It's been a while. Sometimes life just gets in the way. We made a big move to the country and internet access has been a little on the difficult side. But, with the help of Wild Blue.....we're back on line and 'kickin'.
Training continues for the 2010 Veterans National Wrestling Tournament. I run our country roads when the weather permits and have been working out with the University of Great Falls wrestling team when time and work permits. The move and the holiday season at work have made getting mat time much more difficult but I do have to get on the mat more consistently to realistically have a chance to compete at the higher level necessary to seriously challenge for the world title.
The national tournament has been moved from Las Vegas to Heber City, Utah this year. We'll also have a couple of additional weeks of preparation time as the date has been moved to May 6-8. That moves it closer to the world tournaments as well.....
In the meantime, I will continue to train and enter as many road races and trail runs as I can find the time to take part in.
The beat goes on.....
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
New Found Respect
Wow! Everyone has to start somewhere.....
I have always avoided the triathlon because I am just not a great swimmer. As a matter of fact, I'm really not a very good swimmer!
But...completing a triathlon has been on my 'bucket list' for quite a while so I finally took the "plunge". I love a good challenge and, since I have been training for the 2010 Veterans National Wrestling Tournament, I thought I was probably in good enough shape to get to the finish line without too much difficulty.
The Harvest Thunder is a 'sprint triathlon'. A shorter than usual tri to give all of us mortals an opportunity to experience the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat".
What I came out of the event with was a tremendous amount of respect for those who excel at this 'grueling', life altering event.
More about my personal experience in another post. Suffice to say that I will compete in other events......but I will definitely prepare differently for the next one.
I have always avoided the triathlon because I am just not a great swimmer. As a matter of fact, I'm really not a very good swimmer!
But...completing a triathlon has been on my 'bucket list' for quite a while so I finally took the "plunge". I love a good challenge and, since I have been training for the 2010 Veterans National Wrestling Tournament, I thought I was probably in good enough shape to get to the finish line without too much difficulty.
The Harvest Thunder is a 'sprint triathlon'. A shorter than usual tri to give all of us mortals an opportunity to experience the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat".
What I came out of the event with was a tremendous amount of respect for those who excel at this 'grueling', life altering event.
More about my personal experience in another post. Suffice to say that I will compete in other events......but I will definitely prepare differently for the next one.
Monday, August 17, 2009
LIFE GETS IN THE WAY
OK,,,I admit it. Life does get in the way sometimes.
I've been away a while. Too many things....too little time. Or, time directed toward other pursuits. One way or the other, it;s been a while since I last posted.
Among other things, the last month has included a move to our yet to be completed home on the farm. We're in now and things will begin to get a little more 'sane' as we move forward.
Tomorrow: Updates on the Harvest Thunder Triathlon.
I've been away a while. Too many things....too little time. Or, time directed toward other pursuits. One way or the other, it;s been a while since I last posted.
Among other things, the last month has included a move to our yet to be completed home on the farm. We're in now and things will begin to get a little more 'sane' as we move forward.
Tomorrow: Updates on the Harvest Thunder Triathlon.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Steppin' It Up A Bit
Start of another week and my early morning shift at work necessitates that I do my workout in the evening after work. That was a dicey proposition here!
We have been experiencing severe summer thunderstorm activity here in Montana so I was not able to get out on the trail...both due to excessive mud and the threat of nasty lightning strikes.
Since I'm not looking forward to getting struck by lightning I did today's run on the asphalt streets of Great Falls. Would rather not do that in the summertime...but whatever it takes. Right?
Got a lot of getting ready to do so stepped up my workout today to an 8 mile run.....and didn't even get rained on. :-)
Eight miles was a bit of a stretch and I did have to walk a couple of times for a short distance. Overall it was a great workout and I was able to finish pretty strong.
Tuesday is my day off so am planning to get a both a swim in and a 12 mile bike ride. If I can finish the day with a short run that would be fantastic! However, it's supposed to rain off and on all day tomorrow so don't know if I will be able to get everything done.
Today's dividends?
Cash dividend.....fantastic! Today's run netted four pennies and a quarter. 29 cents.
Physical dividend - Difficult but still priceless!
We have been experiencing severe summer thunderstorm activity here in Montana so I was not able to get out on the trail...both due to excessive mud and the threat of nasty lightning strikes.
Since I'm not looking forward to getting struck by lightning I did today's run on the asphalt streets of Great Falls. Would rather not do that in the summertime...but whatever it takes. Right?
Got a lot of getting ready to do so stepped up my workout today to an 8 mile run.....and didn't even get rained on. :-)
Eight miles was a bit of a stretch and I did have to walk a couple of times for a short distance. Overall it was a great workout and I was able to finish pretty strong.
Tuesday is my day off so am planning to get a both a swim in and a 12 mile bike ride. If I can finish the day with a short run that would be fantastic! However, it's supposed to rain off and on all day tomorrow so don't know if I will be able to get everything done.
Today's dividends?
Cash dividend.....fantastic! Today's run netted four pennies and a quarter. 29 cents.
Physical dividend - Difficult but still priceless!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
How Do You Measure Success?
I keep asking myself how to measure success in this quest for fitness and continued progress toward achieving one's desired goals.
I continue to work pretty hard.....sometimes, perhaps, too hard. Today I ran the Dutton (MT) Fun Days 5k and the results were less than desirable in my quest to break the 8 min. average mile barrier. I turned in what seems like a turtle's pace 26:09 time, which translates to something right at 8:20 miles.
Could be my workout yesterday had some impact on today's time. I know that it usually isn't a great idea to log a hard day right before a quest to run a personal best......but that's just what I did.
Because sometimes life gets in the way a bit, I haven't gotten the workouts in that I have wanted to so I went ahead and did a 5 1/2 mile run followed by a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. Wrong thing to do? Don't know for sure. I think that the real results will show up a little further down the road.
Could be it made me a little slower today, but I'm betting that I will reap positive results in future efforts.
Mostly, I really love to work out. I'm looking forward to wrestling in the Big Sky State Games next weekend and then re-directing my training and thinking toward my first ever triathlon in August.
I do hope that you are achieving your fitness (and life) goals. Keep rockin'!
I continue to work pretty hard.....sometimes, perhaps, too hard. Today I ran the Dutton (MT) Fun Days 5k and the results were less than desirable in my quest to break the 8 min. average mile barrier. I turned in what seems like a turtle's pace 26:09 time, which translates to something right at 8:20 miles.
Could be my workout yesterday had some impact on today's time. I know that it usually isn't a great idea to log a hard day right before a quest to run a personal best......but that's just what I did.
Because sometimes life gets in the way a bit, I haven't gotten the workouts in that I have wanted to so I went ahead and did a 5 1/2 mile run followed by a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. Wrong thing to do? Don't know for sure. I think that the real results will show up a little further down the road.
Could be it made me a little slower today, but I'm betting that I will reap positive results in future efforts.
Mostly, I really love to work out. I'm looking forward to wrestling in the Big Sky State Games next weekend and then re-directing my training and thinking toward my first ever triathlon in August.
I do hope that you are achieving your fitness (and life) goals. Keep rockin'!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Getting There....
Progress - the reason we set goals.
In my last post I detailed a bit of my frustration concerning the plateau I have been bumping up against in my struggle to break the 8 min. per mile average barrier in my training schedule.
Still haven't made that leap....but did make significant progress this weekend. I did run the Black Eagle Dam run on Saturday the 4th as planned. My 5k time was 25:30 and that averages out real close to 8:10 miles.
That's getting close. I have been neglecting my speed work a little since my shoulder injury so am feeling better about picking up the pace a bit.
I did get out again today and get in right at 5 miles a bit latter in the evening. It had started to cool down a bit and I felt very strong.
I work early in the morning....so will take Monday off and am planning on getting in a long, slow run on Tuesday.
Getting past a plateau is a very gratifying feeling.
Today's dividends:
Cash dividend: Zero
Physical dividend: You guessed it....priceless.
Trail day....Secret stone dividend: 1 pretty cool stone. :-)
In my last post I detailed a bit of my frustration concerning the plateau I have been bumping up against in my struggle to break the 8 min. per mile average barrier in my training schedule.
Still haven't made that leap....but did make significant progress this weekend. I did run the Black Eagle Dam run on Saturday the 4th as planned. My 5k time was 25:30 and that averages out real close to 8:10 miles.
That's getting close. I have been neglecting my speed work a little since my shoulder injury so am feeling better about picking up the pace a bit.
I did get out again today and get in right at 5 miles a bit latter in the evening. It had started to cool down a bit and I felt very strong.
I work early in the morning....so will take Monday off and am planning on getting in a long, slow run on Tuesday.
Getting past a plateau is a very gratifying feeling.
Today's dividends:
Cash dividend: Zero
Physical dividend: You guessed it....priceless.
Trail day....Secret stone dividend: 1 pretty cool stone. :-)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Not Getting There Fast Enough
Sometimes it does get a little discouraging when the quest for faster times seem to stall. On Saturday morning we will be doing the Black Eagle Dam 5k...so this morning I went out and did a 'warm-up' run on the course.
Since I don't know the exact start and stop points, I can't be totally accurate but timed myself at 28:47. If you do the math, that's not going to do the trick in turning sub 8 min. miles.
Hence a bit of disappointment. This was only a training run and I will run a little faster on Saturday, I'm sure.......but I'm struggling to attain a goal that I feel I should have already reached.
We'll talk more about realistic expectations in a future post. While it may not be realistic....I think I should be there by now!
Was still a great workout. I did get in about 4 miles on the bike earlier this morning as well.... but didn't hit the pool this week at all. We'll get there!
Toady's dividends?
Cash Dividend: Zero
Physical Dividend: Priceless!
Secret Stone Dividend: 5 awesome "secret" stones.
Since I don't know the exact start and stop points, I can't be totally accurate but timed myself at 28:47. If you do the math, that's not going to do the trick in turning sub 8 min. miles.
Hence a bit of disappointment. This was only a training run and I will run a little faster on Saturday, I'm sure.......but I'm struggling to attain a goal that I feel I should have already reached.
We'll talk more about realistic expectations in a future post. While it may not be realistic....I think I should be there by now!
Was still a great workout. I did get in about 4 miles on the bike earlier this morning as well.... but didn't hit the pool this week at all. We'll get there!
Toady's dividends?
Cash Dividend: Zero
Physical Dividend: Priceless!
Secret Stone Dividend: 5 awesome "secret" stones.
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