A few more weeks

The football season is winding down. Only one regular season game left. Then we have the playoffs.

The Portland Raiders have officially made it to the playoffs. The team was 0-10 a year ago, but we are now 6-3 with one more game to go. In all honesty, we should be at least 7-2, probably even 8-1.

So I have at least two more tackle football games before I can jump headlong into other athletic endeavors (endurance training?).

I am surprisingly healthy considering I have played almost all of the offensive snaps for the Portland Raiders (I missed one game due to back and neck pain, and had to sit down one play in one game after a guard and defensive tackle fell into my knee). My back and neck are sore, but I do believe these are small injuries that will heal with time and rest. I was worried about my hands, wrists and fingers getting banged up and sprained because I play on the offensive line, but they're not too bad. I was also worried about my knees because I hurt my knees back in high school, but everything is fine.

While I really am enjoying my time playing football, I am also looking forward to getting into triathlon training. I don't think I'll be breaking any world records or capturing the attention of sponsors, but for some unknown reason I really do believe I can do a pretty good job at triathlons.

We shall see in a couple of weeks when I'm able to concentrate on the training.

Soreness, Touchdowns and more

My triathlon training is now just me playing semi-pro football. The bumps and bruises inflicted take so much time to heal, I sometimes don't know if I will be able to play in the games. My back, neck, shoulders, arms, knees, feet, hands, arms, fingers, ribs, chest and wrists hurt.

But I did score my first ever touchdown!

I was playing defensive end when the other team (Rouge River Warriors) ran a swing pass to the running back away from my side. The running back slipped andfell down. He got up as if he had been tackled and left the ball on the ground for the referee to pick up. But no one on defense touched him and the referee did not whistle the play dead. I picked up the ball and ran about 25 yards for a touchdown! Insane!

While football is causing me to have toins of bruises, it is also getting me to loose weight. Granted, a lot of it is water weight, but I am steadily shedding pounds. With only two regular season games remaining and at least one playoff game (my touchdown sealed our victory, which in turn sealed a playoff berth), I will endure the pain and punishment a bit more before I swing into triathlon training mode.

No turning back

While my actually training has stayed sporadic (non-existent?) I at least have a date to aim for now.

9/10/11

On Sept. 10 I will be participating with George Cuddy in The Aluminum Man Triathlon (not an Ironman, get it?). My only goal is to finish this sprint triathlon faster than 90 minutes (it should not take me more than 30 minutes per section, hopefully), but I have no idea if that is too conservative of a goal or not.

That date also happens to be the one year anniversary of me completing the Warrior Dash, a 3K obstacle race filled with mud and fire (seriously). I probably (but not definite) will not finish the triathlon the same fashion I finished the Warrior Dash, but we will see!

I have started Portland Fit, a 26-week training program to get me ready to run the Portland Marathon this fall. I ran 3 miles last week, and I think we're running 4 miles on Saturday morning. Saturday evening I will be playing in my first semi-pro/minor league football game. I will either be in great condition or absolutely spent come the 4th quarter that night. We shall see.

I still need to get back into the swim and spin training at the local gym. My daughter is transitioning from two naps to one (sometimes none), so I am hoping training will get more routine coming up.

Until next time...keep tri-ing!

Balancing Act

So I have actually started some training, but it is hard to stay committed to the training schedule. The issue is not necessarily because I am not dedicated. I feel guilty for saying this but...I blame my daughter.

Yeah, yeah, I know. What kind of father blames a 15-month-old for his shortcomings?

My daughter still takes two naps a day. The afternoon nap is around 2 or so, which is fine. But the morning one is from about 9 to 11, and that is exactly when the gym I attend has its "Swim & Spin" class.

The swim portion goes from 9:15 to 9:45, followed by the spin class from 10 to 10:50. That's a lot of cardio, which is FANTASTIC! I loved doing the Swim & Spin, but my daughter starts getting sleepy and I have to put her down or else we have a full-blown breakdown on our hands. Who would have thought that such big attitude could come from such a small cutie pie?

Another hurdle in my training is injuries. Well, I shouldn't call it an "injury." I have new cleats (I also play football) and the cleats are really digging into my big toe nail. The nail on both big toes are now totally discolored and all around pretty gross. They are also a little tender. I can't really do long training runs because of it. I kind of wobble and jog.

Bottom line is, I need to stop the excuses and just get back into training!

One week in...

Yeah...well, the thing is...

I am just making excuses. I have not worked yet. Not once. Not even a little bit.

I keep making excuses of not having enough time to work out. But I know that I have to make the time.

I need to put into practice the philosophy of "What would a triathlete do? Do that."

Instead, I am convincing myself being a stay-at-home dad is too time consuming. While it is indeed a full-time job watching my daughter and keeping her out of harm's way, I have plenty of time to work up a sweat - walk around the block with Reese, go to the gym early in the morning, take her to the gym daycare.

I am also congratulating myself too much on giving up alcohol and caffeine (no coffee is MUCH harder than no beer). Even though it is healthy for me to give up soda, I NEED to workout as well.

I will find a way to sweat every day.

TRUTH

Start at the very beginning...

I am not a triathlete. At least not yet. I plan on becoming one though and this blog will document my journey from stay-at-home-dad to triathlete.


I actually trained for a triathlon in 2008, but I had appendicitis less than a month before the race and then never got back to training because my wife got pregnant with my daughter.


I have heard stories that most triathletes had a background in running and they picked up triathlons as a way to vary their training by using bikes and swimming as exercise while recovering from an injury.


Not me.


I am not a runner. I am not a biker, either. Nor am I a swimmer. I guess I would consider myself more of a TRYathlete because I'm willing to TRY any sport out there.


I grew up in Southern California (Long Beach, to be more specific) and always played sports - football, baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball - but I was never the fastest player on the team. Quite the opposite. I was the lineman in football, first base or right field in baseball, center in basketball, defender in soccer, middle blocker in volleyball. And I would never run for the "fun" of it.


I did grow up with a pool and loved splashing around and racing friends and family the length of the pool, but I never swam competitively and never actually had coaching in any stroke.


My wife, however, really enjoys running, and she encouraged me to run with her when we first got married. To my surprise (and her horror) I was actually faster than she was! That gave me the confidence to run on my own and go to the gym and run on a treadmill instead of just hitting the basketball courts or pounding the weights.


Since we have been married, my wife and I have completed the Huntington Beach Surf City Half Marathon and 5K, something I would have never dreamt of doing just 10 years ago.


With the birth of my lovely daughter in 2009, I had a long and hard look at my family's situation and realized it did not make a whole lot of sense (or cents) to stay in the job I had. I was working nights and weekends and not pulling in a lot of money. Everything I made went to daycare, gas for my car and parking in downtown Portland where I worked. I was lucky to have $100 left over at the end of the month. My wife and I decided the time away from each other was worth more than $5 a day, so I resigned and became a full-time dad. I won't lie, it has been difficult at times. Every now and then I get feelings of failure because I am not providing for my family. But the bonding I get with my daughter is invaluable.


One day, just two weeks ago, I read a magazine article about a man who was not too much older than I am1. The article started out by saying this man had always wanted to be a sports broadcaster and was now in charge of the sports department for a San Francisco television station. That article really depressed me. I had always wanted to be a sports broadcaster. I had worked in sports journalism since I was 21-years-old. Now, at the ripe old age of 35, I was unemployed (granted, it was my own choosing).


I made a list of things that made me happy. Some of the top items on the list included "working out" and "sports writing."


And that, my friends, is how we arrived at this blog.


I vow to train for a triathlon and share my journey with whomever would like to read it. This will not be a "How to train for a triathlon" blog. I am not a qualified trainer and do not pretend to be one. In fact, I will be reading training books and getting a personal trainer in order to ensure success as a triathlete.


Hopefully this blog will have funny and inspiring stories for other people undertaking new and scary endeavors in life. It doesn't necessarily have to be triathlons. I will share my failures and triumphs, laughter and tears, breakthroughs and injuries.


I welcome any comments, suggestions, advice, feedback...Lord knows I need it!