{"id":7175,"date":"2019-02-28T21:51:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T21:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2019-26-february-check-in"},"modified":"2026-04-12T18:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:33:37","slug":"2019-26-february-check-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/2019\/02\/28\/2019-26-february-check-in\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 \u2013 26 February \u2013 Check In (Original post)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

Other than swimming an extra 300 yards, this was a great triathlon swim \u2013 70.3 IM St George (2017)<\/p>\n

Checkin\u2019 IN!!!<\/h3>\n

\u201cLuck is the last dying wish for those that want to believe that winning can happen by accident.
\nSweat, on the other hand, is for those that know it\u2019s a choice.
\nSo decide now \u2014 destiny waits for no man.
\nWhen your time comes, and a thousand different voices are trying to you say, \u201cyou\u2019re not ready for it\u201d.
\nListen instead to that lone voice.
\nThe one that says, \u201cyou ARE ready.\u201d
\n\u201cYou ARE prepared.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s all up to you now.
\nSo rise and shine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am seeing a lot of chatter through my circles of influence on swimming.\u00a0 Let me be clear.\u00a0 I have never received any swim coaching outside of how to tread water back in high school, and even then it was in the vein of pure survival for water polo.\u00a0 That being said.\u00a0 I find many in the realm of triathlon ignore their swim.\u00a0 I still remember being that athlete.\u00a0 some 60 days out to my first Half Ironman event at the 70.3 IM St. George, I decided it was time to swim.\u00a0 What a mistake that was.\u00a0 To think that I would go from not swimming anything significant, in 60 days to 1.2 miles and also manage a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run after \u2013 WHAT A FOOL I WAS.<\/p>\n

So, after that humbling miss \u2013 completed it 3 minutes over time, I did what I could to be better.\u00a0 Along that time, a fellow from Crushing Iron reached out to me and asked me to check out his and his coach\u2019s new idea.\u00a0 A podcast, free transparent conversation and information sharing AND what I needed to hear to improve.\u00a0 It was shared in multiple parts, but the \u201cHOW TO NOT SUCK AT SWIMMING SERIES\u201d \u2013 CLICK HERE<\/a>\u00a0series of podcasts really spoke to me and I can now relate to it.\u00a0 Also, this video was like Coach Robbie was speaking right to me:<\/p>\n

Hope Mike and Robbie don\u2019t mind the attribution here.\u00a0 But these were concepts that I could put to task.\u00a0 And you know what, the only tool I needed beyond goggles was a pull buoy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I went from dreading the swim to now, I look forward to the swim.\u00a0 I tout the handle of \u201cZENTRIATHLETE\u201d.\u00a0 Yes, I am a faith-based guy, I don\u2019t throw it in folks faces, but it is a deep part of who I have shaped myself.\u00a0 To that end, I typically am trying to identify Balance, and mindfulness in all aspects of training and life.\u00a0 Well, swimming has become my \u2018sanctuary\u2019\u00a0 It is where I can go, be me, be alone, and be with me.\u00a0 I can\u2019t avoid me, or displace myself for the service of others while I am chasing the black pool stripe or keeping things together in an open water swim.\u00a0 It\u2019s basic.\u00a0 I have two major things to think about:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Not drowning (this includes knowing when to breathe)<\/li>\n
  2. My stroke<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great thing.\u00a0 Every once in awhile in the pool I have to watch out for the occasional pool noodle crew or for the kid or adolescents or adult that curiously swims against and perpendicular to the pool lanes (this one tends to baffle me more as their age goes up).<\/p>\n

    Anyway, one of the major reasons I wanted to take on this topic for me is a reminder that I hated to swim at first.\u00a0 It was even worse than running .\u00a0 I mean my first 100 yards was over 3 minutes the first day, and then return swims over the next 20 days were nearing 4 minutes per 100.\u00a0 I swam a long slow set for me last night and my 500 yd\u2019s avg 1:50 min per 100 or less \u2013 Again this is a mindful purposeful steady swim.\u00a0 I mix in a few sprints between longer sets and those sometimes get as low as 1:16 min per 100 yards (But no way sustainable \u2013 yet).\u00a0 So as I sit here about to jump on my trainer, my simple trainer, nothing smart about it.\u00a0 I am grateful that I have seen such gains in the pool and while swimming.\u00a0 Although it is quite simple in theory it is also quite complex.\u00a0 I\u2019m just hoping I can keep up my swim fitness and find small gains.\u00a0 I hope that I can let the work and time speak for itself in the cold waters of Sand Hollow on May 4.\u00a0 But for now, I need to\u00a0 jump on my trainer and get to work.\u00a0 Tomorrow is run day.<\/p>\n

    Well I was able to have a good trainer session.\u00a0 My dogs were going crazy, so I had to interrupt things and let them out.\u00a0 While that happened I grabbed a sufferfest video and used it.\u00a0 In this one there is a 5 second and 10 second series of sprints.\u00a0 I decided to do that as the trainer was the only activity for the day.\u00a0 Starting to feel my leg cadence again and getting the \u2018groove\u2019 back a bit as it were.\u00a0 Weather is erratic still, but soon should be able to get outside.\u00a0 We are turning over from February to March where I joke that Mother Nature and Old Man Winter are strange bedfellows and we feel many effects of their estranged liaisons.<\/p>\n

    I was able to get out for a run in the mid afternoon before the rain showed up.\u00a0 Man I was thinking.\u00a0 Just last year i was able to sustain an easy less than 10 minute pace and a solid HR for 6 \u2013 13 miles.\u00a0 I was also able to sustain a solid weekly and monthly volume.\u00a0 I have flipped the shark a bit, and ramped up the swim frequency and volume and am adding int he run and biking now.\u00a0 My general rule is to be able to train at least the amount of hours that I think I will be on course.\u00a0 My target is 6 \u2013 8 hours for a half iron man and I use that.\u00a0 I need to be at that point by March 15 and am ramping right into that target.\u00a0 Because I am not able to do more volume, I am focusing on quality and the correct purpose.<\/p>\n

    For example in today\u2019s run.\u00a0 There were points that I felt really good, but I didn\u2019t over push, rather I found my nose inhale and mouth exhale rhythm for more than half the run.\u00a0 Last night on my trainer , just a nonchalant spin wasn\u2019t enough so I added in some suffer fest for focus and strength needs.\u00a0 During my swim on Tuesday I felt like I could keep going, I exercised restraint so I can keep building toward March 4th and not wrecking myself along the way.<\/p>\n

    Well, on a side, years ago, I had the opportunity to live in France.\u00a0 Part of that opportunity involved a 8-9 week preparation or training segment.\u00a0 During that time I be-friended a fellow that I lost touch with over the year.\u00a0 Well, I felt prompted to look him up the other day.\u00a0 Well looking through the participant list to verify I was on it, 70.3 IM St. George, I ran across a name.\u00a0 Jason Horne \u2013 Clearfield Utah.\u00a0 Well I found him on FB and reached out.\u00a0 no luck.\u00a0 Found out he is a master\u2019s swim coach in Clearfield, email contact was there \u2013 it bounced.\u00a0 Well, maybe I will get to bump into him at check-in or starting line or something else or before.\u00a0 This triathlon thing has a way of\u00a0 attracting like-minded individuals.\u00a0 It is a very curious hobby, pursuit and passion.\u00a0 Anyway, I have just been trying to process more of my thoughts and write more to help me in this re-boot as it were.\u00a0 Just time to re-focus a bit.\u00a0 Woohoo!<\/p>\n

    Activities \u2013<\/h3>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    I use the following trackers:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Garmin Connect (which pushes the files to the following services):<\/li>\n
    2. Training Peaks<\/li>\n
    3. Strava<\/li>\n
    4. and the ones I don\u2019t remember (Map my stuff via Under Armour and things like the Great Bicycle ride initiative stuff)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Honestly, I mainly use Training Peaks as I pay for an annual subscription on it now, and it is the most detailed in data and other helpful information to keep me where I want to go. Use the \u2018Links\u2019, then \u2018Track me\u2019 section to find and stalk me if that\u2019s your thing.<\/p>\n

      Relevant Pics<\/h3>\n

      I have brother\u2019s Aggie sweatshirt\u00a0 The egg mash returns A funny from my friend sad, but honestly very accurate Salads have returned Look who came to visit daddy on the job my new views of\u00a0 Logan Canyon are amazing LDS Temple \u2013 Logan Utah \u2013 perks of my run! yup, these views are excellent. updates to the pain space.\u00a0 Getting more comfortable with it.\u00a0 Building character.<\/p>\n

      #photo #Checkin #2019 #Reflections #mv<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Other than swimming an extra 300 yards, this was a great triathlon swim \u2013 70.3 IM St George (2017) Checkin\u2019 IN!!! \u201cLuck is the last dying wish for those that want to believe that winning can happen by accident. Sweat, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_eb_attr":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[817,454],"tags":[828],"class_list":["post-7175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prnci","category-2019-check-ins","tag-tag-reflections"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24449,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7175\/revisions\/24449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}