Day 13 - Sat Feb 9 - First Spin Ride with Johnny

Today Johnny Dance went skiing at Schweitzer with some friends. Primarily back country skiing. John Campbell took some very nice looking pictures of Johnny snowboarding. You can see them on his Facebook account at this hot link Jonathan Dance  When he got home we went to the KROC Center to work out.

Maurissa Welsh checked us in at the front desk. She is doing the KROCman Challenge and got me to sign up too. I would encourage each of you to look into it also. The idea is that you do one part of the Ironman each month. In February it is 2.4 miles of total swimming which will be hard for me. Maurissa already has 1,000 yards. In March you bike 112 miles and in April run 26.2 miles. 

 Lance Payne then told me his story. He ran the Hayden Triathlon last year and was slow in swimming but trained vigorously after that and improved greatly by the time of the CDA triathlon. He swam the CDA in about 30 min, then biked in about 1:10 but just as he was 1/4 mile into the run felt damage to his IT band and had to limp the rest of the 6 miles finishing the run in a disappointing 1:06  See this link in Wikipedia for more information about IT bands.

Tonight I got on a spin bike for the first time I can remember. Not knowing what to do I ask Conner for some help in adjusting the seat etc. I raced Greg LaMond  for 30 laps who was doing 80 revolutions per minute. See his official website here. I started at level 2 and went up eventually to level 5 about lap 10. My youngest son Johnny did the same in this picture that Conner took for us.

What is interesting is that my left inner thigh hurts for the first 5 minutes like it needs to get stretched and warmed up and then it goes away the rest of the ride. I will have to check into that and find out what is happening. I was doing about 16mph during that 5 minutes and then stepped up the pace to 20mph or more. At the end of 30 laps I had traveled for 9miles at an average of 18.7mph in 28.56 minutes at an average level of 4.  Does anyone know what an average level or good speed in mph would be for the Hayden Tri or the CDA Tri? I have no clue yet. Also where can I read up on rpms and how to determine what is right for me or the course?  Thanks.  We went to the hot tub after but it was already closed for the night. Next time we'll get there a little earlier.

Day 12 – Fri Feb 8 – Four Inspirational People

Isn’t it wonderful how many inspirational people there are out there if you just look for them?  I am beginning to enjoy getting to pause for just a moment and meet people along the way rather than just pass them by.  Today while entering the KROC Center I met Bella Scott who checked me in and labeled a towel with my name. She has been working there for six months and rides her bike into work 3 miles each way and walks in when there is snow. That is dedication. 

Next to her was Cody Childers who wants to run the Hayden Triathlon this year under 1:20 total. He bought a bike from Mountain View Bike in Hayden for Christmas which bike store he recommends. It is and Orbea-Onix carbon fiber road bike. Here is a picture he sent to me.  Next year he wants to run the CDA Triathlon and sometime perhaps the Ironman.  Isn’t this a nice looking bike. 

While training easy on the Eliptical machine again today for 30 minutes and greater than a 10 min mile pace I saw an unusual site in front of me. A married couple holding hands while running on treadmills next to each other. I watched as they held hands, this way and that, ran backwards, danced on the treadmills while still holding hands. Their names were Zach Doty and Katie Doty. It was 8:30pm to 9:00pm at night. They have been members for two months and came in a couple of times a week. Zach was interested in knowing more about the Hayden Triathlon. He said I could find out more about them at their web site which is www.WeLoveEachOther.org  Isn’t that an interesting website name that they were able to obtain.  On their website they pronounce their love and acceptance of Jesus as their Savior, have poems, songs, pictures and invite you to visit the Hayden Bible Fellowship Church.  Nice site, read the poems. My favorite one is called “Courting Your Wife”.  I left a comment there. No wonder they were holding hands while running on the treadmills. A pretty inspirational couple if you ask me. 

 While in the outside hot tub before it closed at 9:30pm on Fridays I met Doug Murray.  He seems just like me. A Jr. High athlete that ran the 800m in less than 2:09 and over the years had years of fitness and years where it wasn’t a priority. An interesting fact about Doug is that at the age 14 he ran his first marathon, in Houston, without training or warning to put on Vaseline to ease the constant rubbing. In fact he did a one mile warm up run just before the start.  He was on pace to complete it in 3:30 or less when he hit the wall at the 20 mile mark and all but stopped, then walking and semi-jogging the last 6 miles to finish under 5 hours.  As we left the Kroc Center I asked him what I could challenge him to do – run the 400m in less than 60 seconds?  He is thinking about it and will get back to me.  He moved to CDA from the Colorado Springs area 4-5 years ago.  His two daughters attend CDA Charter School which he recommends as a good educational school.

A question I have for experience triathletes -> Is there a wall in a sprint or Olympic distance triathlon?

Day 11 – Thur Feb 7- First Training at KROC Center

Today was my first visit. I couldn’t wait any longer to at least start doing some training. I went to check in my first time and Heather Walde was there. She told me that her mother, Jane Graybill, age 69, had just left the KROC Center and was one of the essay writers for the CDA Chamber sponsorship.  

That was so impressive that I called Jane today and said I would take a swimming lesson with her and would make our home available for bike riders of all types training for a triathlon as we are on Lancaster and Rimrock where you can take off for easy, medium, or long rides.  Jane made a particularly poignant remark when she said “People have so much faith in you, you want to do the Tri for them.” Heather also had a great story to tell.  She said she only started triathlon’s two years ago when her son was 13. She got so motivated one day that she signed up for five (5) races that very day. In her first one at Radiant Lake she was about the last one out of the swim and felt so humiliated but improved in the next races so much that her goal for the Mose Lake Triathlon this year is less than 19 minutes in the swim. I can’t comprehend that right now. In a sprint swim right now without training, I don’t know if I could even make twice her time in 38 minutes.  Jane confided that the swim was the most challenging in her mind also, but Lauren at the KROC Center was a patient instructor teaching her the right way to swim.  Swimming is the most daunting aspect of a triathlon to me too. 

Heather also introduced me to Kip who talked about the “pain cave”.  Sounds like he knows how to push himself and others in training for a short 50 mile race.  He thought I looked in shape. He hasn’t read my Day 3 blog about body fat and BMI yet. 

So what was my first workout like? 30 minutes on the LifeForce elliptical trainer. I did 3 miles in 29 minutes and 21 seconds at just under a 10 minute per mile pace. The lady next to me was consistently doing 5:30 and the gentleman to my right was doing 7:13’s. I watched everyone around me to see what they were doing. I plugged in my iPhone 4S but didn’t get the workout recorded properly.

After an hour long webinar and phone call out the parking lot, I came back and did another 30 minute workout. This time Kevin, Lead Fitness Instructor for the KROC Center, showed me briefly how to plug in and I got the workout recorded.  However I went to Nike.com as instructed and can’t find out how to upload the workout.  I’ll save that for another day and make a report as to how it is done.

Day 10 – Wed Feb 6 - Physio One Sponsorship

I wasn’t sure when my appointment for next week was going to be with Physio One so I went to find out where they were located and ask Katherine if I had been scheduled yet. Something special must be happening there, because it is hard to find a time slot to get in. I am getting the idea that Physio One does good work. Tyler has been kind enough to email me a few times in his busy schedule explaining what they are willing to do to support me. It is incredible.  Here is what he has said. My thoughts are in italics.

1) Functional Movement Screen which, by screening movement patterns, allows us to readily identify functional limitations and assymetries in the body.  This will allow us the opportunity to hopefully prevent injury and make you more efficient while you are training towards your first triathlon. I think that I have been lopsided since the 7^th grade. It will be interesting to see what could be done about it.
 

2) AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill usage http://www.alterg.com/.  You have to watch the opening video on this site. This machine isn’t just for Ironman contenders but ordinary people wanting to improve. I am excited to try it. The AlterG uses NASA patented Differential Air Pressure technology which comfortably supports you and 'unweights' your body by as much as 80% (adjustable in 1% increments). This helps the athlete by significantly and precisely reducing ground reaction forces, minimizing discomfort and encouraging movement, allows for an increase in training volume with less impact.  Elite athletes, professional sports teams, and top facilities across the world utilize the AlterG as an essential component of their training and recovery programs and, here at Physio One, we want the same for our patients and clients. This will be fun to try. I will blog later about my relationship with the first treadmills that NASA used in 1968.

3) Access to our Recovery Lounge: Our recovery lounge is set up with the Recovery Pump system which address muscle soreness after high levels of exercise- primarily due to muscle cell microdamage and inflammation, which leads to the accumulation of lactic acid, creatine, and other metabolic waste the body cannot clear completely during exercise. Simply put, the increasing accumulation of waste and water in the muscle after exercise causes a decrease in performance and an increase of muscle fatigue.  These elements must be removed via the venous and lymphatic system to efficiently recover the muscle.  Recovery Pump delivers serious athletes an aggressive but very natural alternative to passive recovery that far exceeds the results achieved from traditional modes of recovery.  That is probably why I get so stiff after a long run and take so long to recover. I will want to report on exactly how this works. I have a feeling that this will be one of the key elements for recovery.

4) You will be receiving a training/coaching plan from Chris Baker who is the highest certified triathlon coach in the region. This is what I am looking forward to – a plan for what to do. I have no idea about how to train for a triathlon as I have no experience.

5) And a clinical bike fit.  I have never had a bike fit or even knew that bike fitting was important. I saw a sign in one of the Hayden bike shops recently that they did bike fitting and I thought that might be a good idea as I have never been fit for any bicycle in my life.

Day 9 – Tues Feb 5 – KROC Center Welcome

What a welcoming the KROC Center made for me today. I thought I was going to meet for just a few minutes with Gloria Waggoner, program director.  Not so. They had far grander ideas in store.  Jamie Bosanko, Jr. Graphic Designer, came out and took a photo of Gloria, Major Ben Markham, and I shaking hands as Gloria presented me with a Gold Membership for six months, a bag of goodies, including my first swim cap, a water bottle, KROC Center brochures, and a gift certificate. That was only the beginning.  I was warmly introduced to Christy Markham, the development director, then Carol who signed up my family for membership.  Carol had spent some time preparing for my arrival and presented three membership cards to me for (1) myself, (2) Julienne, and (3) Johnny, our last son, age 18. I wanted them to be able to train alongside me, so I purchased memberships for them.  I have already passed out the membership cards and we have them on our key chains. Then Gloria patiently went through the brochures so I knew how to use them and what classes were available. Gloria told the story about how she and her husband, Bill Waggoner,  swam and participated in athletic activities. She is already an example to me. She took me on the tour of the whole facility and introduced me to Nancy Lowrey, the aquatics director who told me her Ironman story with her son which was pretty amazing. Bill McClure assured me that I could swim a mile after they finished training me.  I then got to meet Jessica and Amy in the Fitness area. I didn’t know they had people to help me learn how to work the training machines.  That is great. I liked the assortment of machines available to help strengthen me. Lastly I got to meet Matt Davis the fitness manager. He already knew my son Tom Dance, the pediatric dentist, and that always makes for a warm introduction. It is quite nice to have some of your family precede you into a city. It creates an immediate connection and bond with new people that you meet.  At the end of 1.5 hours I was duly impressed with what CDA has to offer with the KROC Center.  It is a great addition and far more than I ever thought it was from the outside.  I had been there once years ago, but never knew the extent of the programs and the people.  As I found out today, the people that work there are every bit as important to the results of my Triathlon as the facility itself.  I feel blessed to be a member.