Always Better Together

There are few things in life that are better done alone. Sitting alone drinking some coffee reading a book, editing a video, and going to the bathroom are the only few that I can think of off the top of my head. The fact is most things are done better together.

Like many people I started out running to lose weight, and it worked. I had never really liked running before, and didn't really at the time either but my wife and I signed up for a 5k race when we were finished with our Couch to 5k program. At that first race was when I actually started to enjoy it all. Every race environment I have ever been to is so captivating, and for one reason, people. You feel like you are not alone at a race. You feel like you belong and you are part of a community. It proves the point that things are better together.

I was reminded of this simple point the other day. I have recently started swimming and the first time I went my wonderful family played in the family part of the pool while I swam laps. Well the other night I was planning a date with my wife, the kids were staying with Papa, and KC says, "why don't we go swimming?" Well of course that sounded great to me, and before she could have a chance to change her mind I agreed.

We dropped the kids off that night, ran by the store to grab some goggles for her and drove to the gym. The pool was basically empty and my wife and I grabbed two of the lanes. We swam, we raced, we evaluated each other's swim and had a great training time. I had found the best training partner in the world, the one person I could be around 24/7 and do everything with. Swimming alone that first day was ok, but training with my wife was amazing. At one point she even said she might join me for the triathlon coming up . . . we will see if I can hold her to that.

Anyway I just wanted to take a couple minutes to say, If you find yourself doing all your workouts alone, find someone, ask someone, or be that someone for somebody else. Having people around is encouraging, it helps us keep going.

Here is a quote that my wife showed me the other day. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, take someone with you" Ok I believe that is how it went, but I can't find it or the person who said it. Have a great day, and get out there and train.

 

 

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Flailing like a cat in water

Yep I started swimming. I have been excited to start training in this area and start real multisport training. It has taken a while to locate an indoor pool in these winter months, but I finally hunted one down 45 minutes away from my house, and it's free with my local gym membership as well. It is a win win situation . . . if I could swim.

This past December I went out and ran the Jingle Bell Run where I live. It was a fun event and it taught me one thing. It taught me that even if I haven't been staying up on training, or really haven't been doing anything for a few months, that I can get out there and run a 5k at a reasonable pace. It felt good knowing that I am still an athlete and still somewhat/pretty fit. The first time in the pool kind of took that thought away though.

My family and I went up to the pool this last Monday. There is a great kid portion at the pool so they can play and have fun while daddy trains. I recently bought some new goggles and was excited to see how I would do in the water, I mean after all I was pretty fit right?

One and a half laps in and I was dead tired. My heart was racing and I soon realized how hard this was going to be. I stood there in the water at the edge of the pool thinking to myself, "can I really do this? I think so . . . but it's tough. I should be able to do more, can I do it?" Then I would press on for one more lap, until I found myself at the other end of the pool thinking the same things.

Soon I found myself back with my family in the family area. I was enjoying the family time, but in all reality I was resting. I did that two or three times, but I always went back for more. Half way through doing this back and forth transition, not knowing if I would be able to go back again, I thought of something. I told myself, "When you starting running you would run 60 seconds, and then walk 90. That was all you could do. Now you can go out and run five miles if needed. So today you will swim two laps."

All in all I probably struggled through 15-20ish laps, but I learned two things. First, this is going to be really hard. I am going to have to slide my running and biking to the back burner for a little bit and work on swimming. Second, I can do it. There is no reason I can't, and so I will keep going and eventually I will be an Ironman. Let's go get that Mdot, 2 laps at a time.

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The Apps I Love

So along with trying to be an athlete, I am also a tech geek. I love technology and gadgets and all of that fun stuff. I am also a big Apple fan, and so if you combine all of those things you get this blog post. Here are all the apps I use with my iPhone or iPad for training, inspiration, health, and blogging.

Nike+ running - Price: Free

This is my personal favorite running app. I feel it does a very adequate job of GPS tracking while running (although dpending on the signal it can have problems). I love the visual appeal of the app and another cool feature is being able to track how many miles you have put on your shoes. All around great app.

 

Strava - Price: Free

Along with Nike+ being my go to running app, Strava is my go to biking app. There are some other choices out there, such as Map My Ride which I have used before, but I like the stats that Strava has and the layout. It works fantastic with road rides and GPS, calculating speed and pace along with elevation and everything you need.

 

Blogsy - Price: $4.99

This is by far the best blogging app I have come accross. It is very simple and integrates with most blogsites. Typing (with the Brydge of course) is a breeze and does a very good job of keeping everything easy for you to post. Pulling pictures from your camera roll, photo stream, facebook instagram or even youtube and vimeo videos are as easy as drag and drop. Another added feature is that you can turn any creation into a HTML email to send to people.

 

USA Triathlon Magazine Price: Free

This app is great even if you are not a USAT member. Basically you download the app, enter your email adress and then you are able to download the last 12 editions of their magazine for free. It's not the best triathlon/athletic magazine, but its free and its not half bad.

 

Bike Repair HD - Price: $3.99

This is a great app for those who are new to their own bike repair and maintenance. It gives you step by step guides to fix many bike problems and fixes along with general maintance.

 

 

 

TriEssential - Price: Free

This app is one of my daily go to's. It is really nothing that special, but still good to have in your tri folder on your phone. Basically each day you can open it up to see an imagewith some words of inspiration, and then look to see a quote and a triathlon tip. Most of it isn't game changing, but then there are some added bonuses as well. These include a Time Projector, Race Checklist (that you can edit), and a PR Keeper. Not a bad little tool.

My Fitness Pal - Price: Free

If you are tryingto lose weight, or even like to watch your calories this is "the app". You let the app do the calculating for you of how many calories you should be eating for your goal, or you take control and put in exactly what you want. Once that is done you start logging your days as you go, and that is so easy with this app, because they have everything. Pretty much anything you would like to search for in their database, from fastfood to restaurants, groceries and even workouts. Youcan also log in your weights whenever you want, and then connect socially with people to say "good job" or encourage them to keep going.

 

The Weather Channel - Price: Free

The name pretty much explains it all. Nice app (very nice looking on the iPad), and works way better than the standard weather app on iOS devices. It is great to use to see if it is an outside day, or if I am headed to the gym.

 

 

 

 

 

Those are the main apps I use at this point in my training/journey. What apps do you use?

 

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My hashtag for 2013

My wife got an idea from a friend of hers last year to have a word for the year. Last year my wife's word was finish. It summed up everything she wanted to really do for the year, and this year hers is Present. This year I have adopted that idea with a twist, this year I will have a hashtag. Why not really, I love technology, gadgets and social media, so a hashtag just seemed fitting. So this year is #Build13.

Ok so what is that all about? Well last year was really the dawn of a dream, it was a launching point if you will for me to become part of the few who can wear the brand of the mdot. This year on the other hand is the real start, its the building, its the meat of what is going to get me there. Each and every training, each and every race will be a building block towards the overall goal of an Ironman.

Let's think of it in this way. Say you are building a large brick wall.The brick wall has a purpose. It is supposed to support the roof, provide structure and shelter. While you are building the brick wall if all you look at is the size and the huge purpose the task can be daunting, hundreds or thousands of bricks. Instead if you start to look at each step at a time and say, I just have to lay this brick, or just this line, then the task gets smaller and you start to see progress.

The problem with looking at each individual brick, or workout if you will, is that that it, in and of itself, can seem tedious and monatonous. You have to do that hundreds and thousands of times over and over again. That is why you keep in mind the end goal. A brick wall that has a purpose. The overall vision of what you are doing. You see you can't just look at the huge wall that needs to be built, but you also can't look just at each individual brick, but instead both have to be in sight in order to get where you want to go.

Therefore my hashtag for the year is #Build13. Its about looking at each indivdual workout, and the next race, but also building on the last and for the future to get where I want to go, to be an Ironman. So #Build13 is the process to Ironman Me. What are you building this year?

 

 

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