Swim Test

Did a Swim test today with some good results. Given the pain in my shoulder earlier I'm quite happy with the result.

The test:
1000 Yards
Hold to every third stroke breathing for as long as possible (this means breath on both sides).

I did this test in August and swam 14:55
Breathing held through the swim.

I did this test one month ago after a 3 week break 15:25
Breathing went to every other stroke after 400

Today 14:51
Breathing held to 800 yards.


My swimming over the last month has been.

4 days/week.
Monday: Easy no stress 30 minutes
Tuesday - Band Work
Thursday - Band Work
Saturday- Band Work

70% of the swims have been with a band around my ankles.and swim snorkle
60% of that was Band and Buoy - No paddles (remember the shoulder)
40% is Band no Buoy - Just try it!
Interval rest 10 seconds.

In other words all strength no speed in the pool.


It's a good life..

My Tuesday Run

It's a good life....

All Done NYC Now Off to Beijing

I've been to China so many times it's weird to have China come to me. I just finished the NYC running shoe analysis. I get lot's of requests or questions regarding what I do. Apparently others want do do this in their part of the world. They ask "how long does it normally take". When I tell them, I never hear back from them. NYC took roughly 80 hours of work.

This weekend I get to start on the Beijing Marathon. This time they came to me with everything I need. I never have to leave Cardiff for this one.

Aside from that:

I ran 40 minutes, swam enough to not hurt my shoulder and spent 30 minutes in the gym.

It's a good life....

2 hour Learning Lesson I mean Bike Ride

I went on an easy bike ride on a most beautiful day. It was summer in November and it was simply amazing to be out on the bike in shorts and short sleeves. On easy days when on my own I'll listen to podcasts. I'm really into clearing out my mind and learning to communicate better so I listen to Tim Ferris, The New Man and for long rides Joe Rogan. On this day I listened to Tim Ferris and Alian de Botton. 

It was great! If you've got 2 hours of riding or driving I highly suggest it.

It's a good life...

Just Another Run

It's a good life...

Stress It's not Always Bad

Yesterday was one heck of a day. I managed a short swim and short but heavy ride. The rest of the day from 4:30am until I pulled into the driveway at 9:00pm was work. I like the stress of doing three things to add up to one. Running market research, Shoe Ranger and then managing two struggling running stores. It's enough to keep the stress meter high but manageable.

It's a good life..

Thankful Thursday

1. For the life a shared with my Brother Bob. Today he would have turned 56
2. For the relationship between our son and his coach. 4 years ago I told him he needed men in his life besides me. He found a good one in his coach.
3. For the running shoe industry that gives me such joy to be a part of it.
4. For my new Wahoo Kicker that makes riding in doors like I did yesterday, fun.

It' s a good life....

Running and no Pain

Got a good run in yesterday in the early morning light. Super easy 30 minutes with 8 x 20 second strides to finish. I love that simple yet very effective run work out.

Did an easy 1,000yds in the pool. No pain in the pool and only slight post. Good sign.

It's a good life....

Riding into the Wind

Monday is coffee ride day. We all leave from different parts of town and meet up for coffee. The wind was howling yesterday. All of the surf in the picture is wind generated. It measure 20mph with gusts of 30mph. My route took me directly into the wind. Because I was in no hurry and had no agenda my ride was easy. I did not push through the wind I simply put enough into the pedals to move forward.

I find often that I'm trying to push through the wind in life. Yesterday taught me a good lesson. Relax, enjoy it and take what it gives.

The ride home was quite different. I barely pedaled.

It's a good life...

Shoulder Therapy

That red ball cost me $2.98 and it's been my buddy for years now. Over the weekend I've used it to root out the poor mechanics induced swimmer's shoulder. It's not severe but it would get severe if I didn't address the impingement and the mechanics. The mechanics part to me is easy, I know what I'm doing wrong. Red ball do your thing!

I love no stress bike rides. Sunday morning is the best time to ride a bike around here. Very light traffic on the roads, usually sunny and quite peaceful. It was nice to get out on the bike for a couple hours of stress free riding.

It's a good life.....

Running with Power

Had the best run since starting back up. It felt totally effortless until I finished it with 6 x 30 seconds hard uphill. The Stryd Power Meter told me the run was easy. Although I ran faster than the day before I used 20% less power. I have a theory I'm going to test on this power for running.

In the afternoon I went for a swim and realized I messed up my right shoulder. At least right now I think it's my shoulder. The pain shows itself as fire in my right tricep muscle. But I can comfortable do pull ups which tells me it's not the muscle but the shoulder. I'll use the Supple Leopard and rest to see if I can fix the issue. It can't be serious because I've done nothing serious in the pool. Just a minor setback.


It's a good life....

Still Learning - Swim Training

Bought a swim snorkel the other day.

Plan on using it regularly to work on my body position in the water.

At the same time I'm easy my way into the water after a good rest.

My Swim:

600 Warm up - Easy - I'm working in the warm up on my survival stroke. As our son prepares for Marine Boot Camp and beyond I decided to work on the survival stroke with him. It's a good change of pace. The other day a Special Operator was in the pool and same stoke for stroke with me. Me swimming a 1000yard timed swim freestyle and he swimming survival stroke. We had a good conversation after that.

Main Set - 200 with snorkel, paddles, pull buoy and ankle band, 2 x 100 snorkel, paddles and ankle band ending with 4 x 50 no toys perfect form. I did this twice through. The 200 with all the toys felt smooth. The 2 100's without the buoy was the learning. My first 100 was finished in 1:45. On the 200 that felt easy I average 1:25. The effort to swim that 100 was immense. Trying to keep my legs afloat was difficult. Can't wait to do that again.

It's a good life...

Iron----Man and Shoes

This is a quick update.

I've done some blood testing over the last year that shows a host of things to work on. One glaring marker is the Iron content in my blood. What I know under the medical side is my Iron content is on the high side but not alarming. On the functional medicine side it's alarming. What's most alarming is that there is one way to reduce iron, give blood. I've done that 4 times this year. In each case the iron content goes down. Not long after that however the iron content goes back up.

Next Steps
1. Ordered a Genetic test from 23 and Me to determine if the iron issue is genetic.
2. If genetic there is an exemption to get from a doctor to give blood faster than the allowed amount of once every 58 days.
3. If it's not continue to give blood and measure to determine the correct cadence.

Current ferritin level is 160 and goal is below 100.


Next up I'm back into fitness. It's going slow and I like that. I've rushed my fitness way to much in my former years. There is no rush right now. Simply feel better each time I go out is the goal.

I've started a You Tube channel for Shoe Ranger. I'm not sure how where it will go but It's been fun so far.

It's a good life....