Ok, well, maybe it's not that exciting but after taking nearly a year off blogging and chronicling the training and happenings in my life, I've decided to jump back on and at least get in one post a week (start with small steps).
The tone of the blog may shift from one that was training dominated to one that will mix family life with training... I'll still try and post most of my workouts and you can keep up with my alias, Kyle Katarn, at Strava for volume loads and ideas. ActivEdge has a new website, TrainerThrowdown.com, that is going to post a monthly challenge starting in July - some by me, some by other trainers.
Nowadays, I get most of my training done in classes that I teach, or workouts midday over lunch. Every once in awhile, if the opportunity presents itself, I'll get a 1-2 hour bike in while the kids nap on Sunday or early Saturday morning. Every Saturday is date night with Caroline (either getting a babysitter and going out or experimental cooking at home after the kids go down) and the rest of the weekend is dedicated to what the kids want to do (go to parks, the science museum, ball games, etc.).
While not an excuse, the last year has been extremely busy with opening a new location and trying to grow the physical therapy end of our practice. It has been life changing as I step back and take a look at what is really important to me and where I want to spend my time (both free time and work time). I've decided to cut back on the amount of training I was doing and have enjoyed my workouts even more! I have included the kids and Caroline in the workouts and have freed up my weekends to enjoy the little things that kids do as they grow. What a relief!! Not only is training for a half Ironman selfish, it sucks my time from the things that are quickly disappearing. It only took me a few years to realize this, but I'm not getting paid to race and train and I'm in plenty good enough shape when training at nearly half the volume that I have done the previous 2 years. Will I be able to race a half Ironman well? No. But I can do any distance less than Olympic and be competitive, balance work, and have the weekends off to be with the kids... This, is my older, more experienced mind finally kicking in heading towards 40, and is well worth the trade off.
So, needless to say, I'm back, baby! And ready to rock!
Showing posts with label Eli Diaz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eli Diaz. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Brick Laying
Entering my 3rd full week of training in the 18 week plan for 2012 B2B in October. The heat wave doesn't help much at 100+ degrees for most of the past 2 weeks. Nonetheless, I have had fun laying down the foundation for progression. I have amped the mileage back up and tipped 100 miles on the bike (week total) for the first time this year.
I have been using Strava GPS on the iPhone to track my progress and help me monitor my data and I have loved it! It makes keeping track of progress simple and you can go back and look at previous workouts. I have played with many different apps to track and monitor endurance training but this one seems to be the best so far. I link my ANT+ devices to the program and it tracks my HR (and cadence if I want it too) and plots it against other data collected. Makes it simple to see which zone I'm training in an adjust workouts accordingly. I have added the summary of some of my last rides off to the side bar of this page.
Had a great Fourth of July with the family on Wednesday! Despite the heat, we were able to get out and grill and Braden made his racing debut earlier in the morning at the McDougle Middle School track where he ran a 50m "race" and got a ribbon from the Zimmerman boys. It was neat to see how excited he was and fun to be a part of... All the Zimmerman boys were in attendance for the 4 mile race that started before the "little firecrackers" division and I raced it with them after Roger and I bike just under 15 miles TT style just before the start. I was happy with my pacing and felt really good considering that I am still laying the foundation and training is just getting amped up. Let's hope the heat doesn't kill progress...
I'm going to try and stay in AC and keep laying bricks...
I have been using Strava GPS on the iPhone to track my progress and help me monitor my data and I have loved it! It makes keeping track of progress simple and you can go back and look at previous workouts. I have played with many different apps to track and monitor endurance training but this one seems to be the best so far. I link my ANT+ devices to the program and it tracks my HR (and cadence if I want it too) and plots it against other data collected. Makes it simple to see which zone I'm training in an adjust workouts accordingly. I have added the summary of some of my last rides off to the side bar of this page.
Had a great Fourth of July with the family on Wednesday! Despite the heat, we were able to get out and grill and Braden made his racing debut earlier in the morning at the McDougle Middle School track where he ran a 50m "race" and got a ribbon from the Zimmerman boys. It was neat to see how excited he was and fun to be a part of... All the Zimmerman boys were in attendance for the 4 mile race that started before the "little firecrackers" division and I raced it with them after Roger and I bike just under 15 miles TT style just before the start. I was happy with my pacing and felt really good considering that I am still laying the foundation and training is just getting amped up. Let's hope the heat doesn't kill progress...
I'm going to try and stay in AC and keep laying bricks...
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Summer Is Here
You know it's summer when training starts to get really tough and the weather becomes brutally hot. Case in point, this past weekend when my training partner, Zimm, decided to enter us into this little race out in Wilmington. Despite the fact that it fell at the end of my longest training volume week of the year, happened to be 90 degrees on the roads, stiff winds working against us, humid, and Mother's Day, made this a difficult task to pull off.
I went down the day before and enjoyed the beach with my beautiful wife and 2 boys that morning before heading over to the hotel around 2pm on Saturday. After a short, and failed, attempt at napping with the boys, we decided to head back to the beach where they ran around some more and enjoyed the sand and surprisingly warm water. We had a good meal at Mellow Mushroom (altough not as good of service as Patrick Costello provides at the Durham location) and then headed back to watch a movie with the kids at the hotel.
A sleepless night with Eli in my bed and Braden in Carrie's and then up early on Sunday morning to race did not start off Mother's Day quite as I had planned... Nonetheless, Carrie was an awesome fan and brought the boys to watch me roll around for about 90 mins in the ridiculous heat, wind, and humidity. We wrapped up the day with another trip back to the beach before heading home.
RACE RECAP: The race was a duathlon with a 3.2 mile run, 16 mile bike, and then 2 mile run. I finished 9th overall out of 150 people and was 2nd in my age group. I had the 4th fastest bike overall (1st in age group and top bike with a non-tri or disc wheel bike) and was pleased with how I finished. I knew I could do better (I lost some time in transitions digging for a water bottle out of my backpack due to dehydration after the bike) but happy to have my lungs back and working again. Zimm Sr. and Jr. each had good races as well and seemed excited to back and training again.
I went down the day before and enjoyed the beach with my beautiful wife and 2 boys that morning before heading over to the hotel around 2pm on Saturday. After a short, and failed, attempt at napping with the boys, we decided to head back to the beach where they ran around some more and enjoyed the sand and surprisingly warm water. We had a good meal at Mellow Mushroom (altough not as good of service as Patrick Costello provides at the Durham location) and then headed back to watch a movie with the kids at the hotel.
A sleepless night with Eli in my bed and Braden in Carrie's and then up early on Sunday morning to race did not start off Mother's Day quite as I had planned... Nonetheless, Carrie was an awesome fan and brought the boys to watch me roll around for about 90 mins in the ridiculous heat, wind, and humidity. We wrapped up the day with another trip back to the beach before heading home.
RACE RECAP: The race was a duathlon with a 3.2 mile run, 16 mile bike, and then 2 mile run. I finished 9th overall out of 150 people and was 2nd in my age group. I had the 4th fastest bike overall (1st in age group and top bike with a non-tri or disc wheel bike) and was pleased with how I finished. I knew I could do better (I lost some time in transitions digging for a water bottle out of my backpack due to dehydration after the bike) but happy to have my lungs back and working again. Zimm Sr. and Jr. each had good races as well and seemed excited to back and training again.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Not Invincible
Well, it's been a rough couple of weeks for sure. After the last post when I had visited the Duke Urgent Care and they told me that I had a case of bad sinusitis I stayed home for two days feeling miserable. I managed the workout with Lauren and Charlie and then went to Blake's funeral service the next day at Trinity School, but otherwise, bed-bound and sickly for 2 straight days. On Wednesday of last week, I decided that is was time to get out of bed, especially since I thought it was just sinusitis, and get moving.
I taught the TRX class early Wed morning and had extreme difficulty with breathing and started to get a little concerned. I finished off the morning and then headed to my primary care physician to get another look at the "sinusitis". While I was at the doctors office, I collapsed because I couldn't breathe and lost sensation in both arms. At this stage, I felt like I was in a House episode and was going to die. They called the ambulance and took me straight to Duke ER. They immediately took a chest x-ray and saw that the lower right lobe of my lungs had collapsed and flattened out due to the bacteria that was enveloping it. They caught it quick enough that I didn't need a chest tube and they placed me on high-powered antibiotics that took a few hours to start working while they monitored me in the hospital.
The bad news is that I can't do any vigorous exercise for at least 6 weeks. This is a huge setback in terms of training and I'm bummed because I was well on pace to get a 1:35 or less for the half marathon in March and easily break by previous record of 1:41 (the only other time I've run an open half marathon). My running was strong, my biking was decent, and I was looking forward to the spring. That is now on hold...
The good news, and perhaps the only news that I should consider, I'm alive. I live to see another day and will train again just not any time soon. Instead, I'm focused on getting better and trying to put some of the 15 lbs of weight that I lost in 20 days because of the Engine 2 Diet and sickness combined. It is really hard for me to put back on weight, but since I can't do much cardio I will focus all my energy into weights.
That brings me to the Engine 2 Diet. Many people have asked my take on the diet and so here it is... I think it does what it claims, weight loss and lowering cholesterol. My weight dropped 15 lbs in 20 days and cholesterol went down slightly (although I was at 140 total cholesterol before so I didn't want to lose much anyway for adequate cell functioning). What it did to a healthy and active male, though, was make me worse. The fat content was at 18-22% daily caloric intake before E2 and then down to 3-5% on E2. Even though the caloric intake was the same, I strongly believe the fat helped slow down my metabolism and make my immune system stronger. With less fat, my metabolism actually increased and my immune system weakened and I feel may have contributed to my pneumonia in the long run. In summary, good for a majority of obese America, bad for the healthy and already stable individuals. I will NOT be going back on it any time soon...
The last 2 weeks have really opened my eyes and made me realize that I'm not quite as invincible as I once thought. I've aged a bit and learned that I will need to pay closer attention to signs of sickness and fatigue. Furthermore, once I recognize those signs, listen to them and actually rest the body stopping the progression of various bacteria and viruses the kids might bring home to my lungs. I'm happy to still have life and glad that Carrie and the boys were also able to recover and rebound as well (Braden was also diagnosed with pneumonia the same day that I went to the ER). I have a new found appreciation of modern medicine and am glad for the antibiotics that have seemed to help up to this point. I still have a cough that I'll give 1 more week before I go back to the primary care physician for a re-check...
I taught the TRX class early Wed morning and had extreme difficulty with breathing and started to get a little concerned. I finished off the morning and then headed to my primary care physician to get another look at the "sinusitis". While I was at the doctors office, I collapsed because I couldn't breathe and lost sensation in both arms. At this stage, I felt like I was in a House episode and was going to die. They called the ambulance and took me straight to Duke ER. They immediately took a chest x-ray and saw that the lower right lobe of my lungs had collapsed and flattened out due to the bacteria that was enveloping it. They caught it quick enough that I didn't need a chest tube and they placed me on high-powered antibiotics that took a few hours to start working while they monitored me in the hospital.
The bad news is that I can't do any vigorous exercise for at least 6 weeks. This is a huge setback in terms of training and I'm bummed because I was well on pace to get a 1:35 or less for the half marathon in March and easily break by previous record of 1:41 (the only other time I've run an open half marathon). My running was strong, my biking was decent, and I was looking forward to the spring. That is now on hold...
The good news, and perhaps the only news that I should consider, I'm alive. I live to see another day and will train again just not any time soon. Instead, I'm focused on getting better and trying to put some of the 15 lbs of weight that I lost in 20 days because of the Engine 2 Diet and sickness combined. It is really hard for me to put back on weight, but since I can't do much cardio I will focus all my energy into weights.
That brings me to the Engine 2 Diet. Many people have asked my take on the diet and so here it is... I think it does what it claims, weight loss and lowering cholesterol. My weight dropped 15 lbs in 20 days and cholesterol went down slightly (although I was at 140 total cholesterol before so I didn't want to lose much anyway for adequate cell functioning). What it did to a healthy and active male, though, was make me worse. The fat content was at 18-22% daily caloric intake before E2 and then down to 3-5% on E2. Even though the caloric intake was the same, I strongly believe the fat helped slow down my metabolism and make my immune system stronger. With less fat, my metabolism actually increased and my immune system weakened and I feel may have contributed to my pneumonia in the long run. In summary, good for a majority of obese America, bad for the healthy and already stable individuals. I will NOT be going back on it any time soon...
The last 2 weeks have really opened my eyes and made me realize that I'm not quite as invincible as I once thought. I've aged a bit and learned that I will need to pay closer attention to signs of sickness and fatigue. Furthermore, once I recognize those signs, listen to them and actually rest the body stopping the progression of various bacteria and viruses the kids might bring home to my lungs. I'm happy to still have life and glad that Carrie and the boys were also able to recover and rebound as well (Braden was also diagnosed with pneumonia the same day that I went to the ER). I have a new found appreciation of modern medicine and am glad for the antibiotics that have seemed to help up to this point. I still have a cough that I'll give 1 more week before I go back to the primary care physician for a re-check...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Christmas' Plural
We are in Christmas number 2 right now with Carrie's parents in town and the kids are loving the 2nd round of gift opening. Last week, I had time off and we went up to Beech Mountain for a few days with the kids. We were hoping to have some fun in the snow, but at 5000ft elevation, all we got was a little rain and 60 degree days. One of the days, it was so warm when I went for a long run, that I was tempted to take off my shirt because I was sweating so profusely... nonetheless... We had a great time in the cabin, aptly named "Peace of Heaven" and we did some nice hiking at Grandfather Mountain. Once I load the photos, I'll link them through my Picasa Albums and Google+ account.
On the way back from the mountains, we stopped in Winston and I got to see my dear friend Andrea for the second time in a few weeks and got to see an already growing Ezra James.. what a joy! Kenny and I enjoyed several good grafts of Craggie's Antebellum Ale and stayed for a nice dinner. Wish they lived a little closer and hopeful that they just might end up in Durham...
Zimm and I were joined by Charlie for the traditional and epic Beowulf workout that we nailed down on Christmas Eve. Charlie's first attempt was a respectable sub 40 min effort as Zimm and I watched him lead out on The Grid. I hung on dear life bringing up the rear and was just happy to survive another day. Charlie was surprised at how tired I was at the end as I lay slumped in the rowing machine. Zimm broke my record of last year, but then I had to break his "new" record and went 32 mins. Exhausted and tired I barely made it back home for Eve service at All Saints.
We woke up in our own house for Christmas morning. We have been able to do this for the past 3 Christmas' but usually are headed out on the road or flying that day to see family so it was nice to just relax for a change. Braden and Eli loved opening their gifts and were so excited to share Face Time on Carrie's iPhone with their grandparents. Braden's favorite gift was his Spider-Man action figure and Eli's was the food. They both loved their new books and matching 993 New Balance shoes (which are AWESOME of course! haha).
I had to return to work this past Tuesday and Carrie's parents have started to help put together the complicated fort and swingset. With all the grandparents coming over and around the next several days we may just have the set up and done by the time the last one leaves.
As for training, it has sort of taking a back seat for now. I haven't swam in over 2 weeks and biked sporadically. I have managed a couple sessions of weights but have stayed on top of the running and am looking forward to trying to better my Tobacco Road half marathon time. My training is not quite the intensity that I'd like, but I have a lot on my plate and am preparing for a giant step forward for ActivEdge in 2012. I have the long tempo run tomorrow and will hopefully be joined by my old friend, Ted Reedy - lunch to follow... maybe Nana's Tacos? Friday looks to get me back on the bike on the trainer (assuming that the garage has been cleared from all the playset set-up). If not, weights with David Hey over lunch looks to be extremely intense (everything is with him haha). Liking the no direction randomness for now. Blood tests tomorrow to start off the Engine 2 Diet which starts on Monday, January 2nd.
Thanks for hanging with me over the Holidays and look for some great workouts to be posted starting January 2nd!
On the way back from the mountains, we stopped in Winston and I got to see my dear friend Andrea for the second time in a few weeks and got to see an already growing Ezra James.. what a joy! Kenny and I enjoyed several good grafts of Craggie's Antebellum Ale and stayed for a nice dinner. Wish they lived a little closer and hopeful that they just might end up in Durham...
Zimm and I were joined by Charlie for the traditional and epic Beowulf workout that we nailed down on Christmas Eve. Charlie's first attempt was a respectable sub 40 min effort as Zimm and I watched him lead out on The Grid. I hung on dear life bringing up the rear and was just happy to survive another day. Charlie was surprised at how tired I was at the end as I lay slumped in the rowing machine. Zimm broke my record of last year, but then I had to break his "new" record and went 32 mins. Exhausted and tired I barely made it back home for Eve service at All Saints.
We woke up in our own house for Christmas morning. We have been able to do this for the past 3 Christmas' but usually are headed out on the road or flying that day to see family so it was nice to just relax for a change. Braden and Eli loved opening their gifts and were so excited to share Face Time on Carrie's iPhone with their grandparents. Braden's favorite gift was his Spider-Man action figure and Eli's was the food. They both loved their new books and matching 993 New Balance shoes (which are AWESOME of course! haha).
I had to return to work this past Tuesday and Carrie's parents have started to help put together the complicated fort and swingset. With all the grandparents coming over and around the next several days we may just have the set up and done by the time the last one leaves.
As for training, it has sort of taking a back seat for now. I haven't swam in over 2 weeks and biked sporadically. I have managed a couple sessions of weights but have stayed on top of the running and am looking forward to trying to better my Tobacco Road half marathon time. My training is not quite the intensity that I'd like, but I have a lot on my plate and am preparing for a giant step forward for ActivEdge in 2012. I have the long tempo run tomorrow and will hopefully be joined by my old friend, Ted Reedy - lunch to follow... maybe Nana's Tacos? Friday looks to get me back on the bike on the trainer (assuming that the garage has been cleared from all the playset set-up). If not, weights with David Hey over lunch looks to be extremely intense (everything is with him haha). Liking the no direction randomness for now. Blood tests tomorrow to start off the Engine 2 Diet which starts on Monday, January 2nd.
Thanks for hanging with me over the Holidays and look for some great workouts to be posted starting January 2nd!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Building Back Up
Hit the week flying forward and looking ahead into the horizon at one last race for the 2011 season and then moving into the winter. Most people hate this time of year, but I actually think it's my favorite. I love the cooler weather because it reminds me of Chicago and I know that the Holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas and the New Year are just around the corner. Football and local soccer are back on and things slow down a little at the gym (although with this new surge of physical therapy clients it doesn't look like there is any slowing down here!). When the leaves start to change color and fall then I really feel like the year is coming to a close and I can't help but think of the year in review... I just love this time of year and here it comes...
Braden started at school for his 2nd full week and what a great one it was. The boy really loves to learn and play! I picked him up on Thursday and he was filled with sweat. Mrs. Knight, his teacher, said that he just ran the entire time outside and wouldn't stop. She asked him if he wanted to take a little rest at which he responded, "I don't rest." Haha.. what a funny kid... future triathlete maybe?
Later that evening, while I was putting Eli down to bed, Braden and Carrie were in the other room and Braden jumped off the couch and landed awkwardly on his left ankle (or at least that is the story told by Carrie). He went to sleep that night but woke the next morning and wouldn't bear any weight on it. I had to take him to the urgent care where they put him in a cast and called it a Salter-Harris fracture, which is a fracture of the growth plate. I couldn't see any evidence on the x-ray but the conservative treatment was necessary since several go undetected and I agreed with their approach. Triangle Ortho seemed to do a good job and didn't do too many unnecessary x-rays which I was thankful for... Little dude has me shaking my head...
Week in review:
9/12 Monday - 60 min WOD
9/13 Tuesday - R: 1 mile up, 7x400m repeats building in time from 1:30 down to 1:15, 200m RBI, 1 mile down; S: 200 WU, 18x50m repeats pull and technique, 200 CD; 60 min Pilates reformer w Anna
9/14 Wednesday - B: 40 mins trainer w 3 mins hard and 2 easy x 7; R: 3 miles at 6:50 pace on tread; 60 min WOD
9/15 Thursday - S: 200 WU, 6x50 pulls catch-up, 4x300m, 2x25 kicks, 100 CD
9/16 Friday - R: 4 miles on WaDuke easy
9/17 Saturday - B: 90 mins on trainer, 10 hard/6 easy x 5; R: 2 miles - 1 at 7:30 and 1 at 6:50
9/18 Sunday - OFF
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