First December swim

It took a while, but I finally mustered the guts to go for a swim this month. I've been scared to do so, given the delicate state of my shoulder, but Kelly and Jessica really wanted to go, so that was enough to talk me into it. The two of them are having a little competition called the "Iron Santa" this month, where they each want to do a full Iron Man during the month, which is something like 180 miles cycling, 26 miles running and 2.5 miles swimming. Neither of them had logged any pool time so they joined me at the Roy Rec Center.

Fuzzy photo at the pool. I'd make a poor surgeon with my shaky hands.

We actually went yesterday, but it was Zack's wedding later that day, so I didn't have time to blog about our workout. I just did a simple ladder set, throwing in 50 yards of breaststroke for every 100 yards of freestyle. Didn't want to overdo it.

Warm up
200 free
Core
Ladder set 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350
Cool down
400 free and breast easy

My shoulder didn't hurt at all after, which is a good sign. I'd like to squeeze in at least one more swim before the end of the year.

Total distance: 2,000 yards

Bachelor party recovery

Well, my body is in a weird state right now. Kelly, Wes and I celebrated Zack's upcoming wedding with a full 24 hours of drinking, junk food and video games. Today, in an effort to start recovering from it, I went to the gym. I'll need to go one more time extra to help knock off some of those extra calories.

So, today I started with a walk on the treadmill on a heavy incline, which kicks my ass worse than running at 6 mph. I did that for 20 minutes and then rode the bike for 20 minutes more. I finished up the afternoon with some upper body weight training before calling it a day.

Tomorrow, if my shoulder is feeling up to it, I might go for a light swim. No guarantees, though.

Total distance: 1.25 miles uphill treadmill, 8.2 miles cycling

More circuit training

After taking a few days off I got back to it today. I decided I wanted to do the circuit training again, but I wanted a little extra, so I rode the bike for about 15 minutes to get warmed up and get my blood flowing.

Grilled chicken, pecans, lettuce, spinach, blue cheese, apples and craisins.

I did the same circuit as last week, but I pushed myself a little harder this time around. I was already sucking wind by the 10th station (out of 20). When it was all said in done, I was happy with myself for not half-assing, so I rewarded myself with Wendy's for lunch. Not burgers and fries, though. I inhaled one of their apple pecan chicken salads. Those things are super tasty and don't pack more than 400 calories. It's quite filling, too.

Total distance: 5 miles cycling, 30 minutes circuit training

Circuit training

I did my first session of circuit training today. It was tough, but not so much that I felt like vomiting. I suppose that's what I was most afraid of. Here's the gist of how it works.

The circuit training section at the gym

1 minute intense cardio (jumping jacks, high knees, running in place, mountain climbers, etc.)
30 second rest
1 minute weight training
30 second rest
Repeat through all 20 stations (10 cardio & 10 weight)

There is a light on the wall that alternates between green and red to set your pace. It really gives you a full-body workout, mixing cardio and weight training. You really get an upper body and lower body mixture of exercises. There are even two ab stations in the mix.

Anyway, it's not a gigantic workout, but something nice I can throw into the mix once or twice a week to supplement everything else I do.

Total distance: N/A (30 minutes of circuit training)

Cycling madness

It's strange how my exercise has evolved over the past two years. I started out doing primarily swimming, then added some running, then slowed down the swimming and added some cycling. After my shoulder and knee injuries, that's turned into mostly cycling with a bit of running and almost no swimming.

My shoulder still hurts on a regular basis, despite hitting the pool only a few times this past month. I'm truly just weary of going back to the doctor, so I can get another bullshit diagnosis that doesn't tell me anything new and doesn't offer any new way to fix it. I'm no doctor, but I really think my rotator cuff is torn, especially after reading about Gordon's surgery and the type of pain he had before it. That would explain why it continues to hurt even though I rarely swim and I regularly do the tendinitis strengthening exercises I was given after my last visit to the clinic.

Oh well. Tons of cycling seems to be working for now, although I miss the water so much. I just don't consider myself a dryland guy. Prospects for a new job are in the works and with Jen being pregnant, I want to start fresh with a new workout regimen and better diet when the new year starts. I have to set an example for the rest of the family.

Today though, I just rode the bike before doing some light lifting and ab work. I signed up for a 30-minute circuit training session at my gym tomorrow, so I'm kind of excited for it.

Total distance: 9.7 miles cycling

Rare Sunday workout

Already, this new gym membership is paying off. Before, especially during the winter, I rarely worked out on Sundays because in Utah, everything shuts down on that day of the week. In warmer months, I occasionally squeezed in a run or something outside, but now I can go any Sunday I want.

I didn't do anything crazy, basically considering today a bonus, but with some football games on in front of me, I rallied off 30 minutes on the bike in what seemed like a blink of an eye. I followed that up with a quick one-mile run on the treadmill and called it good.

Not bad ... for a Sunday anyway.

Total distance: 9.7 miles cycling, 1 mile running

Day 2 at Planet Fitness

I kept it short and sweet today, because I had some errands to run. But I made it to the gym, which I suppose is 75 percent of the battle. I did a 30-minute bike ride and called it good. I pushed it hard and cranked out some good mileage. Yesterday's weightlifting left my shoulder a bit sore, so I avoid upper body work today. I'm very impressed with Planet Fitness so far. The convenience of it is nice and the facility is brand spanking new, so the joint doesn't smell like sweat yet.


Yep. ESPN in the locker room.

 Total distance: 9.35 miles cycling

New gym: New motivation

Today I started at a new gym. Earlier this week I noticed a Planet Fitness was opening up a few blocks down the road from my house with a big advertisement that said "Only $10 per month NO CONTRACT!" I was interested and went in to take a tour. Sure enough, there really are no gimmicks. It's a very nice facility with tons of machines and the fee never changes. And the real kicker for me, was that it's open 24 hours during the week and the weekend hours (including Sunday) are still quite long. That sold me and I immediately signed up.

Only one small part of the gym. The staff is very helpful, too.

I've been having a very hard time staying motivated and I have all sorts of excuses why I haven't been working out much, but in the end, I truly think stress is the main factor. And what usually helps with stress? Exercise. I don't want to work out when I'm stressed, but it helps with the stress every time I do. Kind of a Catch-22.  

Anyway, I went in for my first "trial run" today and I was quite pleased. There weren't very many people in there, and I could plug my headphones into the machines and watch any of the plethora of TVs on the wall. I did a nice long ride on one of the stationary bikes before hitting the weights and just like the machines, everything was brand new. I followed that up with a short run on the treadmill to round out my full hour of cardio and then went home.

So far, so good. I have a feeling this is going to work out nicely, even though they don't have a pool. I'll still have to hit the Rec Center for that in the winter.

Total distance: 14 miles cycling, 1.5 miles running

Matt's muscle music

I promise, I haven't slacked off TOO much this week. This is actually my third workout of the week, but I've been dragging me feet on the blogs. That needs to stop. Anyway, I biked 12.5 miles on Monday and did some weightlifting yesterday. Today, though, I got in the pool.

There wasn't anything of note to report other than the fact that I thought I lost my swimsuit, but fortunately, it was in the Roy Rec Center's lost and found. I must have left it on the bench in the locker room last time. Whew... I swam 1,000 yards and called it, went upstairs and did six quick miles on the bike. It wasn't a lot, but I'm glad I dragged myself over there and did something. Tomorrow I want to go all out on something so I can cap my sluggish November on a high note.

Also, I've been doing additional weightlifting, more than I usually muster anyway. I don't really need any added bulk, but there's just something about lifting that makes me feel big and strong. Perhaps I'll be able to make my own muscle music like Terry Crews does below.

Total distance: 1,000 yards swimming, 6 miles cycling

Long week of guilt

Something is seriously wrong with me. More than I've experienced in a long time, my motivation to get up and work out just isn't there. I had several opportunities to work out this week and didn't. Plain and simple. I've pigged out all week, stayed up way too late a few nights and haven't been able to drag my self out of bed early enough to get to the gym. I went six consecutive days with zero exercise and whether or not it's all mental, I feel like crap for it. I haven't felt this guilty about my health in some time.

So, today I broke the streak and went for a run. I didn't last very long before my knee started hurting, so I turned back early. It wasn't much, but it was something and I suppose that's better than what I've done these past several days. I actually made the quick drive over to the gym first, but it was closed for the holiday weekend. I need to find a new motivator and fast. I am terrified of falling out of the exercise habit, because I know it can happen before you know it and just like that all my lost weight is back. Ugghhhh....

Total distance: 1.54 miles running

New favorite workout snack

One of my new favorites

Normally, when I work out, I eat something small before I leave the house, like a granola bar or piece of toast. But sometimes I just use the energy gel packs you can buy in most sporting goods stores. They are easy on your stomach and don't require much breaking down, so they don't cause me to cramp up during exercise.

The past year or so, I've been using the Gu brand gel packs. I can only ever find them at Harmon's and Sports Authority and they have served me well. However, I found a new favorite brand last week, when I was getting my bike tuned up at The Bike Shoppe in Ogden. It's called Hammer and I know a few open water swimmers who like their powder products. They are the same price as the Gu gels and they have different flavors. I tried the banana and tropical recently and loved them. I think I'm going to have to start interchanging my Gu and Hammer products to mix it up a bit.

Anyway, today I just rode the stationary bike for about 20 minutes and followed it up with a 30-minute swim.

Total distance: 6 miles cycling, 1,500 yards swimming

New goals for rest of 2012

It appears as if I am going to come up well short of my 2012 exercise goals. I may have set the bar a bit too high and various injuries and random spells of laziness didn't help my cause, as well. However, I want to finish this year strong, so I set some short-term goals for my remaining 48 days. Here is where I stand so far and what I want to reach by New Years Day.

Swimming: 100.03 miles (need 115)
Running: 125.46 miles (need 183)
Cycling: 475.10 miles (need 730)

Given my knee and shoulder issues, I plan on doing extra bike time, so I set that goal a little higher than the others. I don't have any events in mind for the next few months, so I'm going to have to find some sort of extra motivation. Any suggestions?

Anyway, today I finally got a decent swim in, making sure to alternate breaststroke into my set every 150 yards. Gotta lay off too much freestyle. I also ran a quick mile on the treadmill, just to get my blood pumping before the swim.

P.S.: I finally passed 100 swim miles for the year. I'm ahead of last year's pace, but far behind my initial "Go The Distance" goal of 175 miles.

Total distance: 1 mile running, 1,950 yards swimming

What now?

Today, I had no idea what I wanted to do. With the Turkey Tri behind me, I don't have an upcoming event on my radar just yet. So, I'm not really training for anything in particular. I did want to get some cardio in, though, so I stuck with the familiar.

I hopped on the bike and rode at a elevated level for 30 minutes. I followed that up with the treadmill, but didn't stretch very well, and I paid for it. I only lasted about a half mile before the pain in my shins was too much, so I stopped immediately. After that I did some weight work in addition to push-ups to get some upper body time in. Not a bad little workout.

Total distance: 9 miles cycling, 0.5 miles running

Weber State Turkey Tri race report

What started out as a crummy day turned out to be a good one. I woke up early so I could get up to campus and set up my transition area for the triathlon, but it there was still a ton of snow on the ground and it was still falling. Sure enough, when I checked in, they announced the bike leg had been canceled. I was very disappointed and my heart kind of sank a bit. I've trained primarily for the bike leg, given my knee and shoulder issues restrict my swimming and running, so that was a blow. Obviously, trying to beat my time from last year was out the window since the race was only a duathlon this time around.

Chatting with Kelly and Jess just after finishing.
They were in the first wave, while I was in the second.

However, the weather cleared up a bit just before the race started and when it was my wave's turn to start the race, I was amped and determined to go all out on my run, regardless of pain, knowing I wouldn't have to follow it with a bike leg. It hurt and I was certainly sucking wind, but I gave it my all and didn't stop despite the cold. The swim was cake. I cruised past people in the short 300-yard pool event and mostly, people were conscious of faster swimmers, letting them pass when needed. I really wish that leg was longer, because it's the only place where I have an edge over most triathletes.


Me at the start of the race (in all black). Note the damn snow, just like last year.

I finished in 36:38 minutes, good enough for 5th out of 10 in my age group and 48th out of 112 overall. In the end, I'm still bummed I didn't get to use the bike I went through the trouble of borrowing, but with the time I logged on the other two legs, I'm still confident I would have finished in under an hour this year and possibly finished higher up. However, I did have one of the top 10 fastest swim legs in the whole race. To counter that, I also had one of the top 10 slowest transitions. I probably could have shaved a minute off my race if I didn't take my sweet effing time getting to the pool.

Jess, Kelly and I hanging out during the post-race raffle with our new bling.

Jessica and Kelly each won prizes in the raffle and Jess was given a medal for finishing first in her age group which was kind of cool. She acted very surprised and with good reason, because when the official results were posted today, she actually took fourth in her age group. What a fraud! Haha! Also, ran into some old friends and some acquaintances I work out with at the Roy Rec Center. After the race, I joined Jon McBride and Gentry Reinhart, -- my old pals from The Signpost -- for some lunch at the Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville and we followed that up with a Weber State football game (also in the snow). The day still didn't end, as I took Jen to an Ogden Mustangs hockey game later that night (also in a cold ice rink).

The famous Shooting Star. My stomach
 didn't sit right for the rest of
 the day, though. Worth it...

What a day... A cold one.

Total distance: 3.1 miles running, 300 yards swimming

Bike ride in the sun

I took the bike out for a test run today, given the Turkey Tri is only a few days away. I borrowed it from Jen's boss and took it to The Bike Shoppe in Ogden where they were offering free bike tune ups. When I took it out today it was a really smooth ride. I was a little bit nervous going down the main drag by my house where there is heavy traffic, but I did my best to follow the traffic rules and stay clear of cars in the lane to my left.

My borrowed ride. It's real nice, so I'm worried about hurting it.

I went to where I thought was three miles before turning around and made great time going back, since it was slightly downhill. The sun was out and I wore a dark shirt, so I felt like I was cooking in the end, but it still turned out to be a nice little workout and test ride. After looking at the map, I ended up going a bit farther than I thought.

Total distance: 6.5 miles cycling

New stationary bike record

I don't have a ton of time to blog, so I'm going to keep it short. I went to the gym with the hopes of getting a long cardio session in. After about 20 minutes on the bike, I noticed I was keeping an abnormally accelerated pace, but I didn't feel any worse for wear, so I kept at it. I poured it on in the final 10 minutes knowing I could surpass my one-hour goal on the bike, which is a little over 17.5 miles. I finished with 18.04, which for sure was a new personal-best. The machine claims I burned about 750 calories and I believe it. There was a sizeable sweat puddle I accumulated on the floor that I had to wipe up. Gross...

Total distance: 18.5 miles

November kickstart

I think I may have overdid it with my run a few days ago, because my knee has been in a pit of pain. More like discomfort, actually. So I decided a short, but intense bike ride would suffice for today. I wanted to see how fast I could pull off a 10k ride, so I poured it on for the entire session. I managed to finish in 20:28. I was hoping to get under 20 minutes, but that was still pretty good.

My drippy suit hanging to dry in the locker room.

After, I went down to the pool for a swim. My shoulder still bothers me, as always, and I slept on it funny last night, so it was particularly sore this morning. I decided to use fins during my laps, so it would take some of the strain off it. It worked perfectly. I was able to get some decent cardio and yardage in without any real pain.

On a side note, thanks to those of you who still read my blog every now and again. I'm sure they've gotten kind of dull after a while, but last month, I set a new record for page views since I started this thing. THANKS A TON!!! It's very encouraging.

Total distance: 6.5 miles cycling, 1,400 yards swimming

Run around the block

Not a whole lot new to report today. I went for a run around noon and figured I'd just run around the neighborhood for a little while. After all, the weather has been perfect the past few days. I ended up going for almost 45 minutes before my knee was starting to hurt a bit, so I stopped and walked the rest of the way home. I certainly don't want to aggravate it right before the Turkey Tri next weekend.

All in all, it was a nice little run, though.

Total distance: 4 miles running

Calorie burner on bike

Final result before calling it quits

I went for a nice bike "ride" at the rec center today. I pushed it pretty hard for 45 minutes and was sweating profusely. I've increased my resistance on the bike up to level 10 now, so I'm really starting to burn calories whenever I use it. Today, I thought about shooting for 700 calories, which I could probably pull off in an hour, but Jen was waiting for me to get home quickly, so I cut it short at about 550 calories and went home. Bleh.

Total distance: 13.5 miles cycling

Wedding anniversary triathlon

I didn't have the intention of doing anything special today, but when I got to the gym, I was feeling ambitious. I started out on the treadmill and went a full 3.1 miles and was feeling OK, so I thought, "What the hell?" and hopped right on the bike. I was still feeling good, so after about 10 minutes I decided to go the distance and complete the full 6.2-mile leg of what the Turkey Tri will be.

I immediately jumped off, started my watch and timed myself as I ran down to the locker room, threw on my suit and dove into the pool. I went through the 300-yards as fast as I could before turning off the timer. Adding it all up, including transitions, I did the full triathlon in 59:33, which is VERY fast by my standards. However, realistically, the actual tri is much more difficult with big hills and such. I finished in about 1:08.00 last year and based off how I ran the run leg of the course yesterday, I can't imagine I'm going to crush my time. Hopefully, I'll be able to knock a few minutes off, though. Getting under 1:05.00 would be an accomplishment for me.

It's been a good day, other than upsetting Jen for taking longer than expected at the gym. Today is our third wedding anniversary.

Total distance: 3.1 miles running, 6.2 miles cycling, 300 yards swimming

Slushy run with Kelly

Kelly and I had planned on running the Turkey Tri course today, and based off weather reports, we both knew it was going to be rainy and cold. We dressed warm, though and gutted it out.

If I don't look too pleased with myself, it's because I'm not. Kelly is all smiles, though.

Right after we parked and started stretching I watched someone ticket my car. I don't really care, because I'm not a student, so what are they going to do? Hold my transcripts? I graduated long ago. However, it is really stupid that Weber State doesn't have anywhere for you to park if you are a visitor or a non-student. Sorry, but I'm not going to buy one of your hundred-dollar parking passes so I can park on campus a few times a year.

Anyway, the run was incredibly tough. I tried my best to stay with Kelly the whole way, but I was hurting from the very start. I'm not sure my body was ready to run, considering I'm still sore from last Thursday's hike. Yeah, it's taking that long to heal. My shins were in a great deal of pain before we were even half way done, but any time I tried to stop or slow down, it just hurt worse, so I just trudged forward. My time was a very disappointing 34 minutes, but we did take a slightly longer route. The cold was a bit of a factor and my lungs were burning a bit, but that's to be expected. Hell! It's a triathlon in November! So I have no good excuse there. The rain stopped just before we stopped running anyway, so we did catch a break there.

Next time, I plan to stretch MUCH better and hopefully I can pull off a time closer to my Turkey Tri goal.

P.S.: Why is it already snowing? Ughhhh!!

Total distance: 3.1 miles running

Crappy weather, nice swim

I was hoping to go for a run today, now that my legs have calmed down a little after last Thursday's hike. They were screaming at me for two days before finally healing a bit yesterday. However, the weather outside this morning was stormy and gross so I went to the rec center for a swim and some free weight work instead.

I lifted first, knowing full well my muscles would be tired when I got in the water. But I pushed it hard on my sets anyway.

Warm up
200 free
Core
4 x 300 free/50 breast

I didn't end up cooling down because I ran out of time, but the breaststroke interval on each set cooled me down some already, so I was OK. I haven't exactly been piling up the yards since Bear Lake, but I've at least been getting in once a week, for the most part. I can't fall out of the habit, but I have to be very careful not to overdo it and let my shoulder get some rest in the next few months. I'm walking a fine line.

Total distance: 1,600 yards swimming

Mount Ogden summit success

So we finally made our 2012 attempt to summit Mount Ogden and all went well. Wes and I met at Kelly's place before we went and packed everything away and we were on the Beus Canyon trailhead by 9:30. The two of them brought their dogs Luigi and Leia. My initial goal was to be at the top within five hours. The last time Kelly and I attempted this in 2009 we only make it a bit past halfway in almost five hours. I was fatter then, so what can I say?

Shortly after making it through Beus Canyon. Note the colors everywhere. Beautiful.

We made our way through the 2.5 miles of Beus Canyon and it was pretty cold outside. There was still frost on the leaves, which provided a scenic climb through the fern fields. Autumn really is the perfect time to make this hike.

After that, we crossed the creek and went up the south side of the canyon before turning into the next canyon, which I don't know the name of on the other side. We worked through the mountainside 2.7 more miles before cutting back west to go up the traverse to the saddle to Mount Ogden, before finally hitting the saddle itself. Once the towers and helicopter pad at the peak were in sight it made things a little more frustrating because it was deceivingly far away.

Wes in the canyon south of Beus.

Eventually, we hit the road that comes up from the east side at Snowbasin. That road was a bitch. It was easily the hardest part of our ascent. We were all sucking wind the whole way. It was worth it though, because out of nowhere we saw a line of about five mountain goats a few dozen yards ahead of us, seemingly making the exact same climb we were. That was pretty cool.

Mountain goat sighting. Unfortunately, no Goat Man sightings.

Finally, after three hours and 45 minutes we made it to the top. We ate lunch and just relaxed for about 45 minutes before heading back down at 2 p.m sharp. It took us a little longer than I had hoped to get back down, trudging into the parking lot on 46th Street at 4:30 and we were dog tired. Even the actual dogs were dog tired.

I don't know if this road has a name, but it should be dubbed Hell's Climb.

All in all, it was a successful hike. Round trip, including the 45 minutes we took to stop, it took us seven hours from start to finish. Not bad. Novice climbers are expected to take eight to nine hours and we dicked around on the helipad for a while, too. We started at 5,000 feet and finished at the top at 9,500 feet making a total ascent of 4,500 feet. I'm sure I burned a crap-ton of calories.

We made it. Almost four hours later.

Total distance: 13 miles hiking (round trip)

Our route, excluding the crappy climb up the final road.

More photos from the hike ...

Cold weather in the morning. Mid 30s.

Traversing the saddle. Mount Ogden about two mile further on the left.

Texting Jen to tell her we made it up safely. Dunno what Kelly's doing.

The view of Weber and Davis counties from the top. We had a perfect 360 degree view as far as we could see.

The road to Snowbasin and the tram on the left.

Ben Lomond peak off to the north.

It's not what it looks like. Well, maybe it is.

Gangster poses with Morgan County behind us.

Rare swim day

I haven't been in the pool for over two weeks. I was nervous to even give it a shot today, but I can't keep neglecting the water. It's an itch I desperately need to scratch. I rode the stationary bike first for 30 minutes and got a good sweat on, so swimming after was much more inviting.

When I walked on to the pool deck, Anita said I looked like I've lost more weight, calling me "skinny." I know I haven't lost more, although I've maintained it well for the past three months by not gaining, but her kind words still boosted my ego a bit. I started slow, because I did some weightlifting first, but after a few short sets I felt good and did some speed work for about 20 minutes. Good overall workout today.

Tomorrow's the long-awaited Mount Ogden Summit. I'm so excited!

Total distance: 1,400 yards swimming, 8.5 miles cycling

Back indoors, at least for today

I hit the Roy Rec Center today for the first time in about two weeks. Since I hadn't swam and the weather has been so wonderful, I haven't had a reason to pay to work out there. Today, however, I needed to get some work in on the stationary bike. I'll need to use their machine until Jen's boss lets me borrow his road bike a few weeks before the Turkey Tri. The cycling leg is a 10k, so I set out for that mark and pushed it hard. I ended up cranking that out, plus a little extra in about 22 minutes. The actual bike leg of the triathlon will be a little tougher and likely take me a couple of minutes longer to complete, but that was a good start.

I found another one of these waiting for me at the rec center. It's my fourth one to date, and likely my last for a while.

I followed that up with a fast 1-mile run on the treadmill, before rounding out the day with some push-ups. All-in all, it was a good little workout where I really focused on upping the intensity, rather than the distance. I'll have to improve on that when training for the running leg, because there is brutal 1-mile stretch that goes up a big hill. Tomorrow will be sort of an off day, with just swimming and weights, but Thursday will be a good distance cardio day. Kelly and I are going to finally attempt the Mt. Ogden summit. It will likely take us all day.

Total distance: 6.5 miles cycling, 1 mile running

Locked out of house = Long run

So, I'm a dumb ass.

Yesterday, I was supposed to meet Kelly so we could run the Turkey Tri course for the first time this year. I was running late and was in a hurry to get out of the house, so the second I closed the front door when I left, I realized I didn't have my keys or phone on me. I had nothing but my wallet and iPod on me. I was in my running clothes, so I walked up to the gas station near my house, called Jen and lefter her a message, asking her to tell Kelly I wasn't going to make it, because I'm a screw up and locked myself out.

I had over two hours until Jen would be home from work, so I said screw it and just went for a run around the neighborhood. I took a completely random route, simply trying to kill time, while still getting a decent run in. I swear I ran all over Roy city before I finally made my way back to that same gas station about 45 minutes later. I called Jen from their phone again and this time, she answered, saying she'd be there in a few minutes to pick me up and take my dumb ass to Home Depot so we can make a copy of the house key.

I'm shamed to say, this is the second time of done this, not including the few times she had to rescue me when I locked my keys in my car while in college. I'm glad she has so much patience with my scattered brain. In the end, though, I got a good sweat and sucked down a cold drink at that gas station after, because after all, I did still have my wallet. Haha!

Total distance: 4.2 miles running (after looking up my run online)

Market fresh every day: Runnin' to Smith's

I slept in today, but it didn't keep me from working out. The cool weather is making it possible to run outside even in the middle of the afternoon without getting too hot. I ran from my house all the way to Smith's in Sunset before turning back. I had to stop at a handful of stop lights, which slowed me down a bit, but I just ran in place while I waited.

Just finished my run and Jen captured the moment.

I made it back in 43 minutes and MapMyFitness says I ran almost exactly four miles. That Smith's all the way up there is a nice benchmark for a four-mile run, I guess. Anyway, right when I got back, Jen was waiting outside for me so we could run over to Costco to grab a few things. She snapped a quick picture of me in all my sweaty glory and we left. I enjoyed a tasty hot dog and washed it down with a Diet Coke as a reward.

My knee feels great and hasn't been bothering me, although my hamstring has been giving me a little bit of trouble. My confidence heading into the Turkey Tri is growing every workout. I just need to get some more bike, and hopefully pool time, too.

Total distance: 4 miles running

My blogaversary and a super fast 5k

I didn't realize it when writing my blog on Wednesday, but it marked the one-year anniversary since I started this blog. I can't believe it's been that long already. I'm so glad I started it and hopefully as the years go by, I will have amassed quite a few posts.

Happy blogaversary to "Swimming Upstream"

Anyway, today Kelly and I did a run. Fall is here, which to me, is my favorite time of year to be outside. It's still sunny, but the air is cool enough to work out in without worrying about dropping from the heat. I went for another three-mile run and I was shocked as to how quickly I ran it. Kelly was in front of me the whole way, which was perfect, because he set a fast pace that really forced me to push it. I ended up finishing in 28:40, which is over two minutes faster than Wednesday's run, and honestly, might be among the fastest I've ever ran that distance. I'd have to go through my logs from last summer, but it's pretty dang close, so I'm very encouraged. After that, I did a quick ladder stairs set at Roy High's stadium bleachers.

My hamstring is a bit sore, so I'm going to stretch the crap out of it tonight with the foam roller. I think my next workout will be an extensive session on the stationary bike. Then I'll try putting the two together in preparation for the Turkey Tri.

Total distance: About 3.25 miles running

Turkey Tri training

I went for a run at the Roy High track today. The Turkey Tri is only a little over a month away, and I really want to beat last year's time. I'm all registered, so there is no backing out now. However, I haven't been working out quite like I was at this time last year, even though I do think my overall fitness level has improved since then, but I need to kick it into full gear for the next few weeks

Just before starting my run at the Roy High track.

It's a 5k run, 10k bike and 300-yard swim. I finished in 1:08.46 last time and I hope to see at least a three to four minute improvement on Nov. 10. These were my official split times in the 2011 triathlon.

Run: 32:13
Transition: 1:26
Bike: 26.49
Transition: :59

The run is where I want to improve the most. Today I ran three miles in 30:50, which is just shy of a 5k and considering I haven't ran that far in many weeks, I was encouraged. Hopefully, with the right training, I can get that to about 29 minutes. The course is changing this year, too. In 2012 it was a very "hilly" route, which I thought was more difficult. Maybe it will be flatter this time around, which could help with my time. I also was a bit confused during the transitions, giving it was my first triathlon, so I will surely knock off a minute overall between the two of those.

On a side note, I took my nephew, Carter to his swim lessons over the weekend. It was at Layton Surf N Swim, which was where I swam during my high school swim team days. Sort of a blast from the past considering I haven't been in there in almost 10 years. It looked the exact same. Haha! I really do miss the pool, but my shoulder is still screwed, limiting me to no more than one swim per week right now, and short swims at that. Yuck.

I couldn't tell you how many hundreds of hours I spent swimming
up and down that bitch in high school, or how many gallons I puked in the water.

Total distance: 3 miles running

Swimming and video games

Kelly and I went for a swim today, and we are both on the tail ends of our colds. I did a short run on the treadmill for about 15 minutes before we got in the water and my lungs were already burning a bit. The pool was a little busy, but it cleared out just before we started our sets. Here's what we did.

Call of Duty is such a fun game. I don't know why I've neglected it on my shelf for so long.

Warm up
200 free
Core
500 free
400 free
300 free
200 free
100 free
Cool down
100 breast

We swam a simple ladder set and then Kelly did a 50 butterfly just before we cooled down. After we left, we got some lunch and played video games at my house for about an hour. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has been sitting on my shelf for some time now, and I've hardly played it. It's pretty fun, so I regret letting it sit there for so long. It needed a little bit of attention and I am happy to give it.

Total distance: 1.5 miles running, 1,800 yards swimming

Sickly swim

I've been battling a bit of a cold that has been going around this past week. I really wanted to work out yesterday, but I was running a fever all day and decided it probably wouldn't be very pleasant if I did. I got plenty of sleep last night, though and I felt much better this morning. Kelly was supposed to meet me for a swim at the Roy Rec Center, but he slept in, also battling that same bloody cold that I have. So I went solo today.

Gyms spread germs, so be sure to wipe the equipment down when you are done.

I rode the bike for about 20 minutes just to get my blood pumping. My cough was starting to act up, so I decided that was a good time to stop and get in the water. I was extra careful to wipe down everything I touched with disinfectant, because I didn't want to spread this shit around. Gyms are common places to catch bugs from other people. The water felt great, though and I really enjoyed the short swim. I only did a handful of sets of 200 yards, doing push-ups and crunches between sets. I got out before there was any discomfort in my shoulder, saving myself for tomorrow. Kelly's going to attempt swimming with me again.

Not a bad little workout, considering I'm still sick.

Total distance: 6.1 miles cycling, 1,000 yards swimming

Bike ride at Ogden River Parkway

Today's workout was a blast. Wes and I took his mountain bikes to the parkway to enjoy more of the trail that we normally don't reach while running. Instead of taking the bikes there, we decided we were close enough to just ride them to the trailhead. It was only about two miles away and downhill the first time around.

You can see my route in better detail if you click on it.

It was a lot of fun to really push myself and still stay focused as to not hit any other bikers or runners on the trail. There are a bunch of windy areas that you have to slow down for if you don't want to wipe out hard. I lost Wes early, but we agreed to meet up at the four-mile mark of the trail. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to reach it, but he wasn't there when I rolled in. I thought he must have pressed on, so I did too. After a while, though, I realized I would have seen him on his way back at some point, so once I hit the six-mile marker, I turned back. I finally saw him again with about one mile left until the trailhead. He said he looped around the pond at the four-mile marker (six miles overall), which explains why I didn't see him and kept going down the trail.

The two miles uphill on the way back was probably the hardest part. I was seriously feeling it in my lungs and thighs. But we made it no worse for wear. We immediately hopped in the car and drove to Quiznos to get some calories in our system. It was so effing good.

Total distance: 16.1 miles cycling

Short afternoon workout

I kept it simple today. Biked 30 minutes at an intense pace and then followed it up with a quick one-mile run. After that, I did some light lifting, working primarily on my back and shoulders. Didn't want to press myself to hard at the start of the week. Nothing else new to report.

Total distance: 8.8 miles cycling, 1 mile running

Sweaty fat f**k

I hit the Roy Rec Center for a long hike on the treadmill this morning. I set the incline to 7.5 (I think the highest it goes is 11 or 12) and walked at 3.4 miles per hour for a full hour. I gradually increased the incline to 9.0 by the time I was done I was absolutely pouring sweat. Seriously, my shirt was soaked. Those "hikes" feel like they burn more calories than regular runs do. It's kind of gross actually, but oddly, you almost are proud of the sweat while you are in the act of working out. It makes you feel like you are actually doing something good and really pushing yourself. It reminded me of an old episode of Jackass dubbed Sweaty Fat F**ks, where the guys stuffed their oversized clothes with bubble wrap and skateboarded around in them.

My crappy low-resolution camera phone couldn't accurately
capture the vast amounts of sweat I poured into my shirt.

The original Sweaty Fat F**ks. I did my best to imitate them.

After that, I did another full hour of weight training and stretching. I really wanted to work on my upper body, given my recent lack of swimming. It was tough, but I was careful to taper my sets and not overdo it on my shoulders.

Total distance: 3.45 miles running (hiking or whatever)

Swim/treadmill combo

My shoulder has been hurting a little more ever since I started doing push-ups, so I took it back a notch and have focused more on my daily strength exercises. So, today, Kelly and I went for a swim, but didn't do a whole lot. I did a few easy sets in addition to some sprint sets. Before that, I walked on the treadmill at a high incline for about 25 minutes to get my heart going and burn a few extra calories. Not a whole lot to report.

Total distance: 1,000 yards swimming, 1.4 miles on treadmill (up hill)

Reality check in pool

Today was my first day back in the water since Bear Lake and it was not easy. It felt like I took a year off from swimming, rather than three weeks. My stroke was sloppy, I was getting winded on basic sets and overall, I just felt like shit. To be fair, the sets I was doing weren't anything like what I normally do and my upper body was tremendously sore from yesterday's push-ups out at the track with Wes.

My creepy silhouette from inside the sauna.

Kelly was with me, and we did some work with equipment, which I rarely use. We did sets with kick boards, pull buoys and then the full stroke on each different stroke. It felt like I was sprinting throughout the entire workout, which in many ways, I kind of was. It really is a totally different feel than the long distance training I've become accustomed. My shoulder was feeling OK, other than the push-up soreness, until I made one big mistake. On the equipment sets, I did the full pull-only butterfly, which really hurt. My shoulder was in pain the rest of the time after that and I didn't end up doing much more.

We sat in the sauna for a while and stretched a bit and called it a day. After three-straight days of exercise, I'm going to take it easy this weekend and jump back into it on Monday. I'm really trying to mix it up, so my body doesn't continue to break down from doing too much of one thing. I think I was good about that this week, doing one long bike, one run and one swim. Not too bad, but lots of room to improve.

Total distance: A measly 1,400 yards

Cool weather: Perfect day for running

I hit the Roy High track today with Wes, because it was cloudy and cool outside. Perfect day for running. I did an easy 1.5-mile jog before we did some sprint sets. We ran the straightaways, doing push-ups and sit-ups at the end, walking the corners inbetween. I normally only do two of those, but we went a little harder today, doing three full laps of them. In the end, it wasn't a ton of mileage, but it was intense, so I didn't feel like I slacked off much. And on the bright side, for the first time in a while, I was able to do push-ups with very little discomfort and absolutely no pain in my shoulder. Hopefully the rehab is starting to work.

Total distance: 2.25 miles running

Back in the saddle

Wes joined me at the Roy Rec Center today and it was definitely a good one. The treadmill I wanted to use was broken, so I settled for the stationary bike, but I'm glad I did. My body was itching for a good sweat, so I really pushed it, attempting to break my 1-hour record on the bike, which was 17 miles.

I set the resistance one level higher than normal and went for it, and felt great the whole way. I even had a little extra in me once I hit that 17-mile mark, seeing that I still had about 2:30 left on the clock, so I notched it up two more levels to 12 (I think the max is 15) for the remainder, finishing with 17.75 miles before cooling down. A new high!! And it didn't feel particularly hard. I think the Bear Lake swim really helped boost my overall endurance, even though I've pretty much taken the last two weeks off.

I followed it up with some easy weight work, doing my shoulder tendon exercises and some light bicep/tricep sets. Wes and I are gonna go back at it tomorrow and mix it up a little more. We both are still battling that damn IT band. Perhaps I'll build up the guts to get in the water, too.

Total distance: 18 miles cycling

Shoulder rehab

The last week was a crazy one. My mother was hospitalized, so Jen and I were taking care of my 7-year-old nephew, Carter while she was out of commission. Combine that with work and cleaning her house/lawn throughout the week, I didn't manage any exercise and I feel terrible about it. Today, though, I was excited to finally start the exercises my doctor gave me, so I can begin rehabilitating my shoulder. There are all sorts of different ones, mostly involving my own body weight, a resistance band and light dumbbells.

This is one of the exercises I worked on today. This dude is using an apple, but I had a 10-pound dumbbell instead. He looks about as pleased as I was.

I just did those today, and plan on hitting the Roy Rec Center tomorrow. It had been closed for the past two weeks during renovations. My knee is still tender, so I'll probably work on the bike a little and perhaps throw in a light swim. Some weight training is a must, too.

Four-mile run with Wes

Today, Wes and I went to the Ogden River Parkway for a run. I wanted to test my knee and see where I stand in the pain department. I've been using the foam roller on my IT band for two days now, so I'm not sure that will make any huge difference yet. We ran into Jessica in the parking lot before we got started. She just finished a 9-mile run, which is pretty impressive in my book.

Wes taking a Gu Shot before our run.

The run was tougher than expected in the cardio department. Running is completely different from swimming when it comes to fitness level. Swimming for almost four and a half hours last week still doesn't make me breathe as hard as I did today when I was running. My knee, to my surprise felt fine for the most part. I started feeling the usual discomfort and then pain by about 3.5 miles, so I didn't go for too long after that. Shockingly, I finished in 38:40, just a few minutes behind Wes. I don't think I've ever ran four miles that fast before. Maybe that's why I felt so winded. Perhaps I took it out a little too hard and need to slow down a bit.

It's still hard to say how much my knee can take. I certainly am not capable of running a half marathon on it right now, but I have two solid weeks to work at it before the Huntsville Half Marathon registration deadline passes.

Total distance: 4 miles running.

What's next? Half marathon?

It's been a full week since Bear Lake, which is the longest I've gone without working out since I started exercising again over a year and a half ago. I saw the specialist on Tuesday and, to my disappointment, he really didn't give me any new information about my shoulder. The only thing I learned is that I haven't seriously damaged anything, so surgery or anything like won't be required. He offered me another cortisone injection, but I turned it down, because it only seemed to piss my shoulder off even more last time.

It's torture to use, but it is very highly reviewed for helping with IT band injuries.

I think I'm going to take one more full week off from swimming while trying to strengthen my tendons a bit with exercises the doc gave me. In the meantime, I bought a foam roller to help toughen up and stretch out my IT band in my knee. I say this because Wes is trying to talk me into running the Huntsville Half Marathon with him in a little over a month. That isn't a ton of time to train, but cardio-wise, I think I'm already in moderate shape. A half marathon and perhaps even a full marathon are both on my bucket list, but the knee kind of stopped me the last time I trained for one, although I was making very good progress, reaching eight miles at one point.

I'll start tomorrow with a 3-4 mile run with Wes and see how it feels.

Race report: Bear Lake crossing

What a 24 hours it has been. The Bear Lake swim turned out to be a success, although at times I felt like a total failure. Anyway, here's a breakdown of the day.

The best smile I could muster after the race.

Jen and I stayed at a campground the night before on the Idaho (east) side of the lake. There was nothing else available in the camping department, even though I checked six weeks in advance. We both slept like crap, due to noisy neighbors and a windy night. We both probably got less than two hours of sleep. Not a good start. In the morning, before the sun was even up, we drove around the lake to the marina in Garden City to get shuttled to the start, which was at Cisco Beach, close to where we were camping, but we wanted our car to be on the other side and ready for us when the race was over. On the bus, we chatted with Chad, Goody and his support kayaker, Lang while we drove back around the lake to the starting point. It's always fun to see those guys and I hope to see them more often this winter in some polar bear plunges.

The start of the race at Cisco Beach. I pilfered this photo from Goody's blog.

Jen and I got the kayak loaded up at the start, I did some light stretching and waded around in the water waiting for the start. A wet suit swimmer next to me was complaining about the cold water and it made me laugh, because I thought it was really warm. I looked over at Goody when she said that and he just grinned. I didn't crack any jokes about her finger paddles and flippers she had on for the swim either.

All is well and progress is good about halfway across.

The race started and we were off. I felt very good early, even though I fell to the back of the pack within the first mile or two. I was only in front of one other swimmer at that point. The water was calm, and Jen had me going at a nice pace. It wasn't until about Mile 4 or so that I started to have trouble. There were supposed to be buoys marking every mile across the lake, but some were nowhere in sight, except way off to the left and right of us. We probably followed the wrong one for a good 40 minutes before realizing the buoys had drifted and I wasted some very valuable "shoulder time" as I called it. Because not long after that, the pain started and my left arm deteriorated quickly after that. It got really bad, so I immediately went into breaststroke. For most of the remainder of the race, I alternated breaststroke and freestyle, but for a while, I couldn't get more than 20-30 strokes at a time before going back to breast. I had fallen into last place and the nearest swimmer was beyond sight, so I knew I was very far back.

Plugging away with my breaststroke

At that point, after another feed, I really wanted to stop. The race organizers were in a speedboat and were constantly zipping around me causing a strong wake and it made progress very slow. I was pissed off, in a lot of pain, but Jen wouldn't let me quit, even though I probably took a lot of my anger out on her. She pointed out a buoy to me after talking with the guys on that boat, claiming it was the Mile 5 mark, even though I probably had already done at least six. I could see the marina way off in the distance and those last "two" miles were torture. Every time I looked up, it didn't appear any closer. Later, Jen said I was pretty much swimming in place because there was a heavy current coming out of the marina due to a constant stream of boats exiting the docks. It didn't help that the same organizers were turning up the water all around me. I was beat down, both physically and emotionally.

After what seemingly took forever, my shoulder went completely numb, which probably isn't good, but the pain went away, so I said screw it and went back to freestyle for good. I finally saw another swimmer about 300 yards ahead as I finally approached the marina and Jen just looked at me with a stone face and said, "If you have anything left in the tank, now is the time. You can catch him." That got me amped and I really poured it on with my strokes, even though I was still moving slow. I caught the guy and passed him with ease as we rounded the rocks on the corner of the marina for the final stretch to the beach. I thought I was crawling at a slow pace, but when I passed the guy, I felt like a missile in the water, because he was BARELY moving, making progress in inches, so I cruised past him.

The final stretch.

Jen and I at the finish. Note the guy and his kayer I barely beat behind me.

Zonked. I couldn't hear very well for a while after. My sinuses are still messed up this morning.

I could hear Tim and Jen's parents cheering me on during the final few hundred yards which was awesome. They made the trip up just to watch me finish, which I can't thank them enough for. I stumbled out of the water and gave Jen a big hug. My watch read 4:21.34, which was well ahead of my goal of finishing under five hours. I didn't finish last either, which would have been a huge disappointment to me. Apparently, I also passed one of the relay teams during that two-mile torture stretch, which was kind of cool. I did the whole thing myself and still beat them. That boosted my ego a bit. Jen claims I probably ended up swimming around 10 miles, although I think that might be a bit of an exaggeration. It was probably closer to eight, or maybe nine at the most, but it was still more than I initially planned or trained for. The race was supposed to be a seven-mile crossing.

I'm so glad to have such a supportive wife. Jen was also hurting from paddling that whole way, fighting the same current and wake that I was and the whole time, she stayed patient with my childish complaints and didn't let me stop, no matter how much I whined. Finishing was quite an accomplishment for her, too and I'm glad we did it together. I'm super proud of her.

Jen is the best wife and support paddler I
could ever ask for.

Overall, I'm glad I did the swim, but it was very poorly organized. I had a hard time getting info leading up to the race, the shirts were cheap, there was ZERO food, water, medals or anything for that matter at the finish. The "marked" course was non-existant, due to the drifting buoys, which in a race that long, is a pretty big thing to screw up. Not to mention the damn race organizers buzzing around me in that boat like a fly throughout the last half of the race. I heard similar complaints from many other swimmers at the beach after the finish. The only real praise I have for the first annual Bear Lake Swim, was the shuttle service before the start. That was nice, I guess.

We went to lunch with Tim, Greg and Anita and we both were pretty much zombies until finally getting home at about 9 p.m.. We immediately fell asleep after showering and twelve hours later, we both feel like we got hit by a truck, but it was totally worth it. Now, it's off to the doctor to see a specialist about my shoulder on Tuesday...

P.S.: I didn't realize it until this morning, but I also passed the 200-mile mark with this race. Kind of a cool coincidence.

UPDATE: The results are posted and the "relay" I thought I beat, was actually another individual swimmer, so I finished third from last, instead of second from last. 14th out of 16 swimmers in my division. Sweet!

Total distance: 8-9 miles. Not really sure, exactly.

Here's a few more photos from the race.

We were all smiles the night before.

Bear Lake at sunset. I was ready to cross that sucker in the morning.

Chad and Goody on the shuttle to the start. They both are first-class
 swimmers and a lot of fun to be around. Utah open water swimmers really
have a great support system.