Scott Gibson's Ironman Journey

All of us have been affected by cancer in one way or another and I am dedicating my journey to becoming an Ironman to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society to support further research.

Please help me achieve my goal of raising $10,000 for this great cause before I participate in Ironman Florida 2009 on November 7th.

Knocked out a the 24 miles on the bike tonight…went pretty well!

Kicking off week 11 started right as planned.  Ran a good solid 6 miles tonight and I could tell the downtime over the past few days did me good.  My legs felt fresh and other than the typical 20 minute wall I hit, it was pretty much smooth sailing for the rest of the run.

Sadly, that is the farthest I have ever run in my life.  Not much compared to some of the runs ahead of me, but definite progress.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

As a treat (right), I am going to schedule out my workout strategy for the coming months.  In a previous post, I mentioned that I wanted to move to longer workouts with more rest in between.  Many pros think that is the best way to prepare the body for the longer duration workouts of a triathlon.

I will plan out the next 3 weeks, then adjust from there…hopefully increasing duration.  The only other workouts that I will include are possibly some short upper body workouts and pool time to work on my breathing and technique.

Week 11: 4 workouts: 6 mile run, 24 mile cycle, 1/2 mile swim, 1 cycle/run brick of 18 miles/5 miles.

Week 12: 4 workouts: 8 mile run, 30 mile cycle, 3/4 mile swim, 1 cycle/run brick of 24 miles/6 miles

Week 13: 4 workouts: 10 mile run, 40 mile cycle, 1 mile swim, 1 cycle/run brick of 36 miles/7 miles

Downtime…

Downtime…

Legs aren’t too bad after yesterday’s workout…a little surprised.

So, I am going to take several days off for the rest of this week, to enjoy my vacation and get a little downtime.  The plan is to shift into phase 2 of my workout strategy.  Instead of doing workouts every night, I am going to shift to longer workouts with breaks in between.  I need to start simulating and working my way up to triathlon length workouts.

The legs are going to be sore tomorrow.  Tonight it was 30k of cycling and a 5k run.  Feel the burn!

Got to keep up the high level of workouts…just dropped in two fresh torpedo kegs into the bar.  Not very conducive to dropping weight, but it’s keeping me motivated to workout longer!

Good 2 hour workout today that consisted of running and then some core and upper body.  I haven’t been paying nearly enough attention to the upper body so I need to make sure I incorporate that a little more.

Been doing some research on wetsuits and I think I have narrowed the search down to about 3 manufacturers.  Once I figure out which one I am going with, I’ll be sure to post the info.

Day of rest in prep for a 2 hour workout tomorrow.

Repeated yesterday’s workout but just a little shorter cycle time.  A 5k run and just 10k on the bike.  I really enjoy doing both a run and bike as it seems to make the workout go by faster and keeps things interesting.

Only a 0.1 lb loss this week but I feel like I have lost more fat off of my body this week.  Wearing clothes that I haven’t seen in years and Dawn bought me size 34 pants for Father’s Day.  It has been a long time since I was able to fit in that size.

I am going to go ahead and take the plunge and get a wetsuit to start training in, even if it may be a little tight for the next month or two.  Having a wetsuit will give me a lot more confidence in the water, mostly from the increased buoyancy.  The goal is to have one before my next sprint triathlon in August.

Current Weight: 196.7 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 20.3 lbs