I planned on riding today, then swimming in a local lake. This plan went to crap as soon as I woke up. Fairy Fest needed signage, so I was put to task of putting up signs pretty quick. Around 8:30, mom and I worked on finding signs and putting them up. That did not go so well, and I ended up back home around 9. Riding a bike was still an option, but I had bought a few things to put up outside the house and needed to get some work done. This afternoon, the festival starts, so I have to work at it. Tomorrow it is important that I get in a good workout, and my motivation lessens each day I take off. 49 days until the race, and I have to keep motivated. I also run the risk of over training and burning my self out. I don't think this will happen, but that is a possibility.

On Friday, I went to work just like normal, and was prepared for a day of craziness. GOBA was coming to my little town for an overnight stay, and that meant that the whole town was turned on end for this event. It also meant that there were a large number of cyclist out, so it shouldn't be so rough to get out onto the road and ride. At the end of the work day, I wandered back to the house and got my bike out. I headed North on 93 to the old track, then walked up to it. After a quick drink, I started riding on the track, lap after lap, and then down the steep hill and back into town. I rode down to the middle of town and saw what was going on before heading North again and looping past my parents. After this, I came back to the house and prepared to go out and watch the festivities. Mapping it out, I did about 5 miles on the road and 4 miles on the track, so I made a good 9 mile ride out of it. Hopefully getting some decent rides in this weekend in preparation...

- brad

Starting late on Thursday, went for a 5k bike ride, then rode down to the pool. Tried out some new goggles that I was given to use by a coworker. If that was not cool enough, I got to try out the waterproof mp3 player I was able to borrow also. It is a Finis Swimp3 player, which is actually pretty cool. I only swam about 250 meters, but it felt good and I was a little concerned about it being too dark out. After a quick ride home from the pool, I started doing some math and decided that tomorrow I could definitely get a decent workout in. The plan is for a 10-20k ride before work, then a 20k ride after work with a quick swim in a nearby lake (about 400-600 meters). This will set me up for an evening of break, then I can hit it hard on Saturday morning and get a great weekend workout in. Counting down the days to the big event - 51 days. Excited as crap and ready to push myself way past my comfortable limits.

- brad

I definitely did not make the biking trip this morning. It was a rough night and this morning went by very very fast. I overslept until 7:00 and had to be ready for work at 8:00. I planned on trying to ride tonight, but when I left work and parked at the house, the bumper was hanging down off my car and I assumed someone must have hit it today at work. I was prepared to call the police, but couldn't find clear marks where someone had hit it. Figuring they would write it off as me smacking a parking bar or something, so I called my father instead. I drove over to his place and we bolted the bumper back up on, then adjusted the position of the headlight. After this, I had very little time before I had to get home so my wife could go to dance class. I decided that an upper body workout was better than no workout, so I grabbed a change of clothes and headed out back. After a few minutes of stretching, I grabbed a chainsaw and took on a rather tall cedar or pine looking thing right by the fence. This was not so bad, so I kept going, but then picking up piece after piece and throwing it onto a trailer definitely set my arms to work. Another part of this is that I am not exactly good with a chainsaw, so there were many large chunks. I also am sort of lazy, so I took it upon myself to heave these large chunks of wood about 10 to 15 ft. onto the trailer instead of walking over. By the time I finished an hour and a half later, my arms were burning and I was ready to fall over. I was once told that finding ways to integrate some exercise into everyday activities was the best way to keep at it and break up the monotony. After this evening, I can definitely attest to that.

- brad

Work went less well than planned today, and that happens from time to time, but I made it through the day. I wandered home a short time before I had to go get Dyl, then drove up to the old track. If you've been to a Vinton County High School meet there, it is on top of a hill off of a highway, but there is nothing else around. Even more than that, with a new track around the football field, this one has become an abandoned memory for most of the people here. I remember this track so well. I ran there for the first two years of track when I was in school, then for the next four years we had the new track while I was in high school. I was always a fan of the old asphalt track. Something about it made it seem great, even though it was rather basic. There was an advantage, in my mind, because the asphalt made such a loud clicking noise when spikes hit, and a runner could learn to tell how close someone was by sound, more than by vision. I pulled in and dropped my phone by the 200 meter mark (as it was the closest to the car).

There is something special about being the only one out running. Being alone on the track, or being out earlier in the morning than anyone, makes it special. I began jogging the track and instantly felt a little sad. Most of that comes from remembering the talent I had as a young man when I ran well in the very same spot. After thinking of that, I immediately felt shame due to the way I have allowed myself to stop exercising for such a long time. Toward the end of this run, I felt strong, powerful, and confident. I found myself following the some of the same patterns that I have since I was a young kid, such as counting down by every 100 or 50 meters or doing math for no particular reason. I know that tomorrow morning will come early, and I'm hoping for a 10k bike ride before work at least, possibly 20k if time is going well. Will update more then...

- brad

Being Monday night, I feel I posted this late, but that is okay. Over the weekend, I tried many things to help myself become better prepared for the upcoming events. After a day at work on Friday, I stopped by my parents and swam a few laps at the pool. This wasn't too much other than a little bit of a teaser swim. The first race is a 750m swim with a 20k bike and 5k run, a typical sprint triathlon.

Saturday morning was the first shot at it all. I got to the pool around 8am and changed into some trunks. Being my parent's backyard pool, it is only 33 ft across. I worked this out to around 76 trips across, which seemed high. I started the timer and ran down the steps into the water. After what felt like forever (but really was only about 20 minutes) I was out of the water and into my "transition." This meant grabbing running shorts, running to the shed, changing inside, coming out, then putting on shoes and getting across the yard to the bike. I was out onto the road after a few minutes and heading South on 93. I turned around at my designated halfway, heading back North into town. As I rounded the corner into the old high school parking lot, I checked the time. I was still doing rather well, it seemed, at about 1:28. I locked the bike up and threw the phone in the bag, then took off on the 5k route that I raced in May. Felt great until I hit the hills in the cemetery, but toughed it out and got back to the school. I was so excited to have finished the whole thing, and so I grabbed my bag off the bike and checked the time.

Nothing was on the screen relating to time. Nothing at all. Just a little phone symbol and a "missed call" screen. Shit...my sister had called. Went into the menu, but no, the timer was back to zero. I have no idea how fast, but I completed it.

Sunday went by without much exercise, just a few races in the pool with my niece. Dylan, my son, was sleeping, and my wife was doing homework, so I decided to go for a bike ride. After some wandering around the house and neighborhood, I headed out on 93 until I hit US 50. Once I got to 50, I turned and headed East. 15 miles later, I came to a rest at the edge of 32 outside of Albany. I turned there and headed back toward town. It took a long time, and the ride West was much more difficult due to the other sides of hills, the bright sun coming down, and the lack of preparation on my part. I had failed to put any water in the carrier or even brought a wallet so I could buy something on the way. I made it back to the house around 7:35 that evening, but since then, my legs have been jello.

Next week, I plan on trying another swim, and maybe a few bike rides, but the swim will be in a lake so I can get used to open water and prepare better.

- brad

I've written blog posts plenty of times, but this is just an honest and straightforward log of what I'm doing now. I am an overweight guy. I turned 24 a few weeks ago, and was still at 225 lbs. I was more than just overweight, I was lazy. When I was younger, I ran between 4-6 miles a day, and competed in everything from regional competitions for OHSAA to running in the Walt Disney Invitational several times. I was a running machine, but once I got into college, I became busier and spent a lot of time on the couch. After a wedding and the birth of a child, I decided I would get back into shape, but was working way too many hours to do so. I changed careers, and one day was lecturing a student on the importance of setting goals and having something to work toward when he turned around and said "Hey man, what's your goal?"

We discussed a few options, so I set a big goal - I would enter the Toughguy race in England. Hoping to do this by January 2011, I had given myself a year to train. Little did I know what this would turn into.

A few coworkers got involved, and we basically spent the next few weeks running several days a week together, then training on our own as well. I agreed to enter a 5k race (something I hadn't done since high school) on the first weekend of May. I had an okay day, but finished with around a 30:00 time and was definitely anything but happy with it. I kept training, and now in June I am preparing for a much bigger race. I committed to signing up for the Vermillion Harbour Triathlon. After this, I plan on signing up for the entire Wheelie Fun series in 2011. I also have had a few conversations with friends at work about a team triathlon at Deercreek State Park in Mt. Sterling. The ultimate goal of this is to move from a lazy couch potato to completing an Ironman by 2014.

I have made some drastic changes, from working out more often and eating healthier. I also have given up soda and am working on cutting back on sweet tea. I have already seen many changes in my health (I feel better, my blood pressure is lower, etc.) and expect to see more in the future. This blog will be the log of my transformation from fat to fit, and from lazy to competitive. I will be posting workouts, gear reviews, and schedules of races here in hopes to inspire some other lazy guy or gal to get into multi-sport competition.

- brad