"March" Your Way Out Of Here

A beautiful Saturday, I ran outside, in shorts at that.  Got sweaty and was almost hot...Almost. Today I wake up and the ground is covered in snow.  I am curse that stupid groundhog today, Old Man Winter and everyone else I can for teasing me like this.  I have been riding my trainer all winter, I can ride it for a bit longer, but it is really not nice to tease me like that!

This off season has not been particularly as good as last years.  Last year I was just getting started, everything I tried went well and I was loving the results.  Sure if you go back through the posts, you'll find something that threw me off, the struggles of going paleo at first and the wonders of plateauing during weight loss.  Overall though, things went very well last year and I am pleased with the results.

This year, its been, well different.  Through student teaching, injury and over training, lets just say I need some warm weather.  Student teaching was rough on my training schedule to say the least.  After the Atlantic City race, training took a back seat to everything else that was going on.  After graduation it was GO time!  I was back in the weight room, I was swimming, I was biking, I was running.  If it was a form of exercise, I was participating in it.  Not so fast killer....Next thing you know the injuries started popping up.  I was told to ease back in and I didn't.  I got hurt and I was told to take it easy......I didn't.  I paid, and I paid big time.   I had to take some serious time off, I had to get my back healthy and then I needed to reevaluate my training and what I was doing.  My first tri isn't until June....I needed to dial things back and so I did.  The other thing I did was something I hate doing, but knew I had to....I began to seek the advice of a coach.  Eduardo from Bodyfeed was awesome in helping me get back on my feet.  He wrote personalized training plans for me based on my goals and he checked in with me on a daily basis.  Better yet, it was FREE!!!  He is willing to do the same for anyone else as well, he is confident that if you are not satisfied you can leave at any time but you can get up to 3 months of training for free.

Once back on my feet, I began to feel healthy, happy and back to where I needed to be.  Not all of my training has gone exactly as planned but I am feeling good about it.  There have been days I have not wanted to do my workout for that day, there have been days where I have skipped but there is still no doubt in my mind that this is something I love! One of the groups that has helped my push through these times and led to some great workouts is Further Faster Forever.  It is a group on Instagram and twitter that is centered around triathlon and pushing/ supporting each other through training.  You can join on their site and check out all of the positive and motivating pictures on Instagram!

On Saturday post run I was leaving the club and someone at the desk asked me what I was doing.  It was a Saturday on St Patty's weekend so I guess they were expecting something along the lines of going out to blackout and not remember the night before and spend my Sunday laying around nursing a hangover.  I simply responded with well I am not really sure yet.  Their next response was the one that caught me slightly off guard though "Can't you just go out and do something fun for once?"  I didn't think I was a lame person.  I like to go out and have fun with my friends, I do enjoy going to the bar now and again and I think if you surveyed my friends they would say I can be a pretty fun guy.  I just thought that it was strange that because I wasn't going out to the bar they felt as though I wasn't doing anything "fun" Maybe I am lame and not fun anymore because I don't go to the bar every weekend and I am ok with that.

Sunday meant brick day for me, another reason I did not go to the bar Saturday.  Something tells me riding 15 miles on the bike followed immediately by a 5K would be anything less than splendid while nursing a hangover.  So I got home in the afternoon after AM water workout and running some errands.  I fired up the trainer and threw on some Walking Dead.  After my 10 min warmup I got into the groove and just started pedaling.  I did not want to shift gears or do 1 min in this gear and 1 min in that because I have a different day set up for intervals.  I spent this time trying to get used to being in the areo position and focus on my pedal stroke and play with my nutrition a bit.  I hit my 15 miles and it was immediately off, throw on my Newton Running Motion and grab my Powerbar gel.  I had my Garmin set to multisport mode so all I had to do was hit lap and it went right into the run mode.  The watch was covered just enough for me to see the distance, I wanted everything else to be off of feel for this run.  I did my 5K and when I hit the distance, I had no idea how long I have been going for.  I hit stop on the Garmin and excitedly pulled my sleeve up to see the time.  25:45!!  For those of you keeping tabs, this was maybe 1:30 off my PR time at most.  I was ecstatic!  It was a great way to finish out my weekend and I got to run outside to boot!  I was using Osmo hydration while on the bike and when I jumped off to go run I had a gel with me.  As I started running I had a stomach ache but nothing serious and after I took my gel it came back a bit.  Obviously it didn't effect me too much since I had a great run but I am not sure what it would do on a longer run.  That's why you practice your nutrition in training!

Today things are light, I have a swim, probably in my wetsuit since I like to do that once a week and some strength intervals.  Sticking to my plan and keeping things simple.  Light days are meant to be light so the hard days can be hard.  Hope everyone is enjoying their training thus far, can't wait for race season coming up!  I really appreciate all the support and look forward to hearing about your training and racing.


All for now
Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself



I do not post on here on a daily basis but you can follow my training and other posts here!

It's Been too long....

Where have the days gone? It is October 1st.  My first race is here and gone. School, work, lessons, planning, training...everything is in full swing and it doesn't seem to have a brake pedal anywhere to be found. 

Things have been interesting since post race weekend here.  As I said, the school year is in full swing and so balancing teaching and training has been hard.  I wanted to do one more race for this season before I clean and rack the bike but I don't think that is in the cards.  Balancing time to train in with work and school is tough.  I know this is a taste of things to come but at the same time it will be different.  Trying to find that balance shall be a challenge though.

After the success of the first race, I cannot wait to get to the next and the next and the next.  The entire weekend was absolutely amazing and the support from everyone made it even better.  People have been asking what my goal distance is and where I want to be.  Ultimately I would like to complete a half Ironman, preferably Miami.  Unfortunately there are too many unknowns for me at this point in my life to make a commitment to something that big.  First the cost...My bike is too small and needs work, or I need to get a new one.  It is $300 to register for the race...travel expenses etc.  I also have no idea where I will end up after graduation.  This is ok with me though because I do not want to take things too fast.  I want to take my time and ensure I am prepared and ready for what I am going to do.  I do not want to take too many steps or too big of a step. Next season I step up to an international and then 2015 is a half!

I know I have said it 1,000 times but I can't thank you all enough for the support I have received on this journey.  Both from long time friends and people who I have never met in my life.  It is incredible and I thank you.  I was talking with a friend a few weekends ago and he said "You know man you are just out there doing your thing.  You didn't need a pitty party, you didn't need any crazy products, you put in the hard work and you did it up man.  Keep going!" My man Heem! Such a stand up guy.

As for Atlantic City....call me selfish but I can't help but be honest and say that I was scanning the entire bike and run course, transition and finish chute for one person.  Not to take ANYTHING away from the incredible people who were there in any way shape or form.  They were incredible throughout the entire race and I'll never be able to thank them enough.  I was looking for one person in particular though...who never did show....guess something came up, or they just decided not to for personal reasons.  It sucks but hey I can't do anything about it.

I did have a 5k race last weekend but I will do an entire post on that because it was for a special cause and I have a good bit to say about it.  As for now, it is just swimming, biking, and running.  I can't wait to get my life back in December when this nonsense is finally over!!  I feel like I just wrote a bunch of fluff but didn't really say much in this post.  Bottom line is I am having difficult balancing time, can't keep my head straight and I just want to do another race so bad!  Other than that, my life is boring right now.

I am going to sign off and try and get it together.  Thanks for reading


All for now
Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself


ps. There has been a rule in place for the blog and people ask me why.  If you know me in person, you may not ask questions about any of the posts.  I have no idea who reads this, it does not tell me who the views are from and unless you drop something in the comments, I have no idea that you were ever here.  I appreciate all of the views and love the support, it means the world...There is something to be said about not knowing though.  If I knew who all of my readers were, I would tailor posts dependent upon who was reading them.  I do not want to do this...I want everything to be there out in the open so that people can see, I am just a real, average guy who is doing this.  There will be hardships on the way, however if you keep your eyes on the prize, you will grasp what you are reaching for.  If you have asked me a question already and I answered you, no worries, it probably wasn't something that was too big of a deal...just FYI :)

A BAD Case of the Modays

Ever hear that saying when it rains it pours?  Well that was me today.  It just felt like if there was something that could go wrong...it would.  I can't seem to win today and I am so ready to get out of this rut and start a fresh day tomorrow.

First of all I did my brick yesterday.  It was my first real brick workout and it was hard....very hard!  I drove down to the Y to park my car and jump on my bike.  I headed out filled with energy and a few cold water bottles.  I rode the route I usually go on from the Y and it was a nice ride.  The weather was beautiful and I just embraced the ride.  I finished 18 miles and headed back to the Y.  I jumped off my bike, switched my shoes, grabbed another water bottle and sucked down my Power Bar gel before heading out on my run.....OUCH!!! My legs were not happy with me, they felt like wet noodles when I started running.  I had my Nike+ app going and I felt like I was running at a 15:00 pace and I wanted to stop so bad.  Just as I rounded the line for my first mile, I could hear the app kick in and I wanted to swallow my head because I knew it was going to tell me my time.  That annoying voice chirping in my ear and then it came....8:00 first mile after an 18 mile ride!! Holy cow did that feel awesome!  I knew I had to put in at least another mile so I forged on.  Trying to keep pace with that 8:00 mark I picked up my speed.  She came on again after the second mile and I hit another 8:00 mile.  I couldn't believe it.  I have never held that pace before and I just did it, after an 18 mile ride!!!  What an INCREDIBLE feeling of accomplishment that came over me. 

Strava from my brick

Run portion of my brick.

Today didn't go so well though.  I got to work and I had forgotten my lock to put my bag in a locker.  Unfortunately we live in a world where you just can't trust anyone so I put my bag on the pool deck.  What's one day right? It's not that big of a deal....wrong! I got yelled at for having my bag on the deck when there were three other people who had their bags out there.  I took my wallet and keys out of my back and put the rest of my stuff in a locker.  I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, I was breaking the rules, no big deal.  It just felt like I was getting in trouble when I always have my stuff in a locker but other people don't.  Maybe I am being too sensitive, oh well...

I then got an email that my midterm paper for my summer class was late.  I was on the school's website everyday over the last week checking for my professor to put an update with what was due and she never did, so I assumed that nothing was do....well you know what they say about assuming.  So I said OK, no big deal I will just complete the paper when I get home and upload it.  AGAIN wrong....the paper requires a book which I of course, you guessed it, don't have.  So on top of not turning in the other assignments for last week, I know have no submitted my paper.....this is not going to end well.  I knew this class was going to be hell, but I really can't afford to fail this class.  I have to skip sailing tomorrow and find this stupid book to complete my paper.  I can only hope that my professor will accept it late and just give me a grade.  I need a C to pass this class and just be done.  I am praying that I can make that happen. 

Other than that today was very uneventful.  I needed to post to vent and get these things off my chest so that I can fall asleep and hopefully start tomorrow fresh.  I did my lift today but it didn't feel the same.  Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things tomorrow.  Although this was a bad day, I refuse to let it set the tone for the rest of my week.  I am going to stick to my guns and get things done!  One bad day isn't going to throw me off track and it shouldn't throw you off either.  Wishing you all a good week and hopefully it got off to a better start than mine!  Thank you for reading!


All for now
Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself

WOW that's all I have to say...

It's been quite some time in between this post and last and I apologize.  Things have been very busy around here with the summer in full swing.  At times it feels like I am rolling downhill with no brakes, but it is keeping me busy!

I left you off with the annual 3rd of July party and it was a good time as always.  Just like vacation this year was different than previous years.  We were short quite a few friends this year but that is to be expected with everyone going different directions in their life.  We had a great time none the less and it was very enjoyable. 

The 4th was nothing to write home about, we had a few people here by the pool and a small BBQ but nothing too crazy.  I had to be up and out early on Friday for work so I wasn't getting too crazy.  It really just felt like a pretty routine week for me, with a little extra time off.  This isn't helping me much since mother nature hasn't been cooperating and I haven't been able to teach many lessons.  Friday after work I wanted to go for a ride but I didn't want to go alone, it was extremely hot and I had just about every excuse there was in the book.  Nonetheless I geared up and went for a ride.  There is something about climbing on your bike and just going.  It got me right back to where I needed to be.  The terrain here is quite different than anywhere else I have ridden so far.  As soon as you hit the peak of one hill, you are going down to the base of another!  It was a challenge but at the same time I really enjoyed it...NO CHALLENGE NO CHANGE!

My Strava report from my ride.

As for the rest of the weekend it was really routine here.  Didn't get too crazy or do too much at all.  Just a lot of the same old same old.  Sunday I woke up and went to church then went for a swim.  I need to get a little faster in my swim if I want to hit my goal on finishing top 10 in my age group.  It I go sub 1:15 for my race this is completely possible and I am stopping at nothing to get there.  After this we went to a birthday party for my cousin who turned 4 on July 3rd.  It was a party with multiple 4 years stuck inside because it, yep you guessed it, RAINED!  So sick of this weather!  None the less it was good to see some family that I haven't seen for awhile and I don't have any complaints, I love being around kids!

Here's the a little dude with and entire plum shoved in his mouth!

I have a few things that I really wanted to share so that is why I wanted to write this post.  The first was that I started this blog and made my first post in May.  Since then I have had over 700+ views on here.  When I logged in to see that, it was so rewarding. WOW.... Just absolutely INCREDIBLE to me.  700 views....I can't even wrap my mind around it.  I did not think in a million years that there were that many people interested in what I had to say!  I hope everyone is enjoying the post and getting something out of it because at the end of the day, that's all I want!

Next on the 3rd we were sitting around the fire and playing a silly game.  We had to go around the circle and say something nice about or to the person sitting to our left.  A very good buddy and workout partner of mine was sitting to my right so it was his turn.  Mind you this is one of the guys that really got me started.  There were multiple who have been absolutely instrumental in this whole things and he is definitely one.  However, I was not prepared for what was to happen next...it came to his turn and he said:

"I've been in the gym with you since day one brother and you have come so far, it's awesome and you need to keep it up brother...great work."

I have looked up to this guy since we started lifting together back in January.  He ALWAYS pushes me to work harder, give it my best, and walk away knowing I left it all out there.  For him to give me respect like that was an irreplaceable feeling and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Again another WOW!

On Saturday we went out on the river for the afternoon.  I left the gym after a lift and I was feeling great.  I threw on some boardies and my tank and I was ready to hit it and show off my hard work.  We left the dock and had a nice ride down to the flats.  When we got there I looked over and saw some chicks sitting on there boat and they looked over at us.  Naturally I was all excited because I just left the gym and I was feeling great....Until they started laughing...WTF?!?! AGAIN!!  Was the laughter directed at me or was it a coincidence...? I will never know but naturally I could only assume that it was.  I wanted to walk over to their boat and say "Do you realize how far I have come?!" But I didn't.  I jumped in the water and went to play some games with my friends.  Yeah it got to me a little but not enough to go and put my tank back on and that is what the old me would have done.  It's a start right!?

When I got up to brush my teeth somewhere over the last week or two I noticed some changes.  Some changed I REALLY like.  I am beginning to see my shoulders and Bi's develop and it's a great feeling.  I have never seen changes like this before and so every little thing counts and every little step is more like a giant leap for me.  It helps me and pushes me to keep going.  I have stopped getting on the scale as much as I used to and really just focused on the changes I am beginning to see and it has helped a ton.  Check out this pic of my "shoulders" starting to pop out a little bit!(yes I took it while brushing my teeth, don't judge!)

 Also take not of my sweet road id that I am super excited about!

Lastly today I was on my phone and someone responded to a tweet on my personal account.  He was asking about the "challenge" that I keep posting about.  I told him that it was about the last 10lbs I want to get rid of before I hit the 100 mark and that I was helping motivate a good friend who I was helping get started.  He said that was awesome and gave me congrats.  I didn't even know that he was following me, let a lone paying enough attention to what I was tweeting.  It was pretty cool that someone saw something and wanted to know more about what was going on.  I am overwhelmed with people inquiring about what I am doing, who actually care and want to see me succeed.  And that was my third and final WOW of the evening. 

I have been up since 4:45 and I am absolutely exhausted, I probably forgot some things I wanted to say but I think I hit on most of it.  Tomorrow I am up early again to do some meal prepping and such before work.  Going to also try and squeeze in an AM run before I have to jump in the pool to teach some lessons.  I went out and bought tons of food today so now the only thing left to do is cook it.  Have a plan or plan to fail my friends!!  Keep doing what you are doing and remember stop worrying about those other people!  There are always people who are going to talk and as long as you are doing what YOU want you're good! They have to put their head on the pillow at the end of the day and at least you can do it, knowing you did something you are happy about!

All for now

Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself

A little of this and a little of that

So this post will probably take me awhile but I want to make sure to get all the things out there that I have in my head. As you probably already know, there's a lot going on up there! Haha

So it's Monday May 20th. I am coming off an awesome weekend away! Had a blast with my buddy all weekend, yeah the same one who left me high and dry on the run! Haha just kidding ;) I was showered over with compliments and boy did it feel great!  I'm not someone who goes fishing for compliments or needs them just to get through the day. HOWEVER I will have you know, I do love me a good compliment now and again :). Other than that, it was a pretty standard weekend away. A hell of a lot of  NOTHING to do in Chambersburg PA that's for sure. 

Today is a pretty standard Monday for me, got up and made breakfast. Decided I should probably go green smoothly to detox some of the crap that was in my system. I only cheated twice, but my theory is if you're going to cheat, ya gotta at least make it count! So I had a big ole burger one night and some chicken wings the other. Nothing too crazy though. I have learned through this little journey that for me if I have a craving for something, I eat it. If I want a cookie I have one, or ice cream or candy, etc. If I deprive myself from things like this then all I do is think about it for the next three or four days.  Cue the downward snowball effect now and next thing you know I'm eating and entire box of cookies as opposed to just eating one when I had the craving for it. As I have said before I'm not the best out there, hell I don't even know half the things some do, but I have experienced it, I have lived it, so hey maybe I know a little something. 

Here is my delicious smoothie from this morning:

1/3 cup each of avocado, strawberries, and blueberries. 1 green apple and a little bit of water BOOM!

After I devoured this deliciousness I headed out the door to work. I jumped in the car and poked around my radio stations, then comes Teenage Dream by Katy Perry and I about lost it. It's incredible how one song can take you back to this spot in your life where you were and you feel everything you felt in that moment. I hate it and I love it all at the same time. This song was probably one of the first songs someone said they thought about me when they heard and so they would sing it to me or text me the lyrics, blah blah blah, I won't sit here and bore you with the details of it. It's just crazy how the words took me right back to that point. Now why am I telling you about this you may ask?  I am not really sure, I just need to get it off my chest to be honest and this is my outlet for one. For two its the third or fourth time in less than 24 hours something has happened and I've immediately thought of...well yeah you can guess by now. 

I guess the other reason I bring this up is because it ties in to what one of the guys said to me this weekeend in a way. If you'll remember he said "don't let anything or anyone get in your way!". When it comes to something like this, something that takes a lot of focus out of you sometimes it can be hard to not let thing get in your way. Especially when you're talking about feelings. Like I said before I'm taking everything careful but I'm certainly not brushing it under the rug, everything happens for a reason. Along with that I came to the conclusion that with this sport, it is about 10-20% training and probably 80-90% mental. It takes a huge toll on you mentally to stay on track and stay dedicated to what you want. But when you want something as bad as you need to breath you will make it happen!

This weekend was a reminder that I am doing great things and I CANNOT and WILL NOT give up!  The motivation that I got to keep going was incredible and I loved it. I needed it and it was absolutely the perfect push. This game is so mental and when someone gives you that push by showing they care, it amazing. I would love to have the effect that these people have had on me on someone else. That would make me successful. That would be just absolutely amazing. 

Well I am done work and done what I think is everything I had to say so it's time to pack it in and go hit the road for a little run!  Thanks for reading, come back again :)

All for now

Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself