My first events

I climbed 1311 stairs to start off the year of events at the Seattle Columbia Center to help raise money for the Leukemia Foundation. I climbed it in honor of my father Carl Bay who lost his life to the disease. 

 

The Columbia Center

 

Getting ready to climb

Up I go 

View from the top

I Have entered and completed my first triathlon, a short sprint called the Beaver Freezer. I finished the race in 1 hr and 31 minutes. I had a complete blast and am hooked on triathlons for sure.

Start of the swim

I felt my training has been lacking in the higher heart rates after doing a sprint type event. My training focus has been mainly endurance based. I spent the next few weeks swiming without any pull bouys and running with my Hr above 150.

I entered the Pear Blossum run on the 9th of april and started off with a 5k. I finished in a sub 30 minute run which was my goal and felt I had more to give.

Finishing the 5k

I then did the 10 mile run which was my main focus of going. I started off slow and swear I was passed by 500 people in the first mile. I choked down my pride and just ran my race with one promise to myself. start slow end strong and leave nothing left when I was done.

At mile 3.5 I met the first place runner coming back he was at mile 6.5 and man was he fast.  I also saw the handicapped runners in their wheel chairs on their way back in and cheered them on. I had a 60 year old lady pass me running barefoot, I tried to get a picture but couldn't get my iPhone off my arm in time.  At mile 5 there is a pretty good hill you have to run over and back and I decided this was where I was going to make it hurt. I ran up it at normal pace and let the HR climb. Finally I am now passing a few people. My wife called me at mile 7 and cheered me on and offered me some strength and encouragement which was really nice.  I ran mile 7-8 with a group of about 10 people and tried to pass them on 3 occasions to no avail. at mile 8.5 I ran my heart rate up to 158 and was able to finally pass them and hit the last water station at mile 9.

At mile 9 I decided it was time to leave it all out on the coarse and said a fast thank you to God for helping me make all of these accomplishments in my life. I moved out into the middle of the road and gave it all I had for the last mile. I was hitting 162 on my heart rate monitor and my breathing was on max at this point. Let me tell you the feeling I got from passing all those people that last mile ( 8 minute mile :) was the best feeling of my life. I placed about 1000 out of 1700 but man I felt like I won the race when I was done. I really have to thank all of my friends and family for always being positive about what I am doing all of this time. I ran that last mile for you guys and it was all I had to give.

Finishing the 10 mile

 My diet is always my biggest struggle. I am holding onto 200 lbs at this time and after these last races I feel I really need to be under 190 to keep doing this. I am now 2 lbs closer to that goal and hope to hit it soon.
I have made my last long run prior to the Marathon a 20 plus miler and feel my times are good for hitting my goal of a sub 5 hr Marathon. Ill post more after im done with that on May 1st.

Challenges, Putting it all together

I have been working hard on my fitness to be able to accomplish my challenges. I have been putting all 3 components together doing the swim, bike, run using the YMCA pool and indoor bike followed by a outside run. I have gained a lot of confidence doing this as I realize I can make the distance and time required for the Olympic Distance Tri's. My swimming stroke is getting a lot better and I feel way more efficient in the water. I scored some new jammers and goggles this last week. I have come to accept the indoor training bikes are just not a ton of fun but required when its freezing outside. I tried one ride and parts of my body got colder than they are supposed to.

I am riding the bike a lot further and faster now and feel I kinda let the bike training get behind due to the weather.

My running is improving every week. I am running long distances at a heart rate of 140 and have completed 16 miles and will be pushing 18 miles this week. I am getting in some really good sprints and interval training. My shorter runs are now 6 miles. I really cant believe I've become a runner. I started helping coach soccer and find myself having to play some which is keeping me moving. I find my hot tub indispensable I sit in it sometimes twice a day.

Food is really tough for me and I have to really stay focused on what I eat. Eating for fuel instead of comfort is really different for me. I have cut back on some of my fat intake and am spending a few weeks at about 15% of my calories as fat calories. Which amounts to about 200. I realize if I'm going to push this body to accomplish my challenges I don't want to take extra weight along with me :) speaking of which I have now broke the 200 lb barrier and weight 199 lbs. for me this is bigger than running 16 miles. I have finally won the war against eating to much. I have tons of stamina work out 3 hrs a day most days and recover well. I am taking 2 rest days a week and only running long every other week.

Challenges

I have decided to challenge myself to keep on track and motivated to push my fitness to the next level. I have taken up the sport of triathlons. I will be competing in sprint and Olympic triathlons this spring and summer. I have also entered the Eugene marathon May 1st and am shooting for a sub 5 hr first marathon. I am currently in training and at 16 miles I am running close to an 11 min mile. If all goes well I will be pushing my limits even further in 2012.

My 2012 Dream :)

I am at this point able to swim over a mile, Run 16 miles and Bike 25 miles. When we get better weather I will be pushing my bike ride further. I have found some great books im reading

Total immersion for swimming
Marathoning for Mortals for running or walking

I am working out 5 days a week and cross training between weight lifting running swimming and bike riding total weekly hrs are about 10-12. Nutrition is getting more important as I train harder and I find myself eating better.

When I need inspired I look at what this man did. Missing both lower legs and half of his right arm.
Amazing Human feat


More to come