Just keep swimming....swimming swimming swimming!!!

With just over 40 days until IM 70.3 New Orleans I'm starting to run out of "peak" training time as I prepare to "taper" in hopes of not being injured/worn out before the big day. 

Swim:  One of my biggest fears/challenges/concerns is the swim portion in triathlons, especially as the distance gets longer.  I have slowly increased my practice swims to the 1,900meter/1.2 mile distances I will have to swim in the actual race.  After reviewing previous similar event results, the "middle of the pack" for men 45-49 is about 45 minutes.  Anything over 1hr 10min will take you out of the race before you ever get on the bike.  Last summer I was able to swim a mile in about an hour.  I had a good swim 3 days ago and was able to get 1,900 meters in just under 54 minutes.  Immediately afterwards I was able to do 2x50 meters at 1:00-1:10 min.  My goal is 45-50 minutes for the swim portion and I feel I should be able to reach it without being completely shot for the bike and run.

Bike:  My wife and I continue to use our indoor (Kurt Kinetic) trainers for bike riding even though it is FINALLY starting to warm up outside.  We have several of Troy Jacobson's "Spinervals" dvds and I've found them to be very useful for keeping our bike workouts interesting.  The trainer has also allowed me to "tweak" the settings on my (first) tri bike which hopefully will make my outdoor rides more beneficial and comfortable.  I'm on my last day of a 3 day work stretch and hoping the weather will allow me to ride outside this week.  I'm quite anxious to see if the indoor training has paid off.  The bike portion of the half iron (70.3) tri is 56 miles.  My goal would be to finish in 3 hrs, but that is averaging 18.7 mph for the entire ride...which I've never done for that distance before.  More realistically I feel I could do 17mph which would put me done in about 3hrs 20min.  See below for my next "big" bike workout/brick.  Will keep you posted.

Run:  Unless I sustain an injury between now and April, my goal of finishing the half marathon portion in 2 hours or less remains the same.  February 25th was a big day for my wife and I as we travelled to Oxford, MS for the Run for Hope 5k/half marathon.  Less than 2 weeks before the run my lovely bride decided she wanted to do the half marathon (she was signed up for the 5k, and her furthest training was 7 miles) even if it meant walking large portions.  After my "concerned doctor/husband" warnings, she persisted and I agreed to switch her over and cheer her on.  The bad news: it was COLD (30's starting temp/high 40's finish), and HILLY.  The good news: we both accomplished our goals.  She was a champ over the whole distance and finished in just over 2:50 running across the line after a 0.6 mile hill at the end.  I'm really really proud of her!  I was able to finish in just over 1:52 (7th out of 24 in my age group).  More importantly for me, it was 5 minutes faster than St. Jude in December with a lot more hills....thanks to continued training since December in all 3 areas.  This was much needed encouragement.  I'm not an immensely competitive person, but I have to confess I enjoyed passing 2 younger guys in the last 100 yards of the run (one in his 20's that passed me a half mile earlier before the "big hill").  My pace was right at 7mph or 8:33min. mile.  I certainly don't plan on running that hard/fast in New Orleans, but hope my speed/pace will be more steady on the flatter course.  My next big training goal is in 3 weeks: Andrew Jackson 5k/half/marathon in Jackson, TN.  My plan is to integrate at least 20-25 miles of cycling BEFORE I run that morning to prepare my body/mind for doing all three a few weeks later.  Here's hoping all goes well!

A "brisk" 33 degree start of the Oxford, MS Run for Hope 1/2 marathon!

My "champion" running to her first half marathon finish!!!

Less than 60 days until Iron Man 70.3 New Orleans....injuries & more

With less than 2 months until my first half iron distance triathlon, I have to confess I've experienced excitement, anxiety, anticipation & frustration.  At this stage, I hope to keep it all in perspective as I continue to train. 

While doing some cross training with weights 2 weeks ago, I bent slightly at the hips and leaned over to put down a barbell (at the same weight I've used for weeks/months) and felt a "POP".  Almost dropping to my knees, I was very painfully reminded of how important good body mechanics are.  The old saying I've told my patients for years, "lift with your legs, not your back" was ringing in the back of my head.  It took almost a week to recover 80% range of motion and completely shut down my other training for a while.  Talk about frustrating!  The good news is rest, ice first for 1-2 days (then heat), anti inflammatories and gradually increasing range of motion got me back on track.  I'm still having some discomfort, but that's ok, just glad to be moving again.

I FINALLY was able to get into the local university aquatic center and have been building up my swim distance/endurance.  This in my opinion will be my greatest limiter (weakness).  My goal is to finish the 1.2 mile swim portion in 45 minutes or less.  Right now I'm doing well to finish in an hour.  I have a lot of work to do!  I'm hopeful my technique will improve as well as endurance.  It just gets frustrating to be able to bike for several hours or run for 2+ hrs without too much difficulty, but wear myself out swimming for an hour.  At this stage I'm reminded painfully of another famous triathlon quote: "You won't win a triathlon on the swim (by swimming 2-10 minutes faster), but you can sure lose (by wearing yourself out)!"  I've been hitting the pool about twice/week and really need to be in the water at least 3 times.

Running update: I had a nice 10 mile training run last week (and a long swim the same day), without too much next day soreness.  Tonight after work, my lovely bride and I will drive to Oxford, Mississippi for the Oxford Run for Hope (http://www.oxfordrun4hope.com).  The original plan was for me to do the half marathon (as a training run) and she was going to do the 5k (with hopes to do the half next month in Jackson, TN).  I'm proud to say she has slowly increased her mileage (often doing run 5 minutes/walk 1 minute method) and wants to try the half tomorrow!  Hopefully I'll check in soon with a picture of us both smiling with our medals together.

Triathlon training update....80 days to IM 70.3 New Orleans!!!

Well, the training continues as does my fight to stay on a balanced diet.  In spite of the weight I've lost so far and keeping it stable through Thanksgiving and Christmas feasting (in moderation), I still remain a carb junkie!  I often feel I could live entirely on junk food (cookies, chips, candy, JUNK!!!), but not successfully.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I was feeling that I didn't really need the accountability of MyFitnessPal (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/) and slacked off with my entries...bad idea.  I've gotten back on track and find it still very helpful to track what I'm eating and what I'm doing exercise wise.

After completing the St. Jude half marathon in December, I went ahead with the "next step" and signed up for the Iron Man 70.3 in New Orleans, Lousiana this April 22nd (http://ironmanneworleans.com/).  Last year the weather/wind (on Lake Ponchartrain) was so bad the swim portion was cancelled with only the bike and run portions completed. The Half Iron distance as shared before is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.  My goals (for accountability) are as follows: swim 0:45-1:00, bike 3:00-3:30, run 2:00-2:20, and allowing for a 0:15..(15 minutes) for transition times T1/T2, for a total of 6:00-7:05 (6-7 hrs).

For swimming, I've been slow to get started this winter, but ahead of the past two years.  I've had two sessions with a swim coach who has been immensely helpful already, first pointing out that I was basically not using my legs.  After, begging/calling I finally got into the Wellness Center at Union University in Jackson with it's 25 meter indoor pool.  I've done 2 training sessions there and I'm still astounded at how easily I'm winded after short distances.  I have worked up to almost 400 meters freestyle in one set without "dying" (1500 to add to that....ugh!).  My goal is a minimum of 2 sessions swimming/week and hoping for 3.  My dear wife for Christmas ordered me the new Garmin Forerunner 910xt (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=419&pID=90671) which was finally released last week.  I'm a geek and this thing is a technological wonder.  The coolest feature for now is the swim metrics which allows detailed breakdown of stroke count/length/lap times for different sized indoor pools, on and on.... more on this later.  Thanks honey!

Cycling has been going fairly well indoors.  My wife and I have similar "trainers" to utilize our own bikes to ride in place.  I've purchased several "Spinervals" cycling workout videos by Troy Jacobson (http://www.spinervals.com/) which we've found to be very good at wearing us out.  I have a 5 year old triathlon specific bike I purchased a few months ago that I'm slowly "tweaking" to my frame and posture.  Hopefully as I train more I will be able to move into a deeper aero position.  I'm still building my aerobic base and hope to slowly integrate more speed work as I go.

In the area of running, I'm scheduled for a "training" half marathon 2/25 in Oxford, MS (http://www.oxfordrun4hope.com/) and another 3/31 in Jackson, TN (https://sites.google.com/a/andrewjacksonmarathon.com/ajm/home).  My wife is planning to run the 5k portion in Oxford and shooting for her first half marathon in Jackson on 3/31 with me (this race also has a 5k and marathon option).  In the interim, I'm continuing running/training on the treadmill 1-2 times/week.

Although my job allows me to work fewer days than many, my working days are 12+ hours long and involve over 2 hours of travel (sometimes day shifts up at 4:10am and home at 7:30-8pm and some nights) making it difficult to hammer out a "routine" for training.  I hope that I can stay disciplined enough to take advantage of the time I have off and not get worn out or burned out or neglect my family in the process (which by the way, they have been a great source of encouragement).  More to follow.

So you want to get (back) into shape?

I'm making this post after the first week of January to let the "New Year's Resolution" hype and fervor die down.  Last week as I drove to work before 6am I passed a 24 hr fitness facility in my small hometown.  Normally I would see 1-2 cars....or none, but on this day the lot is completely full! As I pass the glass front of the gym, I cannot see an empty treadmill or elliptical machine.  The room is packed with people and I'm sure all with good intentions of making it happen this year unlike years past.

I write this entry with the deepest desire to see people succeed at becoming healthier and achieving their (healthy) weight loss goals.  But please dear reader, be reasonable about your expectations!  In 2007 one study estimated the money spent on weight loss at $55 billion!  Now estimated at over $60 billion.  How many of you have purchased a piece of exercise equipment that you used for approximately 2-6 weeks, then it slowly turned into a clothes rack until in shame you put it in a garage sale or gave it to Goodwill?  How many of you have purchased P90X or some variation on the theme in a video or book format and only made it through the first 2 workouts?  One of my pet peeves as a physician and consumer in regards to the fitness/weight loss market and the tons of info-mercials associated with them is the hard bodies you see represent 1 in a 1,000 of those who tried product X.  A similar practice is seeing these folks in incredible shape with the implication that got in that shape using the Ab-matic 2000 or whatever machine is being advertised.  The majority of these folks were already in great shape to begin with.  That said, I do not want to take away from the testimonials that you may see, as I hope they are true to what they say.  I also don't want to say that P90X or some similar plan won't work for you.  Just be prepared for a radical change from your normal level of activity. 

The majority of the weight loss/fitness market does a huge injustice to the population at large....it plays on our pain.  We are sitting in front of the television feeling bad about how we look or what poor shape we are in, then BAM, right in front of us is that man or woman in perfect shape and smiling as they workout!  Reality check: when I'm exercising that hard it's hard if not impossible to be smiling/cutting up, so I'm already set up for failure when I try to do what they are doing.  All of the diet pills and supplements advertised somewhere in their ad or literature will insert a phrase something like this: "Use this in combination with a balanced diet and regular exercise to maximize your weight loss".  Can you get in shape and/or lose weight using the stuff you see on the internet or TV?  Absolutely!  Are these things necessary to lose weight or get in shape?  Absolutely not!!!

If you find yourself drawn to one or many of the products I've described, please stay with me.  I'm no weight loss expert and I've struggled myself, but with over 20 years in the practice of medicine I've seen a lot of things come and go.  I want to share with you the things I feel will benefit us all over the long haul.  If you are looking for a quick or easy way to accomplish this, stop reading now and go to a different blog!  It's my experience getting in shape or losing weight is like "getting rich"....slow, steady, with lots of discipline and hard work.  In all of my research and experience, there is no successful substitute for the "eat right and exercise" approach.  The key thing to remember is start with small consistent changes and build on that.  I will go into more detail in posts to follow.  But for now, if you are thinking about joining a gym, buying some equipment, videos or books....I challenge you to try this:  For 2-4 weeks spend 10-15 minutes 3-5 days a week in the privacy of your own home and walk/run in place or do jumping jacks or dance.  If you can't or won't do that the other things you are considering will not motivate you more!  The one exception is that some people (women more than men) tend to be more consistent with exercise in a group setting.  If you are that type of person, find 1 or a few people who are willing to take on this challenge with you (or this I would consider a reason to join a gym/YMCA...to take a fitness class you wouldn't do on your own)....just don't bite off too much at the beginning or you will burn out and quit.

More to follow!!!

2011 year in review

It's been a LOT longer than I planned since my last post.  I have a few things to document/chronicle for future reference & hopefully to encourage those who might stumble onto this blog by accident.  Overall 2011 was a year of significant improvement for me from a health standpoint.  It was a time of putting back into practice things I have been preaching to patients and my own children for years.  I share some of these things not as a bragging post, but a time to celebrate with gratitude some of the good things that have happened from a health/fitness standpoint in hopes of encouraging others.  In the next few days I hope to make a post with some general "startup" diet and exercise suggestions for those who are wanting to start off the New Year in a healthier way....stay "posted".

August 2011:  Up to this point I have been "trying to eat better and exercise more" (both of which are good things to do), but without a significant plan of action.  For years I have told people if they are TRULY serious about health/weight loss they needed to keep a food diary for at least one week (longer is better).  By logging EVERYTHING put in your mouth it's easier to account for weight loss/gain.  I truly wish I had a dime for everytime I've heard someone say, "I just don't eat that much". 

Modern day solution to this is:  www.myfitnesspal.com

Shy of the actual work of exercise and eating right, this in my opinion is one of the most powerful fitness/weight loss tools around....and it's FREE!!!  You just have to use it for it to work. Since August of 2011 I have been able to slowly and steadily lose and keep off almost 20 pounds.  More on this later.

September 2011:  My wife and I rode in our first century (100 mile bicycle ride) on our tandem bike at the Sunrise Century in Clarksville, TN.  The good news: we completed the ride.  The bad news: it was over 100 degrees by 10:30am and in spite of lots of fluid intake I got dehydrated and had some horrible leg cramps.  My oldest and youngest child also joined us for the 33 mile option of the same ride which as a parent couldn't have made me prouder as they encouraged each other together to ride over twice as far as either had done before!  Here's a link to that ride's website:  http://www.clarksvillecentury.com/

The following weekend, my wife and I participated in the Multiple Sclerosis society's MS 150 ride in Tunica, MS riding our tandem again for just shy of 150 miles over 2 days (quite a bit faster and easier than we did in 2010).  We had the opportunity to meet and ride with some truly amazing folks including several living with MS.  Again, I'm reminded what a blessing good health truly is!  Link to 2012 MS 150: http://biketns.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_TNS_homepage



October 2011:  We completed an "out and back" ride from Patti's restaraunt in Grand Rivers, KY down most of The Trace (a winding hilly beautiful 2 lane drive) going through Land Between the Lakes into TN.  We logged 70 miles that day on our individual road bikes with a good friend/neighbor of ours.  Also, I started some "more serious" running/training for my first half marathon (St. Jude in Memphis) coming up the first weekend of December (see below)

November 2011:  We rode our tandem on the shorter leg of Tour de Reelfoot with another couple.  The distance wasn't too bad at 30 miles (didn't have time to do the 66 or 100 mile option), but the temperature in the 30's at the start made it "interesting".  http://www.nwtncyc.org/id19.html

A HUGE event for me as a dad and husband was the gathering of family and friends for Thanksgiving day in our home, but a real treat was running the Turkey Day 5k that morning with my wife and 3 of my 4 kids.  My wife, youngest son and myself all had personal best times in spite of the 30-40 degree weather.  http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/tennessee/jackson/216/page/19437/11497

December 2011:  Ran/finished my first half marathon (13.1 miles) the first weekend of December at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon weekend.  Was able to make it under my goal of 2 hrs without injury/mishap.  There were almost 10,000 runners in the half and full marathon event that started together and another 7,000 that ran in a 5k or 1 mile family fun run.  The whole event has raised over $4 million!  I started this as a fitness goal and finished it humbled again by some amazing kids/staff/family along the route including a run through the St. Jude campus with one child holding a sign saying "Thanks for running since I can't".  I'm ashamed of how little I did fundraising wise, but plan to be very aggressive about this next year.  Lord willing I will run the full marathon next year.  Check out the marathon weekend website for info on fundraising for St. Jude and opportunities to run in the 1/5/13.1/26.2 mile options: http://www.stjudemarathon.org/

I've tried to include websites for these events to give you some ideas for 2012.  It certainly helps to motivate yourself to do some difficult things when you are doing it for someone else's benefit.  Look for similar opportunities in your area.

Late/Lost entry for November 1, 2011

Well, my efforts at blogging are certainly not the best, but as I like to say "It's a process, not an event."
I'm pasting below an entry made from November 1st, 2011.  I had planned to add photos to the post, but couldn't get them in and ended up missing the post.  I'm going to be playing a little "catch up" over the next several weeks and hopefully provide some useful and/or entertaining information in the process.  Thanks for your patience!

here's the old post:

Well, it's been an eventful month or so since my last post.  Healthier eating and 
regular exercise are becoming more and more a part of my "routine", which is 
what I'm hoping for.  I still could eat a dozen Subway cookies or a bag of chips at the 
drop of a hat, but have discovered that after having less sugar over time it makes me 
kinda queezy when I eat too much now.  Thus far my body has tolerated increasing levels 
of running and bicycling, which I'm excited about.  My weight has slowly gotten to a 
point that I have not seen since 1995.  For that I'm grateful.  I'm a little leary about 
the upcoming holidays.  Last year I was doing well until my birthday late October, then 
BAM Thanksgiving and BAM Chirstmas with overeating at every stop.  This year I made it 
through my 48th birthday without gaining and hoping to do the same through the holidays.  
I'm convinced one can enjoy good food IN MODERATION without being legalistic or 
miserable.  Will keep you posted through the holiday season of 2011.  





The first weekend of October my wife and a good friend of mine rode the majority of the 
two lane road dividing "Land Between the Lakes" known as The Trace.  This is a 
beautiful hilly ride with the leaves beginning to change.  We parked and started from the 
parking lot of Patti's 1880's Settlement in Grand Rivers, KY.  Our ride was 70 miles 
total, 35 miles out and back.  

My first Olympic distance triathlon.....triathlon distance basics

Well the last opportunity for an Olympic distance triathlon (often referred to as an "oly") anywhere near home coincided with the weekend we rode the MS 150 the second week of September.  Other choices were slated to be states away and I'm not to the stage of travelling to race.  I've heard the Nash Vegas tri in Nashville is a good one.  Hoping to hit it next year if it doesn't conflict again with the MS 150.  That said, I felt it was time to get creative....  I'm pleased to announce the 1st annual Doktirbob's Homegrown Oly tri September 16th, 2011 went well.  Participants.....um 1.  Since it was my first time to do these distances together, my time of 3 hrs 17 minutes was my best.  Had hoped to break 3 hours, but now I have a definite goal. 

The Olympic distance (1.5km/0.93 mile swim, 40km/24.8 mile bike, 10km/6.2 mile run, total distance 51.5km/31.93 miles) is the shortest standardized distance triathlon.  "Sprint" distance tri's have each segment's distance set at the discretion of the race organizer.  The swim can range anywhere from 150-800 yards in a pool or open water (usually 750 meters), a bike ride of 3-15 miles (usually 20km/12.4 miles) and a run of 1-5 miles (usually 5km/ 3.1 miles).  Beyond Olympic there are two other standardized race distances the "Half Ironman" or Ironman 70.3 (being 70.3 miles total distance) and the grand daddy "Ironman" distance (at 140.6 total miles).  The Half Ironman distance includes a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and a half marathon run of 13.1 miles.  The Ironman is double these distances.  Please see the Wikipedia review of the sport for more details  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon

I review these things for you to say that triathlon and cycling have been great motivators for me in an organized approach to weight loss/control and general fitness.  It is vital that you do something that is reasonable to start with and advance as you are able.  As an example, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a great way to get in shape, but it's not for me.  Regardless of the fitness option you choose, I would suggest setting both short and long term goals.  Shoot for something just out of reach and work toward it.  Once that goal is reached, reassess and set another goal to maintain or reach further.  Many people set an "end goal" with nothing between.  Without short term goals, if the "end goal" is not reached anything short can be seen as a failure.  My "end goal" is to complete an Iron distance triathlon (hopefully within 2 years).  Christmas 2009 my goal was to complete a sprint distance tri in May of 2010, and so on.  I realize my body, schedule, life may not allow me to reach my end goal of an Ironman, but with the intermediate or short term goals victories can be won along the way hopefully making me a better person in the process. 

A friend of mine is considering an exercise regimen with little or no aerobic activity going on right now.  I suggested that they start walking in place in their living room walking in place with larger than normal swings of the arms and lifting of the legs for 5 minutes a day 4-6 days a week.  First goal: do this CONSISTENTLY 4-6 days/week to establish the habit of exercise.  If they can establish that routine for 1-3 weeks, it will be easy to build up to 10 minutes and later 20, then increase intensity.  When I started riding my first road bicycle in the winter of 2009 I thought I was going to die after 7 miles at 10 miles/hr.  But I had to start somewhere.  We all do.  Once a consistent pattern is developed, the sky is the limit.  Remember it's not complicated: Eat Right and Exercise (or as my Dad says Eat Less and Move More).  Good success to you!!!

Riding mountain bikes at Hillman Ferry (Land Between the Lakes, TN)