Coaching and Training

Back in October, I realized that the training peaks training plan was not very flexible to my changing schedule. If I were to be out of town for a few days, the training app would not take that into account. I felt like I was falling behind and fast! I decided I needed to up my training game.

I did some looking around online at resources, joined some triathlon beginner Facebook groups, and ultimately decided that I needed a coach.

From those same Facebook groups, I checked into three different coaching options. I ended up having a call with Branden Scheel with Branden Scheel Racing. He offered personalized coaching at a reasonable price. He also had many sponsors which meant deals on training gear that I would eventually need.

I signed up to be coached by Kyle from BSR. He’s in the military and a family man with young children. He gets the busy lifestyle and flexibility needs that I also struggle with.

In the six months of coaching so far, I’ve come to know Kyle as a coach, mentor, and friend. My training has migrated from Training Peaks to a program called TriDot. It uses AI to plan your workouts and also allows changes on the fly based on personal life needs (no pool in the hotel when out of town for work, for example).

Gear Updates

Since committing to this, I knew I would have to invest in some gear outside of the standard running shoes and goggles. The following is a list of gear I have purchased, some of which came with a nice BSR team discount.

• TYR Goggles (gift from nieces)
• Asics running shoes
• Running/biking socks
• Zwift membership (see biking update)
• Jakroo custom TriSuit
• Sailfish Wetsuit
• Infinit Nutrition custom blend hydration powder

Swim Update

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. That’s what continues to go through my head as I go back and forth down the lanes in the pool. When I started, I thought the swim would be the easiest event to gain confidence. I was right

I mentioned I bought a wetsuit. After a team call in February, I decided to bite the bullet and get a wetsuit. I’ve learned that they don’t keep you dry, but buoyant. This was a great bit of news as I’ve been training to not kick much during my swim. I’ve been pulling a buoy between my legs for training. I’m excited to test out the wetsuit.

As for the analytical updates, I feel I’ve been crushing it!

When I started, I was swimming a max of 200yds before needing a major break. I can now go 2000yds and pause for a minute before my heart rate recovers and I’m ready for more.

When I started, I did a baseline test called critical swim speed (CSS). You swim 400yds, take a10-15 minute break, and swim 200yds. You then get the average power per 100yds.  My first one was 2:34/100yds. My latest CSS was 1:38/100yds.

Biking Update

I am now more confident in my biking than I ever thought I’d be. Don’t be fooled, I still have plenty of work to do before the word confidence enters the arena. But, for now, I’m happy with where I’m at.

I’ve been riding my bike indoors during the winter months. I’ve got it on a TacX trainer, but am currently considering a direct drive trainer for a better experience.

I’ve also learned of an app called Zwift. It’s more of a game that puts you into a first-person biking experience. I can load my rides in as custom workouts and ride in virtual places, like London and France. I’ve rode on a couple of group rides with it as well. It’s a cool training tool to keep the indoor training from getting too boring.

Let’s now dive into the technical and analytical side of this, shall we?

When I started, my average power was about 100 watts and my functional threshold power (average sustained power over 20 minutes) was 141 watts. My FTP is now in the 180s and my average power is North of 150 watts.

When I started, my average distance before feeling wiped was about 5 miles. My current max distance is 35 miles, which I did in 2 hrs 5 min.

When I started, my average speed was 14mph. My current average speed is about 17mph.

Running Update

“Trust the plan.” It’s a phrase I have had to tell myself many times throughout my run training.

I found myself running on our indoor treadmill more than I ever thought I would. I’ve also learned that when the treadmill starts to smell like it’s burning, you should stop and give the treadmill a break.

I also had quite the experience with my Garmin and doing indoor track runs. I tried to track my run at the Chaska Community Center and got the following result…oops

I found myself wanting to go faster on some of the runs, but the training said to focus on heart rate instead of pace. It was really hard to follow the plan, but I have.

Now for my progress in numbers…

When I started, I was able to run half a mile before needing a break. Now, I’ve been able to go 7+ miles without stopping.

When I started, my average pace was about 15 minutes per mile. Now, my average pace is 10:30 minutes per mile and improving with each run.

In Closing…

It’s been a demanding winter for training and I haven’t been religious with my workouts, but feel that I’ve been doing enough of the right things to complete this milestone event in one month.

BRING ON DES MOINES!!

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On Sunday night (Aug 27) at 8:40pm it happened.

Rewind…

Let’s go back to earlier in the day first though. I was tired from cutting down so many trees and bushes that I went down to the basement and rested for a minute (or 3 hours). My allergies had flared up and all I wanted to do was rest. I checked my watch to see how much time I had before sunset as I knew I had an hour bike ride to still get in. I had about two hours left.

I gave myself a pep talk and said let’s go. I got my poop in a group and took off on my bike. I had about an hour and 25 minutes before sunset and an hour of riding per my training schedule.

Memories

As I took off for my ride, I decided to ride towards Chaska. This meant a downhill in the first half and a killer uphill in the back half. As I was riding, I got on the trail that leads from Carver to Chaska. This is the same trail my friends had done as part of an event, only a month ago. I missed the event as I was in ND with family.

I stopped along the levee to take in the sights of the Minnesota River in Carver. These scenes made me remember the good runs I had with Gizmo. Even though Gizmo and I have both slowed down, those memories will hopefully be with me forever.

I finished my hour long ride and covered 15.5 miles doing so, giving me my longest and fastest average speed to date.

Back to the Fall…

After returning, Elin and Axel mentioned wanting to ride bike to our neighbors, Dave and Linda’s, which totaled half a mile round trip. We had about ten minutes before sunset, but also had a headlight and taillight for safety. We proceeded to head down the gravel road.

We got to Dave and Linda’s to find out Dave was not there. Nonetheless, we really only came to see Linda anyway. The kids talked with her for a few minutes before getting distracted by a frog. The sun had gone down and the moon had come out. We were ready to head home and prepare for bed.

The kids led the way with my headlight elimunating their path. As we turned into the drive, I told the kids to park their bikes by the tree so they took off towards said tree. I looked down and thought I had just ran over a mouse. As I slowed way down to get a better look, I realized I was barely moving. I proceeded to put my foot out to catch myself, but it was at that point in time that I realized, I didn’t have a free foot to put down. My shoes were still clipped in.

Down I Went!

I landed on my back and put my arm out to lessen the impact of the fall. Luckily, other than my pride, I was relatively uninjured. I got the wind knocked out of me a little and my wrist was sore, but not injured.

The kids ran inside to get Evonne. I heard her say while coming outside, “Did Dad really fall or is he pretending?” Tonight’s lesson wasn’t only remembering to unclip my shoes, but also to limit the amount of times I cry wolf to my wife.

To wrap this blog up, there may come a time when I may need quick response and I don’t want people thinking that I’m just joking. Luckily, this time I’m unharmed and can continue my training.

The post I Finally Fell Off My Bike appeared first on Becoming an Ironman (70.3).

I’ve been trying to stick with my schedule as much as possible. I’ve had a few modifications and only a couple of workouts that I’ve missed.  I’ll try to recall the first month as best I can.

Training While On Vacation

One of my first challenges was to continue training while on the road. I took the kids back to North Dakota for a memorial service and to see family. I knew I could run out in the country, I could bike around town easily, but the swimming workouts were making me think. I reached out to a local regarding swimming options and they said the ARC in Williston was a good option. The Williston Area Recreation Center (ARC) was only a 45 minute drive, so I planned an early morning swim workout there.

The lap pool was amazing! It was 50yds long and 12ft deep on one end. This have me a little variety to what I had been used to at the Chaska Community Center (25yds long/4ft deep). The water at the ARC was quite a bit cooler and allowed me to go longer in one shot. I also took the opportunity to video my form. Check me out below (plenty of room to improve!)

For my biking, I was able to use MapMyRide to map out a nice 8 mile route around Tioga, ND. This route includes

Hotel Biking

SKOL Vikings…Packers Suck! I was off to Green Bay to go golfing with a current customer. I had booked my hotel room for a Wednesday and Thursday night, which meant I could swim before I left, run while in GB, and is just need to find a way to get my biking in.

Thankfully, I got lucky with choosing Hilton for the Honor Rewards and they recently added Peloton bikes to all of their hotels, including the one I was staying at.

I got my biking in right after arriving, but it was miserable. The AC in the fitness center was out, but I didn’t know until afterwards by asking the front desk person. I tried resetting the thermostat to 67°, snooping through all is their closets for a box fan, and even pulling the batteries out of the thermostat to reset. All to no avail. By the time I finished the 37 minutes, I had biked 11 miles at 133W of power. I had also sweated a lake below me onto the mat. GROSS!

The post 1 Month In appeared first on Becoming an Ironman (70.3).

I’ve not been keeping up with my exercising over that span either. I’ve put on weight, noticed some crackling in my joints, and gotten winded much easier as well.

However, I’ve made the commitment to make this change and I plan on sticking with it. Memories, whether they’re from Facebook, Google, or just in one’s head, can be reminders and motivators at the same time.

Blast from the past

Back in 2013, I was running consistently with the greatest run group ever, in Run Chaska. Our saying was, “What’s better than running? Running with friends!” It truly is better with friends, especially for me.

I was also cross training in the pool with Coach Amanda. Every Wednesday evening, I’d look forward to being pushed hard in the pool and going home exhausted, but feeling that it was worth it.

We did a little biking on the side, too. There was an event in July called the lazyman Ironman. You’d have the entire month to complete the distance for the full Ironman. Some of us (Brian) may have cut it close, but completed it nonetheless!

River City Days Triathlon 2013

So with all the cross training I was doing, I got talked into doing Chaska’s River City Days Sprint Triathlon. I don’t recall who or how, but I signed up.

I remember swimming the clayhole, having Brian cheering by my wife for me (while updating friends on my status). I also remember seeing Rachel Nelson on the bike trail working with Chaska PD to keep the trail safe. But that feeling I got when coming down the hill of my run to the finish was so exhilarating! I want that again! I will experience that feeling again!

The post 10 Years Later… appeared first on Becoming an Ironman (70.3).

I was able to talk my wonderful wife and both kids into coming with me on my run tonight. I thought I’d warmup with them (5 min) and they’d head home while I continued on my way. They had different plans.

We started together, Elin and I broke ahead for a minute or two, and the warmup was complete. My Garmin (training plan) said to go into the 30 min active run and stay within the range of 9-11min/mile pace. “Easy peasy!” Elin and I both needed to turn this into a walk/run and average 14min/mi pace for the first half mile. I was proud she had gone this far with me!

I spoke too soon.

Elin and I turned around at Bobby’s driveway and started back. This is when the wheels started to come off for her. My legs seemed fine during this time, but I couldn’t just leave her… Could I? I did. Knowing Evonne and Axel were coming towards her, I took off to get back within the desired pace and managed to make it another quarter mile before needing to catch my breath and walk. All of a sudden, I heard foot steps behind me. Not the Brian Cunningham-type footsteps either. It was Elin. She got her wind back and caught me! We walked for a couple of telephone pole lengths and jogged some more.

When we were three poles from the driveway, she was out of gas. She claimed she was going to faint and throw up at the same time. I literally laughed out loud. I lightly jogged and encouraged her the rest of the way, hugged her, told her how proud of her I was, and took off to finish my test. She had just ran her first mile!

FINISH STRONG

When I left Elin and continued on my own, I had 13 minutes left of my test. I thought “I can make it to the highway (.5 miles) in six and a half minutes and then back.” I was able to walk/run and get back with a minute to spare.

I struggled with my numbers initially, but Evonne reminded me it was my first time back out and to just stick with it. I appreciated that more than she knows. I’ve now got my initial tests behind me and I’m looking forward to being back in the pool tomorrow.

Moving forward, I hope to post weekly so I can look back at where I came from and maybe inspire others to get fit for whatever personal reason they may have. Mine is to be able to ski and be active with my kids into their adult life. Here’s to everyone’s journey! SKOL!

The post Day 4 – Run Test appeared first on Becoming an Ironman (70.3).

Now, I’m a 39 year old man, who’s been riding bike for a really long time. I’m one who recalls riding no handed across the entire town of Tioga, ND to the pool with Jason Larson! Granted it may have only been a fraction of the distance I’ll be doing next summer, but hey, I was ten!

Why did I have so much worry about the biking? Well, you see, when I decided to commit to this and get a nice road bike, I didn’t realize that it wouldn’t come with pedals. This meant I needed to either buy a normal set of pedals and eventually switch to clip in pedals and buy shoes or just bite the bullet now and learn with clips from the get go.  I chose the latter.

Everyone I have spoken with about riding with clips had said “you will fall” and “it’s not a matter of if, but when.” I decided to take the advice of my brother in law, Paul, and ride around in the grass first a few nights ago. No falls.

Now, back to the morning biking fitness test. I walked out the door at 6am, put on my clip-in biking shoes (there’s probably a more formal term for them that I’ll learn about later), strap up my helmet, and grab my bike.

I had a brand new 2023 Trek Domane AL 2 with Disc brakes. I had the guys at the store put on a little road kit bag that has a spare tube, CO2, and a nozzle adapter. I was able to fit my money clip in there, but not my phone. “Now what?” I thought. What am I going to do WHEN I fall? I decided to brace it and take off anyway.

The workout itself was another fitness test, but on the bike. A nice 12 minute warmup to start, some interval tests, and then a cool down.  It seemed too easy.  IT WAS! In learning from my mistakes from the day before, I decided to go into my Garmin and select the actual training workout, not just a biking workout. When I got through with the internal testing, I pushed a button to see what was next. It turns out that the button I pushed was the Skip button. What did I skip, you ask? Just a 20min active workout. Only half of what I should have done.

I’m two days in and I’ve already been learning how out of practice I am with my training.  I have faith that I’ll hit it out of the park with tomorrow’s workout (it’s already a rest day).

I’ll end this blog with other little details I was able to takeaway. I need a larger pair of padded biking shorts. The pair I have tends to show off my bottom region to those behind me. I also need to find a better biking shirt. Mine kept riding up my back and armpits.

Tomorrow is rest and then we’ll see how bad my knees are with the running test on Friday.

PS: I redid my bike workout in the evening after the kids were sleeping. I chose the indoor bike as I don’t have proper lighting for the Trek yet.

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I got up, grabbed my bag of swimming gear I had packed the night before, double checked my contents, and left the house.  I had my goggles, towel, ID, and clothes to change into after the workout. I knew I probably looked like I’ve never seen 5am as a start of the day, so I managed to take a selfie as I walked out the door at 5:25am.

Here we go; the journey officially started today! Reformation! Determination! Motivation! I had everything going for me (minus the early start time)!

Thankfully the Chaska Community Center was only about a 12 minute drive and was not very busy when I checked in. Unfortunately, my membership had expired and I had to renew the family pass. Nonetheless, I was able to get my stuff, find a locker, and enter the pool area by 6am.

The workout itself was a Day 1 Fitness Test Primer. Out of the three events, swimming was my most confident. However, I hadn’t truly exercised in over a year (if you take away the 1 week of skiing in March). After the first couple of laps I felt good. My legs were working. My arms were pulling. I didn’t swallow any water. My breathing was every 3rd or even 4th stroke. The only thing I felt was my lungs and heart yelling at me, “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!” After my warmup, I didn’t break long before getting into the full test. After about 50yds, my heart and lungs settled down and I got into a nice groove.

This was also my first workout on my Garmin 955. I had used a Garmin in the past during my running with friends workout (Shoutout to Brian, June, Michelle, and the rest of the Run Chaska crew)! This was the first time I had a training workout sync’d with my watch, though. So I fired up the swimming tracker and did my first timed 400yds. After finishing it in 8:04, my watch said, “You have a workout to do, would you like to start it?” This was my sync’d training workout. What I had just done was separate from the planned workout. I felt good about my math and manually overrode the workout with my timed stats (2:01/100yds).

The second test of 200yds seemed much harder for me for some reason. My pace was a little slower overall at 2:08/100yds, but it gives me a starting point for which to go off of.

After a nice relaxing cool down and some stretching, I felt really good. It was still before 7am and my workout for the day was done. I had normally been an evening workout person, but this was amazing! I knew my skeptical but yet supportive friends would wonder if I actually started this thing today, so I managed to have a very nice lady take my photo after my workout.

My journey has just begun, but I’m looking forward to the outcomes it brings!

The post Day 1 of Training appeared first on Becoming an Ironman (70.3).

What is a half ironman, you ask?
A 70.3 is a triathlon where the athletes swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles (half marathon). The total distance is 70.3 miles. It’s half of what a full Ironman is.

To give some history, I’ve done one single triathlon in my life. It was a sprint distance which is a half mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I’ve also got a handful of half marathons under my belt. It’s been seven years since my last one, but that doesn’t matter, does it?

I feel very comfortable with swimming. Having done the half marathons in the past, I have faith in completing another. The biking part worries me a little as I’ve never biked more than 12.4 miles in one shot before.

I reached out to Kelcey and Mike to get their immediate feedback on the course and the training involved. Both were very helpful for me and my decision to commit. I’ve even been added to a few Facebook groups to help with my training, motivation, and even buy/sell equipment.

Do I commit?
If I commit, I’ll have 49 weeks before the 70.3 in Des Moines, so my runway to get into shape and ready for it is primed. I looked at professional training coaches and online training plans for days. I settled on a 48 week training plan through TrainingPeaks.

I’ve gone out and acquired my initial equipment, including a bike (Trek Domane AL 2 Disc), helmet, shoes, goggles, Garmin, and some other little items. My next few items I’ll need to consider for purchase will be a wetsuit and tri-suit. This is going to be an expensive hobby, but worth it in the end if it means I’m healthy and skiing all the runs with my kids when they get older!

Despite my all my apprehension, I told myself to just go for it. So, I committed to doing the Ironman 70.3 Des Moines in 2024.

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