Day 63 - Easter Sunday Mar 31 - Weigh In

A gorgeous day for Easter Sunday spent with family while contemplating the resurrection. My weight today was lower and continues to drop. 167.2 pounds is what the scale read.

Everyone of my sons present got into the act and wanted to know what they weighed. David, Tom, Johnny, and Jeff were the order of weight ranging from about 140 to 160 with an average of less than 150. That's what I'd like to get down to. 

Day 62 - Sat Mar 30 - Skiing Schweitzer

A beautiful day up at Schweitzer Mountain ski resort. I went with four of my eight children and their families. 50 degree weather on the slopes, corn snow and tracks top to bottom. We are a fast skiing bunch including the grandchildren ages 8 and up. I don't remember my thighs burning as much for a long time. I wonder what kind of triathlon workout skiing like this is? It certainly works some different muscle groups.

Day 57 - Mar 25th - Spinning & Running

Melissa, my fitness coach was out sick today, so rather than have her show me my new fitness exercises I decided to take a spin. Here was the workout:

12 miles in 37:33 minutes at level 8 with an average heart rate of 133 and 344 calories burnt.

Followed by 4 laps upstairs to practice running after transition.

6 miles in 18 minutes at level 8 with an average heart rate of 133 and 172 calories burnt.

Followed by 4 laps upstairs to practice running after transition.

10 minutes on the new machine that seems like it works the inside and outside of your thighs and knees. Almost a downhill ski conditioning machine. It was tough for the first 3 minutes as it worked different muscles. It is like an elliptical but much harder on my muscles. I will report the name when I figure out what it is.

Followed by 4 laps upstairs to practice running after transition.

It must have been a good workout, because when I got home my family said they could smell me and sent me to the shower before dinner.

I thought it was a long workout. Total time about 1:30, but when I called my daughter Maria who is training for the CDA Ironman she said she was going for a spin for a few hours or more with 3 others Ashley, Brendon, and Adam and watching a movie. Here is a picture of their spinning set up.

Day 56 - Mar 24th - Weigh In

I continue to lose pounds each week and that is now known to be helpful because the AlterG treadmill shows me how faster and stronger a runner I am without the weight.

Today I weighed 167.5 which is 12.5 pounds less than when I started at 180. My suit pants looked a little baggy today and I had to take my belt in another notch. Progress.

Day 55 - Sat Mar 23rd - Prom Help

Jacqualine Fagan, a sophomore at Coeur d'Alene high school  thought it would be nice to have a formal dance with dress standards so several months ago as part of a personal progress goal she started to organize one that was held Saturday night at the Lake City Center on Lakewood. 

Here is the picture of her with her red hair and then below the couples that assembled at the Erik and Sonny Curtis home in CDA for an elegant dinner and limo ride to the dance. Knowing I would be helping with the event until late at night, and was at soccer games and other grandkid events early in the day, I got my training in mid day. 

 

 I'd been a pretty good eater at the wedding a week earlier and throughout most of the week, but as a dinner helper I think that I ate too much tonight. Troy Black talked to me about his body builder diet he was on. He stuck to it and is in his 8th of a 12 week weight reduction plan. He looks good and toned up now.  I ate dessert and had seconds on the wild salmon, plus ate some popcorn.

Day 52 - March 20th - Hailstorm

Julienne and I ran down to our son David's house to see how construction was coming along. It had been rainy off and on during the day and finally calmed down about 3pm. I took a coat, hat, and gloves. It was about a 4- 5 mile run. Along the way it got hot so I took off my jacket and gloves and hid them in the bushes. Coming back it started to rain again just about the time I retrieved them. No sooner had I done so then hail and lightning started. We were headed up a 1.5 mile hill on Rimrock Road in Hayden. It seemed like the longest mile I have ever run. My ears got beat with the hail, my pants and shoes got soaked. I was cold and tired. Back home a hot shower never felt so good. This was my first experience running in hail.

Day 51 - Tues Mar 19th - Last Day in San Diego

Didn't want to miss a travel day like I did on Friday, so I got up at 4:45am and got another 4 miles in on Encinitas Blvd in Carlsbad, CA before I had to start heading for the plane.

Day 50 - Mon Mar 18th - San Diego

After the wedding I didn't want to relax and let up while out of town. I was able to run 4 miles outside along Encinitas Blvd today.

Day 49 - Sun Mar 17th - Weigh In

Today I weighed 168.2 not bad for being down at a wedding where the temptation was to eat everything in sight.

Day 48 - Sat Mar 16th - San Diego

One of the reasons to train for a triathlon is so I can keep fit and run with my kids and cousins. Today was a payoff after 48 days of work. In the morning, I met at 7am with my cousin Graham Orme who had already ran 8 miles before I met up with him while prepare for a sub 3 hour marathon. He is the one that ran the Tough Mudder race that I have no interest in. Look up the link at http://toughmudder.com/ and see what it is. Here is a preview -> Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie

My daughter Maria was also going for a run with us. I surprised myself and them with a 7:30 first mile time. I couldn't keep it up for the 4 miles like they could, but it was nice to at least be in their league. 

Graham took the picture of Maria and I coming down a San Diego trail and then going back up the same one later. I am wearing my favorite workout shirt - a CDA Triathlon shirt that was too big for one of my kids in 2010. I want to earn my own this year.

 

Day 47 - Friday Mar 15th - Travel Day

I realize that today was not a day to train but to travel and be with relatives prior to Derek & Kat Orme's wedding tomorrow in the San Diego temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Got up at 3am to get to the Spokane airport by 4am for a 5am flight to Seattle, 7am flight to San Diego, car rental by 10:30am, pick up of relatives by 11, drop off to wedding showers, travel to beach to see sons and cousins in a little beach volleyball. 

Then had a new client meeting in Mission Bay San Diego prior to the wedding dinner. Like I said no time today for training, but I was prepared if there was a moment to do so.

Day 45 - Mar 13 - Outdoor Run

I ran the same four mile loop today after our swim lesson with Laurin at the Kroc Center. Julienne has got the hang of it. I am still not breathing right. With fins on I occasionally feel that I am swimming okay, but without them on I am still floundering.  It will take some determination to get this down. I am glad that I have coaches.

Day 43 - Mar 12th - Outdoor Run

Running on the AlterG treadmill at Physio One has allowed my left leg ski injury to heal without having to support all my body weight.

I ran outside today for 4 miles with Julienne . My left leg was no longer the bottle neck point. I think it is now my lungs and breathing. It seems that I just get so tuckered out that I feel I want to stop but know that the CDA Triathlon is over six miles. I am not even running that distance yet. After running on the AlterG and using the machine being able to reduce my weight by 10% to 20% to 30% I feel like I am on Jupiter when I fun at full body weight on the road. Yes I have lost 10 pounds, but I feel that it would be so much easier to run with more endurance if I lost another 15 to 20 pounds and got down to 150 to 155 pounds. I now know what it feels like to run at that weight and it is exhilarating. Something I have not felt for many years.

Day 42 - Mar 11th - Fitness Coach

Melissa van Wyngaardt and I had our second appointment today. which meant no more talk, just workouts. She wrote out a plan for sets of two exercises with different muscles so that I could go directly from one to another. They are to help build my core. Some of them look very easy and of course are surprisingly hard because they involve balance. I find that I can balance better with my right side than with my left. She suggested I work out on these sets 2-3x a week and is planning to give me another group next week.

Day 41 - Mar 10th - Weigh In

I was excited to step onto the scales today. I weighed 169.8. First time under 170 for awhile and my body fat has gone down to 24.5%. I'll take both of those numbers as good progress reports.

Day 39 - Mar 8th - No Pain

Today was the first day that I ran outside and had no pain in my left leg from the ski fall over a month ago. I hadn't run outside since the snow day. I have been training on the Alter G which has helped my leg heal. My first mile time was 7:40 today. I expected it to be 8:30 so I was pleased that my speed work on the treadmill is translating to actual increased speeds on the road.

Day 38 - Mar 7th - N0 Workout

I traveled to Helena MT for a lunch meeting today and didn't get an opportunity to work out. First day that has happened.

Day 37 - Mar 5th - Double Workout & Chris Baker

Today I did a double workout. I ran on the Elliptical at the Kroc Center for 30 min at level 15. That is a hard workout for me right now. I burned 450 calories. Then I went back later in the day for another swim lesson from Laurin. There were a few lengths when I didn't feel that I was drowning for air. I think the tip that Gloria gave me about breathing technique was very helpful.

Tonight I met for the first time with my Tri Coach Chris Baker. Among the things he said that stood out were:

1) Strive for swim efficiency
2) Practice transition and cut out all the necessities
3) Set time goals not position goals as you never know who is going to show up on a given day.
4) Focus my workouts on my strengths and weaknesses not on others
5) A triathlon bike won't help you unless you are going more that 20mph and in a tuck most of the time. Buy a good road bike instead.

Day 37 - Mar 4th Third Post - Charles & Janie Cutting

As I was back on the elliptical machine I had a chance to look around and observe what is going on around me. I saw a gentleman in a grey shirt that said "marathon" something on it. I also saw his wife. They were walking around the track. She had a shirt that said "marathon finisher" on it. I thought they looked pretty dedicated for walkers. I decided if they were still there when I finished I would go talk to them. I was sure they wouldn't still be there. But they were and what a fascinating couple they are. I would like to introduce you to Charles & Janie Cutting who have run 203 and 181 marathon's rescpectively and are about to run their next on in LA on March 17th. Can you believe that?  They started at the Orange Grove marathon in November of 2001 and have run in all 50 states.  They signed up for membership at the Kroc center before it opened and come 3 or more times a week. That's incredible. I knew just watching them there was something special in their dedication but never did I expect those accomplishments. 

Here is a picture of their friend Kathy, on the right,  that often walks with them and is pointing them out. She has been a member of the Kroc Center since 2011 and also often comes 3x a week or more.

Later that same day Julienne, Jane, and I took another swim lesson with Laurin. Jane met the goals for the Feb swimming for the Krocman Challenge. I did not. She calculated the number of days left, and how much she had to swim and swam enough to meet that goal. Way to go Jane Graybill. As long as I was already at the Kroc Center I decided to do more on the elliptical and find out where my limits were.  I went 30 minutes at level 12 this time and it didn't phase me so I must have something left. I am pleased when I am working out at a heart rate about 145 and not above that. This was my first double training day and it felt good except for the swimming. I have a lot to learn there.

Day 37 - Mar 4th Second Post - Kris

At the front desk I got to meet Kris.  She runs one of the early morning shifts and seems to know everyone's name. In fact people passing by said the following about Kris:

• She is always here with a smile
• She goes above and beyond expected customer service
• She knows my name
• She is not reading a book and is paying attention when we arrive.  

I guess I already met her son Kip that I blogged about early on. Another wonderful Kroc employee.

Day 37 - Mar 4th - Tom and Mark

One of the purposes of setting a triathlon goal is to keep up with my active kids or at least participate with them.

I can't believe that ever since we moved to Hayden in July of 2012 I have not once trained at the Kroc Center with my son Thomas Dance, DDS of DR. DANCE Dentistry for Kids on Prairie or his friend Mark Wilson who is a doctor at Deaconess. They go to the Kroc center Monday and Wednesday mornings at 6am and do cardio exercises to warm up and then jump in the pool for laps.  Here they are on the elipse. They helped me see that a level 4 was not much as they were on levels 10 and 11 for 30 minutes. But I am learning.

 

While running I heard Maurissa make an announcement at the front desk about a truck with WA plates having their lights on.  I figured there couldn't be that many so I'd better check and sure enough it was me. I went back and was talking about it and lo and behold right behind me on an elipse was Amy Dreps who had been kind enough to report it. Thank you Amy. 

Day 36 - Mar 3rd - Weigh In

On Sunday's I don't train but rest and be with the family and do church service.

Today I weighed in at 171.2 pounds, a steady decline since Day one and 24.6% body fat which is also down.

Good progress, but with the AlterG machine I know what I can do if I lose 25 pounds or more.