My First 100 Miler

"Ironman training is all about learning how to be comfortable with being Uncomfortable." Coach Tim Key

This past Sunday was a big accomplishment for me.... really more mentally than physically. For some reason riding a bike for 100 miles was a huge hurdle for my mind to get over. We travelled down to Lubbock to go to see Reba and George Strait in concert on Saturday night. Bright and early the next morning William, Tim, Jerred, Damon, and I began our 5:45 hours on our road bikes. We started near Slaton,TX and headed to Post then turned South to Gail where we turned around and went back. The terrain consisted of gradual rolling hills which is very similar to what the course will be like in Houston. It was much colder , however, and we even had to battle some sleet for an hour or so. Tim followed us in his car and gave us great coaching advice as well as replenished our water bottles along the way. One thing I learned was how important calorie intake will be during this part of the race. Our goal is to intake 2gms/kg/hr of calories while riding the bike.

Here is an article on Active.com by Rich Strauss that I think describes perfectly the strategy for the bike portion of the Ironman race:

All you've done for 9 months is build a vehicle. Ironman racing is about how you DRIVE that vehicle, it is NOT about the vehicle. The majority of athletes on race day are fitness-focused (look at my T-shirt, look at my abs/veins/etc, look at how fast I can go in the first hour of the bike, etc.)
It's easy to get caught up in the buzz and energy of the day, but creating and sticking to the right plan for you is the only thing that will lead to the best possible day.

The Line

Nothing on race day really matters until you reach The Line on the run. The Line is the point at which continuing becomes very, very difficult. You define success as simply not slowing down at The Line. EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you. Additional Kool-Aid flavored thoughts we'd like to put in your head regarding this point are:

• A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by bad run, period. In our world, if you showed up with solid run fitness, had a "good" bike and a poor run, we will ALWAYS assume you messed up your bike pacing, until proven otherwise.
• If you think you can ride faster than we're telling you, prove it by running well off the bike.
• Ride your "should" bike split versus your "could" bike split. Your Could split is what you tell your friends you could ride on a good day, when you're out together for your Saturday ride. If you say you "could ride a 5:50," your Should split is likely 6:00 and is defined as the bike split that yields a good run (see above bullets).
• In our experience, 80-90 percent of the Ironman field doesn't know how to race. If you find yourself doing the opposite of everyone else, you're doing the right thing. If Jimmy is "king of this random hill" at mile 46 of the bike...don't join him! Lots of people passing you in the first 40 miles? That's good, don't join in. Going backwards through the field on a hill? Great!
• Think you made the mistake of riding too easy? You now have 26 miles to fix that mistake. Make the mistake of riding too hard? That mistake now has 26 miles to express itself, to the tune of X miles at 17-18′ walking pace vs X miles at 8-12′ running pace. Do the math. How great is that bike split going to look as you are walking/shuffling the last 10 miles of the run? The Ironman run course is littered with fit dudes walking and talking about what a great bike split they had. Don't join them.
• Every time you feel yourself about to roll the dice and race, look at where you are. Are you at The Line / Mile 18? If not, please stick to the plan!

William on a climb near Post, TX.

In closing, I would like to share with you a favorite verse of mine about faith. Hebrews 11:1 " Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." God is definitely using this whole Ironman experience to strengthen my faith. I believe that our previous experiences of obeying the Lord teach us to trust Him. Each small step of obedience solidifies our confidence in God so that when He challenges us with a more difficult assignment, a firm foundation of assurance enables us to trust Him and carry out His plan. This 100 mile bike ride was one of those small steps for me.

Thanks for checking in and have a great day.

More from the Wife

Guest Blog #2

by Susan Teeple

So many people ask me what it is like to be married to someone training for an Ironman.

They get this horrific look on their face of pity and fear.  “Do you ever see him?”  “Why is he doing that?”  Honestly, it is not nearly as bad as you would assume.  Recently, it has intensified, and the time commitment is huge.  We do miss him; but I have to say that last night was a great example of how it works. I attended Bible Study with the girls, and Sloan went to dinner with our kids and caught up over chips and queso. I know it is cliche’ to say, but “quality over quantity” is totally working for our family right now.

Basically, this Ironman prep is deemed completely normal in our home.  The kids are used to helping Sloan peel off his soaked shirts after a workout (he wears multiple layers to prepare his body for the heat and humidity of Houston) - sounds easy, but WOW that man can sweat.  Ice baths are insanely entertaining to us - listening for the sounds as he enters the tub. They love hearing stories from his training - like bulls about to charge because William had on red.  Sheer entertainment for a 11, 9 and 6 year old. It’s the new normal.

I cannot wait for race day on May 21st.  I’m sure this makes Sloan nervous, I am a bit aggressive with my support.  The last time Sloan competed was his 70.3 Ironman and I was overheard on multiple occasions yelling “RUN FASTER!!!!”  And on that note, we were talking recently - I know that ipods are “frowned upon” in real athletic circles - but I have told Sloan he is completely nuts if he plans on running the last 26.2 miles of this race without the aid of a little Eminem or Kanye. 

To me, running is all about the tunes.  I ran the Austin marathon a couple of years ago, and when I "hit the wall" on mile 20 - you know who brought me back?  PRINCE.  Yes, Prince.  There are just certain songs that get you through the rough spots and motivate you to run faster - and in my opinion, “Let’s Go Crazy” is one of those songs.  So here is my question....  

What are your favorite running songs?  Let’s compile the best playlist ever - email Sloan at sloan.teeple@suddenlink.net or leave your “comment” for this blog of your favorite songs to run to and we will post the ultimate running play list as it develops.

Take care - and RUN FASTER!

Love,

SUZ

The guys wearing pink in honor of Evie's 6th birthday last week!

Training Schedule For This Week

Here is a look at the typical workouts for a week with 60 days left until raceday.

Monday:  mainly to recover from yesterdays 4.5 hours of Bike/Run combo with 45 minutes of total body stretching, and 45 minutes of upper body weight lifting.

Tuesday:  40 minutes on spin bike immediately followed by 40 minutes of running. 60 minute massage

Wednesday: 1.5 hours on spin bike followed immediately by 35 minutes running, Swim 3400 yards

Thursday:   Run for 70 minutes, Swim 2000 yards

Friday:  Spin for 60 minutes, Travel to Dallas for my sweet 97 year old grandmother's funeral. She was a remarkable woman and still lived independently in her own home.

Saturday: Bike for 5 hours

Sunday: Run for 2 hours

This was taken at the Pantex Nuclear Weapons facility outside of Amarillo. It was a nice day for a ride but a little chilly with a high of 40 degrees. At least the sun was shining.

Thanks for checking in.

Swimming

It's pretty safe to say that swimming is most triathletes weakest (and probably least favorite) of the three sports. Spending time in the pool helps keep the athletes body well balanced in my opinion. It always feels good to break up the running and biking with a few laps in the pool. 
I have some friends that are pretty amazing swimmers - they make it look effortless and glide through the water, unlike me.  My stroke involves a lot of effort and lots of splashing.  Regardless, swimming is great exercise and I really enjoy it.

                                         The indoor pool at Amarillo Town Club.  Gets pretty crowded depending on when the swim teams are practicing.  Amarillo really needs a new aquatic center to ease the burden that falls on the Town club.

Depending on the week, Coach Key usually has me swim 3 to 4 times with a routine such as this:

Swim (Endurance): h m s - 2900 yds

WU: 700
500 swim/200 kick w/ fins

MS: 2000
8 x 50 on60s (IM order...drill/swim by 25)
4 x 100 IM ri45s (descend 1-4)
300 pull buoy
3 x 100 free ri25s (descend 1-3)
300 pull buoy
4 x 50 kick on 70s (1 ez/1 FAST)
300 pull buoy
rest as needed

CD: 200

free 

Effort: 3

IM = individual medley butter fly (you may use one arm) back breast free

Thanks to the Durretts for letting me use their endless pool. It is a great way to practice for the Open Water swim.

 

I like these TYR goggles because they fit comfortably around your eye socket and have minimal leakage. The lap counter is a helpful tool to use as well.  I got mine at http://www.sportcount.com/.

This is my wetsuit that is allowed for use in water Temperature up to 76.1 degrees F. Age group athletes that are not interested in placing or qualifying for other races can use a wetsuit in temps up to 83.8 degrees.

I'm on call again this week, but it is my last call rotation before the race on May 21st.  The house is pretty empty since it is Spring Break - Chase and Hudson are spending some time in Austin with my parents so Suz and I have Evie all to ourselves.  Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

God at Work

We will get back to the Triathlon topic next time, but today I wanted to share something that happened to my family this past weekend.

For Valentine's Day, Susan gave our 9yr old son, Hudson, a book titled "Heaven is For Real". This book describes Heaven through the eyes and ears of a 4yr old little boy named Colton. Colton became very ill with a ruptured appendix and was undergoing an emergency surgery when he "went up to visit Jesus." I will let you read the book for yourself but he describes to his parents what it was like to have the Angels sing to him, sitting in Jesus's lap, and how "really, really Big God is". The doctors never had any indication that he had died during the procedure and Colton woke up just fine and went on to recover fully.

I have always been fascinated by stories about Heaven and Hell. Some of the books that I have read on the subject include: "90 Minutes in Heaven", "The Shack", and "23 Minutes in Hell". Needless to say that I quickly borrowed the book from Hudson and started reading it. Who knew that this book would give me so much comfort and confidence in the coming days.

Toward the end of our family vacation to Colorado this past week, Hudson began to complain of some lower abdominal pain. Susan and I initially passed it off as constipation or gas build-up from the altitude. Hudson was complaining, but he still had a good appetite (a good sign to tell how sick your child is). We continued to ski, but Huddie wasn't the same little dare devil on the moguls that he was in the previous days. He even went swimming after skiing and seemed fine. Later that evening his appetite dwindled and his pain became more pronounced. He had all the classic signs of Appendicitis. After a few calls to some local doctors, I found out that Glenwood Springs had a great small hospital with excellent surgeons, called Valley View.
Hudson and I went to the ER that night about 10pm and the ER doctor knew right away that Hud needed surgery. We still needed to run blood work and get a CT scan first but after the results were confirmed, Hudson was headed to the operating room at 6am.

In between tests and while we were waiting to see the general surgeon, Hudson and I began to discuss what was going to happen to him. He asked good questions for a little guy and I explained what an appendix was etc. Huddie started to have some fear and tears were shed but he remained strong. My son then asked me: "what will happen if I never wake up"? I tried to keep my composure and said "well , Hud you know what will happen, where will you go?" He slowly pointed his outstretched arm, with IV in place, to the sky. I said "you will be very happy in Heaven, but we will all be sad". Thankfully the surgery was a success and his appendix was removed just in time before it ruptured.

              Hudson getting a pep talk from his older brother, Chase, just before going to the OR.

Huddie, like most young patients, is recovering quickly and back to his playful self again.

Take what you will from this story but I know in my heart that God gave me this little book to help me be strong for my son and give me an overwhelming Peace through this ordeal.

24 hours

Saturday was a great 24 hours.

The training schedule called for a long trail run so Gary, William and I met at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park when the gates opened at 8am. If you are not from Amarillo, the canyon  is the 2nd largest in the U.S. behind the Grand Canyon.  Spending time in nature has always brought me closer to God, and I know that is why I really enjoy training outdoors.  We ran the trails for 2 hours/13 miles talking and catching up with each other (really just laughing a lot at Gary's stories). Time spent exercising always goes by faster and easier when I do it with friends. After the run we were supposed to ride our mountain bikes for an hour, but I had to head to the airport instead.

                                          Gary and William on the Lighthouse Trail.

For Christmas, I got Susan a gift that I was incredibly excited about.  Tickets to see The Black Keys at the new Cosmopolitan Hotel in Vegas for a Saturday night concert. Now, despite the fact that Susan has never heard of the band, well, that's beside the point. If you know Susan, she was game. The show was AMAZING, and she is now a big Black Keys fan: they have a great bluesy-alternative rock sound. Their set list included some of my favorites : Meet Me In The City, Everlasting Life, Howlin' For You, Next Girl, I Got Mine, Strange Times, I'll Be Your Man, and Tighten Up (#1 for me). 

                                         The Black Keys concert in the Chelsea Ballroom.

"Sin City" is not a place that I like to visit often, in fact, I did not bet a dime.  However, it allowed Susan and me to have some fun time together.  We were only gone 24 hours, but I'll hand it to Vegas - you can really have a blast in a short period of time.

Have a great week and thanks for visiting. Enjoy some pictures we took that made us laugh during our stay.
Sloan

Snow Day

When my friends told me they were going to train for this Inaugural Texas Ironman, I thought they were nuts because we all know how the Amarillo weather January through March can be such a beat down with wind and snow. You can't take a break during these critical months for a race that's scheduled in May.

Sure enough, the other morning I needed to get a 90 minute run in and when I woke up at 5am to single digit temperatures, this is what I saw in my backyard.

No surprise when I called the Downtown Athletic Club to see if they were open and Andrew Chaddick answered the call. "Sure we're open, come on down. The roads aren't too bad." was his report. Andrew gets credit for running an outstanding fitness club but also for having the idea for me to write this blog.

Only the die hard morning crew made it in that day. Maybe I have more dedication than brains since the schools and even my medical office ended up closing for the day.

That's my good bud, Spencer, on the spin bike with yours truly pounding away on the treadmill. It seems that the DAC is my home away from home these days even with the arctic weather.

I will admit that there is nothing more beautiful than 6 inches of new snow on a sunny day regardless of what it does to triathlon training.

Keeping It Balanced

It was time for a break from training and work, so Susan and I headed to the mountains with some good friends. We spent a long weekend skiing at Deer Valley in Utah, our first visit to this part of the country. Coach Key wasn't too thrilled at the idea because he has had previous clients injure themselves on the slopes. He still gave me his blessing and reassured me that I wouldn't lose any ground in my training.

Prior to leaving town, I hit it hard M/T/W with 2 hours of swimming, 2 hours of running , and 2 hours of biking before our Thursday morning flight. Even with all of the training under my belt, it was still difficult to keep up on the slopes with Dale and Benson, my friends from Amarillo. We used a new iPhone app called Ski Tracks to monitor our speed and distance covered. Tim might read this so I won't discuss my top speeds but Dale was sure tearing it up.  It was two days of great snow and skiing and after we arrived home at 2pm today I thought I'd go for a swim, but fatigue set in.  I opted for the P90X stretch instead. This is a 45 minute total body stretch workout that I try to complete once a week to help prevent injury.

Sloan, Dale and Benson

On another note, I didn't realize how much my appetite has increased since starting all of this training. This is just my dessert plate. I am now black-listed from the Montage buffet.

Thanks for checking in - hope you have a great week.
Sloan

On Call

Just finished another week of being "on call" for my urology practice while trying to keep up with my training schedule. When I take call for the ER and my 7 partners,  the coverage includes the entire Panhandle North of Plainview and parts of New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  You never know what to expect while being on call, and honestly it is an unnerving experience because I have no control what I encounter.  This weekend I treated a lot of kidney stones; which is always better than the non-typical trauma case, like a lacerated kidney from a horse kick or gunshot wound to the bladder that I have treated on previous calls.
Philippians 4:6, " Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God." I pray this verse before I start my "call" week and it is amazing how my worry and anxiety level disappears. Thankfully the good Lord answers my prayer by never giving me anything that I can't handle and He gives me the ability to treat patients the best that I possibly can.

It also surprises me when He still provides time for me to train. For example, on Saturday I was able to get a 2000 yd swim in early, round on my patients in the hospital, perform a few surgeries, and still had time for an 80 minute/9 mile run in the afternoon. Sunday morning started out busy with three surgeries, but I finished by 2pm.  Due to the snowfall, my 3 hour scheduled bike ride had to be done on my stationary trainer indoors. Below is a picture of my setup.  (yes, Susan was gracious enough to let me plant myself in our living room as long as I promised to put tons of towels down to catch the sweat!) I watched a movie "The Social Network" and the first half of the Super Bowl and even with the TV it was not as satisfying as a great ride outdoors.  Regardless, it kept my training on schedule and I am still having fun.

Have a great week and thanks for the visit.

Nutrition

In my opinion, nutrition is more important than exercise for remaining healthy. This week I will share with you what I have learned over the years from my medical training, coaches, and various publications.

For the past 7 years I have essentially followed the South Beach Diet with a few alterations regarding alcohol consumption on the weekends. In 2008 when I trained for the 70.3 Ironman, I tried to continue on this diet to keep fat percents low and it backfired on me with muscle wasting. I have made a goal not to make the same mistake again. If you put your body through vigorous endurance training then you must add carbohydrates along with protein to keep your muscle mass stable. So far it seems to be working this go around and my concern of adding fat has not happened yet. I have most of my carbs in the early part of the day and I stick to complex carbs or whole grains only. The amount of protein that I consume is 1 gram per pound of body weight that I want to maintain. An easy way to measure protein is that the size of a deck of playing cards of any type meat is equal to about 20 grams.

Here is a sample day of what I eat and drink:

5:30am  10 tablets of MAP( Master Amino Acid Pattern) and one cup of Coffee
7:00am Post workout Protein shake ( 1 scoop Casein protein powder GNC , 1 scoop Whey protein   powder GNC, 2 teaspoons L-Glutamine powder GNC, mixed with 300ml of Skim Milk)
7:30am Either a Banana with English Muffin and nonfat Peanut butter or Low fat yogurt with granola and Blueberries.
10:00am One Muscle Milk Light shake
12:30pm Whole wheat Tortilla Wrap with Mozzarella Cheese and Turkey and some chocolate
3:00pm Diet Green Tea or a Coke Zero
5:00pm Handful or two of Almonds
6:30pm Large Dinner salad with Chicken breast and two servings of vegetables and some chocolate
8:00pm A bowl of ice cream occasionally. ( I have a strong sweet tooth)

In addition to this , I also drink close to 3 liters of water every day. Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements taken twice daily have kept me free from joint pain for many years now. I also take 1000mg of Calcium and Vitamin D tabs as well.

Hopefully you are staying warm. We are expecting 3 inches of snow here tonight with a high tomorrow of 10 degrees.
Thanks for checking in.
Sloan

Lesson in Humility

Proverbs 11:2 "When pride comes then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

Mountain bike riding is always my lesson in humility.  I truly enjoy the sport, but it has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.  This past weekend due to the strong winds, and with Coach Tim's permission, I spent my scheduled bike training time on the mountain bike both Saturday and Sunday.  I went riding with some good friends in the Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  We single file through the vast amount of trails.  I always go last for multiple reasons, but mostly to hide my comical attempt to navigate the terrain.  Needless to say, my awkwardness on a mountain bike proves that I don't possess any God-given talents in this area.  Luckily I've been blessed with quality friends.  They are always gracious, encouraging, and patient while waiting on me.  They are also amazingly humble, even with their own exceptional talents.

Now, to be completely honest:  this experience is also one of the most frustrating for me.  No one likes to be the worst of the group at something, especially me.  I try to hide my anger at my weakness, but sometimes that is impossible.  Coming in last makes me doubt myself.  It makes me come up with all sorts of excuses to try to justify the weakness.  Should I continue riding with these guys?  Am I too old for mountain biking?  Is it too risky and irresponsible of me as the provider for my family (I kinda need the full use of my hands for my job) to participate? Nonsense.  These are only thoughts and doubts in my mind that are NOT from God.  It just means that I must work harder to get better.  We as men have an indwelling thirst for adventure that needs to be quenched.  Mountain bike riding is great practice for me to try and balance the wild, reckless, and adventurous side of me with the responsible and cautious side. 

On Sunday, the importance of humility was reiterated to me by my pastor as he quoted Luke 3:5 "...every mountain and hill was made low."  So here is another reason for me to continue on the trails.  It will help me find favor with God since "He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  (James 4:6) 

So next time pride causes doubt in your life maybe you, like me, are being taught a lesson in humility. 
Here is to a great week, thanks for checking in. 
Sloan

Here is my good bud , Regan, with the Palo Duro Canyon beyond.  Thanks for a great ride.

Workout Schedule for the Week

The workout schedule designed by Tim keeps intensifying gradually. Here is a look at this week's training.

Monday :  Spin bike 45 minutes
Tuesday :  Swim 2450 yds, Run 40 minutes at Heart Rate 130-151, Core strengthening for 5 minutes
Wednesday : Swim 1500 yds , Bike 90 minutes at HR 126-141.
Thursday : Run for speed 60 minutes
Friday : Bike 60 minutes easy for recovery.
Saturday : Run 55 minutes with drills, Bike 2 hours endurance pace, Swim 1650 yds
Sunday : Bike 3 hours endurance pace.

Here are some other things going on this week that I will need to fit in amongst the training:
Tuesday Bible study at 7pm
Friday Massage (I'm not missing this) at 4pm, My parents arrive in town for the weekend to spend some time with the Grandkids.
Saturday Evie's soccer game at noon. Party with friends to celebrate a Birthday tonight.
Sunday Church at 10:30am and Evie's Soccer at 1:30pm.

I will try to give you an example like this every month along the way.

Thanks for checking in.
Sloan

Coach Key Visits Amarillo

Tim Key was nice enough to drive up from Lubbock for some face to face coaching. Gary, William, and I spent Friday night picking his brain over dinner at our house. Tim covered a wide range of Tri topics but we focused on nutrition, training slower and at a lower HR than we think, and he made us give predictions on our finishing race times based on our endurance currently. He believes that my goal should be to not only finish Ironman Texas but in a time of 11:30 to 12:30. Pretty optimistic but you have to shoot for something.

From left to right: That's me, William, Gary, and Tim.

Saturday morning we headed over to Williams at 7am to get on our trainers for an hour or so. Coach made sure that our bikes were fit appropriately and he observed our riding technique and made minor adjustments accordingly. Next we ran down the street to Austin park where we did some 1Km loops to test our endurance and sprint pace. Tim uses this HR information to further guide his workouts for us in the future.
We also went over some leg strengthening drills too. The rest of the morning was spent on our bikes at Thompson park where we did similar test loops of 1-5Kms.

All three of us were encouraged by Tim and it helped us to keep our motivation and spirits high for the future workouts that will be more intense. We plan to travel down to Lubbock this March to train with some of Tim's local clients as well.

2 Chronicles 31:21

Thanks for the visit.
Sloan

Trail Run New Year's Day

Gary, William, and I had a great run out at GP's land just Northwest of town. Gary had made some great trails for running a few years ago and they were still very well maintained. Thankfully my "On Call" duties allowed for a much needed break to be spent in the outdoors. The weather was a bit chilly at 34 degrees but there was almost no wind and the sun was shining. The 10 miles in 90 minutes went by in the blink of an eye. Sure beats the treadmill any day! Trail running is new to me and I really like it better than hoofing it on the pavement. It seems that the ground is much more friendly to the joints with every impact. It is also a good core muscle workout in order to keep your footing stable.

Hope 2011 starts off great for you!
Thanks for checking in.
Sloan

My Coach

People often  tell me that I am very “disciplined”.  I’m not so sure if that is good or bad but one thing is certain and that is that I am not disciplined enough to tackle this race on my own. Obviously I will need the support of my family and friends but what I am talking about is some direction on the day to day aspects of training. This is where my coach ,  Tim Key , comes in to the picture. I must give credit to my friends, Rob and Beth  S.,  who introduced me to Tim. They had a great experience  working with him on their own fitness  program.  Tim has personally completed 10 Ironman distance races with a personal best time of 9:18 in 2001 at Ironman Florida. He has also had 5 appearances at the International Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

I became a client of TK ProFitness in 2008 when I challenged Tim to get me ready for my first Half Ironman race. He only had 6 weeks to get me ready , granted I had been  training for an Olympic distance tri the few  months prior. He was excellent and the result was one of my most  satisfying achievements, to actually beat my pre race goal. It was exhilarating during the run portion when I realized that I had an opportunity to finish better than I had expected.

Tim has a website that you can visit for yourself: www.tktri.com .  He has a special way of building trust with his athletes and then using that trust to get them where they want to be on a physical level. He uses heart rate training zones to gradually develop his client’s endurance and he has an amazing way of figuring out where your baseline is at the onset.

Training for Ironman Texas began November 1^st for me and as the journey goes forward I will share some of my training routines so that you will be able to experience the daily schedule.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you and your family have a great Christmas!

Bronchitis Hits

A friend told me that I had to be authentic and include the good with the bad so here comes some badness. You might have guessed by the title that I am sick. That's right, this week I went from being an ironman in training to being Mr. Sillypuddy. The chest cold that I am battling seems to be going around. It is no fun to cough so hard that one's eyes tear up. My patients say that I look more ill than they are. Who knows if it was my crazy training schedule last week, the first swim in the good ole ATC pool, or my trip to Vegas but one or all of them knocked down my immune system that had been firing on all cylinders for quite a while. It always makes me appreciate all those days that I feel generally healthy and maybe that is part of God's plan for illness. Not sure how much training I will get done this week but two things for sure , no swimming until I can breathe again and my abs are actually getting a great workout holding my lungs in place with all the coughing. If I am well enough to go to work then I can still get some weight lifting in and maybe some abbreviated endurance work too.

Hopefully you are staying healthy!

Thanks for checking in.
Sloan

Guest Blogger Susan Teeple

Guest Posting

By Susan Teeple (the wife)

The ARMY and NIKE:

Two of my favorite phrases the advertising geniuses ever created are:

BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE!

JUST DO IT!

Doesn’t that sum it all up?  Why else did I convince my darling husband to compete in an IRONMAN for his 40^th birthday?  Like most women, I selfishly want him around in his spare time to spend time with me or help out with our three hilarious but insanely energetic kids.  However, I believe that when we all challenge ourselves and leap out of our comfort zones we grow immensely as people and really open ourselves up to cool experiences.  We should all do something that scares us a little bit – I’m not talking about sky diving and jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet (we will save that for his 50^th!)   By attempting something that we could succeed or fail at – we enjoy new adventures in life and grow as people.  As Winston Churchill wisely said: “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

Yes, it is quite possibly insane to think that swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 and running a FREAKING MARATHON at the end of a one day race is a great and worthy achievement!!!!  But if you can attempt it – wow, wouldn’t that be cool if you could actually do it?  I know Sloan is counting on our three awesome children cheering for him along the race route – and guess what - they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

So go for it!  Be the best you can be & JUST DO IT.

First Schedule Challenge

Well I was planning to introduce my coach this time but after the weekly training schedule he gave me , that's not going to happen today.....haha. Training officially started November first and the schedule has been pretty easy to manage so far with "2 a days" on some days but no workouts longer than 90 minutes at any given time.

This week is different and I'm sure just a taste of more to come. I thought you might be curious so here it is:

Monday : Swim for 2600yds and 40 minutes of strength training with weights.
Tuesday : Bike for 43 minutes with 5 minutes of core workouts
Wednesday : Swim 2600 yds
Thursday : Swim 2500 yds and Bike 40 minutes
Friday : Run 40 minutes and strength training with weights for 40 min.
Saturday : Bike/Run combo for 2hours and 15 minutes
Sunday : Bike 2 hours

This isn't too bad really but throw in two days of 4 hour surgeries, two Christmas parties on Thursday night, and traveling to Las Vegas for a Testosterone Meeting this weekend and it gets a little tricky.

Here is how I plan to do it:
Monday : P90X stretch for 45 min - Surgery - Swim 2600yds - Office - Krav Maga (forgot to mention that)
Tuesday : Bike 2hrs - Office - Lunch Meeting - Swim 2600yds (No surgery today)
Wednesday : Bike 43min - 5min Core - Office - Surgery - Dentist appt. - Swim 2500yds
Thursday : Bike 40min - Surgery - Office - Christmas parties
Friday : Bike/Run Combo 2hrs 15min - Vasectomy at the Office -  Flight to Vegas at Noon.
Saturday : Run 40 min.- 40 min. of strength training - Medical Conference
Sunday :  40 min. of strength training - Fly Home

What was I thinking?!
Wish me luck and thanks for visiting!
Isaiah 40:28-31

Thanksgiving

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. If you are like me then you are spending this week burning a few extra calories but it was well worth it.
We took the kids up to WolfCreek, CO for some early season snow skiing. It was a nice break from the Tri training. However, Susan and I did run in a 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day in Pagosa Springs. It was a beautiful bluebird day and a "balmy" 15 degrees. The elevation of  7700ft made it a little tough too. Susan really impressed me on this run because in all the chaos of packing for 3 kids, she brought two running shoes from her closet but they were both for the left foot. She ended up borrowing my Mom's "clod hopper" hiking shoes to do the run. She came in just a few minutes behind me during the race, proving once again how her determination can accomplish quite a lot. Something for me to remember and learn from over the next few months when I hit some "road blocks".
Next time I will introduce my coach , Tim Key.

Have a great day and thanks for the visit.

Proud of their Pops

You know I wasn't sure how my kids would feel about this adventure but here is a story that gave me an idea of what they think so far. We were flying home from Austin after my Horns lost another home game. My 9 year old, Hudson, is known for his very sweet demeanor and warm heart. He noticed a group of  U.S. Servicemen flying back home from Iraq. It wasn't long before he was asking us if he could go talk with them. He went up to the guys and said "Thank you for serving us". They were touched and one of them peeled off  his velcro American Flag from his uniform and handed it to Huddie. The next words out of my sons mouth were " you know my Dad is doing an Ironman". I wasn't ready for that one but I guess they are proud of me , so now the pressure is really on.

I'm glad you're with me on this journey.

Philippians 4:13