My Current Focus - Feeling Like an Athlete Again

I was looking over the end of the month content views on the Forza Athletics website, and I noticed that most of the top 20 viewed and clicked on posts are from my old training posts.  Last month 14 older training posts and videos appeared in my top 20, which tells me that some of you out there are interested in following along with my training.  Since it has been such a long time, I'll fill everyone in on what I've been working on the past couple of years.

Last December I started training for a powerlifting meet.  I haven't competed in a full powerlifting meet since January 2015, I was bored with my training, so I decided to sign up for a meet.  I was scheduled to compete in March, 2019.

In early February I noticed a lot of tightness in my right pec/bicep area.  In 2012 I had surgery to re-attach my right tricep, so of course I was concerned.  Up until that point in my training, I had hit a lot personal best lifts.  I hit a garage gym personal best of 545lbs. in the squat, as well as 275lbs. for 11 reps in the bench press.

I thought about continuing to train through the pain, but thought better of it.  I was a month out, I had just turned 36, and didn't know what to do.  Well, I did something that I had always wanted to do, I registered for a sprint triathlon.

I have always wanted to try a short race that was local.  I registered for the Rochester Sprint Triathlon held in late August.  I had plenty of time to train and get into shape, but my focus faltered big time.

I completed a ton of swimming sessions thinking that part of the race was going to be the most difficult for me.  In reality, I should have spent a lot more time on my bike.  The Sprint triathlon consisted of a .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 3.1 run.  Looking back at my training today, I completed a total of 10 runs from the time I registered until the time I competed.  On the morning of the race I weighed in over 280lbs.  I was not ready to race.  I managed to finish last in my age group of 35-39 in the Sprint distance with a time of just a little over 2 hours.  My goal for the race was to finish in under 2 hours.  I missed it by about 3 minutes.

After I finished the race, I didn't do much of anything for a couple of months.  I felt so bad about my race finish that I just sat around.  I completed a couple of training sessions in the garage, but nothing really spectacular.  After wallowing around until the holidays, I again registered for the Rochester Sprint triathlon.  This time I knew I had to dial in my training and focus on what I needed to do in order to not blow up during such a short race.

My wife bought me a bike trainer for my birthday.  A couple of times a week I would complete 1 hour training rides in the basement.  I started running when the weather got a little nicer in March.  I also bought a new bike in May to give myself a better opportunity of racing faster.  My 30 year-old bike that I used last year wasn't going to cut it.

I hope that gives everyone an idea of where I'm at with my current training and what I'm currently focused on.  Training for a triathlon race, even though I'm training for the shortest version of one, has made me feel like an athlete again.

It is difficult to put into words, but not training to compete in a powerlifting meet or track meet has really got me focused and zeroed in on what I want to accomplish.  Physically I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.  At least the best shape of my 30's.  

I track my sleep and nutrition, and I've noticed a huge difference in how my body reacts to certain foods and my training sessions if I haven't fueled my body properly enough.  This morning, August 2, 2019, I weighed in at 250lbs.  This is the lightest I've been in a really long time.  I feel good.  My body feels good.  I'm going to continue with my triathlon training into the fall as long as I can.  I enjoy my 25 mile rides on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  I actually like my 4-mile running loop around the neighborhood. 

Maybe next summer I'll take a big jump in distance and register for a Half Ironman distance race 70.3.  But first I'm going to crack 2 hours in this sprint race!