Category Archives: Training

First Triathlon Competition: Pewaukee Sprint

I thought marathons started early! Sunday I had three alarms set for 4:00, 4:10, and 4:15… AM! (The first one worked.) My triathlon advisor, Deann McIntosh, told me she’d be getting to the transition between 4:30 and 4:45. Being my first triathlon, I wasn’t going to argue. I was determined to get to the transition by 4:45. I was up and out of the house by 4:25. I ate a bagel with peanut butter on the drive to the finish line where I was parked my car. I was at transition by 4:45. What a cool bike ride with all your gear. It’s only a half mile, easy ride, completely dark. The guy in front of me had a headlamp. He didn’t need it, but just having it meant we were up early! And it meant he was prepared. That was my recurring thought all morning: “am I prepared?”

bike set up tri

My yellow wristband from the expo registration allowed me into transition. It’s a pretty secure area because everyone stores their bikes there, and there is a lot of money in those bikes! I found my spot which was kind of cool. Again the early start and the personal spot is so different from marathon races. I put my towel down and got everything set up by 5:10. When I say “got everything set up,” I mean I set it up in about 30 seconds and re-checked it about 15 more times. “Am I prepared?” It’s pretty simple. You wear your tri shorts, goggles and swim cap. Get out of the water and put on shirt, socks, shoes, bike helmet and glasses. Get off the bike and put on running shoes. That’s it. But on my first tri I couldn’t stop checking my gear.

I went to get body marking – no. 983. They put it on both arms, left hand, and then age and “S” (for sprint distance) on your right calf. I got back to my bike and had another half of a bagel and a banana. I figured that was plenty of fuel other than the planned Gu packet before the bike and maybe right before the run. But I’ve never fueled for a triathlon, so again I was asking myself if I was prepared? This is where my previous experience with running kicked in. I was figuring on being out there from 70-90 minutes. I takes me longer to do a half marathon, and I’ve fueled for that plenty of times. So yes, I was prepared. Just to make sure everything was set, I called over Deann to check my gear. She made one adjustment and put me at ease. She asked if I was nervous and I said, no – just excited.

It feels good to compete. It also feels good to try something new. I’ve been competing in half and full marathons for over six years, but this new sport is fueling those competitive juices. I’ve been learning how to swim since February, and that training has really paid off. My weakest part of the triathlon is the bike. It utilizes different muscles and I just haven’t put in the time. The run would be a breeze. I could run 3.1 miles backwards if I had to. The only issue was it would come on the back side of a swim and bike course which I’ve never done before. Katie challenged me to do one trial run, a mini-triathlon in preparation for this, so I had a decent idea what it would feel like.

transition area Pewaukee tri

Back in transition I looked things over one last (16th) time, went to the restroom, and did a little warm-up run. Transition closes at 6:00 and the race starts at 6:15. I got in the water to swim about 100m. The water was amazing. My arms and legs felt great. 50m out, I turned back to the shore and got really jacked up seeing all the fellow athletes ready to compete. I swam back to shore, walked out of the water and was bursting inside with excitement. Yes, I was prepared – and now I’m ready to go!

Hans Deann Pewaukee tri

Tomorrow I’ll take you through my entire first triathlon. Thanks for reading.

My First Triathlon

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I am so excited to compete in my first triathlon this Sunday. I’m doing the Pewaukee sprint. It’s a 1/4 mile swim, 14 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I’ve worked hard training for the swim but the open water aspect will be the challenge. The run will be no problem. The bike is where I lack experience.

I’m very thankful Katie has allowed me to get out and train for this while we are getting settled at home with Christian and his sleeping struggles. I’m also very excited about where this trial on thing will take me. I’m not afraid to claim that the road to Ironman starts here. It’s a long road, but I am eager for the challenge.

If you’re in the Pewaukee area it would be great to see you on the course.

My friend Todd joined me for my last training run before Pewaukee triathlon pic.twitter.com/07TXDcUu4H

— Hans Schiefelbein (@HSchiefelbein) July 12, 2013

Celebrating Success

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Last week I wrote about a failure in my training. I had a swim workout that was horrible and kind of caught me off guard. I was surprised and then I was frustrated. When I walked away for a few hours, I was able to process what happened and knew it was all part of the learning process. But I still didn’t have any first hand evidence that learning was going to take place, I had no success under my belt.

Yesterday I found that success. I had another swim class and things started to click again. It wasn’t easy. In fact our first 400 meters I thought my legs were going to fall off. And that was our first 400! After that we did a bunch of pulling technique where you can’t use your legs. Now I was worried about my arms falling off! Welcome to swim practice. Even through all this, I had a very successful workout. At the end our coach told us we had done 2100 meters in under 48 minutes – apparently that’s pretty good.

I have a long way to go as a swimmer. But actually after that workout for the first time our coach called me a swimmer. Kind of cool to reach another level in training.

It is really easy to get caught up in both the successes and failures in training, learning, growing. Getting better is a very cognitive process. And I think it’s critical to celebrate the successes. We need to know when we’ve done well.

Dip and Recover

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I hope you’re in the business of improving. Who isn’t, right? We work hard on our craft, our hobby, our family, our relationships. We put in the time and we put in the work. But sometimes our upwards trajectory gets stifled. It can be very discouraging. I had that yesterday.

I’ve started to swim in preparation for my first triathlon. The last five week’s I’ve been in the pool working on stroke technique and cardiovascular endurance with tremendous learning and improvement. Learners see great improvements in the first stage of training a new skill. Literally every workout has been better than the previous. This culminated with my first full Masters swim class last Thursday which went better than I thought it would go.

And then yesterday happened.

It was like I had never done any of the drills before. It was like I had never swam five minutes straight before. It was like I had never practiced any of my technique before. To say it was a discouraging workout is an understatement. And I knew it 10 minutes into the workout.

Monday

Tuesday – the Dip

But I stayed in the pool. I worked through some adversity, only to finish the workout disappointed and confused. Once I was out of the pool, showered up and into the rest of my day, only then was I able to process the experience as a simple down-tick in the game plan. I’m not in trouble. I haven’t regressed. This is all part of the learning and training process.

Wednesday – true growth and training effect

If you’ve been knocked down, I encourage you to walk away and process what happened. Revisit your game plan and show up to work the next day. Do you know someone who needs to read these words? Please share using the buttons below.

Set-up

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A few weeks ago I had to go to the ophthalmologist (eye doctor, for those keeping score at home) because one eye was very red, infected, painful, all of the above. She looked around, put some drops in, and concluded I probably was using dirty contacts. It was good that there was nothing worse, but it was also a wake up call to take better care of my contacts. She sent me home with new instructions for daily clearing my contacts. Why am I sharing this? Because the actual protocol was for me to physically rub my contacts when I took them in or out of their case and then empty the solution in the case each time I used it. The problem of me was that I would never remember to change the solution until after I put my contacts away for the day. It wasn’t until I changed my routine and emptied the solution right after putting the contacts in for the day that I was able to be successful in my new eye care.

I’m going though something similar with my new swim workouts. Our house is set up such that the kids’ rooms are right next to our room and the mud room, which is our entrance to the garage. I cant simply get out of the house at 5:15am. I need to have my swim bag packed, my change of clothes and shower stuff packed, and even my garage door opener out of my car and by the front door so that I don’t open the inside door and risk waking up my (precious:) sleeping daughter. The first couple weeks of swimming were stressful just in the prep I had to do the night before!

I’m finding that so many things in life are better experienced when you go through the set up in advance. I’ll admit: I’m not a good planner. I fly by the seat of my pants more than I’d like to admit. I’ve trained for full and half marathons – that takes some planning. I’m 30 days away from finishing a graduate degree in kinesiology – that took some planning and disciplined study. But some of the smaller day-to-day or week-to-week planning issues are a struggle for me. But life is a series of adjustments and I’m learning to adjust my habits, my routines, my preparations so that I can be successful in new and challenging ways.

Not only does it take some planning to get out of the house in the morning to swim, but it also takes some planning so that I get a good workout when I get in the water. I’m not a swimmer. I don’t know swim workouts, I don’t even know some of the lingo as I spend time with swimmers and research swim training. So planning my workouts is essential if I’m going to expect to improve as fast as I’d like.

This all plays into a new theme in my life. Every Monday morning I’ve spent some disciplined time prepping for the week. Now I’m looking at some of the other areas of life that require set up to be successful. Do you have any areas of life that could use a little more set up?

iCan iWill

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On Tuesday I wrote about the importance of having a calendar component to your training. My training philosophy is such that you need an event on the calendar to put your training into context. This is consistent with goal-setting theories and intuitively we all know that putting a finish line on the calendar and having a goal is a great way to keep a person motivated and effortful.

So now that you have a calendar with a goal circled, you have a plan. What’s next? You look at the calendar and say to yourself, “iCan.” But you look at your training partner and say “iWill.”

I will train.
I will be here.
I will work hard and smart.
I will compete and get better.

Having community in your training offers two benefits to reaching your goal. First, it gives you come accountability. Saying “I will…” forces you to make a commitment and now you’re on the record. It’s not a coach or a trainer looking over your shoulder, barking orders, pushing you harder than necessary. Rather it’s a peer, a friend by your side in the battle with you. Training runs get long by yourself. I love putting my ear buds in and listening to my iPod shuffle, but having a running partner, a biking partner, or a friend in the pool lane next to you makes any workout not only more challenging but more enjoyable.

That’s the second benefit to training with a partner. It’s more fun! Being relational and training with other people is what most people remember after the training is over, when the race is done. I won’t get all nostalgic here, but I miss my high school teammates quite often. That camaraderie from the practice field to the locker room to the game field, training is so rich when you have others by your side. Of course with team sports that’s a lot easier to accomplish. But as we get older it seems like our sports and activities are more individual in nature. I’m a runner – solo. I’m learning how to bike and swim – solo. Therein lies the challenge.

I struggle a little bit here. I kind of like training alone. Part of it is my time commitments with juggling work and grad school. But honestly most of it is (a) I’m a loner by nature, and (b) I don’t have a lot of runner friends.

My challenge to you is this: keep your eyes and mind open to identifying a training partner. I commit to do the same. I will stretch myself, think outside my comfort zone (which is very comfy right now) and try to find a teammate, maybe a team. I expect this to happen as I get to know the guys at the pool. As I continue to train for triathlons, I expect to find some other run, bike, and swim training partners.

Have you thought about these aspects of training before? Do you use a calendar? Do you have a training partner or a training team?

Training Philosophy: iCal iCan

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When you workout as much as I do (which is not a ton) and talk about fitness as much as I do (my favorite subject), you realize that people who workout just for the sake of working out are few and far between. You will never hear me discourage anyone from working out and doing what works for them. But going to the gym to lift weights? Getting on a treadmill with no end in mind? And the step machine?! Hey, any activity is good and maybe you’re doing it because you just know you should… but I don’t think it’s sustainable.

I have this training philosophy: iCal iCan. If I put something meaningful on the calendar, I can accomplish it. No, four to five workouts on the calendar for three months straight doesn’t count. I mean you need to put an event on the calendar. “But Hans, I’m not a runner.” Fine. Then put together some kind of event together where you perform, where you complete, where you see if all your training and workouts have paid off. This may take some creative thinking and planning. I can help with that. But I believe having context to your training is essential for anyone to adhere to a routine.

As most of you know, I’ve been a runner for over seven years. Katie and I have made this a pretty big part of our lives. I’ve run multiple full and half marathons, and each time it was this date on the calendar that allowed me to stay motivated for months at a time in pursuit of this single goal. When you take this philosophy a step further, you realize that each workout has a purpose. Each workout has an objective that fits into the framework of your training plan and contributes to your body adjusting to different workloads so that you can cross that finish line as fast as possible. If this sounds too hardcore for you, I’m ok with that. But we all can understand that in anything we do, a goal plus a plan is a recipe for success. We work hard at work to get that next promotion. We study in school to finish a class, pass a test, or graduate with a degree. We do projects around the house with an end in mind – there’s a goal, so there’s a plan. Health and fitness are no different: iCal, iCan.

The Message You Send Yourself

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Who leaves a New Year’s Eve party at 11:45pm? Well, I’ve got this friend…

A few years ago we had a party to welcome in the new year. This was before I was married and I was living in an apartment with Scott Mottice. I couldn’t tell you anything else that happened at the party, except that Brady left at 11:45. At the time, Brady Reinke was wrestling for the Badger at the 174 spot. When he announced to me that he was leaving, I couldn’t believe it and needed an explanation. He said that he wanted to be the first person working out in the new year. Nobody would out-train him. Of course none of his competitors knew he was working out at this time. But sometimes it’s more important the message you send yourself than the message you send to others.

Monday I went for a run. I have a very familiar 3.75-mile loop around McFarland that works well for my training. The only thing was that it was the coldest day of the year. By the time I got back, it was -3 with a windchill of -14. I’m preparing now for what I want to do this summer. I’m preparing now for the health and habits I want working full strength all year. I’m preparing myself for launching a new business. And while I’m publishing this post to the world, I think you can tell that this run was more about the message I was telling myself. “On the days you don’t want to train, remember that you did it when it was so cold that it literally hurt. You can do this. Keep going.” Brady told himself that no one would be in that training room earlier than him. Oh by the way, Brady qualified for Nationals that year.

Just to make sure my coldest run of the year wasn’t a fluke, I ran the next day too. The windchill was five degrees colder. It was a little crazy, it was unnecessary, but it was absolutely beneficial to my mental training.

What action do you need to take to send a message to yourself that you control your own destiny and that you have the ability to be successful?

Three Words (2013)

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I’ve been doing 3 Words since 2009. I saw Chris Brogan do this on his blog and I immediately thought it was a great idea. My interpretation is that I don’t want to just pick three words that are self-explanatory. I want them to be a little bit cryptic and a little abstract. I want them to beg deeper meaning and contemplation. They deserve a story.

Because that’s what I want to be about. Donald Miller has taught me that a good life is a good story. A great story is compelling and life-giving.

The point of this blog post is to reflect on my goals for the new year. I have a lot going on with grad school ending right at the same time Katie and I are expecting our third child. Of course the grad school this is meant to launch me into a new job. Lots of stuff going on. That haste is well-represented in my three works for 2013.

Collins

When I think of research, organization, professionals, I think of Jim Collins. In his seminal book, Good to Great, Collins demonstrated to me how meticulous he and his lab were in researching what difference between good companies and great companies. I had never heard such detailed analysis of companies. Collins knows his stuff, and many would consider him an expert in the field of business and management. That’s where I’m going. I’ve got a huge passion for exercise as medicine, and I’m very much inspired by the work of Collins and how I would replicate his work and research philosophy to my own.

But Collins to me also is about that book I reference: Good to Great. There’s a distinction between the two, and I need look at that every day this year. It’s very easy for me to focus on the good things and not ever get to the great things. The good things make you feel good, probably because they’re easier than the great things. I need to cut the fat, I need to streamline the process, I need to focus on the great.

Coach

The main component of this word in 2013 for me is in reference to Coach Lombardi’s famous quote: “There are three things important to every man in this locker room. His God, his family, and the Green Bay Packers. In that order.” He was obviously talking to the team, so #3 was their job, which came after faith and family. I know in my heart this needs to be true, and in 2013 I need to make bigger strides so that it becomes a reality. It’s very easy for me to say, “take care of business, support the family…” But it’s entirely different to lead each day putting faith absolutely first (lucky I’m a morning first) and family right there at #2.

Coach also is about what you first thought about – coaching athletics. I’m a personal trainer, exercise specialist, cardiac rehab specialists. It all comes down to coaching. And as I launch my new business this year I want the ethos of coaching and athletics to be a strong component.

Lastly, I feel I’ve been coached in a new and exciting way via someone I met on Twitter. His name is Jon Swanson and he runs a blog called 300wordsaday. His writing has been inspiring and introspective. We’ve connected numerous times via email also and his coaching has made for an excellent end of 2012, and I want that to springboard into this next year.

Pillar

One of my favorite books of all time is Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart. It’s all about Christian manhood. It’s extremely educational and motivations. I think in this world we need much better and stronger men in homes. Wives need us, kids need us, other members of the family need the men to step up. Good things (great things!) happen when men are doing what they’re meant to do – lead. I want to examine the meaning of being a pillar in my family. The author (Stu Weber) breaks this down in the book – so there’s a lot of room for learning with Pillar.

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So there you have it. The goal for this post isn’t for everyone to know what my three words are – what are yours? It’s still early in the year – skip the New Year’s resolutions. Identify three goals or three words to drive how you spend your days this year.

A Few of My Favorite Things (2012)

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Sometimes I get to blog just about personal life things that I’ve enjoyed. 2012 was a fun year and brought many new things to life – some planned, others unexpected. Here’s a list of a few of them. I’m blogging this for my own memories, but I hope you can find some value also.

Favorite Author: Jon Swanson

Jon write at 300WordsaDay and he is the one blogger I read daily. He writes about following Jesus in 300 words per day – brilliant. Short posts but they cause me to reflect and think deeply about my faith.

Workout Gear: TRX

I did a project for a grad class this semester where we looked at the biomechanical analysis of the TRX. The TRX is suspension training and my research reminded me how efficient and challenging this workout can be. For our class, the professor built a quick make-shift TRX so we could work with it. His craftsmanship inspired me so I’ll be building my own this season.

Phone: iPhone 5

I couldn’t resist. I was due for an upgrade and a couple weeks ago I got the latest Apple phone. My main reason was that Katie requires higher megapixels on our pics since she uses them for calendars and photo books, and my iPhone 4 wasn’t cutting it. It’s a wonderful upgrade.

New Project: Sorin’s photo book

Katie has been making photo books each year for our kids as gifts to my mom. This year I jumped in on the fun and did all of Sorin’s book. I had so much fun! And now Katie and I are working together to revamp how we organize our pictures so we can do these books easier and more often. What a fun project.

Start-up business: 8Bit

My blog runs on Standard Theme, a product of the guys at 8Bit. John Saddington and his crew do great work, they’re fun to watch as a team, and they are a pleasure to work and talk with on Twitter. I find a lot of inspiration from these guys.

News feed: Zite

One thing I do every morning while eating breakfast is check Zite. It’s an iPad app that puts together various feeds of news based on categories I choose. Then when I read or star certain items, Zite gets even better at providing relevant news.

Lists/Groups: Facebook and Twitter

I was so much more productive this year b/c I was able to filter out my Twitter and Facebook feeds using lists. I get very annoyed at people who complain that there’s too much on the social media sites. The fact is a little discipline and you can make the social networks work for YOU. I’m spending part of my winter break slimming down the lists even more for 2013.

Notebook: Moleskin and Evernote

I’m a hoarder, I admit it. But with Evernote, that’s not a problem. I literally keep my life in Evernote. But you can never get away from analog writing, planning, drafting. So that’s where the Moleskin notebook comes in. I’m almost to the point where the two are perfectly in sync. But that’s just me.

Business tool: Fit411

I had a fantastic conversation with Briana from Salus this semester and concluded that her software has so much potential to advance my business. I’ll stop here b/c you probably don’t care. Again remember, this is more for me than you.

App: Instagram

Though they had quite the PR debacle at the end of the year regarding their terms of service, Instagram was a ton of fun this year. It’s amazing how well a picture can tell a story and how creative these pictures can be. I’ve enjoyed looking back at my Instagram feed from the year. (there were a lot of coffee and espresso references)

There you have it! These favorites from 2012 don’t represent everything from the year. These are essentially just the things that have come to mind at the end of the year. Probably what’s more important than looking back is looking forward. That’s what will happen later this week when I write about my 3 words for the new year. Having a great year is all about goals, not resolutions.

How about you? What are a few of your favorite things from 2012?