people riding there but also people at all levels of fitness. I see myself going there regularly. I was surprised to ride the whole 10 miles in less than an hour. I'm cycling faster than I thought I would be. Believe me, I'm not complaining. There is one byproduct of cycling that I wasn't expecting but it's been great so far. Riding the day after a run really helps with my recovery it seems. It might sound weird, (how can you recover if you are working out) but I feel better the days I ride after a running day than on the days I don't ride. Interesting...

Isn't technology wonderful?

It has taken some tweaking but I'm getting my tech set up just the way I want. First, my Garmin Connect account. Garmin recently launched a new version of Garmin Connect that is very customizable. It allows you to get a pretty comprehensive glance at what you are doing.

If you own a Garmin device, I invite you to take the time to set up this page to your liking. Move things around, add and take off things according to your needs. Once you do, it will make your life so much easier. I have also linked my Garmin account with MyFitnessPal. Doing so sends my calorie consumption from MyFitnessPal to Garmin Connect and in return Garmin sends my workouts and calories burned to MyFitnessPal. Isn't that awesome? Plus, Garmin sends my workouts directly to both Strava and Beginner Triathlete. In the past I have talked about how much I like Garmin Connect but find their social component a bit lacking. Since I was having trouble with Dailymile, and since Strava seems to be the weapon of choice for cyclists and triathletes I'm sending data there. Having my info on these two sites lets me connect with other people and motivate each other.

So look me up in those sites if you want to connect. At Garmin Connect I'm TheFatRunner, at Strava I'm Frank Pizarro and uziel5000 at Beginner Triathlete. You can find me at Dailymile under TheFatRunner21. I still have not given up trying to make it work so we'll see. You might still be able to catch me there.

So multi-sport training is under way! What I still haven't started is an actual, structured training plan. So far I'm just logging time in all three sports. As the year moves further along and I set an actual race (and race date) then I can dive into one of those.

The Year of the Athlete

New Year, new goals.

You know running has become an important part of your life when an injury makes you commit to running with even more resolve instead of making you back away. When the doctor said I needed to cross-train and that things were probably going to get better as I lost more weight, I started drawing up a strategy for the new year right there and there. Also, when he mentioned cycling as one of the best ways to train without big impact to the knee, I also knew it was time to finally find a way to pull the trigger and get a bike. You guys know I have been moping around and complaining about how expensive they are but I want to do a triathlon and well, they are pretty hard to do without one. So now that you met The Machine on my last post, here are my plans for 2015.

Weight loss moves up the queue

I have made it a point up until now, to not focus on weight loss. Obsessing about the scale has been my downfall in the past. So far it has worked to a certain degree. I have certainly lost weight and it has been slow which is good. I have also slipped a couple of times, especially after the Disney Marathon. All the while, I have just let it happen and in hindsight, it has worked to a point but circumstances have changed. As my running has improved and I get somewhat faster (a relative term if there has ever been one) the stress I put on my knee is greater. If I intend to keep improving without making things worse, I have to move things along a bit quicker. It will make me faster and it will help me run better.

It will also help me look a bit less ridiculous in running/cycling/tri clothing. I mean, why does everything have to be so... tight!

So, one of the goals for 2015 will be to lose 50 pounds. That's roughly one pound a week which is pretty conservative while still moving things along. I can't say I'm not concerned about this one but I have reached that point where giving this more priority will be crucial to move forward.

Revenge

After running over 700 miles in 2013, I fell way short of my goal of 800 miles for 2014. Yes, I had knee trouble but it still stings to not being able to achieve that one. However, I don't see any problems with upping the stakes this year. Some might remember that I intend to run the Goofy Challenge in 2016 so there are plenty of miles ahead in my future. While it's still not set in stone (there are some family decisions to be made. I'll explain later.) that I will be going, it's only sensible to proceed as if I am for sure. So, I think aiming for 1,000 miles this year is perfectly doable.Consistency will be key to making this one work but it will nice to get some payback on that missed 2014 goal.

And since we are cycling...

I'm new to this so it's hard to put a number here. The distances are greater and they pile on quickly. However, cycling is only part of the equation this year so it's not the only thing I will be doing. I'm thinking 1,500 miles but it's written with a pencil at best. It might need adjusting as I dive deeper in the cycling pool. If I go over this, great but if I fall under, that's OK too. Stay tuned.

Triathlon at last!

Well now that The Machine is here, it's finally time to aim for a tri. I have the training program set up and I'm getting acclimated to the bike. I'm thinking one in the summer would be awesome. I'm scared, but it's a good scared. The road to achieve this one is gonna be plenty fun.

Doing a tri this year has two purposes: The first is simply my goal of doing a tri. It's just something I want to do and the challenge appeals to my brain. It's such a technical thing that requires planning and training and it makes me giddy with excitement. The second is I want to branch out and cross-train. I truly think training for a tri will make me a better runner. Cycling and swimming will allow me to work on my cardio fitness without having to run all the time. Running on consecutive days has always been a trouble spot for me. I try to listen to my body and whenever I string together two or more consecutive runs, it just doesn't "feel" right. By cross-training, I get in more volume without stressing my joints too hard. At least that's the plan. 

Long term, I'm hoping by losing the weight, it will allow me to focus on running more often and therefore letting me achieve a goal I set long term, to run the Goofy Challenge, which means running the Disney Half Marathon and Full Marathon on consecutive days.

Racing, of course...

Notice I didn't mention any specific races. I'm still figuring out where and when to race and as soon as I have the dates I will share as always but I'm crossing my fingers to do at least two Half-Marathons this year. As I've mentioned before, they are a little hard to come by here in Puerto Rico as well as full marathons but hopefully I can do a Half early in the year and then another in the fall/winter as a prelude to the Goofy Challenge.

So in closing, three big goals for 2015: Lose weight, Triathlon and Goofy Challenge training. I think that will keep my plate full most of the year, don't you think?