Category Archives: Goals

2011 In Review

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Another year has come and gone, and 2011 is a year I want to forget….fast.

The first 3 months of 2011 were pretty good.  I didn’t lose the fat I wanted to, but didn’t gain any more either.  I managed to get a 1st place AG podium in a short 3k race in February, and met my goal for the 30k race in March.  But after that, it was pretty much downhill.

The Victoria duathlon in May, I ended up 3 mins slower than my 2010 time, mostly because of the extra weight baggage I was carrying.  My first mini-sprint triathlon in Woodstock in early June was bitter sweet;  I did get a 3rd place AG podium, but it also showed me that my weight was still slowing me down, and that my swimming was still WAY off even though I was putting tons of time in the pool.  Then, the June Welland sprint triathlon was a DNF.  The swimming simply killed me and after the bike, it felt like I was breathing blood.

2010/2011 Training Totals

Nov/Dec & 2010/2011 Training Totals

There was a whole bunch of other personal “challenges” in 2011 including a bad car accident my wife had, employment unsureties, working out of town most of the summer, and then having to put down my beloved dog Sandie.

All that accumulated into a very disappointing year personally and athletically, even packing on an extra 30 lbs.

I still managed to get 1027 kms (637 miles) of running done which is a little more than 2010, but my bike numbers were way down from the previous year.

Once again, I have big plans for 2012 and hoping the worse is over and things will get better this year.  I’ve already started training for the 30k Around the Bay Road Race and I’m on track with the run mileage.

Thanks to everyone especially my loving wife that supported me throughout this tough year.  It was greatly appreciated.

Now on to 2012.

Happy New Year everyone!  Make the best of it!

100 Things to Uncomplicate Your Life

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I didn’t create this list but copied from another forum.  Can’t get any better than that.

1. Don’t try to read other people’s minds

2. Get up 30 minutes earlier so that you don’t rush/get a ticket while driving too fast/have to explain why you’re late/get fired

3. Get 8 hours of sleep per night so that you think more clearly

4. Stick to your budget

5. Start saving and investing every week, no matter how little you can spare

6. Balance your checkbook

7. Don’t try to be friends with everyone. Cultivate closer relationships with fewer people.

8. Don’t try to do business with everyone. Identify your target client and take very good care of them.

9. Before getting angry, ask yourself if it will really matter in 20 years

10. Focus on being a good person, not on pleasing others

11. Stay home this Saturday, and finish off that nagging chore that you need to finish

12. Kiss and make up

13. Make a weekly menu, and shop for only those items at the market

14. Ask your grandparents the best way to uncomplicate life, and try it for a month

15. Fill up your gas tank when it’s half full

16. Don’t drink alcohol when you’re tired, sad or mad

17. Pay your bills on time

18. Get an annual physical examination

19. Say “I love you” to your significant other and to your children. Studies show that more marriages last, and fewer kids use drugs, when these words are spoken every day.

20. For just one day, imagine everyone’s intentions are good because most people’s are

21. Give away clothes that haven’t been worn in two years

22. Throw out clothes that are in disrepair, and can’t be mended

23. When you have a conflict with someone, talk it out. Don’t let it turn into more than it is.

24. Know what your priorities are in life, and act as if they are your priorities

25. Tell the truth

26. Don’t cheat

27. Don’t steal

28. If you’re holding on to a ridiculous grudge, let it go

29. Clean your house weekly, so that it doesn’t become too large a chore

30. Do your best at work, or at school

31. Don’t eat when you aren’t hungry

32. Eat when you are hungry

33. Be yourself

34. Say no unapologetically

35. Cook simple meals

36. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses

37. Pay off your car before buying a new one

38. Organise your desk at the office

39. Change your smoke alarm batteries when the clocks spring forward, and again when they fall back

40. Organise your important paperwork

41. Take only half the clothes that you planned to take with you on holiday

42. Help your children with their homework every night, and have an open dialogue with their teachers

43. Have white sheets and white towels in children’s rooms/bathrooms, because they’re easily bleached

44. Spend your time with nice people

45. Avoid drama

46. Don’t text or talk on the phone while driving

47. Turn off the television/video games/computer; they’re time consumers

48. Don’t engage in office politics

49. Refuse to gossip, or talk behind other people’s backs

50. Do the dishes right after dinner

51. Never go to sleep angry

52. Ask nicely for what you need and want

53. Walk 10,000 steps per day to help your heart

54. Do 20 push-ups before speaking in anger

55. Leave work at work

56. Don’t befriend anyone that isn’t trustworthy

57. Don’t envy others

58. Have your oil changed

59. Take vitamin C BEFORE you catch a cold

60. Don’t work more than 8 hours per day

61. Weed your garden weekly

62. Wash your car weekly

63. Have a spring cleaning month every year, and do one room at a time

64. You don’t need to be best friends with work colleagues, but build respectful partnerships

65. Don’t drink and drive

66. Don’t look for reasons to be angry or sad, look for reasons to be happy. You’ll always be able to find plenty of each.

67. Be friendly with your neighbours

68. Return emails and phone messages promptly

69. Schedule in free time

70. Don’t procrastinate

71. Do what you say you’ll do, when you say you’ll do it

72. Be more flexible when you’re able to be

73. Forgive and forget. End of story.

74. Break the consumerism habit…put a three month moratorium in place on buying anything not deemed a necessity

75. Start your diet on September 1, rather than January 1, so that you won’t also have holiday pounds to lose

76. Take care of any health issues or concerns

77. Have your tires rotated

78. Have your brakes checked

79. Have your eyes checked

80. Don’t let your imagination run away with you

81. Let go of perfection in others

82. Let go of perfection in yourself

83. Don’t try to help those that refuse to help themselves

84. Find a way to reduce your commute to work

85. Have an alloted amount of worry time per day/week, that you strictly abide by

86. Drink more water

87. Eat more salmon

88. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill

89. Wear your hair in a classic, easy to care for style

90. Finish what you start

91. Wear classic clothes and shoes that never go out of style

92. Create a daily routine

93. Have a 1, 5, 10 and 20 year plan for your financial and life goals

94. Slow down

95. Eat out less often

96. When you ask your husband which outfit looks best, thank him for his answer and wear the one he liked rather than focusing on why he didn’t like the other one

97. Allow your children to grow up

98. Clean out your garage, and donate anything that hasn’t been used in the past year

99. Stretch every day

100. If a relationship is over, let it go

Failure – an understatement!

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Wow, where do I begin?  OK how about some race reports for the last 2-3 weeks?

June 19th Lake 2 Lake Classic 50k MTB Race – DNS – I wasn’t feeling it and some reports indicated the trails were crap so I lamed out.  Post-race reports from others say it turned out to be a great race, and I remember the weather was perfect.  I also learned this was the last year for this race.  Oh well, I missed out.  Add it to another regret.

June 25th Welland Sprint Triathlon – DNF – That’s right DID NOT FINISH.  I barely finished the swim (3rd from last overall), where I found myself not being able to catch my breath.  Even on the bike my breathing & heart rate were off the charts and I was barely moving, kept getting coughing fits probably from inhaling too much Welland canal water during the swim, and hyperventilating to entire swim.  Lets see what probably led up

Welland-Swim Exit

to this:

  • My swimming is simply not up to snuff – as in I almost drowned in this race.  Although I did progress since I started last January, it simply wasn’t getting better quick enough, not to mention lack of open water practice.  Once again, I just seems I’m not cut out to be a swimmer and you know what, I have no regrets about ditching the swim.
  • Mentally I was simply not feeling it as seen by my shitty / lack of training in June.  A combination of things simply left me unwilling to put in the time or control myself.  This also led to a very bad diet, including pizza, beer, chinese food, etc. etc.  Simply atrocious and one of those embarrassing setbacks.  Well, there’s consequences to a bad diet and lack of exercise….weight gain, and plenty of it.

    Welland-Bike Start

Well that covers the race reports, or whatever you wanna call those.

So with what happen at the Welland race, I officially pulled the plug on swimming, again, and like I said, I have no regrets.  I tried – tried hard, but it just isn’t working out.  Not to mention I don’t really enjoy swimming anyhow.  With that said, any multisport I do in the future will be duathlons – run, bike, run.  I’ve adjusted the race schedule to reflect this revisited direction.

Now regarding the diet; I knew I was on a bad path but I didn’t think it was that bad until I jumped on the scale this morning – 222.6 lbs - Yeah that’s right, last year at this time I was low 190s.  I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it – all that hard work evaporating away and I have no one to blame but myself. I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of this eating issue for the last few months – what’s changed? I’m still not 100% sure. All I can do is set goals, be accountable, and forge ahead.

Now that all that is out of the way, my main focus is to bring the weight back down, and any racing participating I do this year is only to have fun. Trying to be competitive at over 220 lbs is simply not going to happen.  Hence the reason all the races are basically shorter distances while I drop some weight and build up my fitness again.  Since I’ve dropped going to the pool, I’ve also restarted my strength training routine 2-3 times a week to hopefully gain some of the muscle mass I’ve loss this year.

Speaking of goals, here are a few milestones I’m shooting for:

  • Aug 1st – 212 lbs
  • Sep 1st – 205 lbs
  • Oct 1st – 197 lbs
  • Nov 1st – 192 lbs

Those weight targets are while maintaining or even gaining some lean muscle mass, hence the slower drops.

And finally, I had to have a new look for the site to go with the new direction, something a little more simple and clean. Hope everyone likes it.

Final Message:

Setbacks and challenges will happen throughout life.  You can choose to dwell on them or you can pick yourself and push through them.

 

Just a bad week

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Wow, this past week was just, well, an epic failure.  It started off pretty good.  Got my scheduled workouts done on Monday & Tuesday, eating was in check, and even Wednesday morning started fine and got my strength training done.  But something happen Wednesday afternoon that I’m still not sure how or what caused it, but basically I had a melt down…psychotic episode, whatever you want to call it.  I SNAPPED! 8-O I was pissed at everything and everyone, including myself.  Then I got a text from Mrs. FatGuy telling me she just got home and that she didn’t have time to make dinner so she was taking me out.  Great!  Just what I needed….incentive to go eat crap……and I did…lots of it.

From that point on, it was cascade failure for the remaining week.  No workouts Thursday, Friday or Saturday, and extremely crap food.  Sunday I managed to squeeze out a 12k run, but I felt like crap the whole time.  Then I topped off Sunday evening with more binge eating, and today, and I  have an extremely bad ‘crap food’ hangover.  I’ve felt better in the past after drinking a 12 pack of beer than I do today.

But today is Monday, and it’s a new day, new week.  So far so good, and I have a short 5k scheduled for today that I plan in doing in the cold on my lunch break, then 1100 yards in the pool this evening.

I’ve yet to figure out what happen Wednesday, but I hope it doesn’t happen again.  I freaked myself out.


Mental Toughness is….

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I found this on a forum I frequent and thought I’d post it here as it’s really good info.  My sessions are getting harder and it’s going to get worse before it gets better so thisis good info. :)

Mental Toughness is…

Training when you don’t want to…Talking yourself out of quitting a long run when your not feeling it…getting up early when you want to sleep…having a miserable workout that you just suck at but survive.  This is your mental training!  These are the successes you think about in the middle of a race when the wheels are coming off.  You might walk for a minute or 20 and every step is agony and then you take a deep breath and try and pull it back together again and go again even it you have to do it 10 times during a race that is mental toughness.

It’s an attitude…failure is not an option.  I didn’t get up at 5am for the last 6 months to quit.  You didn’t sacrifice all your social time to workout just to quit.  You haven’t put up with all your spouses “moods” about your workouts to quit.  It’s believing in yourself.  It’s getting mad at yourself.  It’s pushing yourself.  It’s holding yourself accountable.

My IM swim sucked.  The water was 57 degrees and after 20 min the cold had jacked with my HR and I was getting testy with everyone around me and panicky and started having doubts 3/4 of the way through my first loop.  I started thinking that if I couldn’t pull myself together I wasn’t going to be able to finish.  You have to be able to shut your mind down when it starts talking crap and say “NO”, I’m better than that. Or my actual conversation with myself was “bull___!, I’m not going back to work to tell everyone I quit”.  Then I had to evaluate what was wrong and make a plan and adjust.

  1. Stick to your workouts and finish them.  If you give yourself excuses in your workouts you will give yourself excuses while your racing.    My personal favorite when I’m having a bad swim or run is to promise myself I’ll stop after 200 then just to be evil it’s another 500 or whatever.  My brain hates my ego we talk to each other all through the workout.
  2. Find your happy and you motivated place.  Know what will calm you down.  Is it a memory of a vacation, a song, your kids, spouse, Happy and calm is different than Motivated and Fired up…a visual of the way you are or use to be or who you want to be?
  3. Tell EVERYBODY you know what you are doing and post it on your office door.  I am not kidding here.  I can’t tell you how many times I just wanted to change my goal and forget the IM but didn’t because it was on my door and the GM would come by periodically and ask me about how things were going.  Pride is a great motivator.
  4. Have a motto or two…pick a motto and know it by heart.  Use it in training and it will come to you in racing.  Tape it to your bike if you have to.  ie…Suck it up buttercup or HTFU. Nothing to it but to do it!  Good, Better, Best, never rest until your good is better than the rest.  Not sure where I got this one from but it works when your running on each foot strike.
  5. Evaluate and change plans on the fly.  (SOOOOO, important)  You should always have a race plan A, B and C and even then you might have to be creative.  Very rarely will you ever have a race that goes exactly as planned.
  6. Learn the difference between workout pain and injury pain.  There is no shame in pulling out of a race because you feel something that is just wrong.  I’ve been out for two years because of working through pain.  I am in the process of discovering how I need to prepare my body to race and what I need to do when things feel off but I won’t ever hesitate to stop if I can’t get things under control because one race isn’t worth two years.  We aren’t talking blisters here.
  7. Know why you are doing this.  This isn’t the simple answer, “because somebody asked me to do it.”  There’s a reason you decided to torture yourself.  You may not even know why right now but you will discover it in your training.  Race day is a catered training day.  It’s just another day in the end.  Triathlon is a journey of self discovery.  The work, blood, sweat, tears and money come from a place within.  Know what your motivation is and use it when the going gets tough.
  8. Last but not least…be realistic with your goals and be prepared.