Turbulent Times!

Well when I started this little Ironman adventure, targeted fundraising for Kids with Cancer Society, and to raise awareness around DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) I anticipated a lot of potential obstacles and challenges.  COVID-19 and closure of gyms and pools was not on the radar at all!

That being said I come back to the challenging reality that Ronan Smyth and his family grappled with from the day of his diagnosis with DIPG due to his far too early passing.  I know from the brief conversations I have had with his mother and from seeing some of the posts on Facebook, that Ronan faced no shortage of challenges and bad days.  So I persevere.  

At this point there is already a lot of talk about Ironman Canada at the end of August being in potential jeopardy of cancellation.  I suspect that some of my larger lead up events in July are even more at risk.  Nothing I can do about that and I continue to prepare as if the races will happen.  I continue to work with the Kids for Cancer Society to get a fundraising page up and running with specific reference to what I'm doing and noting my commitment to the legacy of Ronan.

So at this point - from a health and athletic standpoint - things are going well.  Aside from the lack of a swimming opportunity right now (and contrary to popular belief about Canadians, snowbanks don't make for much of a substitute for open water) I'm keeping a pretty consistent effort on both my bike and run components.  This sometimes is including brick efforts as well - get off the bike and go straight to run.  I've also continued to work on core strength with those workouts happening about three times a week.  At this point the minimum hours committed to physically getting ready is no less than 7 hours per week and has sometimes peaked up at 11 hours or even more on occasion.

On top of that I have continued to get to Ironman at a weight that is far less than I have ever competed at before.  Post-Christmas turkey I weighed in at 204 pounds.  This was "only" 10 pounds over my usual race weight of 195 pounds.  For those of you who don't know, a guy weighing 200 pounds or more is lovingly classed/called "Clydesdale".  For women I believe the similar term becomes "Amazon".  I didn't want to be in that neighborhood again so committed to a significant weight loss plan since Christmas.  What has that meant?  Well starting back in the first week of January it meant a calorie intake of 1,755 per day.  Over time that has been reduced to where I now sit at a targeted calorie intake of 1,319.  So pretty sparse and routine meals for a long time now.  One of the recent unintended consequences of that has been a flare up of gout in my right foot!  A consequence, apparently, of too much salmon and not enough water.

The results, though, speak for themselves.  As of this morning I now weight in at 173.6 pounds - over 30 pounds down since Christmas and over 20 pounds down from best/worst race weight for an Ironman!  My goal of at least 170 pounds is easily in sight now with the potential of even getting to 165 pounds around Easter.  I feel like Dwayne Johnson in The Game Plan - light on my toes!  It is around Easter that I will cease the weight loss and commit even more fully to more intensive training.  And hopefully swimming will become an option again!

That's the status report during this time of lockdown and social isolation.  In an ironic way, this reality has helped keep me focused on training and personal health as a lot of other distractions have gone away.  

Keep well.  Stay safe.  Let's keep doing this.

__________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

This Time It's Personal

This particular blog has been dormant for quite some time now.  In fact as I look back it's been almost 7 years since I last talked about Ironman, training, trials, tribulations and victories.

Well I'm back and getting ready for Ironman Canada #3 slated for August 30, 2020.  I made that commitment last year upon hearing that Ironman was returning to Penticton.  That reality gave me a chance to go back and race against my former self with the last, best effort coming in 2011.  When I race this time I'll be 55.  I was age 46 last time around.  Should be an interesting challenge!

This year is different in another way as well.  I'm racing for a cause.  I'm trying to bring hope to those impacted or suffering from a malicious and (currently) incurable childhood cancer - DIPG - Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.  I'm trying to raise awareness about this disease and it's impact.  I'm trying to raise funds through my efforts for much needed support for children and families impacted by this disease.  As a member of the Cops for Cancer Ironteam (http://www.ironteam.ca/) since 2008, I've helped fundraise for cancer research before and support the amazing legacy that this group of dedicated athletes has already established.

We've all been impacted by cancer in one way or another.  A friend of mine lost his wife to lung cancer.  She left behind a devoted husband and two young children just over a year ago.  Another family member passed away from brain cancer late last year.  Others I know have been impacted by colon cancer, skin cancer and the list goes on.  But in the past year, I watched a family struggle with the diagnosis and the inevitable passing of their son due to DIPG.  While I worked with both parents in my past career I have to admit that I likely never met their son Ronan.  But I feel I got to know him through the efforts of his mother in particular as she documented all that they went through - and continue to go through - to make the most of his last months with them.

While I have experienced substantial personal loss myself - loss of grandparents, parent, and wife - I still can't imagine the impact of losing one of my children.  What I saw with Ronan's journey through living with DIPG was strength and a level of maturity he brought to his life in those last months.  I can only hope to emulate the kind of dignity and strength he showed at age 12 and 13 as the cancer slowly took him from this world.

There is so much to say about Ronan that can't be said in on blog post - so there will be more in the future.  However, you can start to glean a lot about him and his experience by simply searching his name as a starting point on the internet.

On February 12, 2020, on what would have been Ronan's 14th birthday, his mother asked that people remember him and perhaps dedicate some aspect of their day to his memory.  In the throes of getting ready for my Ironman experience I responded that I would dedicate my day's workout in respect of the request.  But the ask got me thinking about what else might be possible.  I started thinking and digging and arrived at a concept of not just dedicating one day or a few hours of effort to this cause but instead considering what it might look like to dedicate my Ironman training and competition to Ronan's memory and to making a more sizeable impact for DIPG awareness and support.

So here goes!  For those who know me well you already have a sense that in the past few years I have been driven by the philosophy of "What if?" and "Why not?"  So let's dream big.  I want to commit this next 6 to 7 months to moving the needle forward on DIPG awareness and support.  I'm dedicating this year's Ironman effort to that end.  And this commitment is not just one of blood, sweat and tears.  I want to raise substantial funds for the cause.  I have reached out and teamed up with the Kids with Cancer Society.  In short order they will be helping me with promotion, fundraising web-page, donation forms, and a lot of advice!  They will be the charity of choice for this effort.

Coincidentally, my 9-year old daughter - who seems to have a decidedly charitable element to her personality - had recently said that she wanted to do some fundraising for cancer research.  She had already formulated her own plan.  I talked to her about Ronan and what I was trying to pursue and why.  She's on board!  From her viewpoint - and prior to knowing about Ronan and DIPG - she had envisioned a fundraising goal of $10,000.

I said "What if?" and "Why not?"... go bigger!

So I'm actually hoping through my efforts, the efforts of family and friends, colleagues, contacts, those who have been impacted by DIPG, and the efforts and commitment of complete strangers that we can in fact target and reach $100,000 as a fundraising goal.

And again I emphasize and repeat this is not just going to be me shedding blood, sweat and tears in service of this cause.  I will put my money where my mouth is.  My wife and I - founders and principals of our own coaching/leadership development company - BreakPoint Solutions (www.breakpoint.solutions) commit to contributing 5% of our monthly billings from March through to the end of August to this cause.  By our own commitment and efforts that should mean attainment of my daughter's fundraising target of $10,000.

But I want more and I hope WE can get there together!

Over the next 6 to 7 months you can expect to get updates through about both my physical and mental readiness for Ironman, lead up races and - most importantly - the fundraising efforts.

I thank you in advance for helping to raise awareness about the insidious disease of DIPG, to providing hope to those children and families who are currently challenged by this cancer, and raising funds to support those challenged by other childhood cancers in partnership with Kids With Cancer Society.

It's About Leadership!  And this time it's personal.  F**K Cancer.

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Success?

An apology to start this brief entry - I should have done an update on the April 28th half-marathon well before now!  Hopefully better late than never!

As I noted in the last post, weather was expected to be a factor and it was to some extent.  Temperature at the start of the race was basically at zero degrees Celsius.  For my American counterparts that's 32 degrees Fahrenheit.  And just in case you haven't picked up on it before, I'm a wuss when it comes to cold weather running.  I don't run outside in the winter or in any conditions that approach the freezing mark.  Some of that is a matter of personal choice.  However, I also do appear to have a legitimate physical condition that limits my enjoyment of these colder temperatures - my circulatory system seems to rapidly sacrifice my extremities, particularly my hands, when I run in these types of conditions.  I have tried various gloves in combination with hand warmers largely without success.  I often suffer to the point of having to slowing remove my gloves and get to a sink to slowly warm my hands back up, all with a great deal of pain involved.  Not fun.

So I was less than excited about a run in cold weather as one of my early tests and hopes for a personal best.  I came outfitted with my winter run pants and long-sleeve shirt/jacket.  Had a few hand warmers in my pockets to go into my gloves as circumstances dictated.  So there I was at the starting gate alongside fellow competitors - some in shorts, some in t-shirts, and some even wearing sandals (which I assume were designed specifically for running but I didn't ask).  Again, I felt a bit conspicuous by my garb, but...

Unfortunately, to add to the start of the day, we got off at least 20 minutes later than the planned start time.  Traffic/parking snarls delayed a number of participants getting to the venue and organizers decided to put a hold on the start. 

Bit of a different route this year than what I had experienced in previous events.  Mercifully so for me in any event.  In previous races we had done a fairly steep climb through a series of switchbacks within the first 5 kilometers of the start.  So I was quite happy for the change even if it meant a bit of unfamiliarity with the course at the beginning. 

When I scheduled this race and trained for it through the winter, I had hoped that this could be the year that I broke the 2-hour barrier for the half-marathon length.  I kept check on my progress throughout and (unfortunately) was pretty consistent in hitting 30 minutes per every 5 km.  Pretty much what I had been doing during training.  I guess what this tells me is that I can't trust to any adrenalin boost on race day to improve my performance!  Needless to say that pace doesn't work out to a sub 2-hour result.  However, I was able to beat my personal best and finished in 2:07:52.  Maybe there is hope as I age?  If I keep up this improvement I can beat 2 hours by the time I'm 60?

Next up for me?  More training - on the run, on the bike, and hopefully come June back into the pool before I forget what swimming is!  Next race is a 15 km run on July 1st, followed by a 100 km bike in mid-July. 

Time for more goals!

D-Day and H-Hour appoaches!

A very brief update for those that have been wondering "What's Greg been up to?" and "Is he ready for his first race of the year?".  The answer comes this Sunday, April 28th!

Despite high hopes for getting my weight into the 170s, alas it didn't happen.  I'll probably hit the start line on Sunday morning at 185.  There is good and bad to that.  The bad is relatively clear in that I didn't reach that stretch goal of dropping below 180 by the end of April.  I have to be honest in saying that I clearly wasn't as disciplined as when I first undertook a weight loss effort back in 2008.  That being said I started this effort from quite a different place than the first time around.  In 2008 I started my weight loss effort from around 225 pounds and at one time pushed myself down to 179 (just in advance of the honeymoon with my new wife :) - positioned me well to let all the rules go for that 2-week period!).  In 2013, I started weight loss from a starting point of 200 pounds and as I've said now sit at 185. 

The good of where I sit now weight-wise is that I don't believe I've ever run a race at anything below 190 and maybe not even below 195 pounds.  So I should be better positioned from a weight standpoint to give myself a good chance at a personal best half-marathon time come Sunday.

On the training side, I have to say that I believe the quality of my run training (and bike training) has been better than it was when I was preparing for my Ironman competitions.  Maybe no surprise.  I've learned a lot about myself, my capabilities and how much more I can do since I completed my last Ironman Canada in 2011. 

So everything should be set up for my personal goal of a sub 2-hour half-marathon performance this Sunday...except for the weather??  As perhaps most of us in North America might be able to attest to, this year winter was not particularly nice nor has it been all that excited about releasing its grip on our part of the world.  We've continued to have relatively cold temps through to this week and even fits of snow thrown in for good measure.  As I have checked out the course of the race I've not been very impressed to see patches of snow and ice on the course.  Been keeping a wary eye on forecasted race day temp as well - it appears that I will start the race at near 0 degrees Celsius and likely not get much beyond 5 degrees by the time I'm finished.  Neither temp or course condition seem particularly conducive to achieving a personal best. 

I will still give it my best, push myself to a performance I believe I am capable of.

Wish me luck!

The good...and the not so good...

It's been some time since I updated my status as it relates to the goals I've been working on - and the deadline for achievement is approaching at the end of April.

For those following the blog, I had committed a couple of months ago to two goals.  Goal number one was to try work my half-marathon time down under 2 hours.  The best I've done to date on a pure half-marathon effort (i.e., not part of a triathlon) is about 2 hours, 8 minutes.  So should be a reasonably achievable goal.  Now I'll admit right now that I won't be particularly satisfied if I finish my April 28 half-marathon in 1:59:59!  I'd like to do slightly better than that.  My training has actually gone quite well.  I've had what I consider to be some good (indoor) runs accompanied by some equally good (indoor) bike rides.  I'm actually hopeful - if still not entirely confident! - that I'll make my goal of a sub 2 hour half-marathon performance.  If past history is any guide I should do better on the actual race day than in training.  Must be the competitive spirit and adrenalin kicking in.  Still a few weeks to go and I've got some challenges to the workout regime ahead - family coming to visit this weekend and then I'm away from home for a week on business.  So there will be competing priorities and potential barriers in the way.  Got to keep focused!

That was the good.  Goal Number One seems on track!  As for goal number 2, the idea was to lose 30 pounds by the end of April.  So the picture to the right starts to convey some of the challenges I'm feeling right now - how do I keep my fat ass in my spandex and yet perform at my desired level!  Three months time would have meant weight loss of 10 pounds per month.  Reasonably aggressive but not something that I thought was insurmountable.  In a past effort at concerted weight loss I had shed 37 pounds in 3 months.  Granted this time I started at a point that was at least 25 pounds lighter than when I was at my heaviest.  So perhaps I should have expected more challenge this time around.  So the bad news is that I've only dropped 12 pounds to this point in time when by plan/hope I should have been down by 20 at this stage.  I am somewhat frustrated.  At the very least, what I console myself with now is that I will still be racing at my lowest ever weight.  Even when I completed my two Ironman Canada adventures I was weighing in at 195 pounds on race day.  So I should be fleeter of foot come the end of April?

What comes back to me with my current effort on these two goals is my first Ironman effort.  At that time I was also trying to accomplish similar types of goals - lose weight and have a great performance.  Now there was more than a few variables that came into play with my 2010 Ironman Canada race as it relates to my finishing time.  But as I reflect on that reality and compare it to this year's efforts it comes back to me that perhaps weight loss and high(er) athletic performance are not necessarily compatible objectives. 

Oh well, I can still dream can't I!?

Back to you at the end of the month with an update on my race performance!  After all, isn't this supposed to be a blog about athletic performance versus one about weight loss!?

A Good Restart...

Last time I posted it was to put a public commitment out there regarding weight loss and run performance.  In regards to both I had established an end point or milestone of the end of April 2013. 

I'm proud to report that I've taken concrete steps on the right path.  On the weight loss program I'm hoping to be able to say that by the end of today - or about 3 weeks into my effort - that I will have lost at least 6 pounds.  Would I have liked to have lost more?  Absolutely.  But is 2 pounds a week a good rate of loss?  Yes, and probably the safest level of weight loss (at least to my way of thinking) given that I'm also trying to ramp up the volume and quality of my workouts at the same time.  Still having moments of failed willpower and there are still steps to take to ensure my success - those damn potato chips still keep calling my name...and probably still have work to do on managing portions on my plate.  But getting there and it is getting easier each day I'm on the plan.

On the workout side of things I had, for me, what was a good weekend of workouts.  Even with a long weekend and family in from out-of-town, I was able to get in a 10 km run on the Saturday, a 45 km indoor bike on the Sunday, and another 10 km run on Monday!  I haven't had that kind of consistent effort in a long time.  I was happy not only with the quantity of the workouts but also the quality of the effort.  I've been very conscious of the effort I'm going to have to put in if I'm going to finish the half-marathon in under 2 hours.  And so I've been pushing up my effort and getting used to a higher level of intensity.  So far so good.  My base comfort level on the run is certainly higher than it was in my Ironman years.  And I pushed hard enough on the bike to feel it.  The other comforting part is that, other than the hours immediately after the workout (when I'd like to nap) my recovery has been very good.  Waking up the next day and ready for more!

I've also taken steps to map out my race year as well.  Already booked my first target race - the Edmonton Police Half-Marathon on April 28, 2013 - and plan to register for several other run events through to September.  In addition, I plan on registering for the 100 km version of the Tour de l'Alberta again this year.  Accomplished it last year with very little training and don't want to repeat that mistake.  I really coasted on the base I had established in my previous Ironman training.  So I finished the effort but paid for it!  Hoping better training and lower weight will combine to make the ride a little more enjoyable! 

So all-in-all making progress towards my goals! 

The Power of New Goals!

Well this sort of seems like the first day of the rest of my life.  Hmmm...perhaps a bit over the top.  What I have done (not just starting today) but since coming back from the Goofy experience in Orlando is carry through on some commitments I made to myself at the end of 2012.  At that time I said to myself, "Self, we are going to lose 30 pounds and we are going to get our half-marathon time under 2 hours in 2013!"  I have started on the road to achieving both those goals.

Earlier this month I went back on the weight loss program that saw me lose 37 pounds in 2008.  I officially started from 223 pounds back then and got down to 186 within 4 months.  About a year later I decided to push the envelope just a bit further and temporarily pushed myself down to 179 so I would look particularly svelte for my wedding - and to look good in my Armani cruise wear on the honeymoon!  Unfortunately, the honeymoon and the damn the rules approach I took to having fun at the time put 9 pounds back on within a 2-week period.  Zoinks!  Since then, and through my two Ironman Canada events, I have floated at around 195. 

Since starting on my weight loss program (less than 2 weeks ago) I have dropped four pounds.  That's a good rate of loss - two pounds a week.  If I lose more great.  But I'm trying to keep it realistic and healthy.  I'm also conscious of the energy level I have to sustain if I'm going to meet goal #2 - taking my half-marathon time under two hours.

Historically, the best I've every done at the half-marathon distance is 2 hours, 8 minutes.  When I consider I pulled that off at 195 pounds I'm actually pretty impressed with myself.  With thirty fewer pounds on my frame I'm guessing that gravity will be more forgiving come April - that's when I'm focused on breaking my own personal sound barrier.  I'm also far more aware of what kind of training it's going to take to meet my goal and I've already begun to push my pace.  I'm becoming more confident by the day.  I also don't intend on finishing my race year in April.  I'm looking at races throughout the year of varying distances all the way from as little as 5 km events through to more than one half-marathon effort.  Would be nice to establish a consistent level of success throughout the year and maybe even continue a progression. I won't just be running either.  I will continue to get on the bike as I appreciate the variety in training and I hope to get back into swimming come June when Heidi starts her latest maternity leave. 

So there are the goals - get down to 170 pounds by the end of April and get my half-marathon time under 2 hours by the same end point.  Stay tuned and wish me luck!

And as Picard would say (that's him to the right) - Make it So!