2010 Triathlon Training: Week 2

2010's first full triathlon training week has ended.

I got in 4.5 hours last week, and the week prior was all rest. The gym has been getting a lot of my attention in the past 3 months. While strength training has given me added power for those nasty hills and pulling the last few hundred feet to shore, I don't feel AWESOME like I do after a swim, bike, and/or run. After strength training, I feel miserable and sore.

So I've scratched my itch and now I can't stop scratching. I love multisport.

Week 2 miles/hours:
Swim 4.23 miles, 2:16 hours
Bike 43.50 miles, 2:30 hours
Run 21.16 miles, 3:29 hours
Gym/Yoga 3:45 (including rest)
12 hours total

http://tr.im/sbr247

I won't attempt to qualify for Ironman this year, but I'll do as much sprint and Oly triathlons as I can squeeze in between Fire Fighter Recruit training class

Without a DREAM there is no DRIVE

9/16 Wednesday Morning

Insa90x 1.11 - P90x CST

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2
In/Out Shoulder Flys	10#16
Chair Dips	25
Plange Push-Ups	15
Pike Press	6
Side Tri Rise	12
Floor Flys	20
Scarecrows	10#15
Overhead Tricep Extensions	15#15
2-Twitch Speed Push-Ups (Wide)	All
Y-Press	25#12
Lying Down Tricep Extensions	15#8
Side-to-Side Push-Ups	10
Pour Flys	10#15
Side Leaning Tricep Extensions	15#7
One-Arm Push-Ups (80/20)	6
Weighted Circles	10#20	10#14
Throw the Bomb	15#12
Plyo Push-Ups (Clapping)	10
Slow-Mo Throw	15#10
Front-to-Back Tricep Extensions	10#18
One-Arm Balance Push-Ups	12
Fly-Row Press	15#15
Dumbbell Cross-Body Blows	15#80

9/16 Wednesday Noon

Pool Swim

400m medium (1:42, 1:54, 1:52, 1:51)

8x25y stretch

10x25y on 30 (20-22s with 8-10s rest)

4x25y breathing (3-2-1-0)

2x25y stretch

9/17 Thursday Noon

Pool Swim (times may include 5-10s rest)

6x100m medium (2:06, 2:15, 2:14, 2:20, 2:11, 2:17)

4x100m buoy (2:18, 2:14, 2:24, 2:20)

2x100m stretch

9/17 Thursday Afternoon

Yoga Class - Core

On our backs, holding legs up. Chair pose. Downward dog with kicks.

This morning I had a brief chat with a good friend. I listened to him talk about his passions and dreams. They involved large sums of money, and his plans with said money. I got excited for him. I pictured him enjoying the money and enjoying sharing it with family and friends.

Dreams are a subset of goals. It's my belief that there are 3 levels of goals:

• Level 1 Goals you HAVE to accomplish
• Level 2 Goals you know you CAN accomplish, but require tremendous time and/or effort
• Level 3 Goals are Dreams

My dreams are the polar opposite of his. I prefer to live in a world without money. Does that mean I don't strive for success? HELL F'n NO! My definition of success depends LESS on money. Sadly, money is a necessity in this era. I'll get mine to support family, and get a few material necessities (and some not so necessary). My point is that you need to work to get your money to do the things you want to do or to get things you want. My dream is to live in a world where you can do/get what you want NOW. I'm partially living that dream by enjoying outdoor activities. Sustainable living with a healthy family. Now that's a dream I can live for; I can drive towards.

Dreams are sometimes almost unattainable. Something like winning an Ironman triathlon. Qualifying for and competing in the Ironman World Championship is a goal I KNOW I CAN do, and WILL do.

Another dream is to become a Paramedic for the County of Hawaii. Scratch that. Level 1 goal.

Traveling the world is another Level 2 goal.

I've accomplished a buncha Level 1 goals (that were probably Level 3 goals when I was laying on a couch 2 years ago). I've dropped more than 50# of fat, and have put on some meat. I've done several endurance races. I've completed 2 rounds of P90x and am currently working on a mix of both P90x and Insanity to supplement my triathlon endurance training.

Oh yeah, coach Hope wanted me to put up before and after pics on my BeachBody profile. This is me all pumped up and shit after P90x CB (Round 3, Day 11). I have NEVER been athletic. Getting this far was once a dream. But you gotta keep setting new goals and crushing them.

Triathlon is a Team Sport

Had my loose clothes. Forgot my Yoga mat. So I grabbed the huge blue beach towel from the car. Rochelle let me borrow her purple mat. My hands were slippery, so I had to lay the towel near the top of the mat for grip. We held downward dog positions for the better part of the class. The shoulder burners / clie from Insanity Core / Balance, and noon swim was an excellent warmup for the pose. My shoulders were on fire.

I tripped out when I looked at the class from Warrior2. I was the only one dripping with sweat. The rest of the class were warrior poses. My glutes got their 2nd workout of the day. If you're familiar with these set of poses, you know it also works the shoulders.

I felt a lot better after class, but had to rush to Sook's to get a quick buzzcut, then to Coconut Island to meet Jeremy for a quick run. We did the 5k route in 13:30 + 12:00 negative split. Very easy, until we loosened up after the bridge, going downhill.

We talked about how we felt before this race, but more so about Ironman. His mind is set on qualifying. I told him I didn't feel like I was pushing hard enough on my swims and was thinking about swimming at 5:30am before my P90x or Insanity workouts on MWF.

Cousin Mark called me soon after, inviting me to a practice sprint tri the following morning (Friday). 8am would be too late, so they agreed to push it up to 7am. I knew Jeremy wanted to get in a bike ride before the race so I got him in too. I met Tanner, another fresh young triathlete. I don't think he trained as hard as Brandon did, but he's got a lot of heart and will finish strong. Mark is going to a concert the night before. lol

When you think about doing a triathlon, you think of it as a solo event. Nobody can physically help you progress forward during a race. I trained solo for my recent races. I finished. But I didn't do as well as I'd like. Training solo, I didn't push myself hard enough. I forced myself into isolation during training, and it also felt like it on the races.

I called Adam one day and he invited me to a group ride. That was probably the most beneficial change to my training I have ever done. The camaraderie. We bounce ideas off each other. Most times Adam and Joe have already experienced them and can give us a quick, detailed answer along with justification.

We want to continue the weekly, long group workouts beyond the race. I also suggested to Adam that we begin hosting monthly triathlons at the beach, similar to TeamMangoRaces on the west side. We can offset the schedule so people could do either race, and so they don't coincide with big events.

Coach Jess sent me some motivational advice today. Such a small gesture really does help me a ton.

Insani-P90x 1.8, Swim, Yoga, Run

Wednesday 9/3, 7:00

Insani-P90x 1.8 - Power Cardio

I need to start rating the amount of abuse each body part gets per workout so I can schedule Insanity, P90x and Endurance training together. Scoring is 5 extreme, 0 untouched

Body Part	Duration	Severity
Glutes	4	4
Hams	3	4
Calves	4	3
Abs	4	2
Tri's	2	3
Shoulders	2	2
Chest	1	2

Had enough time to recover from P90x Chest and Back on Monday to do well on the push-ups. The tri rises at the end were a bit tough after Wednesday's P90x Shoulders and Arms. The V-Ups didn't seem to be a problem though. Do the smaller muscles heal quicker?

Wednesday 9/3, 12:30

Got soaked while pulling my bike from the car in the rain! Pedaled to the pool for a quick 1km swim. I watched another swimmer during my interval rest. He's quick. I mimicked how he kept his feet near the surface. Seemed to be more efficient. It's also much easier to swim after Insanity days than P90x days.

Wednesday 9/3, 16:30

Yoga. I did a headstand!

Wednesday 9/3, 17:45

Run. 8 miles with Jeremy. Easy 38min run from Coconut Island to Richardson's and 40min back.

Insanity 1.6, Double-Brick, P90x 3.1, Yoga, Insanity 1.7

Insanity 1.6 was... skipped. Saturday is my rest/recovery day. I'm not sure if I should push everything back or just lose a day. Sunday was double-brick day and I didn't have enough in me to do Power Cardio also.

---

Met some cool endurance athletes at the Sunday HPP double-brick. Adam Busek (veteran Triathlete, kickboxing instructor, Human Anatomy Biologist Bicycle Salesperson who I regularly seek for nutrition and training advice) kindly hosted John (Adam's young nephew from SF), Brandon (young fresh Triathlete from Hilo, HS wrestler), Bill Hubbard (older, fresh Clydesdale Triathlete from Kapoho area), Joe Wedemman (Clydesdale veteran of many things. I look up to him in more ways than one), Jeremy Buttz (young fresh Triathlete from Hilo, fast fast fast), and another young guy but can't remember the name.

First 20k bicycle loop was done as a pack in just under 40 mins. Adam has an excellent judgement of pace and maintained that throughout. I slowly crawled my way from the back of the pack to the middle. When a large gap appeared behind Adam (leader), I rode up to 2nd and encouraged the other 2 to follow and close it. The last 3 miles are downhill with a strong headwind. Jeremy and Brandon sped up to take the lead. Adam kept his pace and eventually caught up. I focused on pulling up with my core to save my legs for an efficient stride on the run.

Transition was lightning quick for each of us (15-30 seconds).

I'm not sure when/where but I broke loose on the run and maintained the lead for the majority of the 2 miles. I loosened up near the turnaround only to find Adam a few steps behind. Aww shit, "pick it up... pick it up!" (Tony-ism #27). And the 2nd half is uphill. Yay...! All I can say is... thank you P90x/Insanity. Adam finished right behind me in about 15 minutes. Big Bill commended me on my posture and stride. I was more impressed that he was right behind, at his age and size.

We rested for 10-15 mins. Reloaded our fuel. Reapplied sunblock (don't forget it!). This time around, I loaded up on NO-Xplode.

2nd bicycle loop, Jeremy took OFF! Brandon and Joe held steadily behind until halfway though. Joe caught up to Jeremy, and Brandon faded to just within my sight. Big Bill laughed when I later told them my highway mantra "I'm gonna get you f'rs... I'm gonna get you f'rs..." It helped me focus on breathing and pulling up with my core again. I barely saved anything for the run. As I pulled into the driveway, Joe and Jeremy were already running out. As I parked my bike, Brandon was heading out. I finished in 39:46 including transition.

I took off like a maniac this time. I passed Brandon by the time I got to the road. There's no way they're beating me here. Jeremy/Joe were a few roads ahead (1/3 mile or so). I was landing harder on my heels and pushing long strides off my toes. I overemphasized my arm-swing to "pull" myself closer.

1/3 way through, some random guy on a mountain bike whispered "they're about a quarter-mile ahead" as he passed. I laughed back "Thanks! I got em... I got em"

I joked with Joe a bit at the turnaround "Pleasant day for a run, isn't it? How do you do?"

We all encouraged each other as we passed (it really does help... even a sun-burnt, sweat-ridden smile helps keep you going).

I slowly closed the gap to 1 road. But they were too fast. My watch read 14:39 as I entered the driveway. I didn't have enough energy to stop it.

Then when I tried to stop it, it wouldn't. No matter how much I cursed at it.

We all shared advice and laughs as time flew by while we recovered. What a fun training group.

We planned to meet at Richardson's to float and stretch. I couldn't find anyone when I got there so I jumped in and took an easy swim and left.

---

Back to P90x with Chest and Back.

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2
Std Push-Ups	30	25
Wide-Front Pull-Ups	15	9+3
Military Push-Ups	25	20
Reverse-Grip Chin-Ups	15	10+5
Wide-Fly Push-Ups	25	20
Close-Grip Overhand Pull-Ups	10	10
Decline Push-Ups	15	17
Heavy Pants	30#x20	30#x25
Diamond Push-Ups	20	17
Lawnmowers	30#x15	30#x20
Dive-bomber Push-Ups	8	9
Back Flys	30#x20	30#x25

I went heavy/hard on the first set. I forgot what I was(n't) capable of. Now I have a new list for next time. I'll start with the 2nd set #'s. But this won't happen for 2 weeks because of Lavaman Keauhou.

---

Yoga Class. We did a bunch of core work. I don't remember much of the class because I felt soo relaxed afterwards. I kinda zoned out on the way to Richardson's. Did a quick 300m. Joe, Shaun and Harry were hanging out and called me over.

---

Insanity 1.7 Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs. LOL at Shaun-T-ism "Damn! That SH*T was baNAAnas, YO!" I substituted the push-ups (from the suicide push-up drills) with extended plank run (healing from yesterday's P90x chest workout). I also subbed the much missed (seriously) push-up jacks with jumping jacks and running in place. It's not the same without either workout. But I didn't do too bad in scheduling (only missing out on 2 parts of the drills).

I FORGOT MY FINS! I hope my legs aren't too burnt out for a 1km swim. The stretching should help my chest and back though. LET'S DO IT!

Wait, I need to rest my legs for this afternoon's 8 mile run with speedy Jeremy. Oh boy. Balance. I'll use my core. Wait, I just did a 15 minute ab workout this morning. I'll just drown...

Toe Be-Gone, Yoga, Insanity 1.5

Warm-up ride to the pool and an easy 600m swim. My left side baby toe kicked the wall at the end of the 200m warmup. 75% chance it's broken, but on the bright-side: my right side big toe has healed since I finally kept off it by not running for a while (P90x and Insanity don't count :P ). That little bugger's almost a useless toe anyway. But I can hardly run correctly without the big toe. I need to incorporate fins in my next swim so I can re-learn to force my feet flat. Breathing's getting easier again. I think I can handle 1000m non-stop. 1 week to bring it back up to 1600m. Just a little concerned. I think I could do it under pressure, but my form would get all whack.

Rode up to Yoga class. Forgot my loose clothes and mat so I had boardshorts, an undershirt, and had to bike to Pono's for my workout mat. Trout made a make-shift carrying strap and off I went. Still made it just about on time. Sat down and was already dripping profusely with sweat. This class focused on back extension and it's natural curve. Years of slouching especially disagreed with the wide-legged sit.

Rachelle really got my butt off the ground doing bridge. I could barely get the top of my head off the ground until she pulled my hips up. I forced my pose to lessen the resistance on her hands. I think that's what she wanted me to do. Don't think I got anywhere near the stance in the pic, but it sure as hell felt like it! It's really difficult to push the elbows toward each other while keeping your hands below your shoulders.

Had trouble sleeping with the throbbing toe pain, but I was too exhausted to not sleep.

Insanity 1.5 - Pure Cardio. When Shaun-T says he's nervous about today's workout, embrace it. 15 minutes of non-stop Pure Cardio, after that brutal 3-stage warmup. You know you're doing a badass workout when these fitness freak demonstrators take breaks in between. At one moment it appeared that only a third of them were on-stage. If they were only acting winded, I was sold on it. It helped me feel powerful. Being able to keep pace while they were taking breaks. 5 days in and I'm already feeling massive improvements in the depth and explosiveness of my squats (frog jumps, power squats, power jacks, etc). I just wonder how the hell am I supposed to do Cardio Abs after this mofo.

But I'm grinning. You know why? Next week is HELL WEEK. Check out my Google Calendar if you're curious. I haven't added the noon workouts yet, but they're gonna be 1 hour of either swim, bike and/or run.

Pain, Delivered | Insanity 1.2

Pain, Delivered - After Insanity 1.1 Fitness Test, I felt empty. I missed the aftermath in pain from P90x's strength workout. I do believe emphasis was specifically placed on muscular pain. Oh snap, that's what I got. Yesterday's yoga class was focused on neck and back. We did some moves on the ground; pulling the neck using our palms, neck/shoulder stand, neck bridge, etc. Rachelle had us hold bridge until my ass, lower back and quadriceps were on fire. Then we lay on our backs for a minute to rest.

Next move was downward dog. I thought that was in awkward transition. I couldn't picture how to fluidly move into it, so I did a "B-boy Flare" into plank. Rachelle giggled cause nobody knew how to do a reverse tuck-roll into downward dog. Her demo wasn't the most graceful move, but I wanted to try it. First attempt was horrible. My mind was on mastering the transition instead of the downward dog stretch. On the 3rd or 4th attempt, my toes almost touching the ground, a sharp pain comes from the left shoulder blade. I have to push hard to continue rolling backwards, then drop to my knees. Downward dog is gonna be a little tough now. But I suck it up and push through the next 30 minutes.

Rachelle had one of the more flexible girls demonstrate child's pose to downward dog, while keeping the head on the mat. Ow? My head is nowhere near the mat in downward dog. I get elevation sickness, it's soo high.

Sleep was tough. Got about 5 hours max. There was no comfortable position to ease the back pain. At the second snooze... rarely gets to that point... I was about to call Eric to cancel, and rest for another hour. Then I thought about how I'd hear it from everyone about dropping out after the 1st day of Insanity. I hopped out of bed... okay, I crawled out... but my mind was thinking hop. Got my shot of NO-X and slowly but eagerly got to Pono's 15 minutes late.

Insanity 1.2 Cardio Plyo Circuit was INSANE! Then we got to the stretches and I smirked at Eric... "Yeah, that WAS the warmup" From then on, all you would hear out of me was deep breathing, an occasional hysterical laugh, and some bitching through my teeth.

When Shaun-T tells you to remember to breath during those double-tap Heisman's at 3x speed, I laughed and exlaimed "I don't have time to breath, asshole!"

Exercises that truly kicked my ass: Power Squats (1-3rd revolutions), the plank ski kicks (kick legs left-in-right-in, etc) (1-3rd revs), Plank In-Out Kicks (1-3rd revs), Suicides (3rd rev, 3rd rep). The other moves kicked my ass normally.

Water breaks are the shit. Post-workout, I downed the recovery drink and we agreed that was most our bodies have ever craved the fuel. And that was after drinking a full pint of water during the workout and 12 oz prior.

Today changed my doubts about Shaun-T's motivational abilities. He really pushes you, maximizing your potential.

Eye-Candy. These are the hottest workout women I've ever seen on a video. And they fuckin push it hard! If the eye-candy ain't motivation enough, somebody better check your pulse.

We're sticking to our plan for of going through the series once, then Insanity: TTh; P90x MWF. I'll do the Insanity alone at home after work... but that's our dirty little secret.

Brick on N.O., Insanity Day 1

Sunday Brick with Adam, Jeremy and Brian (bike only) - Warmed up, stretched out with a 400m open water swim at Richardson's then headed to HPP for the 2pm brick. Sun was in/out of the clouds, ~80F, Humidity in the mid 70's. 1.5 scoops NO-X, 30 min pre 40k ride, and 1.5 scoops NO-X at transition to 10k run. Stomach wasn't bothered much on the run. This might just work. I've been going no/low carb up until Sunday morning with 2 pre-race organic pop-tarts.

Quads cramped a bit at 9k, downhill portion of the run. Walked for a few seconds and decided to push through. Loosened and lengthened my stride. The P90x back and core workouts helped me improve and maintain my posture throughout the run. It was easier to focus on gently pulling my shoulders down and back. The second half of the run was finished strong. I waited too long to take my gel on the ride, and my stomach gave me noise about it.

Had trouble sleeping. Propped my feet up and wore my compression socks to sleep and into Insanity.

Insanity Day 1 - Fitness Test (what I now will call Confidence Test :)

Exercise	Mike	Eric
Switchkicks	110	110
Squat Jump?	55	55
Power Knees R	75	86
Power Jumps	50	41
Globe Jumps	14	5
Suicide Jumps	23	16
Push-Up Jacks	45	31
Low-Plank Obliques	60	32
Power Knees L	70	N/A

I noticed the vid skipped the opposite side Power Knees, so I RW to finish up. Was a bit tougher to do the other side at the end of the test.

Quite a workout for 30 min. Gotta loooove the quick warmup! Shaun-T gets right into it. Eric's a beast at strength, but cardio is my game. We're planning on pairing Insanity and P90x on the short Insanity days. I have to credit P90x for our ability to keep pace with the demonstrators' results. It's gonna be tough to improve upon our scores. We'll see if Insanity can deliver as expected.

Looking through the discs was hilarious. Cardio this, cardio that, cardio cardio. This is gonna kick our asses. We hope.


Got a fresh pair of compression socks at work, and trying to give my legs a rest (AFTER standing around with a 130min tech support call in the garage). They're not bothering me as much as last night, but they deserve a break.

Gonna shoot for 600m in the pool within the next 30min, then Yoga class after work.

Back to no/low carbs until Sunday for a double-brick (Jeremy's crazed idea).

Bare Naked... Feet, Yoga Class, NO-X Schedule, Carbless

Yesterday's mid-day run was... yes, planned. You may have guessed that I purposely "forgot" my running shoes. I've been wanting to run shoeless for a while now (probably since Waimanu). The only thing I really worry about is glass on the road/sidewalk. So I used the Teva Proton 3 water shoes I bought for the Waimanu hike.



As you can see, they're barely even shoes. Neoprene (wetsuit material) inner, with a thin rubber sole. It still gave me a ton of "feel" for the hot pavement/cement. Nice 30 minute run from the Kawamoto pool along the bay and back. My calves and hamstrings felt fairly tight last night and this morning. P90x X-Stretch this morning felt really good. I put emphasis on the downward dog and single-leg hamstring stretches. The low-squat was a meanie.




I highly recommend doing this at least once. Even if it's a quick run around the ballpark or playground on the grass. You get a better feel of your body. Give your heels a rest. Even though mine barely touch the ground anway, it forces me to stay off them for start to the very end. Just be prepared to patch up your feet a bit afterwards... haha mines were hash anyway, so wtf!

Monday was my first Yoga class. Held by Yogi, Rachelle of the http://www.balancingmonkey.com/ in Hilo. It's a beginner class. Some of the P90x YogaX moves are advanced, so I had little trouble following along. She helped me with my form though. I had trouble with fold and flat back. I wasn't aware that my back had something against being flat. I think I've got the hang of it now... err... straight of it.




So, NO-Xplode has a 6-12 week cycle, and 4 week minimum off-cycle. Going with the max 12 week cycle, I'll have until the beginning of October to decide which other pre-training chemical formula to subject myself to while off of the nitric oxide supplement.




Been doing fairly well this first of 4 weeks of my Carbless diet. I flopped a little today, on accident of course! That chicken long-rice was worth it. I took my NO-X right after to help flush the carbs. Oh yeah the rest was good too (lau lau, poi, lomi salmon, chicken long rice, small poke, haupia for $10 from Wiki-Wiki kitchen next to Ken's House of Pancakes in Hilo. Big tubs of poke from Suisan)