Weekly training log/ How much can happen in a year- Part 2

This week was a bigger week of training for me.  Not the longest or the hardest, but it was overall a very solid week that I was happy with the results of the work that I put in.  My family and friends often ask me where I find the time to do all these workouts, and the answer is really twofold at this point in my life:

For one, a college soccer coach's life is really, really, really busy from the months of August until November with a few spurts throughout the rest of the year that can get hectic as well based on recruiting, traveling, fundraising, and service that can make life hectic as well. But in all honestly, when you are not in season, your schedule is really flexible based on the hours of the day in which you work.

Second, I am a really early riser, so I can typically get a workout in before 7:00am, start working by 7:30am and get in a full days work so that I can get a full days work in by 3:30pm and get a second workout in the afternoon/night.  The key to being able to do this is the same as any other part of your life that you wish to change such as diet, workout schedule, etc.  You simply need to stay consistent and make it a habit.  If you are able to get past the first few weeks, you will be able to stick with it for a while after.  For me, this started back in October when I began attending Computrainer sessions at EndureIt Sports in Naperville, Illinois 3 times a week starting at 5:00am.  It was difficult at first, but I was able to make it a habit, and I truly believe that anyone is capable of doing this if they are dedicated and have a goal of making it happen.

Here is the log from the week of 6/23-6/30:

Sunday-       Bike: 55 mile in about 2:45 which averages out to about 19.5 mph

Monday-      AM Swim:   2500 yards with Master Swim, technique session where I was abused by Coach
                           Sue again about how far I still have to go with my stroke
                   
                    PM Swim:  Intended on doing at open water swim at Centennial Beach in Naperville but the
                            the weather did not cooperate.  (Improvise, Adapt, Overcome)  So I went to an indoor
                            pool and did a longer set to see where my endurance was at and actually swam 2100
                            yards faster than I ever had before.  36:52 which is about 1:45/100 yards.
                                Thanks Masters!

Tuesday-      AM Bike:  32 Miles in 1:42
                    PM Swim:  Endurance swim with Masters for about 4400 Yards.  I had never swam this much
                                     before and was woken up with calf cramps all night.  Brutal!!!

Wednesday-  Run: 10 miles in 58:42 for an average of about 5:53 per mile(Best run to date!)

Thursday-      AM Bike:  33 Miles in 1:38
                      PM Swim:  2500 Yards Masters Swim, Technique and Stroke Session

Friday-          AM Run:   Interval Run, 2 mile warm up, 4x1000 with 400 meter rest interval, 2 mile cool
                                       down
                      PM Swim:  2800 yards with buddy Ryan, Main set 3x600 with 400 fast and 200 pull
                                         recovery

Saturday-        Run:  Easy 8 miles at 6:08 per mile, trying not to burn matches

Sunday-           Bike:  40 Miles with Ryan again, lots of hills in Dubuque over 1300 gain in the ride, fun stuff
                       and Ryan is killing it right now


Weekly totals:  Bike= 159 Miles,   Run= 25.43 Miles,  Swim= 14100 Yards or about 8 Miles

2012

2013

The second part of this blog today I wanted to again focus on how much can happen in a year.  My buddy Ryan who I was able to work out with twice this past weekend is a great example of what you can achieve when you dedicate yourself to a goal and stick to it.  Ryan has always been an in shape kid, who always did a decent job of working out and putting time in to stay healthy.  He has completed full and half marathons.  However, due to injuries and sometimes a lack of consistent training, he did not finish them in the times that he had set out for himself.

However, a few months ago decided to dedicate himself to completing a half ironman, which he did at the Rev3 Knoxville in abosolutely horrible conditions where many people including myself were unable to even complete the race.

Since choosing to train for this, Ryan has smashed all of his previous PR's for running as well and recently ran  some of his best times in a local 5K which he won and in the Run for the Troops team marathon in Dubuque, Iowa.  Just look at the difference in 1 year from above.  He is second from the right in both pictures.  That is dedication!

Running has not come easy for him as it does not for many people who start off trying to improve their running capability, but he has stuck with it and is now improving daily and will continue to improve.

The reason that I wanted to talk about this was first to give due credit to my friend who has worked insanely hard over the past few months to improve, but also to point out to everyone that if you are willing to dedicate yourself to accomplishing a goal, you can achieve unbelievable things.

Improvements are not made overnight and the road is tough, but anything worth doing always is.