Day 19 - Feb 15th - Physio One

Today I had the opportunity to meet for the first time with Tyler Blackwelder of Physio One. Talk about a guy that has vision and wants to give back to the community. He and his firm are an asset to the community. Tyler graduated with his doctorate from Loma Linda University and has set up a multi-discipline physical therapy business in Hayden on 8382 North Wayne Drive.

Although his bread and butter is physical therapy he is taking a progressive approach and envisions a one place shop where you can be directed to other businesses or facilities for specialized needs as you become a better endurance athlete, or a faster athlete, or move from standard fitness to performance fitness.  For example he is creating a team approach to work with me that includes coaches, trainers and other practitioners rather than cut off the other relationships and try to solely get my business.

What are Tyler's goals for me after doing a physical evaluation and movement study?  He wants me to be more efficient and improve my output.  Within a short period of time he already discovered my tight calves and said that after biking hard, while in transition to running, they would likely seize up and be the weak link. He is right. 

Next he had me run on the Alter-G treadmill where he dialed back 15% of my weight and had me running as though I weighed 26 pounds less at 147.  I had no experience on that machine before today. I can see it will be my friend. I am looking forward to many more visits with Tyler and to learn from him and improve my efficiency and output.

Day 18 - Feb 14th - Twin Girls

Occasionally I have to blog about the joys of being a grandpa and not a triathlete. Today I got to see our second son Dave Dance and his family who will be moving to Hayden in July and joining the North Idaho Eye Clinic as an ophthalmologist. He just had two twin girls born to his wife Channing on Jan 10, 2013. I saw them briefly in the hospital then, so now a month later I got to hold them again today. Aren't they the cutest two little girls?  They were used to being close to each other for nine months so they still enjoy snuggling together.  They represent our 13th and 14th grandchildren and my parent's 100th and 101st posterity or in-laws. I came from a large family, my wife Julienne came from a large family and our first married children seem to be having large families. Five of our eight children are married, and three to go. Their valentine's card arrived in the mail as I was going down to the Kroc Center to meet with Melissa van Wyngaardt and begin Core Training. I also got to meet Tyler Blackwelder of Physio One for the first time today. I will blog about both of them tomorrow. There is too much good stuff they taught me too skip over it lightly. But it is 10:45pm and I need to hit the sack.

Day 17 - Wed Feb 13 - 2nd Swim Lesson

Today I met with Lauren again as a swim coach. She is a great supporter of my triathlon training. I see here everywhere in the KROC Center. She told me to go to Big 5 to get swim goggles. I said Big 5? Will they have what I need? I thought that I needed to go to someplace special to get something like that. Lauren simply said - you will find what you need there.

So I went. Amazing. They had all sorts and kinds, an entire rack of swim goggles. I looked for the size that Gloria told me she liked - a little bigger size, not quite so small. So I picked out the speedo BAJA that was an over-sized comfort goggle, that had anti-fog, latex free, UV protection, and speed fit. I have never owned any goggles before. Once or twice I have tried someone else's on but they always seemed too tight and uncomfortable. Of the three classifications of speedo goggles these were "active" not the higher up "performance" or "competition". I just wanted to try some out so I bought a reasonable pair for $19.99.

As I met Lauren at the pool I tried them on swam with them and they worked very well. I was surprised how well I could see underwater compared to using a mask. They felt natural like I had used them before and there was no discomfort or water leakage. Of course when I got home I read the inside flap of the package that said: Rinse after each use, air dry, avoid touching inside of lens, store in the package or a soft case. Well, as a novice, I had already violated all of those precautionary measures in the first day of use. There is always tomorrow. Theresa took the picture of us above. What I like about KROC employees is that they all seem to have stretch goals and Theresa was no exception.  She wants to become a __________________ (I will have to ask her again as I forgot.)

Lauren had me start again where we did the first time. (1) Head straight down, fins on (2) Body on the side, one arm straight out, fins on. (3) Then on the other side, (4) Then switching sides, (5) Then without fins. Jane Graybill wasn't feeling good so I was the only object of Lauren's attention. She said I was not looking comfortable in the water, trying to get my head up too far, not turning enough side to side. Lots to work on, but I had goggles this time. I felt what I was doing in the water and sometimes 1/2 of the length was good, but I never had a complete length that was consistent. Lauren called it like it is. I like her as a coach and can see I will learn much from her.

I can't imagine racing a triathlon of any length without a swimming coach. I probably would finish the swim but with no style and probably completely drained. This is my weakest area so I need to concentrate on it.

What is interesting is that Lauren said I need to strengthen my core, that swimming is not so much with just your arms, but your whole body. My core started disappearing 30 years ago so that is an area of need. Whenever she gives me advice I listen.

As I went out to try the spin bikes again, Lauren pointed out Melissa who was right next to me and said she would be a great core muscle instructor so I talked to her while we were spinning. She was booking it on the bike and today was a rest day for her. Her cadence seemed to always be above 110.  She doesn't swim much but in the bike/run duathlon she is a competitor. She has won a few races. Her half marathon time is 1:20 and she wants 1:19 this summer. I am going to encourage her on.

My results were much improved on the spin bike. I rode 9 miles at an average speed of 22.6 mph in 23.56 minutes at level 6 with an average heart rate of 135. I feel that biking might be my strength.  After biking I went to get signed up for a core fitness class with Melissa.  Jessica Riley was the KROC employee that asked me if I had done my 3 free Gold Member classes yet. No one else had asked that. So thank you Jessica. Her she is signing me up for a core class.

While running on the treadmill I tried seeing if my leg was healed up enough from my ski fall that I could run a bit faster. I started at 12 minute miles, went to 10, then 9:50, 9:30, 9:00, then 8:34 for the last two minutes. I quit early as my heart rate was too high. I noticed on the wall chart that my rate should be 112-136 for exercising and peak at 160.

So far the most dedicated KROC member that I have seen, almost every time I have been at the Center is Katie Doty. She has been on a treadmill or bike every time I have been in there and for a good long time. Way to go Katie.

Day 16 - Tues Feb 12 - Sore Sore Sore

After feeling good about being in the pool, spinning, and running I am sore sore sore today. Unfortunately it is not my muscles it is my below the waist parts. Bicycling in wet swim trunks is not a good idea. I am glad I found out now rather than in a triathlon. Looking online I found some advice about compression shorts, tri-shorts and glide. I 'll report later what I decided and how it worked out.

Tonight I ran for 30 minutes which is the longest since my ski fall 3 weeks ago. It felt good to run for more than a few minutes, but I didn't want to push things, just plain run and see how I felt. Average pace was 10 min miles so nothing special but the last 5 min were tougher than I thought at that pace.

The plan was to bike for 30 and then swim a little. The reverse of tri events. I didn't want to be cycling in wet shorts again today. But after 5 min on the spinner I started hurting again below the belt so I quit and went to the elliptical for 20 minutes which was okay.

On my way out I saw Lauren, my swim coach, and met her husband Eric. He seems nice. While on the treadmill I saw Zach and Katie Doty. She is very dedicated. I think she had already been on the treadmill for an hour and must have done another 30-60 minutes while I was there. 

Day 15 - Mon Feb 11 - First Swim Lesson

Today I had my first swim lesson in 45 years. I figure my last one was in the Sondhiem's pool in Magnolia on 44th Ave in Seattle WA probably when I was 16 years old. I took it with Jane Graybill, who also is preparing for the triathlon. She had a lesson before me and had already learned a lot. I had to start at ground zero. Here is what Lauren had me do:

Swimming
1) Swim with a board and fins breathing out through my nostrils and in through my mouth.  I don't think I have ever breathed out through my nostrils that I remember.
2) Swim with a board on my side doing the same. I found out I have a weak left side.
3) Do the crawl stroke with fins breathing properly. I was thrusting my head way too far out of the water.
4) Do the crawl stroke without fins breathing properly. The real thing.
5) Switch from the crawl to backstroke.

That was it. I learned much in that short 1/2 hour lesson.  I talked to Lauren about her triathlon experiences. It is so valuable to do so. Because it is all so new I have so many questions that I have not considered before such as my question today - At what cadence do you attempt to ride a bike in a triathlon if you are a novice?  The answer was over 90 but less than 100.

Biking
So I went to spin a bike for 30 laps against Greg LaMond again. I did 9 miles in 26.31 minutes at a level 5 with an average heart rate of 133 and an average speed of 20.2. My cadence was generally between 90 and 100. I found that my upper left inside thigh hurt again between the 6-9 minute mark and then went away.  I also noticed that the back of my thighs had been exercising when I got off.

Running
I immediately ran up the stairs and then ran for 10 minutes around the track. I feel that the muscle I pulled falling while skiing at Schweitzer two weeks ago is finally starting to mend and I can begin to run again.

KROC Center Mini Tri
Swimming, biking, running make up a triathlon. My first KROC center mini tri was today.

I also saw Susan, Conner, Kip, and Gloria that all work at the KROC center. They are all so supportive of my first attempts.

Day 14 - Sun Feb 10 - Second Blog - Roger Thompson

I just ran across Roger Thompson's blogs about his two wins of the CDA Triathlon. The first in 2009 and the second in the 40 and over class a few years later.  You can read about his 2011 race here. I enjoyed the details of the race, the sign in, the last minute prep, the swimming feelings, the biking strategy, his energy in running and feelings of accomplishment. For a novice I read every detail and learned from it. Thanks for your blog Roger.

Day 14 - Sun Feb 10 - Weight Report

I am glad it is Sunday, the Sabbath Day, a time to rest from weekly work and turn our attention to worship and serving others. I don't plan on working out on Sundays, but do believe it is a good time to reflect on the past week and plan for the following week. And a good time to weigh in.

On Day 3 blog I reported the following starting data from my Omni BodyFat Analyzer

Weight	Fat Percentage	Body Mass Index
180	27.4%	27.8%

 
Now on Day 14 I am reporting the following improvements:

Weight	Fat Percentage	Body Mass Index
173	27.0%	27.7%

I figure that some of the weight gain from the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays has started to recede. The next 15 pounds will be much harder and once we get down past 8 more pounds we will be dipping into uncharted territory. It has been a long time since I was less than 165 pounds and I like to get under 160.

To make sure that I am using somewhat accurate measurements I looked into the scale that I've had for 10 years. Lo and behold it does more than just measure weight. It is a Conair Model WW87 Scale that has something to do with Weight Watchers although I didn't buy it from them.  I set it up for user 1 at 5 foot 7 inches and age 62 as I didn't want to see any undeserved improvement at the end of next month when I change from age 61 to 62.

Here are the first time measurements that it reported.

Weight	Body Fat Weight	Body Fat Percentage	Body Water	Bone Mass
173	43.5	25.3%	54.5	6.5

Can anyone comment on these numbers and tell me what it all means for someone 61 and 11/12ths? What is low, normal, and high numbers for someone my age?  Thank you.

I will report the measurements again next Sunday.