Holiday Swims

I've been taking it pretty easy during the Christmas break. On Christmas eve, we did a ladder swim of sorts. 1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, 4 laps, ... to 11 laps in the 50m pool. With the warm-ups it was a nice 3600 meters. (about 3900 yards). No workout on Christmas- though I got a lot of nice workout gear thanks to my mom and wife. Christmas eve brought intense Santa Ana winds that brought all the ash from the Santiago fire through Aliso Viejo. It left the pool out of commission for Wednesday. Friday was a nice 7 sets of 5 x 100 meters. With the warm-up, it was another nice 3600m workout.

Looking forward to a 5000m workout tomorrow. On Tuesday, Novaquatics will be doing a New Years Day Polar Bear Swim- a lap around the buoys at Laguna Main Beach. Looking forward to it! My swim a couple of weeks ago at Corona Del Mar with Dave Galli was a couple of miles in 57 degrees and it was invigorating. I have put on a couple of pounds eating lots of avacados, brie, beef tenderloin, and fudge. Honestly, I feel crappy. I think I'll be fine with the weight I have for the cold water and with the half ironman coming up in 3 months, I really don't want to be carrying an extra 10 pounds for 70.3 miles.

Thursday, December 20th

The temptation to ignore my 5:30am alarm clock was greater due to the extra darkness caused by a passing rainstorm. I made my way down a flooded 101 and San Thomas Expressway to the Santa Clara Pool. I missed the first 400, but this was the workout:

Warmup:
2X 200 yards on 2:45
2X 75 yards on 1:00
3X 50 yards on :45
Repeated 2 times

2X 100yards on 1:20
2X 100 yards on 1:15
2X 100 yards on 1:10

10X 50 yard kick on :55

4X 25 yards butterfly on :30
4X 25 yards Back on :30
4X 25 yards Breast on :30

100 EZ pull
6X 300 pull odds on 4:00 evens on 3:45

2X 100yards on 1:20
2X 100 yards on 1:15
2X 100 yards on 1:10

150 Cool down

My Total Yardage: 5,050 yards (3 miles)

Former Fat Guy

In July of 2006, a colleague at work commented on my physique in a humorous, but accurate way. I was huffing up a flight of stairs and forcing the seams of my pants to hang on for dear life. I had known for years that my lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, and junk food diet was the cause of my obesity. I made some decisions that day that led to a 30 pound weight reduction and a rediscovery of the joys of athletic competition. I have now completed 2 olympic distance triathlons and 6 ocean swim races of a mile or more.

I've come a long way in the last 18 months and I hope my training blog may help others get motivated to make lifestyle changes that lead to a healthier, happier lives. If you have similar goals, hopefully my training record can help you train even better than me.

My athletic goals for this year are:

1. Complete a half-ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run, in March)
2. Complete a Catalina Channel swim (in August)
3. Complete a marathon (TBD)

For 2009, the goals are:

1. Complete an Ironman race (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run)
2. Swim around Manhattan Island
3. Swim the Maui Channel

I need coaching to help structure my workouts & push myself. I work out with some consumate professionals at Multisports of Orange County & Novaquatics. I probably don't take enough advantage of the years of training knowledge they have. I have also been working out with the Santa Clara Masters while working in the Bay Area. It is nice to get in 5,000-5,500 yard challenging workouts while away from home.

Part of the training for Catalina includes gaining a little weight. It is really hard to undo the good eating habits that I have established during the past year, but hopefully my overall health will improve with copious amounts of exercise.