This Experiment is Working (Triathlon Training Day 77)

Triathlon Experiment –

Many moons ago we (Elevate Fitness and I) came up with the idea of seeing if the training at Elevate can transform a regular Joe(me) from never having done a triathlon into a champion atop the podium. I still have a long way to go but this post is about evaluating where I have come from and where I’m at now.

Weight / BMI / Body Fat

Today we did another InBody test. The last one was 75 days ago. Today’s test really surprised me. I didn’t expect the results. I took off my shoes, wiped my feet down with an alcohol wipe and stood on the scale. Coach Marci and I entered the data it asked for and then the test began. I grabbed the two arms and spread my wings like it asked and then waited while it played some lovely music. During the whole song it slowly filled in the silhouette of a male profile. First the right leg then the right arm. The body graphic slowly filled while the left arm and leg also percolated to the top.

I stepped off and the printer started churning ink onto the page with my results. The first thing Coach Marci and I noticed was that I have lost a whopping …. wait for it ….. one pound. At first I thought, “This isn’t fun.” But then we noticed the Body Fat Percentage. I have dropped 3% in body fat. When I first took the test I was an even 19% today I am at 16.1% Even though I haven’t lost weight it doesn’t mean I haven’t lost fat. It turns out that I have lost six pounds of fat but I have gained five pounds of muscle. This felt really good. The muscle mass increase is clearly in my legs (nearly two pounds), in my shoulders(arms almost 1 pound) and 2 pounds in the chest. The waistline of my pants is getting looser but my thighs are getting harder to pull over. 🙂

The other interesting thing we found from the results is that my right side is considerably stronger than my left. This wasn’t a surprise since I was run over by a car as a teenager which damaged my entire left side. Looks like from now on I will be doing exercises like the one below.

Eating to become Fat Adaptive has actually been really enjoyable. Here is a picture of what I typically have for breakfast.

Running

Running has been my passion. I love running. It sets me free in ways that nothing else does. I have been doing very different runs lately than I did without a coach. They all seem to include an aspect of speed work. One of the greatest improvements in this area came without me even noticing. A few friends from work went on a run last week and after three miles they peeled off and I kept going. On my last mile I was feeling like I was doing my normal pace – something between 8:00-9:00. I looked down at my watch and saw a very different number than my effort was telling me. My effort was telling me that I was doing about a 8:20-8:30 but my GPS was telling me that I was doing 7:43. I was blown away by the reduction in effort to do a faster pace. It felt great. I know I need to get faster to get on the podium still but I feel confident that the training is getting me to where I need to go.

Swimming

This is the area that has seen the most improvement. It isn’t hard to imagine why. Going from nothing to anything is huge improvement. When we started swimming I would show up in my baggy swim shorts and barely be able to swim for more than a 20 secs at a time. The first time we were in the lap pool I barely made it across the pool without lunging for the side to save myself from a most certain watery grave. This last week was a very different story. Three critical events happened:

1. I was able to swim underwater without breathing for the entire length of the pool using nothing but my legs for propulsion.
2. I swam 13 continuous lengths of the pool (325 meters)
3. I swam a :38 second 50 freestyle

Considering where I came from to where I am at now is huge progress. I was honestly scared (real anxiety) about the swim portion. Now I’m feeling much better, like I can actually accomplish this.

Cycling

This one has become a hidden talent. I always thought that running would be my strongest event in the triathlon but I’m finding that cycling may actually be one of my strengths. Before starting with Plan 7 at Elevate I had ridden about 3 times on a real bike. As a kid I rode bikes like any other kid. I had mostly BMX and mountain bikes. I loved riding but had no idea what competitive riding means. I could barely clip in. Actually, I’m not really good at now either. But I am getting really strong at riding. I could never have made it to where I am at now without such a structured plan and great people to ride with. There are two side effects that aren’t so positive.They both involve my rumpus. The first is saddle soreness. All my cycling friends said that it would be a couple of weeks before I became acclimated to being saddle sore. I still have yet to get acclimated. I am always raw. The other thing is that I have a crazy sore muscles deep inside. I have started rolling out with a tape covered softball sized Wiffleball. Buying some bike shorts will probably help with the chaffing. The deep soreness will hopefully go away the stronger I get and the more I roll out.

Sleep / Recovery

This is the least succesful part of the training. Plain and simple I don’t get enough sleep. On average I get 5:05 per night. I know this is killing my recovery and my fat burning and my mental health/attitude and my cortisal levels and…well pretty much everything. If I can figure out how to run a business, be a good husband and father, assistant scout master, blogger, future triathlete champion and get enough sleep I will be doing really well. This is one thing that I know I have to improve if I want to be a champion, I just need to figure out how.

Overall Training Review

These lasts 77 days have been incredible. I am truly grateful for this experience. There is no way I could made it this far without Elevate Fitness, SBR Cycles, Coach Marci, Shelby Baron, Rich Hart and Sam. I have overcome fears, pushed myself hard, accomplished things I never thought I would and have found something inside myself that I didn’t know I had. I am really excited to see what the next month of training holds and my first triathlon which will be on Feb 20th.