PRACTICE WEEK 4 & FOLLOW-UP

Practice week 4 is what I would like to call a "recovery" week. Basically I took the entire week off. Yeah I know, pretty pathetic. The upside to taking the whole week off is now I am fully rested and ready to start my real training. Starting at 4 am Monday morning, I begin my 20 week regimented training program.

I'm sure there will many aches and pains over the next 20 weeks, but I'm ready for the journey!

PRACTICE WEEK 3---FOLLOW-UP

This week started out strong, but seemed to fade towards the end. However, I am starting to notice that my breathing seems to be easier. Basically I don't feel like I'm a 4 pack-a-day smoker after running 1 mile, which is nice.

Here are the results:
Monday: Completed Workout
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Completed Workout
Thursday: Completed 75% of my Workout
Friday: Dreamed about working out and hot-tubbing
Saturday: Off

PRACTICE WEEK 3

Monday: 85 minutes of cardio
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 90 minutes of cardio
Thursday: 95 minutes of cardio/30 minutes of weight training
Friday: 100 minutes of cardio/30 minutes of Hot Tubbing
Saturday: Off


Lets get this party started!

PRACTICE WEEK 2----FOLLOW-UP

This past week started out so strong, but I didn't finish well. I'll take the liberty of blaming it on my birthday, I mean I only get to use that excuse once a year. Here is the week in recap:

Monday: Completed Full Workout
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Completed Full Workout
Thursday: Prepared to celebrate my Birthday
Friday: Celebrated my Birthday
Saturday: Recovered from my Birthday celebration


Slow and steady wins the race! So this is improvement from Week 1, but not where I should be. I'm confident Week 3 will be better, I mean it was my Birthday week after all.

Turn Your Head and Cough.......

I had the pleasure of going in for a physical this week. I wanted to make sure that my Doc thought I could handle the rigors of training for a Half-Ironman. Now I've been through many physicals, so no big deal, but I did have 2 items on my agenda. Here are the questions I asked to cover my 2 items.

#1--"My wife wanted me to ask about treatments for hair loss, what do you recommend?"

Answer: "There is very little difference between Propecia and Rogaine, but Propecia has tested slightly better in clinical trials"
Note: My wife didn't really make me ask about the treatments for hair loss but that sure sounded better when it seemed like it was coming from her. MY HAIR IS NOT THINNING ANYWAY.


#2--"Are there any weight loss medications that can assist in the weight loss process? I know they are not a replacement for diet and exercise. I mean I'm not looking for a pill to lose the weight for me, but I was wondering if any medication can aid in the weight loss process?"

Answer: "Not anything that works long term."
Note: Meaning, nice try big boy. I mean he could tell by my rambling question that I was not looking for a complete solution in a pill, right? It was worth a try.


So all in all, the visit with the Doc was not too bad. Look on the bright side, my Doc reminded me that I'm not old enough for him to need to check my prostate. Wow, pretty excited about the day that physical happens :-(

PRACTICE WEEK 2

Monday: 65 minutes of cardio/20 minutes of weight training
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 70 minutes of cardio/20 minutes of weight training
Thursday: 75 minutes of cardio/20 minutes of weight training
Friday: 80 minutes of cardio/30 minutes of Hot Tubbing!
Saturday: Off

I'm feeling confident in my workouts this week and I can't wait for Friday!

PRACTICE WEEK 1---FOLLOW-UP

First you'll note that I've re-titled the week as Practice Week 1. I've done this because these first 4 weeks are really just training to get me ready to do day 1 training of the real 20 week training program.

How did I do......? Well you saw how well I did last Monday and unfortunately the rest of the week was much more of the same. I guess you could say I'm easing into my training regiment and that 4:13 am (that's when my alarm clock goes off) is still a work in progress. Here is the week in review:

Monday: Ran 1.3 miles and nearly experienced cardiac arrest (see video)
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Thought about exercising
Thursday: Thought a lot about exercising
Friday: Almost exercised

** Note I did play basketball 2 times this week and running 3-point line to 3-point line can be a good workout.

To sum up, Practice Week 1 was pathetic! This leaves me much room for improvement in Practice Week 2.

WEEK 1

Monday: 45 minutes of cardio
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 50 minutes of cardio
Thursday: 55 minutes of cardio/20 minutes of weight training
Friday: 60 minutes of cardio/30 minutes of weight training
Saturday: Off


***Update= Day 1 of week 1, the alarm clock goes off at 4:27 am, the alarm clock gets shut off and the original Super-Sized Triathlete, that's me, goes back to sleep. Yup, I skipped my very first workout. However, I didn't completely throw in the towel, I decided that I would go run 1.3 miles in the evening. I chose 1.3 miles because it is exactly 10% of the total distance I will run in my half-ironman. (That is after I've swam 1.2 miles and ridden my bike for another 56) The video below pretty much sums up my experience this evening and I must say that I definitely have room for improvement!

Training Plan and Mystery Numbers

I have 24 weeks to transform myself into a lean, mean, half-ironman machine! I have purchased the book "Triathlete Magazine's Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide" and I will be following a 20 week training plan. This means I have 4 weeks to get myself in shape enough to complete day 1 of the 20 week training plan.

At the beginning of each week I will post my training plan for the upcoming week. At the end of each week I post how my workouts went. Hopefully this will be useful information for those of you that want to try and train with me.....namely my brothers!

Now for the mystery numbers. These numbers are written in a certain pattern and what they represent will be revealed at a later date, but feel free to comment and take a guess. Good luck!

3,7,5,5,5,3,1,8,1,6,7,5,0

Welcome to Super-Sized Triathlete!

My name is Brad and I live in Lake Oswego, Oregon with my wife and 4 children. I've created this blog to track and update the progress of my training for my first ever triathlon. Being that I am 6'5" and getting in the neighborhood of weighing 1/5 of a ton (I'll let you do the math), I truly am a SUPER-SIZED TRIATHLETE!

I have chosen to do a Half-Ironman Triathlon in Sunriver, Oregon on June 27, 2009. This means I will be swimming 1.2 miles, then biking 56.3 miles and finishing with a 13.1 mile run. I'm looking forward to the challenge and I'm ready to start my training.

I hope this blog will be informative for my friends and family, and if nothing else entertaining! I'm doing this Half-Ironman for myself and for my family. I want to be healthier and I'm ready for this new journey. I know that training and competing in this event will start me on a path of more healthy living and bless my life and the life of my family.

I hope you enjoy and let the games begin!