Spring forward.... Already?!?

It's pretty annoying to change time, well to be honest springing forward is annoying, and it feels like it's happening extra early this year.  It's a little less than appealing because I have my first race of the season on Saturday and then clocks go forward that night.   Yuck.

With that, it's time to talk about what's been going on and how things are looking here.   I felt February was another "good" but not great month.   It was great to get a bike again, and I even got an upgrade to an EX5s-22, so I've been back on the bike pretty regularly.   Lots of bootcamp classes in my preferred time, so I'm getting a fair bit of off-bike exercise and I even got my century day in.  Running has been less than ideal because it feels like such a drag, but I've started going every week and I want to maintain that but there's a few things that haven't been so ideal.  Let's go over that:

As always, here were my goals for February:

• Maintain weight
• Ride 500 miles
• February Apple challenge
• Weekly bootcamp workout(s)
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my February challenge
• All the bonuses in #mc50
• Weekly Row
• Weekly walk and run

Optional:

• Scuba Certification
• Swim 1000 yards twice this month

Weight Results:

• Starting Weight: 220.30
• Ending Weight:  221.00

Exercise Info:

• Number of rides: 75
• Time on exercise: 4:23:11
• Distance on rides: 490.35
• Number of runs: 2
• Distance running: 6.24
• Number of walks: 6
• Time walking: ;:00:17
• Distance walking: 11.28
• Number of rows: 5
• Time rowing: 1:02:13
• Distance Rowing: 13396 meters
• Number of swims: 1
• Distance swimming: 500yd
• Weight Workouts:  2

Results:

I'll go over the good stuff quickly, and I've already mentioned some of it.  Apple challenges done and dusted.   Bootcamps?   No problem, I get at least one or two per week.  I had a full month in #mc50.   Felt great to be on the bike and while I didn't get 500 miles, I was only ten miles short, and counting in the distances from the distance challenge I exceeded 550 miles, so I hit my original goal.  I also did plenty of walking and a little running and even got in a swim and a gym day.  On top of all that, I've been regularly stretching and using the foam roller, which seems to be making a difference.

Ok John, what are you unhappy with?   Glad you asked.   I'm disappointed with my weight.   I came back from vacation and got right back to where I wanted, but I've begun to see notifications that my average weight has been higher, consistently in the 220's instead of 210's and I almost saw 230 on the scale.  Now I don't want to be focused solely on my weight, because there's a lot more than that to watch, but I do need to be mindful of it.   Merinda thinks I've been putting on muscle, and I feel lean, strong and hard but some clothes felt snug, and I didn't work this hard for so long to get fat again.  I've just been struggling with snacking late at night and I think that's why my weight popped up a bit.  I felt pretty lethargic on my run last night, yes Monday is usually a rest day, but with a work trip, and the race on Saturday, I wanted to get one more in before the race.  Hopefully, it was just a case of tired legs instead of fat lazy John.  I also once again forgot I have a rower, but that's been a little more "schedule hell" and max distance for the MDC.   I'm hoping to get that back weekly after this week.

Ok, so, instead of beating myself up, I'm just going to work hard this coming month, and do my best to cut out the crappy food.   The Dunedin triathalon is 2 months out, and I need to get ready for that.  Withg that, what do I have planned for March:

• Get below 220 pounds
• Ride 550 miles
• March Apple challenge
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my March challenge
• All the bonuses in #mc51
• Weekly Row
• Weekly walk and run
• Swim at least twice this month

Optional:

• Scuba Certification

I'm going to use this month to get myself back on track, and by that I mean apply some will power to my food consumption.  I want to get back around 215ish, so that will mean a lot of lean protein and less junk.  Maybe some more endurance focused workouts instead of HIIT.  We'll see how to make that happen.   I've been doing more morning workouts so I don't seem to double as often, nor do I get endurance/low impact as often so I might need to adjust my schedule.   I don't know how this will work into riding 550 miles either, but we'll see how that goes.   I just might need to lower that across the board if I want to run and row regularly, and I'll be away the last weekend of the month.  The good news is the distance challenge is coming to an end this coming weekend, so I won't have the pressure to rack up distance at the expense of other exercise, but that comes with a tradeoff when I set high mileage targets.  I've also made a soft commitment to go to the dive shop on pi day, yes I have that day off, so I should finally start that process.  

It felt like a lot to talk about this month, but was a little shorter than I expected.  Yes, I'm being hard on myself, but that's how it goes sometimes.  Someone has to be the taskmaster and it's going to be me.   As a FYI, I will include all the distance conversions through the end of the challenge, but once that's over, I'll probaby stop adding it in.   It's just too much work, and if I can't make the distances I set, I'll lower them, but for now lets stick with 550 miles for the month and I'll revisit it around the 15th.

Ok, enough griping, it's not all bad.  Apple made this month's challenge pretty simple so I won't be frantically trying to finish it.   Look for some update after the Shamrock Shimmy.   Talk soon!

2222

I'm not usually into numerology, but I saw that I hit workout number 2222 today.   When I looked at all the metrics I had the following numbers:

• 1789 - First US presidential election and the French Revolution
• 232
• 123
• 66
• 12
• and as mentioned 2222

Not really sure how to interpret it, but seems pretty lucky overall.   Lot's of twos which are lucky.   Maybe we'll win the lottery :)

On a different note, I recently switch to Isagenix protien powder and so far I think I think it's a step up from the one I used to use.  I usually used unflavored powder, but this tastes pretty good (hokey pokey) but more importantly, it mixes better into my parfait.  Not sure about the gains, but will let you know about that later.  I feel lean and strong, so I guess that's a good sign that I'm putting on some muscle.   What I have noticed is that I feel "fuller" after taking some, which helps control snacking.

Another recent change is I've started using my foam roller regularly.  Hear me out on this.   Yes, I know it hurts.  The first few times I squealed like a schoolgirl seeing The Beatles, but it got better, and it's made a huge difference in how tight my IT band is.  Just be patient and consistent and it should help.

Anyway, coming up on the end of the month.  Weight is still up a little bit, but I finally dipped back under 220, so it's getting better.  It looks like I'll be shy of 550 miles on the bike this month, but I'll get over 550 in the distance challenge, so I'm going to take that.

Talk soon!

Another milestone accomplished.

One of the soft goals I set for myself was to complete a century ride.   In case you don't know what that is, it's when you ride 100+ miles at a time.   Last year I'd signed up for a 100km ride, which was going to be a challenge and was going to train for longer distances.   That ride got cancelled due to hurricanes, so distance training got put on hold.

Once MDC3 started I'd been thinking about a century ride, and really wanted to complete one during this challenge, then my bike broke and I missed a month of cycling, and it seemed unlikely.   It's an all day commitment, and I wasn't sure I was conditioned for it.

Fast forward to last week, the end of the distance challenge got announced, it's going to be the 8th/9th, and we're at the finish line.  Merinda decided to go to VA to visit family, and I had an opportunity to go for it on Sunday.  My awesome teammates also decided to do a century day too to motivate us and five of us completed it.  I finished with 105.05 miles

Honestly, I think it was more of a mental challenge instead of a physical one.   I was careful about resistance so I spent most of the "work" in zone 2.   Yes, I did see zone 3, but it wasn't common, and to be honest, the most challenging part physically was sitting on the bike.  Echelon bike seats aren't that comfortable and if I sit on them too long it begins to become painful. 

Regardless, I finished it, and look forward to another opportunity to do better.   My legs aren't really that sore, more just tired, but it does make me wonder if I could do it on my road bike.  I ride slower outdoors, so its more like six+ hours instead of 5, and I dont know how I'd react to getting off the bike and then riding for another 3 hours.

Sorry for the rambling post, I'm still feeling sleepy so I'll wrap this and we'll talk later.

Just some random thoughts...

First off, I ran on Wednesday night.   My time was awful, but made it through 5k, so that's a start...   I have a few weeks until the first race, March 8th in case anyone was curious, and being able to run a 5k despite taking six weeks off was reassuring.  Yes, my legs have been sore since, so I have become re-acquainted with my massage gun.   I'm probably going to run at least once or twice a week until the event, or I get closer to my December times, whichever comes first.   I'll keep you updated.

With that said, if you don't want to hear about my opinion on the US and only care about fitness, stop reading now.  If you post something hateful you will be banned.  I am a US citizen, pay more than my share of taxes, yeah I pay a higher percentage of my income in taxes than Musk, and I'm allowed to express my opinion on *my* blog.   If you don't like it?   Tough...

<rant>

I don't understand how people can look at what's going on in the US right now and not feel concerned.  The administration has launched an attack on; The Press and now the courts.  All led by the President and the wealthiest man in the world.

I have to wonder why, and the only answer I can come back with is Power.   That's what it's all about.

Now before anyone accuses me of TDS, or some other made up illness, grow up.  I know the government is bloated, I worked in the DC area for a long time, and I've been involved in politics for almost 40 years.   I went to a presidential inaguration, Republican mind you, before I could vote, so I'm not just a mindless drone, but let me ask you this.   Do you really believe the richest man in the world is doing all this out of some random altruisim, or is there something else?

I don't care who you voted for, but if you think that we should impeach sitting federal judges, for simply interpreting the law in a way you don't agree with, you should really ask yourself if you want a democracy, or an autocracy.  Judges interpret the laws.   Elections don't determine how laws are interpreted, nor do they allow them to be ignored.   If the laws need changing we have a mechanism for that, but you don't get to pick and choose what parts of the constitution you follow, or perhaps your beloved 2a should be set on fire.  Remember the FIRST amendment says the government can't restrict your speech.   It comes before the second amendment because people smarter than us wrote these documents.  Think about that the next time the President kicks the someone out of the oval office because they don't say "Gulf of America".  Like it or not, that is unconstitutional.

Did the judge do something unethical?   Like gut the agency investigating your company?   No?   Hmmm...

Yes, Trump won, god help us, but he did, but that doesn't make him all-powerful.  Nor does it make his sidekick all-powerful, well not yet, but if they succeed in crushing the judiciary AND the press we're fucked...

Hope it was all worth it to those of you who voted for him, because the numbers don't add up, and something doesn't smell right.

And for what it's worth, I hope I'm wrong.

<rantoff>

Still struggling a little bit...

The good part of having the better part of a month off from heavy exercise, is getting a chance for some R&R on my legs etc...   Yeah I was expecting to be running, but the hammy pull stopped that dead in it's tracks.  

What's been tough is getting back into the swing of things.  It's been challenging to get up early, I guess I got used to sleeping in a little bit, and I just haven't had the drive to push myself the way I did before the holiday.  Maybe I'm asking a bit much since I just got the bike a week ago, but I've also completely skipped any running and I desperately need to start that.

I'm thinking about a run tonight, so I will keep y'all updated...

Well... Isn't that fucking special

My "reward" for finishing second on my team in sales is to get double the quota as other people, sadly I wasn't the only person given this, and the same payout(s).

So...  Work twice as hard for the same, or probably less, money.   They must be taking lessons from elmo...  I don't want to find a new job, but it looks like I'm going to have to consider it.

Mornings

You know I'd forgotten how much it absolutely sucks to get up in the morning.   I've had about six weeks of getting up at a more leisurely pace and hitting the snooze button, or not even setting an alarm.

That ended today.

No, I didn't get up at o'dark hundred, but I did have to get up on time for my class, and while the class was great, I struggled to get up, but glad I did and it ended up being a great start to my day.

Otherwise, the new bike arrived at lunchtime yesterday and so far I love it.   It felt like a year since I'd taken a spin class, but got right back into it last night and managed to finish 6th in class despite being in z5 for 40% of the class.

I've also started filling up my race schedule.   I have four 5k's scheduled so I can start getting ready for the Dunedin triathalon.

Fun times ahead!

Now it's time to get back at it...

And just like that it's February.  I'm actually glad because the past six weeks have been a little crazy between Christmas in Virginia, driving up and back and then going on the cruise.  We kind of lucked out a little bit because Merinda's friend Jackie was pretty sick and unable to visit and go on the cruise.  Now don't take that as a "we didn't want her to visit, because we did" rather as a "we got a chance to catch our breath" instead.  I caught a cold on the cruise, after all it's not a cruise if I don't get sick, and I hate having company when I'm sick.

In terms of fitness, not much changed...   I ended up not running all of January and still don't have a replacement bike from Echelon.  I had planned to run today, but went for a 35 mile ride outside yesterday, so I'll be walking tonight instead and my new bike is due to arrive tomorrow.  Yes, it was six weeks, but due to travel I lost over three weeks due to travel.  It really was just bad luck on the timing.  C'est la vie, and I think I needed a little break.  I ran a lot of 5k's in the Thanksgiving > New Years window, and had been riding like a fiend for the challenge, and it just reminded me that I need to do more recovery and less intense workouts.  

So with that, let's talk about what I did during January, as a reminder here were my goals:

• Maintain weight
• Ride 400 miles
• Weekly runs once my hamstring heals.
• January Apple challenge
• Continue weight training
• Continue bootcamp workouts. 
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my January challenge
• All the bonuses in #mc48 and start #mc49
• Stretch... stretch... and stretch....
• Row

Optional:

• Scuba Certification
• Swim 1000 yards twice this month

Weight Results:

• Starting Weight: 218.70
• Ending Weight:  215.80

Exercise Info:

• Number of rides:  15
• Time on exercise:  14:11:31
• Distance on rides:  181.02
• Number of runs:  1
• Distance running:  3.1
• Number of walks:  11
• Time walking:  9:01:07
• Distance walking:  24.98
• Number of rows: 36
• Time rowing: 8:06:46
• Distance Rowing: 73,169.00 meters
• Number of swims:  0
• Distance swimming:  0
• Weight Workouts:  0

Results:

So let's talk about January.   I think if I was to best describe it, it would be "when life gives you lemons make lemonade".  My spin bike was broken and unavailable, I was injured and needed to rest and overall I was worn out.  Add in a vacation and it could have been a disastrous month, but in some ways I'm pretty pleased with myself.   My weight was spot on, even with a vacation and a lot of food on that last Sunday and while I didn't get any weight workouts in, I still managed to have a perfect month in Apple, get all the Apple goals, row and walk quite a bit.  And, while I missed my "cycling target" for the month, if I take the updated calculations that they use in the distance challenge for running/walking/rowing, I  hit 401 miles for the month, and I'll take it as a win.   

This isn't to say last month was perfect, I let the weight workouts and stretching slide a bit as I was hyper focused on trying to add to my mileage, and I missed some of the MC49 bonus points, which is ok too.   All in all, I enjoyed a month of walking and rowing with a little biking outdoors and on the cruise thrown in there

That's enough of rehashing old news, let's talk about February.   Unfortunately I missed the 5k in Safety Harbor I wanted to do, but I wasn't ready to run on Saturday, and forgot all about it, but my bike is supposed to arrive tomorrow so I should get back to some regular spinning, but I don't want to go back to just spin so I'll have to play that by ear,  but as of today I think it's going to look like this:

Maintain weight

• Ride 500 miles
• February Apple challenge
• Weekly bootcamp workout(s)
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my February challenge
• All the bonuses in #mc50
• Weekly Row
• Weekly walk and run

Optional:

• Scuba Certification
• Swim ~1000 yards twice this month

These should look pretty familiar.  With the return of the bike I should go back to spin at least 4 days a week.   That will leave room for a weekly row, walk and run.  I'll take the walk and possibly the run as a recovery day.  With this quarters schedule I should be able to pick up some bootcamp classes since there are live classes a few days a week that work with my schedule.  Realistically, I'm just trying to get back into a habit.  I've been letting myself laze in bed a bit more than I should, and surprisingly I'm happy to get my discipline back.  

Other than that, planning on registering for the Dunedin triathalon and trying to find some 5k's to run.  Hope you're having a great month and I'll probably provide an update on the bike in a few days...

Outdoors again

I've been almost exclusively walking and rowing since January 1st.  Mostly because of the broken crank on my spin bike, and partly due to a pulled hamstring from my race on New Years day.  It's been a little frustrating since I was hoping to run a little more often, especially since I can't spin, and I thought it would be a good way to work on running endurance and pace.  I like the rower, but I don't have the dedication to spend 60-90 minutes on it every day, so I feel like I'm treading water and losing fitness and motivation.  Not really how I planed on starting 2025.

The weather here in Florida has been cool, but otherwise pretty nice and I decided to take my bike out and ride on the trail.  I really appreciate that we have a nice trail system here in Pinellas county, but my only wish would be for a few less street crossings and more bridges, because it's a pain in the ass to stop all the time.  Yes, it's better than being a hood ornament, but it is a pain in the ass.  I think that was the first time I've been on the bike since September and it felt great.  I was a little slow to get started, so I didn't ride as long as I planned; only went 24.5 miles, and I completely forgot how to use the garmin equipment (Pro tip, don't try to figure it out while riding), but I got it all working and had a good ride.

Long story short, I might be the only person looking forward to vacation so I can exercise again...   

 

Well

Between the broken bike and my pulled hamstring it appears this will be an easy month for me...   At least I'm finally getting some use out of the rower.  I still prefer the bike, but it's better than nothing.

Et tu Echelon?

So I already mentioned that my Echelon bike failed.   There's a fairly consistent issue with the crank breaking right at the spindle and, for reasons that dont seem clear, it's a part that cannot be replaced.   If it breaks, you have a giant paperweight/clothes pole.

This happened to me for the first time in July 2023 and they replaced the bike within a week, which I thought was remarkable since it was a holiday week.   Fast forward to December 2024 and my replacement bike failed.   I'm pretty sure it was the same side which is an odd coincidence, but I have a 50/50 shot so it's probably just that.  Regardless, it broke the morning Tyler and I were driving to VA and didn't snap off completely so I figured I would deal with it when I got home.   Reached out on Monday and while they were initially responsive, they asked some odd, seeemingly unrelated questions and have gone quiet.  This is a problem because there's a good chance this might arrive while we're on vacation.

/sigh...   First world problems.

I could look at this as a blessing in disguise, I did pull my hamstring on new years day, so I'm getting time to rest and let it heal, but I was hoping to hit this year with a bang and that hasn't happened...   I guess there's always February.

Let's talk about 2024 and 2025...

We're finally home, and things are a little calmer, so it's a good time for me to talk about 2024 as a whole and what I did in December.

I think 2024 was a tremendous success for me by any stretch of the imagination.  I competed in seven in person races, two of which were sprint triathalons, and one was a four mile race in July...  In Florida...  Every part of my body was sweating, but I finished strong.  I ran ten virtual 5k's last year.  Finally, I ran two 5k's in December alone, and I even squeezed one in on New Years Day, and set my current PR for a 5k time in one of those (33:26 and 10:45 pace).  I find it somewhat ironic that although the spin bike was the push to get me back in shape, the accomplishments I am most proud of don't relate to cycling.  Of course I have cycling accomplishments too, I rode 6249 miles last year, which ended up being 104% of my final goal.  Yes, I know I said 7000 when I set my goals in January, but that ended up being unrealistic as I still have to balance other demands on my time.  And last, but certainly not least, I kept my weight where I want it to be.   Even after 2 weeks of family time up in VA, and eating lots of holiday food, I didn't go over my "max" weight.  

With all that, there were some things I didn't accomplish that I wanted to, I didn't get every month's Apple fitness challenge, Septembers challenge was practicallyimpossible with an event in the middle of it.   Could I have done it?   Yes, but I didn't want to overtrain and wear myself out for the triathalon.  I missed a gold in a few challenges, but I can live with that because some of that was me, some was bad teammates.   I know Merinda think's I'm inflexible, but that's not quite true.   Life happens and we adapt and move on.  I just try my best to make sure I stay on track and to not let my fitness slip.

That's a perfect segue into talking about December.  As a reminder, here were my goals:

• Maintain weight
• Ride 550 miles
• Try to run weekly
• Two 5k events.   12/14 and 12/28
• December Apple challenge
• Continue weight training
• Continue bootcamp workouts. 
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my December challenge
• All the bonuses in #mc47 and start #mc48

Optional:

• Scuba Certification
• 2-4 Rowing workounts
• Swim 1000 yards twice this month
  

Weight Results:

• Starting Weight: 213.10
• Ending Weight: 218.70

Exercise info:

• Number of rides:  88
• Time on exercise:  53:36:15
• Distance on rides:  500.33
• Number of runs:  9
• Distance running:  12.02mi
• Number of walks:  5
• Time walking:  2:41:06
• Distance walking:  7.35mi
• Number of rows: 0
• Time rowing: 0
• Number of swims:  0
• Distance swimming:  0
• Weight Workouts: 2 dedicated, plenty of I&A and bootcamps.

Results:

This was a great month.  I every goal, with the exception of the cycling distance which I probably could have hit, except I took a mini bike break when I was up in VA.  I enjoyed using the treadmill, and since I ran two 5ks in December, and one NYD,  I'll give myself a pass.  Other than that I exceeded my goals for the month even factoring in travel and holidays.  No, I didn't get my optional goals, but c'est la vie.  My bike is broken so I will be rowing frequently until it's replaced.  It's still not my favorite workout, but it is effective, and will keep me able to run longer.

So...  What to expect for 2025?  I want to maintain and increase my overall fitness and improve performance on events.   The question is, how to do that.  Let's start with these goals:

• Maintain Weight
• Ride 6500 miles
• Perfect Year of Apple move rings
• Every Apple Monthly exercise goal
• Perfect year of closing my rings
• Complete two or more triathalons.  I'd like one to be olympic distance if I can get to 10k distances.
• Run at least one 10k
• Get my 5k pace under 10 minutes.

I believe all of these are possible, albeit challenging, but what is life without challenges eh?  The first five, with the exception of the Apple monthly goals, should be straightforward.   Yes, it's 250 miles more than this year, but if ride 550 miles/month for every month, except for January, I'll hit 6500.   I can dial this back as the year goes, but even if I have a slow start I'd like to do better than 2024.  

The remaining three are where it's going to get harder.   At a minimum I'd like to do both the Dunedin and Tarpon Springs triathalons.  If Tyler walks in May I will miss Dunedin because it's the same weekend, but I can find something else.   Tarpon is the question mark.   It has an Olympic distance, which would be my preferred race, but the 10k is the question.   I'm confident in both swim and cycling and it remains to be seen if I can run 10k's regularly.   I didn't mention it here, but I really want to run the Miami half-marathon in either 2026 or 2027, and that's dependent on my being able to run futher.  As to running faster?   That just takes practice, so I'll need to run more than last year.  I'll need to shave almost 2 minutes off my 5k time to get there, but I think that's within reach.

With that, what do I have planned for January?

• Maintain weight
• Ride 400 miles
• Weekly runs once my hamstring heals.
• January Apple challenge
• Continue weight training
• Continue bootcamp workouts. 
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my January challenge
• All the bonuses in #mc48 and start #mc49
• Stretch... stretch... and stretch....
• Row

Optional:

• Scuba Certification
• Swim 1000 yards twice this month

So...   I'll share that I am not going to get all the bonuses in #MC48.   I didn't get the I&A workouts in.  I thought I'd cycle more up in VA, but I didn't and I was behind when it started.   I'll get back at it for MC49.  Other than that I think I can hit this.   I did pull my hamstring on New Years, so I won't be running until it feels right, but I am walking on it and I hope to be able to run by next week.  Obviously with a broken bike I can't ride. so if it's not replaced before we leave for vacation I'll have to dial the mileage back.   I will be using the bikes on the boat, so I should get some distance there and I think I'll use the rowing distance as an alternative the same way it's calculated for the distance challenge.

I won't get certified this month, but I would like to start, and I should start swimming soon. Most likely after vacation.

That's enough, was a great 2024 and looking forward to bigger and better things in 2025!  Talk soon.

Ugh

I didn't have time to post before we left, but that morning I broke the crank on my Echelon bike.   Not the way I wanted to end 2024...  At least I'll have a new bike in 2025 and no excuse to not use my rower anymore.

I finally caught up on my distance challenge stuff and got it all entered so I'll talk about 2024 and 2025 in the next few days...   Talk soon!