Week 13

Counting from Dec when I started training, we're now in week 13.

This will be a quick post on a good week. Got all the workouts in, got decent sleep and feeling good. Score for the week was a 3.5 out of 4. Full four points for Training, Recovery and Diet and 2 points for Sleep as I averaged 7hrs 18mins, just under the 7.5hrs needed to get the 3.

Week 14 will be more of a recovery week as I'm off to Florida for a few days to visit my family. And in case you're wondering, yes, I'll be taking my wetsuit to get some ocean swims. Can't wait!

Grades

Been a few good weeks of training. A bit of interruption from food poisoning last weekend, but in general, I'm getting in the sessions and feeling stronger by the week. One thing I'd throw out there though is that I'm definitely not sleeping enough.

I'm a morning person, and the day always feels more productive after starting out with exercise; however, waking up at 4-5am, Tue through Sat has really taken it's toll on me. Having recently hit 33, I'm sure this is a result of ageing as this never used to bother me, but I won't let it get me down. I refuse to bemoan old age. It's just a matter of understanding how my body is changing and adapting my workouts as needed.

As a result, I've decided to start grading my weeks based on the table below (click on the image to read it). Essentially, I'm grading each week based on four equally weighted categories (Training, Recovery, Diet and Sleep) with each category receiving a score of 1-4 (4 being best). Hopefully this will help me put equal focus on the different aspects that should help me improve performance and identify where I'm weak, which right now is sleep.

This past week (week 12 of 2016 training) scores a 2.75 out of 4.

Training, 2 - Missed a few sessions, a couple at the start as I was recovering from food poisoning and a couple at the weekend as I decided to skip Sat morning workouts to get some much needed sleep

Recovery, 3 - Have been laser focused on warm-up and cool-down/post training stretching. Took off a point as I'm feel just okay, not well-rested

Diet, 4 - Ate well all week with one unhealthy snack, ice cream today at Davey's here in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Awesome, homemade ice cream, you gotta try it!

Sleep, 2 - Averaged 7hrs 7min, which isn't bad, but there were two days in-a-row in the middle of the week where I barely got 6hrs, so that's not great

Working on adjusting my training schedule to help me get more z's. More to come next week.

A Very (Belated) Happy New Year!

Happy 2016! I know it's late, but better late than never. I always love London's New Years fireworks, so included the video here.

Dec was great, light training month that set a good stage for the start of the new year, but didn't exactly turn out that way. I caught a cold over New Years weekend which dragged out through the first week of Jan. Once that was gone, and I was feeling good, I somehow pulled a muscle in my back. I worked out through the pain, and it eventually went away, but let's hope that doesn't come back to haunt me.

Anyway, the last two weeks have gone well, and I'm finally putting together a training plan and race calendar. Promise it won't be another two months before I share.

What a Difference

What a difference 6 weeks of limited cardio and letting my diet go has made. Hard to get up at 6am (though is it ever easy?) and can seriously feel the lack of fitness and extra weight.

Kicking off training at 64kg/141lbs, which isn't much more than Oct, but surely body fat percent has gone up. Mostly felt the difference in my core (or should I say belly?). The bouncing around really took me by surprise.

Anyway, got in all of the disciplines plus strength. Mostly easy, holding my legs and arms back from wanting to take off. Not yet. Plenty of time for that later.

Looking forward to next week.

2016, Here We Go Again

Following the last 6 weeks of sleeping in, overeating, and avoiding anything cardio related, it's time to kick-off 2016 training!

I'll continue to focus on short-distance races (Sprint and Olympic) targeting major improvements with some ambitious goals which I'll outline once my 2016 race plan is done. I expect these major improvements across all 3 disciplines though primarily in the bike. I'm looking to join a road racing club to learn about proper biking (handling, pacing, full throttle-ing) which I think will start me on the path to where I want to be.

December is loosely structured, just looking to get back into the 6 day-a-week routine: 3 swims, 3 bikes, 2-3 runs, and 2 strength sessions. Weeks 1-3 will build a bit with week 4 (Christmas week) being a rest/get-in-what-I-can before setting a more serious course from the last week of Dec.

The last 6 weeks have been great, but man am I looking to get back at it. Structured training program, full race schedule and more to come. Stoked!


Side-note in case you haven't seen, here's a little video of Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf taking the Ironman World Champ titles back in Oct. Enjoy!

What a year!

Almost a year without posting. Crazy! Here's the latest.

1) First and most important, after almost a year of living apart, Natsuko finally got her green card and joined me in the US! It's been amazing to start building our life here in NYC :)

2) Second big relief, I passed the final CFA exam! After two failed attempts at level III, I took four years away from the exam, two of those out of finance and came back fired up to study and pass. Feels good :)

3) Number 2 means that I can now focus on number 3, athletics. Even with six months off training while I studied for CFA, I got four tri's, three running races and a tough mudder (see pic :) A (very quick) overview below

• Febapple Frozen 50 - February - trail run in NJ. Part of NJ trail series. I ran the 10mi. Was awesomely snowy, and I took 1st out of about 70 runners (my first win ever!)
• Escape the Cape - June - sprint tri in Cape May, NJ. Start by jumping off a ferry, which is pretty cool. Great race, not too big (maybe 3,000 combined for sprint and olympic), well organized, will def do again. It was the weekend after CFA, so I was out there to enjoy, and enjoy I did. Already signed up for June 2016.
• NJ State Tri - July - good tri not too far from Princeton, NJ. My buddy and I did the sprint on the Saturday (he crushed it!) and another buddy joined us on the Sunday for an olympic relay. We won the relay (YAY!) and will be back in 2016 to defend.
• Westchester Tri - September - another good tri, small enough (about 2,000) and well run, in Rye, NY (on the border with CT). Olympic distance on Sunday. I had finally had a good few months of training so was really pumped. Swim was great at around 21min, bike left a lot to be desired (but was a tough course) at 1.16.37 but I finished up with a good run just over 40min. This is a qualifier for Escape from Alcatraz tri, so I'll def be back in much better shape in 2016.
• Paine to Pain Half Marathon - September - awesome race! My interests have been gravitating to smaller, off-road races, and this fits the bill. Small race, great people, well organized. Can't ask for much more. I pushed myself hard in this one, running 1.33 for a trail half marathon and was stoked with that.
• Brooklyn Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon - October - not a great race. Too many people (maybe 15,000?), organized but with that many people, it's just a zoo. Course wasn't great, I think they could have used Prospect Park a lot more. And, unlike the name indicates, there was little to no rock n roll out on the course (though have to shout out that Nate Reuss of Fun. (one of our favorite bands!) headlined the show after the race). I actually ran really well, 1.27.58 (including a 1min bathroom break), which is a PB. I was able to push myself pretty hard, so happy with that. I won't be doing this race again.
• Tough Mudder - October - 10mi obstacle course run. Ran the race near Philly with a good friend and got super muddy. That was the point. It was awesome. I'd do it again, but only if friends are also doing it.

That's been my year. Work is great. I've been reading a ton, so hoping to post on that later. Also working on race schedule and goals for 2016. Lots more to come.

Happy New Year!

pic from magazine.fourseasons.com

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2015 :)