Over the past couple of weeks, the time to workout has comprised mostly of lunchtime workout. This has been working great and not so great. By having a consistent uninterrupted time to workout, I no longer can put off workouts because of life getting in the way. So there goes that excuse. Next up is going to be, "I'm too tired" or "My knee hurts". These are all the excuses that I've used in the past and I am sure that I will use them in the future. I remember clearly during a sprint distance triathlon a couple of years ago, shortly after starting the swim, I said to myself "What am I doing here". Of coarse that year, I hadn't gotten a single swim in before the race and my workouts had been limited to once or twice a week. Basically, I had no plan and it showed in my attitude and ultimately the results. I finished dead last in my age group. That is not a fact that I tell people very often. The question now becomes how do I prevent that from happening again?
In the past, I almost always had a plan. But it was always a plan that even from the start was impossible for me to accomplish. Yes, there were A, B and C races, with stages along the way for peak performance coming just in time for the A race. But the hours that I planned we such that they could not be met without myself or my family having to sacrifice way too much. What is different this year? For starters, my races are marked on my calendar, my start point to peak just in time for my A race was marked. From there this years plan completely diverges from those of the past. This years plan only covers the next 4 weeks. No longer does it cover every day from now until the end, it is broken down into small manageable session. Why 4 weeks? As most of you know, periodization training is in 4 week blocks, 3 weeks of build and 1 week of rest.
The planned hours no long is a wish list of training time; it is an actual time that can be scheduled. Yes it is not the duration that most think that is needed, but it is the time that I as a husband and father have. How am I going to build endurance with limited time available? After doing some research, it looks like the endurance and fitness can be achieved through intervals. Once a base is built, intervals will be used to develop speed and add fitness. The question of the hour is, should my plan be to do base training for an additional month (which I have time for) or do I jump into the intervals and work on building my speed? I have another week or two to decide. To come to a decision, I will sit down and look at where my weaknesses are and where the focus needs to be.
Plan the work and work the plan
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Magic Bullet - Keep it Up
I think I found the magic bullet. Today I was able to get a workout in during lunch. My gym is pretty close to my work and I ran out during lunch for a trial run to the gym. It took a little longer to get there then planned so my workout was a little shorter then I would have liked. All told, I got a quick swim in to work on my breathing and stroke turnover. It apparently worked. The tell is that my shoulders are a little sore, which feels great.
Being that I work at a couple different locations, and that my gym has multiple locations, I can get a workout in at lunch at both locations. So for now I have scheduled my lunch hours over the next month for workouts and hopefully no one squats on my time with another meeting. The plan will be to get a run or ride in on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and a Swim in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I am lucky, maybe I can get a second workout in at home while the kids sleep.
A half dozen years ago I read a book by Total Immersion on triathlon swimming. Along with it I had a DVD that demonstrated the drills to improve the efficiency of your stroke. While traveling for work, I would go out for a run then when back at the hotel, I would review a drill a day and then head to the hotel pool and practice one of those drills. This was great for my stroke and I improved dramatically. Unfortunately I have misplaced the DVD and now have to purchase a new one.
After all the started and then getting pulled off track, I am excited about being able to find a consistent time to get a workout in. Now to make workouts as effective as possible I need to do some planning. For my riding and running I use a heart rate monitor and have been researching how to best use heart rate to get the most out of workouts. The biggest thing is to find your maximum heart rate. For this there are a few different methods. The most accurate is a time trial run or ride. Not wanting to subject myself to this, there are a couple of formulas. The most widely used and the least accurate is to subtract your age from 220 and the resultant is your max HR. Seeing that the winter time is time for rebuilding a base, the goal is to workout in the 60~70% of max range. So for the next month, that’s were I will be.
I have a friend that says "Losers Complain while Winner Train". So it is time to plan the training and work the plan.
Being that I work at a couple different locations, and that my gym has multiple locations, I can get a workout in at lunch at both locations. So for now I have scheduled my lunch hours over the next month for workouts and hopefully no one squats on my time with another meeting. The plan will be to get a run or ride in on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and a Swim in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I am lucky, maybe I can get a second workout in at home while the kids sleep.
A half dozen years ago I read a book by Total Immersion on triathlon swimming. Along with it I had a DVD that demonstrated the drills to improve the efficiency of your stroke. While traveling for work, I would go out for a run then when back at the hotel, I would review a drill a day and then head to the hotel pool and practice one of those drills. This was great for my stroke and I improved dramatically. Unfortunately I have misplaced the DVD and now have to purchase a new one.
After all the started and then getting pulled off track, I am excited about being able to find a consistent time to get a workout in. Now to make workouts as effective as possible I need to do some planning. For my riding and running I use a heart rate monitor and have been researching how to best use heart rate to get the most out of workouts. The biggest thing is to find your maximum heart rate. For this there are a few different methods. The most accurate is a time trial run or ride. Not wanting to subject myself to this, there are a couple of formulas. The most widely used and the least accurate is to subtract your age from 220 and the resultant is your max HR. Seeing that the winter time is time for rebuilding a base, the goal is to workout in the 60~70% of max range. So for the next month, that’s were I will be.
I have a friend that says "Losers Complain while Winner Train". So it is time to plan the training and work the plan.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Let's get up and go.
" There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting." Budda
Well, I am going to keep this post short. It finally looks like I have made it through all the winter viral and bug season. With two you children in daycare, every know virus makes its way into our home during the colder months. Every once in a while, one comes along that will get me, but for the most part, I avoid them. So, after having stuffed sinuses and coming down with the another bug a couple weeks ago, it feels like I am ready to run again.
I started off with great plans for the winter. Wanting to get in a bunch of slow runs to build a base. That went well for the month of December and January, but during February it was tough to get anything done with all the bugs around. Today, I was able to have enough energy to get up early and get a half hour run in. Hopefully, that will continue for the rest of the week. If I take it one week at a time, things should work out.
Although, I was up and going well before the kids are supposed to rise, for some reason, our youngest decided that this was the day he was going to get up early. That was enough to get daddy an ear full from mommy for going for a run this morning. Hopefully tomorrow works out better.
Postmortem on the workout is good. There is no soreness or fatigue. Which is pretty good for not getting enough sleep last night. The lack of sleep is due to finally being able to catch up on some of my reading. One more night and I will have caught up with all my magazines. After that, I will probably start reading and I know this is not masculine, but the next reading material that will be up are my wife's magazines, unless I am able to find time to stop at the library and pick up a book. There is only a week before my subscriptions start showing up and there will be a whole new pile of reading material ready to go.
I was discussing not being able to find a time to run that was not getting preempted by the kids or household issues with my wife this weekend. She suggested that I start planning on going to the gym during my lunch. Well in order to do that, I would need to take some extra time during lunch and work a little later. This is entirely feasible and I am going to give it a shot. The only thing that may get in the way is having to get out of work early enough to get the kids. But, we will see how it goes.
Small steps are better then no steps and you have to start by putting one foot in front of the other.
Well, I am going to keep this post short. It finally looks like I have made it through all the winter viral and bug season. With two you children in daycare, every know virus makes its way into our home during the colder months. Every once in a while, one comes along that will get me, but for the most part, I avoid them. So, after having stuffed sinuses and coming down with the another bug a couple weeks ago, it feels like I am ready to run again.
I started off with great plans for the winter. Wanting to get in a bunch of slow runs to build a base. That went well for the month of December and January, but during February it was tough to get anything done with all the bugs around. Today, I was able to have enough energy to get up early and get a half hour run in. Hopefully, that will continue for the rest of the week. If I take it one week at a time, things should work out.
Although, I was up and going well before the kids are supposed to rise, for some reason, our youngest decided that this was the day he was going to get up early. That was enough to get daddy an ear full from mommy for going for a run this morning. Hopefully tomorrow works out better.
Postmortem on the workout is good. There is no soreness or fatigue. Which is pretty good for not getting enough sleep last night. The lack of sleep is due to finally being able to catch up on some of my reading. One more night and I will have caught up with all my magazines. After that, I will probably start reading and I know this is not masculine, but the next reading material that will be up are my wife's magazines, unless I am able to find time to stop at the library and pick up a book. There is only a week before my subscriptions start showing up and there will be a whole new pile of reading material ready to go.
I was discussing not being able to find a time to run that was not getting preempted by the kids or household issues with my wife this weekend. She suggested that I start planning on going to the gym during my lunch. Well in order to do that, I would need to take some extra time during lunch and work a little later. This is entirely feasible and I am going to give it a shot. The only thing that may get in the way is having to get out of work early enough to get the kids. But, we will see how it goes.
Small steps are better then no steps and you have to start by putting one foot in front of the other.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Be The Example We Would Like To Have
I have taken up listening to Podcasts during my daily commute. While listening to one of them this week, a statement was made that our actions we take now will have an affect on generations to come. The way we live doesn't go un-noticed. Whether we like it or not, the way we live is how our kids are going to live. Our kids will also pass down our lifestyle and habits to their kids and so on through the generations.
Almost every area of our lives comes into play. When we read to our kids when they are young, they will grow up to be readers. Coming from and educated family, it was just a given that I would be educated. There was no discussion as to if I or my siblings wanted to go to college, that was just a given. We were encouraged to study anything that interested us. Many people grow up without that much direction. We all have the opportunity, but if our parents don't start us down a path, we just flounder. In the opposite direction, if our parents steer us through our entire life and down all our paths, we tend to resent them and break free and flee in a opposite direction when given the opportunity.
Back to the choices we make and how the affect generations to come, if we choose to live a healthy lifestyle, our kids will live a healthy lifestyle by example. They will eat the foods that we eat, exercise or do the activities we do. If we make our lives fun, they will be fun people and live life to the fullest. But also think of this, if we accept living in a house that is a mess, our kids will accept this as okay for them too.
I ask myself not if I am going to make an impression on a life, but what kind of impression am I going to leave on the lives around me? The lesson here is to be the example of what we would like to become. If we don't like they way we turned out, and we want to improve our lives and the lives of the generations to follow, ask "What could or should have my parents done differently?" When you answer that question, go out and learn what needs to done to make the changes that you want to see.
Our entire lives are not predetermined, but they have been influence dramatically by our Ancestors. If we don't like what we have become, we need to clean our slate, set new goals and start over. It is never too late. Some aspects will be easier then the next and some will seem impossible, yet if the goal is really desired, the outcome will be achieved. Some people say that they were not given the same opportunities as others and are not able to achieve what they want. The truth of the matter is that they were not shown that they have the opportunity to be anything they want to be.
Dance like no one is watching, live like everyone is watching.
Almost every area of our lives comes into play. When we read to our kids when they are young, they will grow up to be readers. Coming from and educated family, it was just a given that I would be educated. There was no discussion as to if I or my siblings wanted to go to college, that was just a given. We were encouraged to study anything that interested us. Many people grow up without that much direction. We all have the opportunity, but if our parents don't start us down a path, we just flounder. In the opposite direction, if our parents steer us through our entire life and down all our paths, we tend to resent them and break free and flee in a opposite direction when given the opportunity.
Back to the choices we make and how the affect generations to come, if we choose to live a healthy lifestyle, our kids will live a healthy lifestyle by example. They will eat the foods that we eat, exercise or do the activities we do. If we make our lives fun, they will be fun people and live life to the fullest. But also think of this, if we accept living in a house that is a mess, our kids will accept this as okay for them too.
I ask myself not if I am going to make an impression on a life, but what kind of impression am I going to leave on the lives around me? The lesson here is to be the example of what we would like to become. If we don't like they way we turned out, and we want to improve our lives and the lives of the generations to follow, ask "What could or should have my parents done differently?" When you answer that question, go out and learn what needs to done to make the changes that you want to see.
Our entire lives are not predetermined, but they have been influence dramatically by our Ancestors. If we don't like what we have become, we need to clean our slate, set new goals and start over. It is never too late. Some aspects will be easier then the next and some will seem impossible, yet if the goal is really desired, the outcome will be achieved. Some people say that they were not given the same opportunities as others and are not able to achieve what they want. The truth of the matter is that they were not shown that they have the opportunity to be anything they want to be.
Dance like no one is watching, live like everyone is watching.
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