Chicago and Weight Watchers

Chicago
Hello Folks. This has been a busy week. I have been keeping up on training though. On Thursday of last week i had to head down to Chicago to go to a convention for work. I thought i got off easy as i was only going to have to be there for a little while on Friday. So i headed down to spend the night on Thursday and was going to head back Friday night. FAIL. They sprung on me at the last second i would need to be there to teach a class on Sat morning. They told me this around 3pm so i had to search for a hotel at the last minute. The nearest i could find to down town that was not $400 for the night was about 15 miles outside the city center. No big Deal. I called Mrs Milkthecow to let her know the good news.

Now on Friday night Chicago had major flooding as did Milwaukee and they shut the Interstate going into downtown. It took me 3.5hrs to drive 15 miles. Not good. I felt like i was living back in London again. Well i got home at 5pm on Sat night. I did manage to fit in a treadmill run as i am too soft now living in Wisconsin too long to run in 85F heat!

Weight Watchers
A lot of people wonder if weight watcher is worth the money. After all you can just weigh yourself every week at home. It does cost about $40 a month for all the meetings and online tools.  seriously considered dropping it. I do not think 40 a month is too much for what you get but i am paying for my wife and myself 40 a month, so my plan was to just keep paying for my wife to go. When i looked at all the benefits i am getting from it i decided it was worth it. I am also paying less for eating out every month too as we do not eat out nearly as much as we used to. It really helps me know the value of different foods and helps me to eat more of the less calorie dense foods.

I lost 3 pounds 3 weeks ago but i have gained 1 pound the the last week so it evens out a good bit. I do know where i am making mistakes though. It makes it very easy to pin point the the little mistakes you make. YES i get tired of tracking all my food but it is just something i am going to have to live with.

Kewaunee 50K Bike ride

I have on purpose not blogged for a little while so more people would see my NSV's Post. But it is time to update.

I did not make a big deal out of it because i wanted to make sure i could make it (and i did) but i did my first ever just bike race on Sat! I have done Triathlons and Duathlons but never just a bike race. I had a great time to.

So it is a small event run in conjunction with a Duathlon that i have done before. I really wanted to try just doing the bike race which was new for this year. It as 50k or about 31 miles total. I really wanted to get in a 50 mile bike ride this weekend and the event was only about 24 miles from my house so i decided to bike to the race. I figured it would make a good warm up too. The weather was beautiful. I left my house at 5.15am on my bike and took a gentle ride up to the race. I got there at 6.40am and got registered. I had everything set up by 7am and was ready to go.

I had money and water with me so i had everything i needed. The race started at 7.30 so i had 30mins to chat with people and rest from the ride up.

It was really really cool to be starting a race on my bike. I loved it! There were about 30 of us doing the bike 50k. For the first 10 mile i took it fairly easy and chatted with some of my friends. Then i decided i need to get on race pace. It was very different knowing i would not have to run after i got done so i could give it everything i got.

It was very hilly but i leaned hard into the hills. My avg HR was 156! This is really high for me on a bike ride. My avg mph came in around 19mph. I pushed really hard the 2nd 20miles.

Wow it was fun. I really enjoyed it. I stayed with a bloke for most of it and we both pushed each other really hard. Amazing event, perfect weather.

I was going to go on Group ride on Monday of this week but i noticed i had broke a spoke on the race on Sat so i must of been pushing super hard!

My time on my watch was 1 hour 36 mins but i am trying to worry less about my race times as i think it makes me enjoy events less so i didn't even look where i had come against my age group.

Group ride, cutting back , NSV's

Group Ride Monday

So yesterday i went on the Monday ride. Generally there are three a week here (yes i am lucky) Monday is meant to be intermediate, Wednesdays is super fast, Thursday are Beginners. Well Monday are really getting out of hand. Maybe it is because everyone is at home watching Tour de France. and getting super pumped up. The average speed now in Mondays is 22mph which is way fast for me. I treat as my one crazy ride when i go. Last night i managed to keep up for about two thirds of the ride then i got dropped. Please do not get me wrong it is not through lack of trying. They are just super amazin. Most of them are cyclist alone and i am a Triathlete. This means they can ride 6 days a week sometimes where i do 3-4 a week. I like the challenge though. Basically my HR sat at 150-160 the whole time i am with them, breathing very hard, and then i get that hang on by the seat of your pants feeling. I am getting tunnel vision and i am all over the road which is not safe trying to keep up.

In times before they will split into an A and B Group with the B group avg 19mph or so. I do much better in the B group but all my B group buddies don't show up anymore as it is getting too fast. My B groupers all come to the Thursday night ride which we do 18mph average. Allot of the faster guys call this there recovery ride lol! It is still 28 miles same as Monday but much better pace for me. Thursday are a no drop ride to so i do not have the fear of getting lost.

Speaking of getting lost i am REALLY tempted to but a Garmin Edge 605 or 705 as it is made for bicycling and has turn by turn directions. Nashbar is having a 25% off sale for three days this week on stuff over $100 so that would make it $300. But i just can not bring myself to do it. (Plus Mrs MilktheCow was not thrilled which i totally understand)

I would like to know what my Cadence is while i ride as i want to practice keeping it at 90 which is meant to be the most efficient. Most wireless computers with Cad are at least $70 boo! Guess i will keep it old school for now and count how many strokes i take in 10 seconds and multiply it by 6.

New Training Plan

So i downloaded a training plan that was WAY to hard on me last week. 3100 swims x2 a week etc. So i got a different one yesterday. It is a training plan for intermediate Olympic distance and it seems much more doable. I am going to run through the whole plan and see how i feel.

This weekend there is a local Duathlon. 5k run 50k bike 5k run. This has kicked my butt before as there are allot of hills on it. This year i am thinking of just doing the 50k bike race they offered for it as i am loving biking right now in this weather and running not so much.

NSV's
This week at Weight Watchers we talked about NSV (non scale Victories) These can come all sorts of ways. I know i have had a few after losing 220LBS. Some are i have made as goals but some are unexpected. I think the unexpected ones are the best. They are very important especially when you are at a Plataea or just feeling down about yourself.I am going to list some of them here that you may never have considered.

1.  Less Laundry. Yes this is weird. When i was washing size 6XL shirts it took up allot more space in the washer than my now size L shirts. A weeks worth of clothes could of been 5 loads for me. Now it would be one. Of course all the workout clothes i go through add up but still. It is amazin.
2. Less plane luggage. Also unexpected, with smaller clothes you take less luggage on the plane! Amazin!
3. Laptop can be used as a laptop. Yes i can now seat my laptop comfortably on my lap instead of having to find a desk in an airport!
4. Spare shelf in the car seat! Yes now i have this space between my legs in my car seat that i can actually put things on (Just not hot coffee!)
5. Never worrying about what car to rent or buy. It used to be i would have to seriously consider how far back the seat would go from the steering wheel when i would buy or rent a car. Not anymore. In fact i drive one of the smallest cars available in America (Chevy Aveo). I know it is a bit of a loser cruiser but as a second car to my Honda minivan it is great!
6. NO seat belt extender on Airplanes. I fly allot for work it was SO imbrassing asking for a seat belt extender. I looked at ordering my own on line but they cost allot. When i hear people asking form them now i feel their pain. I no longer use them, and i can get the tray table down no problem. I never have to worry about someone sitting next to me and me being in their space as i hated that feeling.
7. Buy clothes Anywhere. Yes! i can buy clothes at almost any store. I do not have to go to specialist stores and pay tons of money for just OK clothes. I still remember the absolute THRILL of buying a shirt at Old Navy the first time. I was literally shaking with excitement.
8. I can feel my Hip Bone! Did not know i had one.
9. I can see veins in my arms, wrists and forehead!
10. My chin does not hang down. No lose skin below it.
11. I can shower really fast.

OK that is enough for now. Maybe you can let me know some of your NSV's

July already

July 4th we youngest daughter did her first 5k. As you can see by the photo above she didn't quite make it all the way so Daddy had to help her out. But she did great. She is not one to be too fond of getting out there and doing some exercise. We were to walk the whole thing but it still must of seemed long to my 8 year old.

We made it in just under 1 hour :). I carried her via piggy back for some it. She weighs in at about 85-90 pounds so it was a great workout for me. She forgot to eat before the event so part of the race involved me running into a gas station and getting her some food and then running to catch up with her and my wife.

It was a good time. Here is hoping she will do another :)!

Bike to work!

Yes it is more commuter madness on the bike for me. I am trying to ride my bike into work everyday this week while the weather is nice.
It is very handy way to get some mile in that does not impact much of your day. As some of you know already i live 12-13 miles from work. It takes me 25 mins to drive to work and about 40 mins to ride my bike to work. So not much of a difference! It also is a super great De tresser on the way home after work.
I have still been getting my runs in to. This morning i ran for just under an hour. Took my shower then rode my bike gently to work so i would not get too sweaty. I will ride it hard on the way home when i can get a little more messed up.

Tomorrow will be a little more challenging as i have a swim workout planned. So i can ride to the YMCA do my swim and hopefully shower and carry on to work. I do have a group ride after work tomorrow i hope to go on so it could mean a whole Lotta miles tomorrow:)

After coming off the Half Iron Man i am deciding what to do next. Well i think i found it. There is a 94mile bike race i am hoping to enter called 'Race around the lake'. It takes you right around lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. Sounds like allot of fun. I am not going to set any speed records it will be more about fun.

Here is a link  http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/racethelake.html

On July 4th i am in a 5k with my family http://www.foxtriclub.com/fox5k/index.htm
I am walking it as my 8yr old and wife are in it. So i want to be there for them to have fun and encouarge them. It is a great event they have parachuters come in and it is put on my my Triathlon Club.

Have a happy and safe July 4th!! (Weird thing to say coming from a Red Coat British guy)

Victories are won every day.

Firstly i wanted to thank all the people that wished me well and the kind words from all of you on my blog and on twitter. It means ALOT to me to get those comments!!!! Below is me on the left about 4-5 years ago before i got started. I think i actually gained weight after this picture to. It pains me to put it up here but it is to encourage others.

I feel a little weird after finishing the Half Ironman. It was a huge accomplishment to do it but the victories come everyday for me. I remember finishing my first ever 5k running race in about 45 mins and that was EVERY bit as huge as this race for me. Going from 440LBS you feel like it is hopeless to even try and put goals in your head to try and hit. It is everyday out there training that makes the biggest difference.
Every time i did not want to get up at 4am to go and slog it out in the pool or on the treadmill, especially being so overweight in the beginning. That is were the real victories are. The crowds cheering at a race and the people saying they could never do that is one thing but it is just the everyday training where the real victory comes. It seems like yesterday i was doing the Couch to 5k program and a 3 min run was torture.

I feel a little worried that people that are over weight or struggling with there health may put me into a different category now but i a not. Everyday can be a struggle to lose weight and gain in health but you CAN do it.

Some days you will fail. You just have to pick yourself up and keep going. I have had many many excuses not to be able to exercise on any day. I travel for work allot, i have a busy family that need me home, i have to work long hours in the office, i have to go out on business dinners etc...It can all be overcome.

Yes people will think your weird for getting up at 4am or going out to run or walk at 9pm while everyone else is sleeping or watching the TV but you have a choice. Do not let the big corporation of this country mold you into what makes them allot of money.

Also.
As i do triathlons and I watch the equipment people use. Now please do not get me wrong, if you have 2000-5000 to spend on a bike absolutely do it. Way better to spend it on something that makes you fit and you enjoy it every time you get on it.
But i want you to know not everyone has that kind of money. Me being one of them. My road bike cost $675 brand new. That is extremely entry level for a road bike. It handled the Half Iron Man just fine and i am sure it could handle a full Iron man too.
Could i have gone maybe 5 mins faster with a mid level $2500-$3000 bike? Yes probably but who cares! I just want to be able to this.
I am shifting my thinking away from setting Personal Best and placing in my age group to actually enjoying myself, getting healthy and losing weight.
I am almost sure Lance Armstrong could bet the winner of the race on my bike no problem.
I still have a way to go in my Endurance but i know there is always going to be someone faster and better than me.

Also i want you to know that in no way do i feel any less excited about someone finishing there first 5k or even there first mile run. If your goal is to do a 5k i am with you all the way!!!

I now have a whole new respect for anyone that can finish an Ironman too! That is a long time to be out there on the course. The pain doing that race was extreme. Even though i paced myself as slow as i could in the swim and cycle there was no way i was going to get around the pain of the run. I kept thinking about my wife and kids and dedicating the race to them. I want to be an example to them and show that you do not just have to fit in to the bad health lifestyle the corp bigwigs want you in. Even though they could not be there that day they were with me.

What is next?

I am not exactly sure. I have signed all 4 of us up for a 5k on the 4th of July. There is a local Triathlon (Sprint) in the town i live in i may do. In August there is a 94mile bike race i think i would like to get in on also.

I have been thinking about doing a Self supported Half Iron man, using my house for the drink station also. Ragnar Relay interests me as i would like to be part of a team.

If...big IF...i think i could do the training then Ironman Wisconsin in 2011 would be a huge goal. I am just afraid the training will take me too far away from my family duties.

Half Iron Man Report

Where to begin?

Pre Race

I got up at 2.45am after not getting to much sleep. Luckily i know for experience the night before a big race is going to bad for me so the night before that i try to get extra sleep. I still had a balloon i wanted to pick up and some kind of bar i could eat on the bike portion. I picked up an Elmo Balloon and a South Beach Bar. I also grabbed some flip flops that i could trash if i need to (they were $2).

The park charges $7 to park your car and you can just park outside the park and walk/bike the mile or 2 in but i had no idea how i would feel afterwards so i paid my money. Last year i did the sprint here so i knew how it worked. My car was parked by 5.30 am and the race was due to start at 7am. I headed over to packet pickup right away as i did not have a chance to do it the day before.

 I took my time using the bathroom as i knew the line would be huge later as it was last year. Hear is picture of the line at about 6.25am way way after i had been there and there was no line!

I got my transition set up and used the tricks i had learned before. This is a big race so it is hard to find your bike when you come in. This is where the Elmo Balloon comes in VERY handy. A guy near me was doing the sprint and it was his first. He asked me about pinning on the race number and if he was doing it right. I had my spare race belt and i gave for him to use and told him how much easier this would make it for him. I always bring spare things for just such an event. I normally bring a spare bike helmet, spare swim cap and spare goggles in case someone around me has forgot. Here is a picture of my bike set up and a general pic of transition.

After i got that done i took a walk around. There was a free Yoga for runners class going on that i was tempted to join however not ever having done yoga before i chickened out fearing i would look like a complete fool. See below picture.

I took a walk around to try and find anyone i knew that was doing it. I found absolutely no one. Either they were all hiding from me or there was just too many people here to find them. So i was on my own for this day. I did get a few shoots of the area that were kind of nice.

The weather was predicted to be windy and 75-80F with lots of Sun. Sure enough you could feel allot of wind already. The swim is in the biggest lake in Wisconsin (94 miles around) it it was getting allot of chop. The waves were 3-4 feet high. I tried to capture them on my camera but it was kind of difficult. Here is the swim area.

You can see some of the waves above. The temperature was not that cold but i did not measure it. At 6.50am transition close and i moved down the the swim start in my full wetsuit (thank you wetsuitrentals.com!)

The Swim

I was in wave 5 and the first wave went promptly at 7am and the played the national anthem. Watching my heart rate monitor i saw my HR get up to 85 and i was just standing still! I closed my eyes and focused on getting it down. Relax..you going to be OK. I wondered how i would deal with those high waves. I found someone to help my zip up the back of my wetsuit. I was looking around as the waves went in but still i could not find anyone i knew. I had worn my $2 flip flop down to the shore and talk them off and set them to the side when as i was about to start. Then i was up.

The start was very surreal. I could wade for a good bit in the water and felt like i was walking along. I knew this was going to be the start to a very long day. The waves were 4  feet now sometimes. As i got to the swim position i settled into my stroke. Sighting was difficult as the buoys would disappear with the high waves. You almost had to swim in a 45 degree direction to where you wanted to go as the waves kept sweeping you in. I was SO glad i had done all that swim training as i felt strong and my pace felt good. There were times i would bump into people but nothing major. Allot of the times i just followed people and let them sight hoping 10-20 of us were not of course! I had used ear plugs as i hate the water going in my ears and also had found this would make you less dizzy.

I had meant to take off my wedding ring but had forgot. It has been getting loose lately but it is not worth sizing as it was pretty cheap. It is not the ring i got married with and i think it cost me $26. It kept slipping down my finger and i would have to move it back up. Sure enough half way through i felt it fly off. No big deal, i told myself this is not bad luck just bad planning. So now it is on the bottom of lake Winnebago some where. I have to get a new one anyway. I felt OK in the swim but thought all these waves are going to make my time very slow. It is one big loop and when i got back out i looked at my timer and it was at 30mins!!! Wow i fully expected it to take 45mins on a good day! YES! There were wetsuit strippers to help me get my suit off in no time, then a run up the hill. I was worried about my suit getting stuck on my timing chip so i took it off before they stripped me, then slipped it back on. I had been intending to hide a dollar bill somewhere to tip them but i had forgot that too. I just wanted to see if they would be shocked. So the extra time here include the run up the hill and the suit strippers helping me.

Actual swim time : 31:42.5

T1

Not bad really, the thing i struggle with here is always getting socks on my wet feet. So i had put talc powder (baby powder) in my socks already and i dropped some on my feet to. This works great. Helmet on shoes on and go. No need to put a jersey on or arm warmers today!! I had strapped my cycling cloves on to my handle bars so i could put them on later. It was a long transition area so it took my a little while to run through it. I ran in my bike shoes and it is a grassy area.

Total T1 time : 3:02.2

Bike

I knew the first thing on the bike is the huge climb. I was not going for any hill climb records here so i took my time on this climb. The winds were 10-20mph and when they were behind you it felt super fast. Of course experience has taught me riding the other way is coming! The ride was good, i passed by allot of people as i had got out the swim so fast. No problem. I took it easy keeping my HR at 140BPM. It was sunny but the wind made it feel just right. I ate my first gel at 30 minutes in then i would drink every 30 mins and Nathans electrolytes every 30 mins. Had my second gel 1 hour after the first. They had places on the course you could grab bottles of water or Gatorade from them and toss you old ones. I didn't know they would be doing this as this is my first Half Ironman.

In my head i would just concentrate on how long was my next feeding or drinking interval. I also made sure i had fun! I was thinking i have been training for a whole 6 months for this one so make sure you enjoy it. I saw cows, horses and very beautiful scenes of the lake.

One fellow had has brake rubbing on his front wheel at mile 5 so i told him how to release it or he was going to get a blowout from the heat of the friction. Then i told him how to shift the whole brake hub over and his rubbing was gone. Told him to be REALLY careful on the heels if he only had a rear brake now.

The course was well marshaled.

I came up upon a woman standing with her bike by the side of the road at mile 9. Asked her if she needed a tube or a tool. Then i noticed she was crying. She said she just wiped out and her saw her leg bleeding a little bit. I told her i would send someone back for her. I felt really bad for her and i wonder if she kept going or not.

I saw one guy pull over ahead of me into the grass and i wondered what he was doing. Well he put down his bike and started to go into the bushes. Wow you see some crazy stuff on these longer distance Triathlons :). When you have to go you have to go.

The only time i stopped was to refill my water bottle at an aid station. I had a good time on the bike. Made sure i enjoyed the scenery and even sang a little.

At mile 7 my right knee was hurting a little bit so i kept my gears light as i did not want to have trouble in the run.

T2

A fast T2. I grabbed some sunscreen and at the aid station i made a volunteer rub some on my shoulders, it was just a free little bottle i had got at another event this year so i did not mind losing it. Sunglasses with my and i am ashamed to admit it because it does not make me sound hardcore but MP3's were allowed on the run so i grabbed my ITouch.

Total T2 time : 3:00.8

(my T1 and T2 were almost exactly the same!)

Run

The run was amazing. All on trails and shaded in the woods mostly. There were sections that were not shaded but they were not too long. I love trail running. I used the long striding method i have been practicing lately and i could not believe how fast i was going when i hit mile markers. I ate a little bit of banana on the run, grabbed some Gatorade here and there but kept a fast pace. The only pain i had i was in my back. My lats were hurting so i need to do allot of pull ups before i do this distance again (if ever). The push ups i have been doing helped me on the bike but i can see i need to get a stronger back to help me on the run. No cramps or anything. I was on pace for my fast 10k time last week. In fact i was breaking my 10k pace. I tried to get my HR down a few times but it was not having it. So i let it go. I could not believe how fast my run was!!!!!

total Run time : 1 Hour 34:13.3.

I do not know if i can ever ever do a run that fast again. My Half Marathons are normally just over 2 hours. The run seemed like a blur to me and i was very worried i would collapse near the end.

The End

I got my medal, and i knew there was no way anyone i knew had hung around after the sprint. So took my time and ate some fruit then packed up. Called my family to let them know i made it then went home. House was empty which was a bit weird but at least i could make a mess and not feel too bad about it.

I started feeling sick and think i defiantly got some heat stroke, a cool shower helped with this a good bit.

My total time was

5hours 34:35.8

I did not place in my age group. I was 44th in men 35-39. I thought i had chosen Clydesdale but i would not have placed there either so no big deal. I got my finishers medal. It feels weird to know i can do that distance.

Just less than 3 years ago now i weighed 440LBS and now i got an Ironman under my belt.

Sorry this one is kind of long. Look for the podcast soon!