SCT's Triathlon Training, Sponsored by Controlled Labs

[stonecoldtruth]

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout -
2 scoops White Flood
2 scoop Purple Wraath

Other -
Bulk Cissus 2500mg (upon waking, 8 hours later)
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (4 hours postworkout)

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Workout Scores:

Focus - 8/10 - During the weights portion of my workout I felt like my workout was going to be one of those where you just put in your time and get out. I literally did NOT want to be there, however after weights I decided to shoot some bball, and then it all kicked in.

Endurance - 10/10 - Focus was crap, but endurance was like a fresh water spring.. no matter how much you drink, it still flows.

Energy - 7/10 - Energy could have been better, I think this is because of a lack of sleep though.

Pumps - 5/10 - During weights I was just not getting the pumps I've experienced thus far, still average but nothing extreme.

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Workout Details:

Lifting -
- 4 sets of 10 DB incline press
- 2 sets of 10 Machine Bench Press .. shoulder needed a tad more stability today
- 3 sets of 10 Seated Row (straight bar)
- 3 sets of 12 Lat Pulldown (wide grip)
- 3 sets of 15 Spider Curls
- 3 sets of 15 skullcrushers

Basketball -
- 15 minutes shooting around
- Jog for missed 3s
- Run for missed 2s


Swim -
- 900yd total
- 100 warmup
- 100 pull buoy
- 100 kickboard
- 100 6 kick rolls
- 100 freestyle w/ fins
- 100 fingertip drag
- 100 fist drill
- 100 catchup drill
- 100 cooldown

Lifting Notes -

I avoided doing legs/shoulders today because I have a bike/run tomorrow and didn't want to fry my legs, and the shoulder just didn't feel up to lifting today. Good lifts though, same weights as previous and felt easier, will probably move most weights up on Sunday's lifting.

Cardio Notes -

As I mentioned earlier I really wasn't feeling it at all during lifting. Normally I am a very motivated gym-goer, but today I was like.. wtf is going on... I even considered just going home after the lifting. However, I noticed a couple guys I know shooting ball, so instead I grabbed a ball and went and shot around. Almost immediately I felt better and knew I was going to knock my swim out of the park. My swim was just awesome today, felt strong on every drill and wasn't even tired after finishing my swim.

Product Notes -

Week 1 review will be done after work tonight, dear god I hope I can get off early.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout -
2 scoops White Flood
2 scoop Purple Wraath

Other -
Bulk Cissus 2500mg (upon waking, 8 hours later)
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (upon waking)

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Workout Scores:

Focus - 7/10 - I blame this ENTIRELY on the fact that I had TC and Neil, two of the trainers are the gym, talking to me whilst I was on the treadmill. I mean, it is hard to focus when you have guys trying to hold a conversation that requires in depth answers.

Endurance - 8/10 - Hmm, lets see here, my endurance was off but still I got my run in and furthered my distance. Definately not as much endurance as usual, but still good.

Energy - 8/10 - Working out later at night always finds me with less energy. However, it was still a good energetic feeling, just not as much 'bounce' as usual.

Pumps - 1/10 - I ranked pumps here as there weren't really pumps since I just ran.

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Workout Details:

Run -
- 35 minute interval walk/run
- 2.86 distance (+.05 mile from last workout)
- 2.5 minute walk - 4.5 minute run.. run dominant

Cardio Notes -

At the beginning of the day I really doubted I would get to workout, as upon waking I found that my sister-in-law had taken the car out to run errands. By the time she got home it was already 12:15, and I had to be at work at 3:30, so I instead just relaxed for a bit this morning. However, the opportunity came to ditch out of work early and so I did. I came home, gave the wife a kiss and chatted for a few, and then hit the gym for a quick run before it closed. Run felt solid, and as you can see I'm quickly reaching the 5k distance I'll be doing in my triathlons, so with over 2 months left before ANY of the races, I'm thinking I'll end up training for more like 5 miles that way the 3 is easy.

Tomorrow should be fun though, as I have the day off from work and it is supposed to be 65 outside. You know what that means, right? That means I'm going to bust out the Cannondale, ride to the gym.. shoot some ball (maybe swim), and then ride back home. I'll probably log nearly 15 miles on the bike so I'm not sure how much of a workout I'll be doing at the gym, hehe.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Today's blog will deviate slightly from the usual format, as today in general deviated from the usual format! I woke up this morning raring and ready to go, after getting in a nice breakfast and then letting it settle I started to prep my gear from the bike ride I had planned. After loading up my backpack with the bare essentials and applying sun block I was off!

First issue I should address is that I am HORRIBLE at guestimating distances from a map. I had guestimated that the one way distance the gym was MAYBE 7 miles. So with that in mind, back to the story.

I left the house and traveled through the neighborhood to drop into downtown via a BIG hill where I was riding my brakes the entire way down and still going 25+mph. After navigating my way through downtown (where I had to ride on the streets since the sidewalks suck so much butt) I managed my way to falls park, which is the beginning point of the bike trail. However, I thought the bike trail started on my side of the falls.. nope.. the other side. So I had a nice quaint ride around the falls, which is just beautiful at any time of year, a picture is below:



So after riding all the way around the park (which totals an extra mile or so) I realized I could have just jumped a block up to 6th street and dropped into the bike trail there.. but too late for that eh?

The first couple of miles felt a bit uncomfortable as I still don't have a good set of bike shorts to help cushion.. well.. my ass. However, after that I quickly fell into my groove. I saw my first fellow biker about at the 1 mile marker (which would be mile 2 for me), I passed her within minutes. To be fair she was on a mountain bike, so there wasn't much of a challenge. But she did start hauling balls when she saw me coming. I think there is a natural instinct to not want to be passed. Instead of risking a crash I stopped when I needed a drink, and still the girl never caught me. At mile marker 4 (5 for me) I saw a few more bikers, and after passing them never saw them again. I was feeling really strong at this point and kind of got lost in the ride.

The bike trail runs right beside the Big Sioux river, so it is a very scenic ride, especially at around mile marker 5 where you take a swift detour into a lightly wooded/shaded area. The quick temperature drop of about 5 degrees was very welcomed. At mile marker 7 I began to wonder slightly how far I was from the gym. I caught site of the highway and realized I was still at least a mile out from the gym. However, that last mile and a half went by quickly as I caught site of another biker and overtook/passed her effortlessly.

I arrived at the gym and then checked my bike computer, which told me I had rode 8.3 miles. I was just boggled that the gym was THAT far, but in fairness had I gotten on at the 6th street bike entrance it would have been right around 7.25 miles. I went into the gym and shot some basketball for about 45 minutes, and then settled down in Simon's Cafe for a nice meal.. which turned out to be on the house.. wooohoooo!

One of the ladies who works in the cafe came over and asked me, 'Are you the guy who has been losing all of that weight?'.. I was a tad shocked that this woman whom I had never seen before somehow knew me. So I said that I was one of a few guys at the gym who had lost a lot of weight. Then she said, 'No no, it's you, you are the triathlete guy.'.. That made my day. I let the food from the cafe settle for a while (apparently not long enough, more on that later) and reapplied some more sun block and off I went.

The first couple of miles on the way home went quickly smoothly, as I was pacing one of the guys from the gym who is a nationally ranked triathlete. After about 2 miles of following him we began passing people left and right. Then it happened, my inexperience showed it's ugly head. The first big hinderance was some extreme stomach discomfort, which I am attributing to not waiting long enough after eating to hit the bike trails. Then, my real newbness showed.. you see, I am horrible when it comes to shifting, I always get confused if I should be switching gears on the back freewheel or the front chainwheel. Because of this I found myself in the wrong position on both shifters and just spinning almost like the chain had come off. After stopping for a brief moment I figured out which way to shift to get back to my comfortable gear, and off I went. On the way home I did start to get my drinks while still on the bike, and managed to do so without crashing. However, I advise against doing this while on a hill, bad move Josh.

I ended up jumping off the bike trail at 6th street and just rode through downtown to get home. However, I faced one last HUGE challenge. Remember the big hill I flew down on the way out? Yep, that was now a huge UPHILL climb I had to concur if I was going to make it home. After what seemed like hours of pushing relentlessly, I found myself at my doorstep.

15.59 miles later, with 45 minutes of basketball thrown in.. damn I'm beat.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout -
2 scoops White Flood
2 scoop Purple Wraath

Other -
Bulk Cissus 2500mg (upon waking, 8 hours later)
Red Acid Gen 2 (2 caps, four hours postworkout)

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Workout Scores:

Focus - 3/10 - I know this will sound off, but the focus was the best part of my workout!

Endurance - 2/10 - I struggled to get through, it was one of those workouts where you are just there to do what you HAVE to do, then get out.

Energy - 1/10 - A lack of sleep and severe pain make it hard to feel energetic.

DOMS - 10/10 - I'm not sure if you'd classify it as typical DOMs, but my ass hurt so bad all day. It hurt to walk, sit, stand, and even to lie down.

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Workout Details:

Swim -
- 1/4 mile total
- 100 warmup
- 100 kickboard
- 100 6 kick rolls
- 100 pull bouy
- 50 cooldown

Cardio Notes -

I almost didn't even go to the gym today, so I consider it a positive that I still did a workout, despite it being a pathetic one.

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Product Notes -

I don't blame White Flood at all for this piss poor workout. I blame stress (my neice is sick), lack of sleep, soreness (from the bike seat), and just a general blah day. Tomorrow will be better!


SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

March 25, Sprint Training

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout:
2 scoops Controlled Labs White Flood
2 scoops Controlled Labs Purple Wraath

Postworkout:
2 scoops Anabolic Innovation's Whey Protein Isolate

Other:
2500mg Bulk Cissus
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (4 hours postworkout)

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Workout Scores:

Focus - 7/10 - My mind was pretty keyed in considering that a) my niece is in the hospital with enfluenza a, b) our kitten judah had been missing all morning, and c) I had to take the kids to the gym which meant a stressful ride to the gym. However, my focus got continually stronger as the workout went on.

Endurance - 8/10 - My endurance was above my focus during this workout. While I wasn't mentally connected as I should have been, my body was ready for it. I think had my focus been better this would have been higher too.

Energy - 7/10 - I attribute this as well to the stress we've been having lately. But still a good push for the workout.

Pumps - 10/10 - I was like one of these today:



DOMS - 3/10 - My ass was only a BIT sore today! Legs are pretty spent from the bike workout on Friday.

----------------------------------------------------

Workout Details:

Lifting:
3 sets of 12 Incline Bench Press (+10 increase)
3 sets of 15 Bench Press (+5 increase)
3 sets of 12 Seated Row (same as previous)
3 sets of 15 Wide Grip Lat Pulldown (+10 increase)
3 sets of 10 Supinated Lat Pulldown (new exercise)
4 sets of 12 Shoulder Press (+15 increase)
3 sets of 15 Skullcrushers (same as previous)
3 sets of 15 Spider Curls (same as previous)
3 sets of 20 Leg Extensions (new rep range)
3 sets of 15 Seated Curls (+15 increase)

Workout Notes:

After yesterday's subpar workout, I knew today that I had to bring it to redeem myself, even if just in my own eyes. With that in mind I hit up the gym and knocked out a very nice workout. Increased strength on various lifts and left feeling good about my workout and my week in general. I threw in the leg workout on the end just to get some fatigue in the legs, even though they are pretty spent from the bike workout.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout:
2 scoops Controlled Labs White Flood
2 scoops Controlled Labs Purple Wraath

Postworkout:
2 scoops Anabolic Innovation's Whey Protein Isolate (Chocolate Mint)

Other:
2500mg Bulk Cissus
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (4 hours postworkout)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Workout Scores:

Focus - 10/10 - I had to be entirely focused today to complete my ride/workout. Between the winds and the longer distance, if I hadn't been totally on point I might have perished

Endurance - 9/10 - The first half of the ride easily ranked a 10, but coming back and riding straight into the wind, as well as taking a few big hills, dropped the endurance rank down a tad.

Energy - 9/10 - A smooth solid energy that lasted from beginning of the ride to about a mile away from home.

DOMS - 2/10 - Some lat soreness for some reason, not bad though.

----------------------------------------------------

Workout Details:

Biking:
23.2 miles
New Top Speed - 25.3 mph

Workout Notes:

My original plan for today was to ride to the gym, swim, and then ride home. Upon waking I wondered if I was even going to ride today, due to some windy and cold weather outside. However, after breakfast I knew that I had to ride if I'm going to keep ahead of my training schedule. So I threw on some underarmour cold gear and started to prep my gear.

The beginning of the ride was much more comfortable as I didn't swing by the falls, and instead just dropped onto the bike path on 6th street. I got a bunch of waves from drivers as I zoomed through the downtown streets, and then a weird look when I used my right and left hand signals.. they seemed confused!

Brief interuption, for the biking impaired:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_Cycling - A brief overview of riding on the roads.

Left Turn Signal:


Right Turn Signal:


I'm stopping Signal:


Ok, now that we have covered that, onto the ride.

I noticed right away that the bike trails were a lot emptier than when I rode last Friday, which is either a testament to my will or my sanity. The temperature outside 48 degrees, with a 19mph wind blowing at my side. The first 3 or so miles of the ride were a tad uncomfortable as my bare hands did not like the combination of temperature and wind, but they adjusted shortly thereafter. After I sunk into my rhythm I began to enjoy the ride and scenery. The geese were out in masse today, I would playfully quack at them as I rode past (yes, I know geese don't quack persay). After the soccer fields (about mile 6) you hit a very curvy section of the bike path, which I LOVE. I really worked on my cornering today, taking the curves and turns at around 20mph.. I only recommend this when the bike path is empty!

Before I knew it I was at the turnoff from the bike path for the gym. I jumped off the bike path and dropped into the park that leads to the gym when disaster almost struck! A motorcylce cop was pointing his radar gun at me, right as I'm passing the 15mph speed limit sign. Looking down at my bike computer I notice I'm going about 22mph, at this point I'm wondering how much a bicycle speeding ticket costs. However, he just shook his head at me as I zoomed past. Apparently he didn't know how much it would be either.

After getting to the gym I decided I really didn't want to swim today, and that I wanted to see more of the bike trail. So after a quick bathroom break and a water bottle refill I was back off! I went a few more miles on the bike trail until I hit 11.5 miles on my trip odometer. I considered going all the way to the end of the bike trail, but since a large portion of the final stretch is gravel I thought I'd just match the bike trail distance by turning around and heading home, and that is what I did!

The ride home was just miserable! The wind had shifted to where it was blowing straight into me, so the 11.7 miles home (I went through falls park on the way home) was just one long push where I seriously questioned everything about myself. It was the type of ride where you ask yourself if you have what it takes, or if you should just call home and have someone come and get you. Because of that, it was EXTREMELY rewarding to just coast through Falls Park on the way home and bask in my own accomplishment. Not that 23 miles is anything great, but defeating your own inner demons.. priceless.

As I rode the huge hill by the house I would end up jumping off the bike and walking it to the top, but it was more for traffic reasons than anything. It was rush hour when I hit the hill and tons of people were flying by me, so instead of risking my life while struggling up a hill I walked to the top and then rode the rest of the way. In retrospect, with the way my legs felt it might have been easier just to continue pedaling.

I wonder how sore my ass is going to be tomorrow.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Workout #2 for the day:

Yep, you read it right. I got out of work today and decided to hit up the gym for a 2nd workout today. After a long 23 mile ride this morning I didn't 'plan' on another workout. However, I felt the urge to swim

Swimming:
18 total laps (1/2 mile)
100 warmup
100 kickboard
100 6 kick roll
100 pull bouy
100 freestyle
100 kickboard (50 speed, 50 recovery)
100 6 kick roll (50 speed, 50 recovery)
100 pull bouy (50 speed, 50 recovery)
100 cooldown

I'm off to get a haircut since there is a family wedding later this week, and also to be sexy for my IMPC pictures in April.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Offline for the next few days to go to a wedding, will post workout logs and such when I get back.

Josh

[stonecoldtruth]

So, after a nice vacation down to Arkansas for my cousin's wedding we are back and ready to rock and roll.

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout:
2 scoops Controlled Labs White Flood
2 scoops Controlled Labs Purple Wraath

Postworkout:
2 scoops Anabolic Innovation's Whey Protein Isolate (Chocolate and Banana)

Other:
2500mg Bulk Cissus
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (4 hours postworkout)

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Workout Scores:

Focus - 10/10 - My focus today was just off the chain. I have a feeling a few days off helped this along as well.

Endurance - 10/10 - My swim was slated to be a 450 distance swim and then some biking. However, after a 500 distance swim I decided to throw in some drill work. The bike ride was just about as boring as possible, more on that in the details section.

Energy - 10/10 - A few days off from working out combined with the extreme energy of WF/PW led to quite possibly the most 'rushed' energy I've felt in a long time.

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Workout Details:

Swimming
- 500 distance
- 400 drills (kickboard and 6 kick roll)

Biking
- 3 mile sprint (average speed 21.2mph)

Basketball
- 30 minutes
- Run for misses


Workout Notes:

My swim felt almost TOO easy, as if I were a slick surface the water could not slow. I think this is due to my quick adaptation to Front Quandrant Swimming and adding in a non-dominant 1-2 kick after every breath. I had originally planned to ride a good 12-15 miles on the bike at the gym, but I ran into a HUGE road block. After getting in some decent riding time on my bike outdoors I cannot STAND to ride on that stupid fake bike at the gym. A lot of people complain that running on the treadmill isn't running, well I say that riding a stationary bike is NOT cycling. Because of that, I did a 3 mile sprint on the bike and then went to shoot some basketball. Tomorrow my work schedule is weird (10am-6pm) so after work I will be lifting and running.

I also picked up more toys for the bike today.. here is the shopping list from this week alone for the bike:

New Seat
Saddle Bag (I call it the bike's fanny pack)
Combination Lock
Bike Shorts (Cannondale brand, gotta match the bike!)
Chamois Butter (yes, butt cream to stop chafing when using bike shorts)
Ninja Hood (lol, see picture for explanation)


Oh yes, what a good day.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout:
2 scoops Controlled Labs White Flood
2 scoops Controlled Labs Purple Wraath

Postworkout:
2 scoops Anabolic Innovation's Whey Protein Isolate

Other:
2500mg Bulk Cissus
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (4 hours postworkout)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Workout Scores:

Focus - 6/10 - I was a bit distracted during my workout, but it was actually a 'good' distraction as I was focusing on something Mike the trainer said to me before I started working out. More on that below.

Endurance - 9/10 - While I may have been distracted I felt as if I could have done this workout while asleep. Certainly not an easy workout with increased weights combined with lower reps and very little rest between sets. I would have given it a 10, but my quick 1.25 mile run felt harder than normal.

Energy - 7.5/10 - Working out later in the night seems to throw off my energy levels.

Pumps - 10/10 - My legs felt like these:


My arms felt like these:


The pumps were just off the chain.

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Workout Details:

Cardio (pre-exhaust):
1.25 mile run (5 minute run, 2 walk, repeat x2)

Lifting:
4 sets of 6 Incline Bench Press
4 sets of 12 Pec Flyes
4 sets of 8 Lat Pulldown (wide grip)
4 sets of 10 V-Handle Seated Rows
3 sets of 12 Single DB Skullcrushers
3 sets of 15 DB Concentration Curls
3 sets of 10 Leg Extensions (3 second hold and squeeze at top)
3 sets of 12 Seated Curls

Workout Notes:

As I was signing up for a treadmill Mike, one of the trainers, came up to chat for a couple minutes. After talking about the recent weather (snow in April, WTFMATE?) he got serious on me. He asked if I remembered the other day when I was in the gym and he was training a larger guy. Of course I remembered, as I always remember what happens at the gym. The man in question reminds me a lot of me before I started losing weight.. however he is quite larger than I started at, weighing in at nearly 500lbs. Well, Mike asked me if next time he trains the guy if I would come and talk to him for a few minutes. Apparently Mike had shared my story with the guy and this man asked if he could meet me, because knowing that someone else has faced similar challenges inspires him that he can suceed. I'm not usually an overly-emotional guy, but I had to wipe tears from my eyes. I've always said that if I can inspire one person that my journey would have been worth it. Now, don't get me wrong, I have received dozens of e-mails/pms/ims telling me how I've inspired people, but never before have is it been RIGHT here in my own backyard, ya know? So I'm hoping I get to meet and talk to Harry soon..

Because of this being on my mind my workout was kind of distracted and somewhat unfocused. However, I still pounded out the workout I wanted. I focused on weights tonight since I missed a weight workout last week. Also, my run felt good at the 5 and 2 intervals, so I'll be doing the full 35 minute program of that later this week as well. I feel like I need to keep my run on a gradual incline so I may stay at 5 and 2 for an extra week since running is quickly falling behind my cycling and swimming.

I also took my pictures for the IMPC tonight, for those who don't know the IMPC is an online bodybuilding competition that I am taking part in. I am only in the MIP, or Most Improved Physique, category since I still have a long way to go before I'll be ready for any real 'bodybuilding' divisions.

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

Supplements Taken:

Preworkout:
2 scoops Controlled Labs White Flood
2 scoops Controlled Labs Purple Wraath

Postworkout:
2 scoops Anabolic Innovation's Whey Protein Isolate (Chocolate and Banana)

Other:
2500mg Bulk Cissus
2 caps Red Acid Gen 2 (4 hours postworkout)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Workout Scores:

Focus - 10/10 - I believe that I am now officially the most focused person in the universe. I went into the gym, did my workout, and left. No distractions, no self-doubting, no posing in the mirror. Just hardcore me.

Endurance - 10/10 - I threw back in an old, but favorite, exercise today and expected it to kick my ass. Turns out I might have to crank up the intensity some more if I want to tire myself out.

Energy - 10/10 - Smooth, steady, and didn't let me down at all. It was like that Asian Massage parlor.

----------------------------------------------------

Workout Details:

Swimming
- 200 warmup
- 600 drills
- 200 kickboard speed drills (25 sprint, 25 recovery)
- 200 6-kick roll speed drills (25 sprint, 25 recovery)
- 100 pull bouy speed drills
- 100 catchup drills
- 100 cooldown
- 1/2 mile total

Basketball
- 35 minutes
- Run for misses

Skipping (jump rope)
- 50 skips superset with 1 lap around the track
- 5 sets of the above
- Last set skipped until burnout, 97 skips

Workout Notes - Umm, I rock?

SCT

[stonecoldtruth]

WARNING - This post contains graphic content and pictures from today. Please be advised this post is not recommended for those weak of stomach.

The day started like any other, though it would not end that way. I got up, ate a nice breakfast and prepared my workout plan for the day. Despite the horrid weather (20+ mph winds, 4 degree wind chill) I determined that I would take the bike trails to the gym, do some stairmill, and then ride home.

I layered up for the blustering wind, making sure that no bodypart would be left to be bitten by the chilling wind, and headed out for the gym. I immediately noticed that I was competely alone on the bike trail. In fact, the only other rider I'd see all day was one leaving the convenient store on his mountain bike, 6 pack of beer in tow.

Having an empty bike trail excited me a tad, as it gives a feeling of freedom and almost an air of danger. Little did I know that this air of danger was almost a foreshadowing of what was soon to come. I kept a good strong 20mph pace up to Mile 6, and which I slowed down slightly due to the curvy nature of the bike trail takes on. This was also the area of the bike trail where my friend Kathy crashed last week, and earned her purple bruise all the way up and down her right leg.

I rounded the rounded the corner near Yankton Trail Park at around 22mph and as soon as I had cleared the turn I saw it. The path was covered in ice, apparently a nearby creek had flooded and then frozen. I applied my brakes but knew it was too late. I had hit the ice, still going a good 18mph at this point. My front wheel turned hard left and I went down.

A lot of times you hear people say 'it happened so fast' that they don't remember details. Well, for me it was the total opposite.. it happened so slow I recall every bit of it. The wheel turned hard left and I was thrown forward as the back tire came up in protest to the sharp wheel movement. Had this just been dirt or pavement the crash might have ended there, but since this was ice I was in for a long ride. The initial impact was on the frontside of my helmet, but my face would soon assist in the slide. I slid to the end of the ice on my face/helmet and then another 15 feet on the dirt/concrete that followed.

After the slid came to an end I took a few seconds to regain my composure, sure that I was 'ok'. I stood up and looked around, thinking to myself that it could have been a lot worse. I looked down at my gloves and noticed that they had blood spots all over them, and then the panic kicked in slightly. I leaned forward and watched as a steady stream of blood fall from my face.

As I mentioned earlier, the bike trail was barren of other human lifeforms, so I knew I'd need to call to get help. I hobbled back to the bike, which had taken only part of the slide with me, and got my cell phone out of my bike fanny. With bloody fingers I dialed my wife's work phone and began to tear up. I admit it, I started to cry. Not out of pain, but out of pure adrenaline and emotion. I was upset with myself for wrecking, for hurting myself, for possibly ruining my bike. I told her in a panicked voice that I had wrecked and that I was bleeding a lot. She asked where I was, and luckily I was close enough to a parking lot near the road that I told her to meet me there. At this point I noticed my glasses weren't on my face... because they were lying busted on the bike trail.

After calling her I evaluated my situation. I was alone, bleeding, freezing cold, and waiting for my wife to come. I knew I couldn't fit the bike into the car, so I placed another call. On faith that my customer loyalty mattered I called Spoke-N-Sport and told them what had happened. I asked if they could come pick up my bike for me since I didn't just want to leave it on the bike trail. Immediately they said they'd be right there. Being only a couple of miles away they beat my wife to the scene and sat with me while we waited. Up until this point I had no idea how bad my injuries were. I asked Kyle if I 'looked ok', his silence told me everything I needed... They offered to take me to the hospital, which just made me cry more as I was just astounded how much they were willing to help someone else who they've only known for a short time.

My wife arrived at the park and we headed to the hospital. In the car on the way to the hospital I got my first look at my face in the mirror. My left eyebrow was caked in blood, and the right side of my face was pretty cut up. Honestly, I began to wonder how on earth I had gotten away with so FEW injuries. The pain was about a 7 out of 10, and dizziness was setting in. Upon walking into the emergency room doors I was rushed, nay ushered, into the admissions office where we skipped all paperwork and began to take vitals and such. I was taken quickly to an exam room where the doctor came to see me within mere minutes. Hell, he was there to see me before we could even get me undressed (mind you, layers) and into the hospital gown. We talked for a couple minutes about what happened and he left me to get into the gown. Upon removing layers we found that my Cannondale Bike shorts were ok, but my underarmour compression tights AND compression shorts where torn up. My armour had been destroyed, hehe.

After I got gowned up and into the bed a EMT student came in to clean the wounds. It was humorous though, because when the nurse came in with the laceration cart she said, 'I just had to go get the crash cart.' I can only assume my eyes looked like that of an owl afterwards. The EMT student cleaned all of my wounds, beginning with my skinned forearm and reallllly skinned up knee. After that she tackled the face.. I must admit that for being an EMT student of only 8 months she did a really good job getting all the dirt/mud/crap out of the wound.

The nurse then put some gel anesthetics into the wound. Apparently the gash above my eyebrow was deep enough to need stitches. Some 'deep' stitches, as well as outer ones. I have never had stitches before, and being afraid of stitches, so I was a tad nervous at this point. After the anesthetics kicked in the doctor came back in and stitched me up. The initial stitch was very painful, due to not using enough anesthetics. However, after that one he gave me a shot of a different anesthetic, and I felt NOTHING of what he was doing. We talked about diet and exercise, I think as a method of keeping me occupied.
I was discharged, but not given ANYTHING for the pain which is now reeking havoc on my face.

I'm not allowed to swim for 7 days, and I have to put sunblock on the wound anytime I go outside. But other than that I should be back in the gym on Monday. I'd be back tomorrow but my knee is pretty damn sore and skinned up. Because of this I am going to take the weekend off to heal and recover, and hit it hard on Monday. I will be staying 100% on point for my diet this weekend, because the IMPC continues on regardless of injury.

Oh yeah, while I didn't get a picture of the wound before it was all cleaned up, I did take a post-stitches picture for you guys.. here ya go:



I can safely say that if had I not been wearing a helmet I could have literally died, in fact the doctor would later tell me I was lucky to have lived through it. I want to give a wholehearted thank you to Spoke-N-Sport as well, Kyle and Chad have earned a customer for life thanks to their kindness. As soon as I hear what is wrong with the bike I'll let you guys know.

Josh

[Spartan]

Bleeder.





Seriously, good to hear you survived with a few battle scars in tow. That'll just reaffirm to the other competitors how hard core you can be and not to fuck with you!

[stonecoldtruth]

Bleeder.

Seriously, good to hear you survived with a few battle scars in tow. That'll just reaffirm to the other competitors how hard core you can be and not to fuck with you!

Pulling your cell phone away from your face and seeing it covered in blood.. hardcore.

They ain't got shit on me.

[stonecoldtruth]

I got a call from the bike shop this morning telling me the bike survived the accident with a few scratches, but NO significant damage. The brake caliper needed some repairs, but the bike shop fixed that free of charge. I went and picked up the bike this afternoon and let me tell you that makes me feel 100% better about the situation. I did have to buy a new helmet since the mold apparently cracked on the old one. However, the Spoke-N-Sport gave me a 30% discount on any new helmet.. talk about an amazing group of guys.

My face is swollen pretty bad today and I like like the staypuffed marshmallow man, but other than that I am good. Spirits are high, rest is plenty, and Monday I'll be back in the gym.

Have a happy easter everyone.

Josh