Success!!

Went out running with my partner Monday morning.  Haven't really thought much about my heart.  I kind of gave up on it ever happening especially because I passed the 14 day mark which the nurse said I would have the monitor for just that time.  However, almost 2 miles in......SUCCESS!!  Heart misfired!  I fumbled to push the buttons to record it and just about cried right then and there.  It has been over 10 years that we have tried to capture this thing and it actually happened.  My emotions are all jumbled, though.  I am relieved, happy, confused, and scared all at the same time.  Now that my heart problem has been captured, I'm facing a whole new set of implications.  Surgery?  Deal with it?  Medicine?  

    I called my cardiologist later that day to make sure they received the transmission.  They informed me that I was to wear the monitor for a full 30 days and try to capture as many as possible.  So I'll continue doing what I'm doing and see what he says after the 30 days are up.

   Only did 4.5 miles that day and felt ok.

Tuesday I hit spin class and did an "Around the World Ride".  Each song was about a different part of the world and we did many different things.  Good ride and my legs were feeling it!  By the end of the day, though, I was starting to not feel good.  

Wednesday I skipped out on my run.  Ragen and I were up many times during the night, I felt awful, and I just couldn't drag myself out.  Coming down with a nasty cold.  Rested on Thursday as well. 

Friday morning I got up and ran 3.5 miles outside.  I miss swimming and may just take the monitor off to swim again.  My legs need the break from all the biking and running that swimming provides. 

Camilla Catch-up

I'm still here!  And still going......kind of.

Last week: Monday - Ran 5.5 miles
Tuesday - Spin Class - Did a Thanksgiving "Over the River and Through the Woods" ride.  My instructors are quite creative and always have something new for us to do.  Great workout!
Wednesday - Ran 5.5 miles
Thursday - Thanksgiving - brought my bike up to Craig and Deylene's and went out with Craig about 2 hours after our turkey dinner for a ride.  I started out strong, but then died off and Dad had to come looking for me.  We were both frozen!  We started the ride about 3:30 and finished about 4:45pm so the outside temp kept getting colder and colder.  Spent the rest of the day trying to get warm......I HATE being cold!!  Rode 18.5 miles.
Friday - Took a break.  Wait, does Black Friday shopping count?  It was long and arduous!
Saturday - Marathon day that started with a 25-mile bike ride from my house to Brigham.  Ok, I didn't make it all the way to Brigham, but I almost made it to Perry!  Started that ride at 8:30am and wore some warmer clothes, however, it was nice because the outside temp kept getting warmer and warmer.  Much nicer than the Thanksgiving ride.  Dipped chocolates at my mom's, went to the Brigham City Temple with Travis, then packed up the kids and headed to the Santa Run!!  So much fun!!  It was a 5k where everyone was issued a Santa Suit (kids were given Santa hats and beards and helpers got Elf shirts and hats).  Tyla took off with her friend and I ran/walked with Tiana and Alayna.  Tiana ditched us for one lap, but Alayna did the entire 5k with me!  Aid stations had milk and cookies. :)  We had a blast!

Gettin' Tough

Am I now alone on this blog?  Where'd ya go Camilla?  Regardless, here goes the update.  Yesterday was a long, long day.  I spent the day running around like crazy trying to get things done.  My English students are doing a research project on archaic laptop computers.  It's almost not worth it.  Almost.  Needless to say, I spent each hour trouble-shooting problems with computers.  As soon as the bell indicating the end of school rang, off I ran to wrestling practice.  We're getting close to the weekend so I spend a lot of my time communicating with parents regarding details (travel, cost, membership #s, etc.).  Sometimes I don't feel like I'm coaching.  I'm administrating.  Either way, it's fun!  I fit a little dinner in there somewhere.  Camilla left some vegetable roll-ups on the counter and, well, I made them disappear.  I hope they were for me!  The bishop knocked on the door at 7 and we talked for a little under an hour about the new Sunday School curriculum.  As soon as he left, I jumped into my workout gear again and off I went to the pool to get in a great workout.  Yet again, the water felt wonderful and I seemed to have good energy throughout the 2000yd continuous swim called for in the program.  I finished the swim and hit the treadmill.  Thirty minutes doesn't seem very long anymore.  Again, I felt like I had quite a bit of energy so I pushed the run.  24:40 for the 5k then cooled the jets and warmed down by walking to the 30 minute mark.  Stretched, drove home, showered and was sleeping before my head hit the pillow.  And that was my day. Goin' out with Camilla tonight!  I LOVE DATE NIGHTS!

R W5 D1-2

Wow, time has flown this past week or so.  I'm just going to erase last week's lack of exercise out of my mind and start fresh!  Yesterday called for just a swim.  It was so nice to dive in the pool at 4:58 am and feel energized by the water.  I'm really becoming a morning person.  Knowing that I've already got half my workout in before most people even get up in the morning is kinda satisfying!  The swim went well.  No residual effects from being sick last week.  In fact, my body felt quite strong and ready to work.  This morning I got in the pool early and pushed through about 1600 yards.  This evening is the one hour bike session.  It'll be fun!  Have a great week everyone!

R Week 5 Day 1

I HATE BEING SICK!!!!

Friday I went in to the Rheumatologist for my Psoriasis/Psoriatic Arthritis infusion but found that my temperature was too high.  I was feeling a little off all day but didn't realize I was getting sick.  Went home and just relaxed the rest of the evening.  Saturday morning I was off to Fremont High School for a wrestling team tournament!  What a blast!  My kids did a pretty good job.  That whole day I continued to feel a little off.  By the time I got home that evening I was absolutely wasted!  Regardless, I figured one hour on the bike downstairs was doable.  One hour later I felt like a zombie.  Camilla had purchased tickets to the play "Joseph and the Amazing..."  and I REALLY wanted to go.  She could tell that things weren't right.  I stayed home.  Sunday...same story.  Sicker than sick.  I spent the overwhelming majority of the day in bed either sleeping or vegitating (is that a word?).   Before heading off into lala land, I set my alarm for 4:45 just in case I happened to feel better this morning.  One wink later it's 4:45 and I'm feeling quite a bit better.  I jump out of bed and head to the pool.  I don't know what it is but the pool just makes me feel better!  This swim felt great!  I even PR'd on my 400 with a 5:58!  Yes folks, that was a 5 before the :58.  Watch out!  haha!  I hope this is a sign of good things to come with my training!  Have a great week!

End of Week

I'm playing catch-up today.

Thursday I went to the gym not feeling quite up to par and when I saw the "Take it to a 9" instructor, I kept walking past the door to spin class.  Ha!  Yep, I wimped out.  Instead, I tried out their other spin bikes that are just outside the door.  They have some pretty cool machinery with interactive screens and I could do a "spin class" with an instructor on screen.  So I tried it out and liked it.  I could hear the music from the spin class and did smirk a little when I heard her say "A 9! Take it to a 9!"  I'll be back next Thursday for the beating!  I did 13 miles in 35 minutes and felt great about that.  I tried to keep my cadence close to 90.

Friday was all about trying to get this dang heart to misfire.  It's been one week since I got the monitor and, of course, nothing has happened.  So I went out to kill myself.  I tried everything!  Jogging, running, sprinting, jog-sprint, walk-sprint, jumping in the middle of my run, running up and down the curb, and guess what happened? NOTHING!  Piece of junk!!

And today, I took my bike to Brigham to go on a ride with Dad again.  Gma J was having a bad day so he didn't come with me and I had to venture out on my own.  Guess what happened?  FLAT TIRE!!  This cannot be happening to me!  The ironic thing is that Travis put Mr. Tuffy's in the tire on the way to Brigham to prevent flats and then I get one 25 minutes in to the ride....Sigh.....will it ever end?  Dad says he's going to armor my bike for me. :)  Travis came out and helped me fix the flat, however I was pretty chilled by that time from the wind and slight rain.  I did try to continue after, but had to turn around and head home.  Therefore, I only got in about half the ride.    I still like my bike, though.  And my new wool socks and shoe covers worked great!

R W4 D4

Wow, yesterday was a beast!  Up at five, out to work early to get a few things done before school started (the only time I have to plan and grade).  Race to the high school right after school to get to wrestling practice.  Wrestle with the kids.  Wrestle with another coach and get a black eye.  Race home.  Eat dinner.  Help clean kitchen and bathroom.  Have a heart-to-heart with Brendon about "stuff".  Race over to Sports Academy and run/walk for an hour on the treadmill.  Hurry and stretch afterwards before sprinting over to MaKayla's gym practice to watch her for five minutes.  Take MaKayla home, shower, hit the bed....dead.  Today will be a repeat of the same...Is it worth it?  YUP!!!!!!  Yeeeee Haaaaa!!!!!

Running, Running

5.5 miles with my running partner this morning.  It wasn't as cold as Monday, but we still ended up with frost on the tops of our hats and jackets.  I felt energized and happy this morning!  Maybe it's because I ate my Wheaties. :)
Our route takes us around a duck pond and it always cracks me up when we startle the ducks from their slumber.  Of course, it's a good thing it's dark so we don't see all the poop we're running in!  My friend brings a flashlight and we wear reflective vests for safety.  Nice run!

R Week 4 Day 3

I have guilt.  I didn't do my complete workout last night.  I still had a bit of energy left, but I kept thinking about Camilla sitting at home getting kids ready for bed.  I HATE that feeling I sometimes have that I'm not being a good husband and father.  Sooooo,  I cut it short and went home.  Got there and all the kids were in bed and Camilla was on the bed blogging.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should have stayed at the academy and got the run in.  Adding wrestling to the mix has complicated this scheduling thing.  Don't think I can get up any earlier.  4:45 is already about killing me.  Working out after 9:30 pm is just about as bad as working out super early.  There really is no solution.  I'll just keep plugging along trying to fit things in where I can.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my family!

Heart Monitor

Well, I picked up a heart monitor from my cardiologist on Friday and, of course, there have been no heart problems since.  Every day that passes leaves me a little more disheartened.  Trying not to think about it, though.

I ran six miles Monday in 22 degree weather with my running partner.  This morning I went to spin class and worked hard again.  Spin class was fun as we explored different cadences and resistance levels.  We started at 68, added some resistance, then moved up to 72, 76, 80, 85, 91, then 108!  That 108 was crazy fast!  My favorite cadence was 91.  I was somewhat surprised by that because when I begin on the spin bike I struggle to stay above 80.  But when we got to the 91, the cadence felt comfortable and natural.

Due to the heart monitor, I will be putting my swimming on hold for a few weeks.  I'm not too concerned about it, though.  Swimming comes easy to me and I'll be able to jump back in when the time comes.  I will miss it, though.  Swimming is by far the most relaxing workout (if that even makes sense because I am pushing hard, but the quietness and alone-ness with just my thoughts relaxes me).

Biking in the Snow!

Yep, I went biking in a snow storm!  You can't tell, but it is snowing on me! :)  90 minutes in snowy, cold weather was probably a bit much for this novice.  And I didn't plan on the frozen toes factor........

My typical route from last year's training regimen was down the road a ways until it curved.  By then, I would be too tired and have to turn back.  This time out, I not only went past that curve, but I rode a good 5 miles past that point and felt fine.  I made it all the way to my kids' old school!  I wasn't really cold, either until the way back.  I'd been going about 50 minutes when my sweat started to freeze a little.  However, the biggest problem was my toes.  They started to hurt and it just got worse and worse.  I was in a lot of pain the last 2 miles and barely made it home to walk in the house and sit there in all sorts of pain while my toes thawed for a good 20 minutes.  Needless to say, we purchased wool socks and boot covers that night!

I did feel strong during the ride and can already tell a difference from last summer's biking.  Yahoo!

R Week 3 Days 4,5,6

Well, my workouts took a detour to Saint George, Utah last week!  Instead of the scheduled daily sessions, I went down and mountain biked until I couldn't mountain bike anymore!  What a blast!  We spent Thursday after school driving down and reached St. George at about midnight.  Friday morning we were up and out for breakfast early before heading over to Hurricane and ultimately driving up to Gooseberry Mesa for one FULL day of riding!  The route was quite technical and I was challenged BIG TIME the whole day.  Needless to say, I wrecked more often than I would like to have wrecked!  No injuries, so I'll call it a success.  Ok, the index finger on my right hand got jammed.  No biggie! 

Saturday was really, really cold!  We biked all day in 40 degree weather.  It even snowed on us!  This ride was just to the west of I-15, close to Hurricane.  It was a trail called "Guacamole."  Not nearly as technical, but a lot faster!  I had an absolute blast on this trail.  At sundown we decided that we had better hit the road so that we could get home before midnight.

All in all, I had a wonderful time!  I missed my wife and kids though.  I find it hard to leave them for any period of time. 

Tough Spin Class

Yow!  Spin class today was HARD!!  Our instructor's favorite phrase was, "Take it to a 9! A 9!"  She decided to do long 5-minute intervals with a 2-minute "break".  Really, the break was taking it back to a 6 or 7.  We started with a seated climb for 5 minutes at a 9, had a 2-minute break, then did it again.  The same pattern repeated with a standing climb, then sprints.  Oh, man, those sprints hurt bad!  I've never sweat so much in my life!  My shirt was almost completely soaked.  During the sprints I kept chanting to myself 1:08! 1:08!

C W3D3

Took it easy on my run this morning....still feeling shaky and out of sorts.  Ran 4 miles in 40 minutes.  Scheduled the cardiologist for Friday at 2:30.

Woman of Steel Goal

I did some analysis the other day on the Woman of Steel for what it would take to place better next year.  Figured I'd put up the numbers here so I don't lose it on my little scrap of paper.  :)

This is how I did in my age group last year (out of 140 participants):
Final - 29th - 1:20:44
Swim - 15th - 6:24
T1 - 61st - 3:08
Bike - 59th - 45:43
T2 - 55th - 2:05
Run - 21st - 23:21

Fastest person in each category:
Final - 1:08
Swim - 4:59
T1 - 1:39
Bike - 37:10
T2 - 1:11
Run - 19:49

Lady who won:
Final - 1:08:59
Swim - 6:18
T1 - 1:39
Bike - 38:38
T2 - 1:42
Run - 20:41

I've got some major work to do on the bike (which I'm confident all these spin classes will help) and transitions!  Now that I have some awesome tri outfits so I don't have to change clothes and I can clip my pedals on my bike, I'm planning on being lightning fast!  Let's see, to get a 1:10, I've gotta drop 6 minutes on the bike to get into the 30s, shave 3 minutes from transitions, shave a minute off the swim, huh, that gets me there without doing better on the run and I know I'm gonna shave 2 minutes off that.  Then I'll be at 1:08!

Camilla and Camilla at Woman of Steel last year!  Woot! Woot!

C W3D2

Spin class this morning!  In honor of election day, the instructor let us vote on different parts of the workout.  We did 5-minute sets of different things.  My favorite set was the speed ladder.  Started at 80rpm, then upped the rpms by 5 every 20 seconds until we got to 100 which we held for 45, then went back down to 80.  We did three sets.  It was tough!  But felt really good.

Tuesdays are exhausting for me, though.  I get up at 4:30, to the gym by 5, workout til 6:15, then home, shower, feed kids before 7:45 when my piano student comes, teach til 8:15, kids off to school at 8:20, leave for work 8:30, off work at 5, home 5:30, fix dinner, clean up dinner, homework 7, kids to bed 8, and then I had to run!  Was not feeling good about it, but knew I should put in the workout so I grudgingly got dressed and went out to run.  However, 14 minutes in, my heart misfired again.  Had to sit down to let it calm and then walked home.  Felt shaky and out of sorts the rest of the night.  So frustrated!!  I'm so sick of it! Calling the cardiologist today. :(

C Week 3

Started Monday morning with a great 5.5 mile run with my running buddy.  She is getting to be a really good friend and I look forward to our runs together.

 Monday night we took the kids to the pool so I could do my swim workout.  Not a great idea.....ended up being really frustrated.  The pool only has one lane open for lap swim during leisure hours (and it's a huge pool!).  There were 8 people in the lane when I arrived and if it hadn't been for Travis pushing me, I would not have joined them.  I went over and jumped in and started to attempt to swim.  The first 500 was hard to get anywhere because I was swimming with people who had their heads out of the water and were dog paddling.  Second and third 500 were better because it dwindled down to only 4 of us.  I still had to pass in the middle but I worked through it.  I started suffering from charlie horses in my foot and calf.  That wasn't very fun.  The last 500 was a joke.  These two girls got in and pretended to swim laps.  They would swim three strokes, then stop in the lane and do a deep-water bob, swim in the middle of the lane, not stop at the wall to let me pass, etc.  I was really frustrated!  Almost cut the workout short, but just decided to breast stroke and let it be.  Grrrr......

R- week 3 day 2

Got the hour on the bike and the half hour run done...kinda. My body is exhausted.  Should I be counting the almost two hours of wrestling I did as well?  Haha! Going to bed now.  Good night!

R- Week 3 Day 1

Ah, another Monday morning in the pool.  I really look forward to diving in first thing in the morning and feeling strong and fast (ok, ok, not so fast...let me dream, please!)  This morning was no different than the rest.  I was the first one in the pool and had already swam 500 yards when dolphin man and his mother jumped in the lane beside me!  The workout felt really good this morning.  I'm really working on slowing down and extending my stroke.  My catch is getting better as I can feel the resistance on my hand as I follow through.  Now to get that timing down so my body doesn't slow too much.  I'm also working on my lean with each stroke.  Getting it right is kinda hard!  Just keep swimming, swimming....right?

Long Ride

Met up with Ryan, Camilla, and Dad for our long ride on Saturday!  It was great to get together.  I rode with Camilla most of the way out and we just chatted the whole time.  She's awesome!  I was really annoyed (ok, angry) when I got ANOTHER flat tire!  Ugh!  I was ready to give up biking then and there.  Four flats in the last four rides does not equal happiness. :(  Sorry you had to see my grumpiness, family.  After fixing the tire, we took off again and enjoyed the rest of the ride.
    After Camilla turned around, I sped up to catch Ryan and he pushed me for a while as we rode together.  It was a really easy pace for him, but it was tough for me.  Being pushed was good for me, though.  My bike rides so smooth and fast!  The road was a fantastic training ride with very little traffic and an extremely smooth pavement.  90 minutes and about 25 miles.....half of what I'll do at the race!
    Thanks for the ride, guys!!

Feeling MUCH Better!

Last night after my piano recital, I took off on an evening run.  The night was perfect!  Travis outfitted me as this was my first run in the dark by myself.  See?

Travis says I look like a coal miner.  I had a flashing red light attached to the back of my vest, too. :)

Anyhow......my run was really fun!  I ran really fast the first mile which made my heart soar!  I love running fast!  My feet skip off the pavement, my knees stride out, and I feel like I'm flying!  Unfortunately, I couldn't keep that pace, so I had to slow it down.  I took it easy the next couple miles and just put in a good 30-minute run.

 This morning I was up at 4:30, ate my cereal, then headed to the pool.  Masters Class swimmers were there again so there were quite a few people in the pool.....about 20-25.  I joined another guy wearing fins and was excited when I started lapping him!  However, the lane next to me were the advanced swimmers in the Masters Class and there were five men in there just speeding through their workout!  They brought a wall of water with them every time we passed.  When I joked about it with them, they said it was to help me train for my open water swim.  One guy said he did the Boise Half two years ago.  When I asked him why not last year, he sniffed and said, "I don't do snow!"  Ha Ha!  I don't, either......yet.......

R Week 2 Day 5

I don't think I'll ever really get used  to hearing that alarm go off at 4:45!  I say that, but at the same time I really enjoy getting in the water early and feeling full of energy during and after the swim.  This is much better than being grossly overweight and almost hopeless.  This morning was a speed workout.  It called for a three hundred yard warm up following by a 10x100.  I decided that I would try and keep each 100 yards between 1:20 and 1:30 and rest until the top of each second minute.  If I remember my swimming terminology correctly that's 10x100 on two minutes?  Regardless, it felt pretty good.  I think next time I'll only rest 10-15 seconds between each set.  Life is good!  It's FRIDAY!!!  Tomorrow calls for a solid 90 minute ride.  Any takers to go with me?

R- week 2 day 4

Tonight's run was good.  I felt fairly strong the whole way through.  I did what I usually do.  I ran the first 5k really hard (23:07),  then slowed it waaaayyyyy down for five minutes.  At the 28 minute mark I settled into about an 8:34 pace (7.0 on the treadmill) and kept it there for the remainder of the hour.  Ok,ok I sped up for the last two minutes!  My left knee really tightened up right close to the end, but I was able to stretch good and it's feeling quite a bit better.

Back in the Saddle......Sort of

Well, folks, after my 5.5 mile run on Monday, I was stuck in bed for the next two days.  Travis and I both came down with a stomach bug and were home sick together for two days.  I didn't do anything on Tuesday (ok, I got up at 4:30, got dressed and left the house only to turn around because my stomach was hurting so bad), and Wednesday I was still not feeling great so I took another day of rest to get my energy back.

  This morning, I hit spin class and while it wasn't the hardest I've pushed, I still got a great workout and enjoyed the class.  I could tell I was drained, though because I couldn't push it nearly as hard as I wanted.  Weird moment after the class was over.  We were stretching and my heart suddenly misfired.....raced at 220 for about 1.5 minutes.  :(  Stupid thing......  Anyway, taking things a little at a time.  Hoping to get a run in tonight after my first piano recital.

R Week 2 Day 3

I had to do the 60 minutes on the bike from Tuesday's workout yesterday instead.  Camilla and I headed up to the spin bikes at the sports academy and spun for the hour while the kids were at gymnastics.  I always enjoy having Camilla W.  with me to work out.  She just makes me happy!