30 Day Ab Challenge

I saw this on Twitter and thought it would be a good way to start the month of October. I guess a good test would be to weigh-in on the first of the month and the 30. Also measure your waist at the beginning and end and see if there is an improvement. Of course diet plays a big role in all of this too.

Lake Placid 70.3 Race

The time is drawing near to join 2,000+ other athletes in Lake Placid, NY on a 70.3mile adventure. Fortunately I am a member of a three person relay team and only have to do the 1.2m swim. My goal is to beat last year's time when I was trying to complete the entire distance myself. That turned into a big fat DNF. My swim time was around 42 minutes last year, the ultimate goal will be to break 40 minutes this year. Not having to worry about hopping on my bike for 56 miles in the mountains and then running 13.1 miles should help my swim time.

My wife and two friends are attempting the complete distance. I will be able to go back to our rental house, shower, eat and meander out to cheer on the full distance competitors (and two members of my team). I'm kind of looking forward to that.

There will be nerves before the start of the swim, of course, but once getting away a couple of hundred yards into the lake I hope my breathing and stroke get into a nice rhythm. No one is allowed to swim over me, kick or elbow my face and no goggle fogging up problems. 

 

Jan and I swam in Canandaigua Lake many times over the summer and did a wide variety of drills and workouts in preparation for this race. I'm not a great swimmer, even in my age group I'm just average, but I've come a long way in ten years or so. When Jan first made me begin swimming in a nearby college pool I didn't know how to breathe with my head/face in the water and couldn't go 25 yards. I'm proof even old guys and gals can learn new sports. 

Plank Challenge

With a relay 70.3 mile race coming up on Sunday, September 9, in Lake Placid, NY, it's too late for me to feel comfortable starting a plank challenge this week. I'm doing the 1.2 mile swim portion of the race for our team. I'll begin the challenge on Monday, 9/10, 20 seconds isn't that long and the entire 31 challenge seems doable. It's interesting this plan has no rest days.

 

I saw the challenge on my Twitter feed this morning. It seems like a good addition to other exercises I already do. If I combine planks with eating properly, drinking less alcohol and running more, maybe I'll get closer to six pack abs.