Where the heck have have I been?

Wow! So much time and so many changes. Like the commercial says, "Life comes at you fast!" It sure does. I can't wait to fill you in on my journey. Stay tuned...

My Butt Hurts!

Welcome to week two of the Old Guy. Only 43 weeks to go, hooray! This post will be a typical weekly update on my past week; how it went, did I hit my goals, and a “Thumbs up, thumbs down” section where I discuss the best and worst parts of the week. What can I say about week 2 except, “My butt hurts!”, because it does. I was scheduled to start the week with an 11 mile cycle but turned out that I rode 14 on Labor day (see my LABOR! Day post for more on that). You know, I used to see those guys wearing the spandex bike shorts and thought, “I would never wear those!” Yea, well… I would have given anything for a pair at the end of my 14 mile ride. Anything with padding would have been welcome. As a true beginner, I have very basic equipment, including clothing. I can’t just run out and buy all the gear I need. I have to build it up just my training schedule. I cannot wait until I get my bike shorts, but fixing the flat tires and buying a helmet were first on my list . I was so sore that day that I wasn’t sure if I would make my scheduled run the next day. My training schedule calls for slight improvement each day of training, so overdoing it can really jeopardize the schedule. Look for training and nutrition posts in the coming weeks in addition to my weekly updates. They will be full of valuable information I have gleaned over the years as well as what I doing and eating now to prepare for the event. Back to the weekly… The day after my big ride on Labor day I was a little sore but not bad. I ran my scheduled 5.5 miles (see below) and my minutes/mile was pretty good for me. I was looking forward to Wednesday’s ride and had had a little different outlook on how would tackle the 14 mile ride (yes, even though I was only scheduled to ride 12 miles I never go backward). I did however start out at a slower pace in order to finish better. I ended up finishing the ride much easier than the previous ride although it took me a good 5 minutes longer (I hate going slower!). Thursday’s run was great; I ran the 5.7 miles that I was scheduled for and at a personal best speed! Watch out Donner- here I come! Friday’s ride was also good. I ended by adding approximately 2 miles to the ride and kept my original 15 MPH speed without near as much trouble as Monday had been. Progress is a beautiful thing.

September 1, 2008 - Cycle 15 mi - 61 minutes - 15 MPH
September 2, 2008 - run 5.5 mi - 56 minutes - 10.18 M/M
September 3, 2008 - cycle 15 mi - 65 minutes - 13.8 MPH
September 4, 2008 - run 5.7 mi - 54 minutes - 9.47 M/M- new personal best
September 5, 2008 - cycle 17 mi - 68 minutes - 15 MPH


Making all my weekly goals and sending invites to some of friends to follow my blog!


My killer hard seat on my Costco bike. Also my non-spandex, non-padded shorts I currently wear. Did I say I can't wait to buy bike shorts?

LABOR! Day

Here’s to a special edition of the Old Guy. I plan to post once a week, usually on weekends but since today is a Holiday, I figured I would take a few minutes to reflect on today’s ride. ugh! I figured since today is Labor Day and I didn’t have to go to work, I would spend my day laboring on my training schedule. I had 11 mile cycle on my list today, but figured I would take a new loop that totals 14 or so miles. The route is basically a square, 2 miles up, 5 miles across, 2 miles down and 5 miles back home. The 2nd half of all this is what I typically ride and I am used to the terrain. Since the route is relatively flat and my previous rides up to 10 miles have all been well accepted by my body…what the heck. Well, heck is what it turned out to be! The morning was beautiful, blue skies, small white clouds and stiff wind blowing around 20MPH. With all the fires we have had this year, and the fact we just came out of 109F weather last week, a windy 70 degree morning was very welcome. I felt so good and had been resting all weekend so I pushed the first 3-4 miles pretty hard uphill (maybe a few hundred feet in elevation) :P and didn’t really think about it. The ride felt great, a good cardio workout starting early with the climb through the north end of Redding and finally breaking into outskirts of town toward Airport road. (see the map below for detail) I slowly worked my way mostly uphill, endlessly it seemed to Knighton road where I could hit a short downhill section. Finally, I could see the signal in the distance announcing my arrival to the right-hand turn that would temporarily ease my suffering. I say suffering because in the last few hundred yards, my legs are starting to have issues with any uphill climb- no matter how small. When is this going to be over? Maybe I shouldn’t have taken this loop? Am I going to be too sore to run tomorrow? Is this going to throw off my meticulous schedule? **STOP** where is this negative thinking coming from? I am going to be fine and this obstacle will make me stronger! It always does. I am now heading up churn creek road, a familiar route for me, finally. Funny, I seem to be using much lower gears than usual :) how much slower is this going to be? I want to try and keep up my 14MPH pace. The last leg of my loop has a nice 100 yard step climb to prep me for the last 3 miles of the ride. It sure did its job- I am wiped! Finally home, I jump off my bike and prepare to jog a few yards to try and get used to what it is going to feel like during a transition in the triathlon. So I jump off my bike and I can’t feel my legs- whoa! Hold me up! Dang, I could barely walk let alone jog. It doesn’t matter, I jog anyway…for maybe 30 yards and return. Okay, I think I know what this is going to be like. I will handle it. Done! What a day on the bike- beautiful. Now we’ll have to see how well I run tomorrow. I think I have 5.3 miles on my schedule. I better get some sleep; the alarm is going off at 4:15am and its 10pm now.

Blessings,
Eric

How did I get here... ?

Let’s back up a little and find out exactly why I am doing this. To start with, I quit smoking when I was 34 and I gradually gained too much weight. My work as an x-ray technologist gave me little exercise and my busy family (5 kids at that time) made it difficult to participate in any competitive activities. Eventually, I took on management positions which left me even more sedentary at work, usually behind a desk. When I was 39 I hit the 230 lb mark (I am only 5’11”) and my body fat was probably around 25%+ (who knows). I began running and working out to get back into shape. I was very successful and got down to around 205 lbs. Unfortunately, I succumbed to recurring sinus infections thanks to newly acquired allergies and a nose that got broken when I was 18. I quit exercising after only 6 months and quickly regained most of my weight. I did this same cycle every year or so. When I was not working out, my diet would be horrible, eating tons of bad carbs and sitting on my butt being too tired to exercise. I would finally get up the motivation to work out and would be successful until my next sinus infection.

My answer to this problem was to have sinus surgery in May of 2008 to help avoid any future issues. My last workout had been in November of 2007 when I had achieved my best condition since high school. I was at 195 lbs with a body fat of 13%. I was sort of drawn to body building and was lifting hard 3 days week and running twice/week. By early July 2008, 8 months of no exercise, I crept up to 222lbs and 24% body fat. On July 8 I suddenly became dizzy and had to get a lot of test to figure out the cause. Nothing was apparent (no stroke or heart stuff!) but my cholesterol was awful! The highest it had ever been at 203 with triglycerides at 175. I finally started running July 28th in response to my declining health.

Today (6 weeks later) I am at 214 lbs with about 20% body fat. I can run 5.2 miles without stopping and I ride 12 miles a day on my bike. I’ll get into my training schedule on my next post. The most amazing thing is that I just had another cholesterol test for my annual physical. It dropped to 143 total cholesterol and my triglycerides dropped from 175 to 100. Just 6 weeks of diet and exercise! Of course, I eat pretty healthy which makes a huge difference.

A couple weeks ago I decided that I needed something to motivate me into staying fit. I don’t want to be satisfied and then go through the same cycle again. I want stay fit! The answer- competition! And bodybuilding wasn’t it. Don’t get me wrong, it may be exciting for some people, but I find it hard to get excited about posing your body. Somewhere I started reading about triathlons. That started to get my interest. I grew up as a football player and have a drive for hardcore competition. The more contact the better. I never dreamed I would be interested in running but for some reason this looks like a lot of fun. Add cycling, which I never really have done (except for my BMX bike as a kid) and swimming (which I did all the time as a kid) and this could be fun! Not only that, it will take nearly a year to get into good enough condition to compete. That gives me incentive to stay fit.

I will post some workout stuff, my progress and some thoughts on what I come up against as I go.

MY GOAL: Finish the 2009 Donner Triathlon – not in last place.

Here we go!

The Revolution has begun...

Call it mid-life crisis (crisis?) or just a redirection of my focus toward inner passions long removed. Whatever it is, the beginning is surely here. Do not mistake this as tossing away of current longings felt dear for elder things of youth. No, this would be the refining fire removing the wasteful things making room for what was once left aside. All this to say; I was born with a competitive heart and have tamed it over the years. I have raised and am raising a wonderful family alongside an awesome (and beautiful) soul mate- my wife. I work very hard to provide for them and in the daily grind to keep up with the status quo, I left something behind; my drive for competition and the spirit of adventure. It is this spirit that I seek to not only revive, but add to the legacy of my children.

I am currently training to compete in an international division triathlon in Tohoe, CA next summer. Although I have never competed in any running or cycling events (ever) and I am now 42 years old, I will give this as my only warning to others in my division: you better work hard and watch your mirrors, because here I come!

Much of my posts will pertain to that quest.

In addition to this personal and somewhat selfish journey, I am also proudly called to be witness to the greatest spiritual revival in human history. When Jesus said, “These things and more shall you do.” I believe that he meant we were made brothers in the same family. We were no longer slaves to a master and therefore we have all right and privilege to power and spirit that he has.

To this end, all I have to say is: The Unstoppable Revolution has begun.