Week 3- BIG CHANGES!!!!! LOUISVILLE IRONMAN!

Yo! First things first. I have decided to change the race I am training for. When I first signed up for Team In Training they had advertised that we would train for the Cour De Lene, ID IRONMAN, but when I got to the info meeting they had to change the race to the VINEMAN in northern CA. I was still stoked to train for an event of the same distance. After thinking about it and doing some research I discovered that VINEMAN is not apart of the IRONMAN sanctioned races. VINEMAN does have 1 sanctioned 70.3 IRONMAN, but it is not a full course. (70.3 is half the distance of a full IRONMAN.) SO, after putting some heavy thought and research in it I decided if I am going to do this I want to finish the race and say I am a IRONMAN... not a VINEMAN. I am now officially registered to do the Louisville, KY IRONMAN on August 31, 2008. I will still be training with Team In Training and raising money for the cause. The race is only 3 weeks after the VINEMAN so I will participate in all TNT events and hopefully travel with the Team to VINEMAN to cheer them on. I am very excited about the location change because Louisville is closer to my family who has yet to see me in any endurance race and this is huge for me.

Now on to last weeks training:
Monday: I rested..... everyone needs a break.

Tuesday: I ran 5 miles in the morning. My back was a little sore, but all in all good. Night time was swim training with the team. We continued on with the drills and as hard as it was I feel like I am definitely improving. We swam for on hour. 2000 yds.

Wednesday: What a day. I got up and Biked for an hour in W. Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Not a smart decision. To many stops. I got cut off by a 10 year old on a skate board and did not have time to unclip from my pedals and fell and skinned my knees. Who skins there knees anymore????? ME! At that point I decided it was time to cut the ride short and ride back to my apartment.... bloody knees and all. I then went to my gym, LA FITNESS, and finished my ride on a stationary bike. That night I went out and bought a trainer so I can ride my bike in my living room and watch recorded episodes of Law and Order.

Thursday: Thursday night I went to my gym and swam for an hour. 2000 yds. More drills and a lot of regular swimming just focusing on form and breathing. Then I went out to dinner with Heath. Shabu Shabu and Jumbo's Clown Room. Classic.

Friday: Barry's Bootcamp in the morning. 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes of abs. AWESOME WORKOUT!

Saturday: Team Training day in Santa Monica. The morning focused on tire changes and how to do them... quick. Then we biked the San Vicente loop, 7.5 miles, 4 times with 1 pee tire change break. So 30 miles in 2 hours. Team day is fun and there a lot of great people! I officially met my TNT mentor Karen. She rules.

Sunday: Sunday was a long rough day. I went out Saturday night to see UPSTART and Dan D was up from Long Beach. Needless to say when that Long Beach crew it means great times and rough mornings. I got up at 8 after staying up till 2, maybe 3, and tried to hydrate myself. I then took off for my run at 9:30. I ran for 1 hr and 10 minutes. I put a little over 8 miles. I was hurting. I went home and had toast and peanut butter, fell asleep on the couch watching football, then got up and went to the gym to swim. I got there and swam for 30 minutes and was so tired and weak..... then I remembered I had not ate anything but toast. Not smart. It was this night that I realized I need to start eating a lot better and a lot more of the right foods. I am doing my best now, but it is tough.

Till next week. SMILE!

Louisville or Bust.

Team in Training Donation letter

Dear Family and Friends-

Let's face it: I've gone nuts.

I mean, what sane person would decide to get up off the couch and go do a IRONMAN? And not just an IRONMAN, but the VINEMAN: a 2.4 mile swim in, then a hilly 112 mile bike ride, and then a marathon (26.2 mile run) in the blazing sun. Pros find this race challenging, for Pete's sake. What kind of guy decides, "Hey, this all sounds like a hoot?”

Well, yours truly, for one. I've joined with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. I have committed to raising $8000 and doing this IRONMAN. In return, Team In Training will coach me and my teammates and give us the support we need to meet our race goal. Now I need your support to meet my fundraising goal.

To date, members of Team In Training raised over $680 million dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in its fight against leukemia, Hodgkin's Disease, lymphoma, and myeloma. These diseases affect blood-forming tissues like the spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow, and cause them to produce abnormal blood cells, preventing the production of normal cells. An estimated 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with one of these blood-related cancers, and every week 1,100 of them die. Leukemia is the number one killing disease in children, and it affects 10 times as many adults.

I’ve decided to take on this challenge for numerous reasons. Simply stated, I want to make a difference. Then of course there is the physical challenge of completing an IRONMAN, and most importantly I am doing this in honor of some very special people: My brother, John Daniel Leist, who passed away after fighting Leukemia for 18 months and Mr. Richard Shumsky, father of my very dear friend. Mr. Shumsky is battling leukemia and is continuing to fight. (GO, MR. SHUMSKY!) Plus, all others who have fought and continue to fight this horrible disease. This is for you.

75% of my pledged amount of $8,000 goes directly to research. All donations are 100% tax deductible, and our tax ID is 13-5644916. Feel free to pass this along to your friends & family. Also check to see if your company has a matching gifts program, it’s an easy way to double your donation!

If you would like to donate online please go to my donation web page at:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/Rleist

I will also be keeping a blog that will document my training and thoughts at: runrichrun.blogspot.com

Rowdy cheers, band aids, ice packs and chicken burritos (no beans) are just as welcome and appreciated.

SMILE,


Rich

Week 1 Ironman Training

So I have officially committed my time, body, and mind to doing the Ironman. I am actually doing a race called Vineman. The race takes place August 2, 2008. The thought of having this long to train is both exciting and daunting. I have never trained for 10 months for anything I have ever competed in. Granted, I have never trained for an event that makes you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, then run a marathon (26.2 miles) back to back to back. I am training with Team in Training and raising money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have committed myself to raise $8,000. I believe that both physically and financially I will complete this goal with flying colors.

I have a coach and teamates through Team in Training who not only provide me with a schedule, but keep me focused on the job at hand. For my first week of training it has been fairly light. According to my training schedule Mondays and Fridays are my off days, but I am fairly crazy so I go to bootcamp on one of my off days. So Monday was bootcamp, Tuesday was light jog where I ran 6 miles, Wednesday was an hours bike ride where I rode 16.5 miles, Thursday was a coached swim practice, Friday I rested, Saturday I ran a 5k and ran after the race then hit the Gym, Sunday was a swim day.

So far I feel like a million dollars and am looking forward to the future months.

Feel free to comment.

Smile.

My quest to be an Ironman

I have begun my quest to be an Ironman. My goal is to complete the Ironman by the time I am 30. I am approaching my 28th birthday so I feel this is an attainable goal. I just added biking and swimming to my workout routine. Ever since my first marathon I decided that I want to challenge my physical endurance in every way possible. The best way I see to do this is by conditioning myself to be an Ironman. I have signed up for my first triathlon in September 07 , The Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I bought a new Megaboss bike. It is a Scattante CFR Comp. I had never been into biking, unless it was a bmx and I was 12, but this bike makes you feel like you are gliding. I am now going to Bootcamp 3 to 4 times a week, biking 2 twice a week, running 3 times a week including long run, and swimming once a week. I am finding that swimming is not as fun as I used to find it in my back yard. While I am doing this I can not lose sight that I also have 2 marathons in the Fall. I am planning on running both the Chicago and New York Marathon.

As for the Ironman, I am looking at entering the Wisconsin Ironman next September.
Stay tuned for more updates.