Fat Kid’s Ironman Fitness Blog

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 11:20 pm  |  1 Comment »

 

Bicycle Commute - to Bee Movie!

Bee Movie

My eldest daughter and I had a special “Hang out with Dad” day. We considered going to the YMCA to practice some swim drills, but ended up deciding on going to see Bee Movie instead. Since the Theater is only about 4 miles from out house, and he weren’t going to get exercise swimming, we figured it was a perfect chance to ride our bike (bike+half bike) down to the theater. Read the rest of this entry »

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 11/18/2007
  • Time: 23:20:14
  • Total Time: 00:45:00.00
  • Distance: 8 miles
  • Average Speed: 10.67 mph

Filed under: Bee Movie, Cycle, Daughters, Family, Fitness, cycle, exercise, global warming  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm  |  1 Comment »

 

4 Bears on 5 Wheels

Today the whole family jumped on their bikes and went for a ride down to the Farmers Market.We got Mom’s bike off the ceiling, and added the pannier bags to it, since Dad was pulling both girls, Mom agreed to carry the groceries.

We went only 7 miles  round trip this time. Down to the Ballard street/farmers Market. We got fresh fruits and cheeses and Dad bought some “Honey Chipotle  Sauce” yum! As always we were impressed with the selection of meats, dairy, and of course fruits and vegetables available from the local area.

It was nice to ride down there, and know that we did our part to start global cooling!

On the way home, Mom stopped at the bigger grocery store and bought more groceries, while Dad got the kids home so we could return the rental bike. As Dad and Daughters pedaled home, the little ones got a spark of Lance Armstrong like energy, and pushed us up to 19mph. Granted we were on a flat/slightly downhill section of the road… and once we hit the big hill before home we slowed to 5mph. But still… 19mph! Not bad for 7 and 5 year old stokers!

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 09/02/2007
  • Total Time: 00:45:00.00
  • Distance: 7 miles
  • Average Speed: 9.33 mph
  • Max Speed: 19 mph

Filed under: Cycle, Daughters, Family, chipotle, cycle, farmers market, global cooling, tandem  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 3:00 pm  |  3 Comments »

 

All School Bike Day!

Ok, this was not exactly a workout… but it was a lot of fun. Today our kids school had an “All School Bike Day” at one of our local parks. Actually, it coincided with one of the “Cascade Bicycle Club Family Bike Days” and so the entire 3 mile stretch of Lake Washington Blvd was closed to car traffic so that Cyclists of all ages could safely ride their bikes on the wide open road.

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 07/29/2007
  • Time: 15:00:00
  • Total Time: 00:30:00.00
  • Distance: 2 miles
  • Average Speed: 4 mph

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Cycle, Daughters, Family, Fitness, Friends, Living Seattle, Seattle, crashes, fixed gear, fixie  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 pm  |  10 Comments »

 

I’ve been slacking? Really?

Ok, so I won’t beat myself up too much. But I feel like blogging is an important outlet for me. I have a lot of ideas that come to me as I’m out exercising/training, and I think about how much I’ve learned and how much I still have to learn. I want to share my experiences and I really really want to get feedback from people that I’ve met through the blogging community, and hopefully learn from all of you. If I disappear, if you disappear, I can’t learn, and for me… learning, and communication is a very important driving force of what makes me tick as a human being, and frankly, is a huge part of what I believe makes us tick as a human species. So I owe it to myself, and to the world, to blog, right?

Well, in that spirit, here’s a collection of random things I’ve been thinking about for the last couple days that I should have, but haven’t yet blogged about.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Cycle, Daughters, Family, Fitness, Ironman, Marathons, Pinewood Derby, Run, Strength Training, Swim, Y-Guides, blogging, exercise, sports injuries  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 at 11:30 pm  |  4 Comments »

 

Recover Week Musings: Why can’t I eat whatever I want?

If any of you have been wondering why I haven’t been as active posting and blogging this week, it’s because I’ve been taking full advantage of my recovery week to work on work… and that means I did a good job of pivoting my center of focus from “training” to other things. Since my fitness blog is mostly now about my training and what I think of and about related to that training, it means the blog hasn’t been front and center.

But I have kept in touch with some forums out there and reading email, and I actually found myself in an in interesting discussion about whether or not very active people can eat whatever they want whenever they want. This is a fascinating subject to me… because, well… I like to eat, and I’m a pretty active guy, and so, I’m eager to find the magic spell that let’s me eat whatever and whenever I feel like it. But sadly in my life so far, I haven’t discovered that thing… even training for and completing an Ironman triathlon wasn’t some magical get out of the glutton jail for free card.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Cycle, Diet, Family, Fitness, Ironman, Lance Armstrong, Marathons, Peter Reid, Run, Strength Training, Weightloss, blogging, exercise, triathlon  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Saturday, February 17th, 2007 at 6:22 pm  |  5 Comments »

 

Drat! Gaining weight! — Time to watch my diet!

Yep, I have put on about 6lbs in the last week and a half. Now normally my weight fluctuates throughout the day by as much as 5lbs, so this may not sound like much. But when I say I’ve gained 6lbs, I mean that the median point of my fluctuations has crept up by 6lbs. This morning when I stepped on the scale I was 149lbs, and ten days ago in the morning I weighed 138lbs… So this is real weight gain.

Ok, ok, I bet at least one person out there thinks one of the following things:

  • Well, duh! You kept talking about all the weight lifting you were doing, and how you were feeling stronger, of course your weight is up, you’re adding muscles!
  • Well, duh! You had a great valentines day feast, it sure looked good to me… it was probably loaded with calories.
  • Dude! You weigh 144lbs soaking wet, you’re an Ironman, you are totally fit, stop worrying about gaining a couple extra pounds!

These are all very reasonable things to say… and I’m sure that muscle mass and temporary water retention from the high carb week of candy have something to do with it… but I am also convinced that my generally lackadaisical eating habits are also contributing. So it’s time to get serious about paying attention to what I eat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Cycle, Diet, Family, Fitness, Ironman, Marathons, Run, Strength Training, Weightloss, cooking, fixed gear, fixie, food, single-speed, triathlon  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Thursday, February 15th, 2007 at 11:55 pm  |  2 Comments »

 

Valentines Day - Brick & Dinner?

Breakfast for Dinner - Valentines Day - Heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes! Yum!For Valentines Day, I planned a special dinner for my wife and I. She agreed to take care of the kids dinner, so I could work on a special romantic dinner for two to eat after they were asleep. Did I mention I like to cook? Well, I just kind of experiment in the kitchen, and usually things turn out well, last night fortunately was one of those nights where the crazy idea in my head translated well to the plate and eventually to our taste buds. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Cycle, Daughters, Diet, Family, Fitness, Ironman, Marathons, Run, Strength Training, Stretching, cooking, fixed gear, fixie, food, single-speed, triathlon  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 12:43 pm  |  7 Comments »

 

Y-Guides Winter Camp!

Igloo - Not built by us...Here’s a quick update from Lake Wenatchee… first of all, uh, what? posting on your blog from camp? Shouldn’t you be playing in the snow… how are you connected to the Internet?

Well, the girls are having fun playing cards and games in the lodge…. there are some Y-Guides boy groups… what are they up to? Uh… it’s like the Lord of the Flies out there. Good times!

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Filed under: Camping, Daughters, Family, Fitness, Friends, Snow, Winter, Y-Guides, igloo  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 12:41 pm  |  3 Comments »

 

Total Immersion Drills 1-4 - Triathlon Swimming: Made Easy (part 3)

Total Immersion - Triathlon Swimming: Made Easy - by Terry Laughlin A couple weeks ago, I wrote a couple of entries about a swimming technique called “Total Immersion”. You can read my entries here and here. I am a big believer in the efficacy of this swimming technique. Although there are many things I’d like to improve about my swimming (like swimming faster), I am very pleased with the fact that when I swim I a swim comfortably and relatively effortlessly.

As a long distance triathlete, this skill is critical to a successful race. My goal, whenever I swim, is to do as little work as possible in traveling the greatest distance. Well, let’s be honest, my first goal is to not drown… and then… assuming things go well in that department, get done with the swim so I can kick some ass on the bike and run. My strategy to accomplish these goals, is to make the swim as effortless as possible. Total Immersion changed my life (with respect to swimming) and has made, at least for me, this goal possible.

In my last couple posts, I wrote about the philosophy, theory and technique of Total Immersion. In this post, I plan to describe briefly some of the drills used to learn and practice Total Immersion. If you want to know more about Total Immersion, I strongly recommend purchasing one of the many great books by Terry Laughlin, the inventor of Total Immersion. So, if the information I have presented here sounds interesting to you, please go buy one of the Total Immersion books, or sign up for one of the many courses that Total Immersion offers around the country.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Family, Fitness, Ironman, Swim, triathlon  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 11:30 pm  |  5 Comments »

 

I’m still here… just really busy…

I’ve been mentioning lately that I need to find how to balance my work, training, family, and blogging… well, I’m proud to say that this week I’ve been having to prioritize, and I think I’ve landed in the right place… at least for this week.

Sorry to say, that blogging, got the short end of the stick.

I miss you guys, but just so you don’t feel left out, here’s what you were competing against: work, lots of it… very productive week actually. Training… this week was my first week in Base 1, so that means increase volume of training (although keeping intensity moderate to low)… my plan said 12 hours… I’ve had some good long bike rides (in the rain); I switched out my pedals on my fixie to be my spd-sl clip less, now I may never go back to gears… I’ve had some good swims (Karl, I owe you a write up on TI drills, I spent an hour just on drills and I have some thoughts about sinking and how to work toward preventing it); I’ve cut back on my running because I have a sneaky feeling that I pushed too hard last week…. I have 7 hrs so far this week, which sounds like I’m on target right? 3 more days, no problem… problem is…

This weekend I’ve got a big Y-Guides camping weekend. My oldest daughter and I are going camping with a bunch of her friends from first grade and their dads. So, good news is, that’s some great family time, and it will be a blast, I’m sure… but it means trying to cram in extra work before the weekend, and extra training, since I’m going to lose at least one day, if not two…

 Anyway, I’ll be back in a couple days… 

 In the mean time, here are some great quotes I found recently about cycling:

“The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine.” - John Howard

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. It has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel … the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” - Susan B. Anthony, Equal rights activist, New York World, Feb 2, 1896.

“Cyclists are open-minded. Cyclists are egalitarian. Cyclists share a fellowship of the wheel that can overcome all political, social, racial and economic barriers. Except for recumbents.” - Ted Costantino, cycling journalist

“I believe in bicycles. I believe in riding my bike to the store, riding to work, riding for fun, fitness and adventure–road bikes, mountain bikes, single-speeds–you name it. As long as it has two wheels and a human motor, I’m on it. And I truly believe, deep down in my easily misdirected soul, that the world would be a better place if more people rode bicycles.” — Don Cuerdon, cycling journalist who uses the pen name “Captain Dondo”

Filed under: Cycle, Family, Fitness, Ironman, Run, Swim, blogging, fixed gear, fixie, single-speed, sports injuries, triathlon  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Activities: Year to Date

Distances
Bike: 76 miles
Run : 24 miles
Hours of Activity
 Bike: 5.5 - 57.1%
 Run : 3.5 - 36.8%
 Flex: 0.6 - 6.1%
  Total:9.6