Make travel as memorable and impactful as possible.

When you set off to go out of town, it is good to set clear goals with parameters to measure both the purposefulness of your trip and to ensure you get the most out of it. This year I set the goal that when I travel - "Make travel as memorable and impactful as possible." So, I spent a significant portion of 2013 preparing for the Kemah Boardwalk Olympic Tri. So, when I set off for a 24 hour stay in Houston, which included 2 trips to Kemah Boardwalk (45 minutes away), I knew I needed to set some goals to make sure I saw some of my friends from there. You cannot see everyone in a 24 hour visit. So, I focused on 1 friend from dental school - Matt. This plan worked because Matt and Judy set aside tons of time for this visit, which made it possible for us to jam out, go to Downhouse Restaurant, Bellisimo, Caddilac's, see Ross' place, bump into Seth, watch Life of Pi, and he even made time to show up for an early morning Sunday race in time to get tons of really awesome pictures (the 4 pictures of the race photo credit: Matt Strepka).

(Seth, Matt, Me, Ross)

 This picture is fun because the four of us used to go into the greenbelt off Hwy 6, near Bear Creek and play paintball in the woods for hours. So, just being together even for a little while was a special treat. Those days playing paintball are one of those things that it's easy to take for granted in the moment. You think, "We play every weekend. This will go on forever." But, people move, things change, and life goes on. I tell this part with some nostalgia, but fully knowing that just this moment shown here in this picture is enough.

(Ross has won his FF League 3 years in a row!)

 Ross always picks his fantasy teams very carefully, poring over the stats. Even still, winning 3 years in a row in a competitive league is a sweet feeling, (I wouldn't know - I always seem to make playoffs in my league, but never seem to be able to win the big one.)

Below you will see the choppy water of what was supposed to be the Kemah Boardwalk Olympic Triathlon. Unfortunately, due to wet roads, the bike component of the race was cut out, so they modified the race into a Swim -> Run Aquathalon. This race was not what I prepared for, so I am currently trying to decide if I should give it another go, or what. It was a disappointing experience, since race day is supposed to be the moment that you can finally measure your progress in relation to others around you.
 

(Kemah Boardwalk Tri 2013 - the water was choppy! Ugh!)

So, after much preparation, I was left with a very choppy swim that I did not feel reflected my level of preparation. Worse, I was not really ready to go from swim to run. I practiced 7 bricks beforehand (bike-runs), but, alas, my preparation was not useful this day. Once again race day taught me flexibility. After doing several races in 2005-2008, and then coming back for the MS 150 in 2011, and this race 2013, I must say that the main thing you learn from racing is how to roll with the punches.

(I was tired after those 10k.)

(Aquathalon swim to run transition)

(Running the race)

(TDA - San Antonio 2013)

The next trip was my journey to TDA. This year I made it a priority to take my entire staff to the meeting so that everyone could gain from the experience. TDA 2013 had hundreds of educational opportunities. They had something for every member of the dental staff. So, I took my hygienists, assistant, front office staff, and myself and we all took educational courses.

On Thursday and Saturday, I participated as a delegate in the TDA house of delegates. The house of delegates is the supreme governing body of TDA. So, we hold what is most comparable to a legislature in an attempt to make plans for the upcoming year of TDA. We were discussing everything from dental sleep medicine, funding of TDA (dues), the importance of attracting and retaining dentists so that we continue to have a voice in the Texas Legislature. Membership in TDA is approximately 65% of all practicing dentists. This is below the national average for tripartite ADA membership, which is closer to 70%.

(View from Drury Plaza Riverwalk)

(Me, Holly, Matt - TDA delegates)

(TDA House of Delegates)

 So, as many dentists were out meeting up with old friends on Thursday night. I took these pictures from the hotel where I got a workout in. I made time to meet up with another dear friend, Parks, while I was in San Antonio, so, we met up on Friday night - his last night of law school, congratulations homie!

Laughing til it hurts with an old friend is the best.

It is therefore my opinion that to fulfill this part of the dream, you have to make time for balance in your life. This etude on balance means that when you travel - try to spend some of that time connecting with friends. Those are the little gold nuggets that can't be measured.

Tri Hard - The Importance of Written Goals

So, triathlon - you beckon again.

The last time I competed as a novice triathlete was in October 2008, I had just finished dental school and I had been training off and on for 2 years and the culmination of my experience pushed me to compete in a Half Ironman. As soon as you say this people immediately say, "how far is that?" I will save you the time of looking it up.

A Half Ironman is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run.

So, I had just acquired my dental office and I had a lot going on between August and October as I was just starting private practice. So, I did not have enough time to train my body the way I wanted to, so that I could be completely prepared for my race. While I completed my Half Ironman, it was difficult, even painful to finish. This experience left me feeling burnt out. When I reflect on this experience, it has pushed me to re-evaluate how I train.

Training for a specific event is so different than just "working out." In #DreamBig2013, I have made a list of the many things I would like to accomplish that would allow me to feel that I have truly reached for the stars this year. One of the things was to Tri Hard. For me that meant setting a goal for a specific race and setting some very high personal goals. This time around my race will feel great and I will be exquisitely prepared.

Before I made my training plan, I chose a race. For DreamBig2013, I chose an Olympic Distance Triathlon. I considered starting back with a sprint distance, but my dental assistant encouraged me to shoot for the stars and convinced me that I would be bored by a sprint. So, I chose the Kemah Triathlon. But, I did not want to just go and complete the triathlon, I wanted to push myself and put up a respectable time that pushed my personal envelope.

So, I was putting a plan into action, I sat down and made some notes about how I was going to get there. Written goals are the most effective and most likely to be completed.

Here was my train of thought: (transcription of my hand-written notes from 2/5/13)

"If I competed in the Olympic Distance Kemah Tri today I think I would finish in [~2:51:26] with a Swim - 27:00, T1 - 3:00, Bike - 1:19:00, T2 - 1:40, Run - 1:00:46
The goal will be to improve on all those numbers. Goal #s for Race Day based on finishers of 2012 OLY TRI - this [the time listed above] would be a 28/62 place age group finish.
Goal: Swim - 26:00, T1 - 2:40, Bike - 1:17:00, T2 - 1:15, Run - 55:00
for a New Tot: Goal [2:41:55] for an 18th/62 finish.
How to peel 1 minute off swim between now and race day.
-Weekly swim. 11 weeks, 11 swims (-5 swims+bikes, -6swims)
How to peel 20s off T1
-Practice T1 Swim-Bike 5X of the 11 swims
How to peel 2 min off Bike
-Practice RPM drills. Shorter Dist. -Speed Skills
-11 weeks, 22 bikes (-5 previously noted as splash-rides, -11 later noted as Bricks [bike-runs for the uninitiated], 6 "rides")
How to peel 25s off T2
-Practice 11 bricks in 11 weeks
How to peel 5:46 off run
-11 weeks 23 runs (11 noted as bricks)
-12 remaining divided into distance and skills"

After I completed this thought out process of how to get from A - my guesstimated time to C - the time I am shooting for in the actual race, by going through B, now I needed to map that out with a written OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRI PLAN, which I spent about 2 hours developing in Excel, thinking through what it will take. So, you have 83 days to get in all these workouts. Where are you going to put them all?

So, here is my schedule. I hope this helps others understand what written goals really look like and how they might implement them.
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T	2/5/13	RUN1	SPEED SKILLS	2mi	20min	155
W	2/6/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	2/7/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
F	2/8/13	SWIM1	GETTING REACQUAINTED	1000m	20min
SA	2/9/13	BRICK	B1 R2	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
	Weight_165__ Resting HR _50__      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  _Chest_Soreness
SU	2/10/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M	2/11/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	2/12/13	BIKE2	RPM SKILLS	12.5mi	30min	159
W	2/13/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	2/14/13	R or B
F	2/15/13	SWIM2	Descr:_______________	1200m	24min
SA	2/16/13	BRICK	B3 R3	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
	Weight_____ Resting HR__49___      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	2/17/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M	2/18/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	2/19/13	RUN4	DISTANCE	4mi	34min	167
W	2/20/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	2/21/13	R or B
F	2/22/13	SWIM3	Descr:_______________	1200m	23min
SA	2/23/13	BRICK	B4 R5	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	2/24/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M	2/25/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	2/26/13	BIKE5	RPM SKILLS	12.5mi	30min	159
W	2/27/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	2/28/13	R or B
F	3/1/13	SWIM4	Descr:_______________	1600m	32min
SA	3/2/13	BRICK	B6 R6	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	3/3/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M	3/4/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	3/5/13	RUN7	SPEED SKILLS	3mi	30min	155
W	3/6/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	3/7/13	R or B
F	3/8/13	SWIM5	Descr:_______________	1600m	29:30:00
SA	3/9/13	BRICK	B7 R8	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	3/10/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M	3/11/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	3/12/13	BIKE8	RPM SKILLS	12.5mi	30min	159
W	3/13/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	3/14/13	R or B
F	3/15/13	SWIM6	Descr:_______________	2000m	40min
SA	3/16/13	BRICK	B9 R9	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	3/17/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M	3/18/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	3/19/13	RUN10	SPEED SKILLS	2mi	20min	155
W	3/20/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	3/21/13	R or B
F	3/22/13	SPLASH/RIDE	SW7/B10	1600m/15mi	1:21:00	160
SA	3/23/13	REST
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	3/24/13	BRICK	B11 R11	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
M	3/25/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
T	3/26/13	RUN12	DISTANCE	6mi	55:00:00	167
W	3/27/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	3/28/13	R or B
F	3/29/13	SPLASH/RIDE	SW8/B12	1500m/20mi	1:30	162
SA	3/30/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	3/31/13	BRICK	B13 R13	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
M	4/1/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
T	4/2/13	RUN14	SPEED SKILLS	4mi	40min	165
W	4/3/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	4/4/13	R or B
F	4/5/13	SPLASH/RIDE	SW9/B14	1500m/26.5mi	1:38:00	164
SA	4/6/13	REST
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	4/7/13	BRICK	B15 R15	24.85mi/6.2mi	1:30	165
M	4/8/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
T	4/9/13	RUN16	DISTANCE	6mi	55:00:00	167
W	4/10/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	4/11/13	R or B
F	4/12/13	SPLASH/RIDE	SW10/B16	2000m/30mi	2:25	170
SA	4/13/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	4/14/13	BRICK	B20 R17	20mi/3mi	1:30	165
M	4/15/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
T	4/16/13	RUN18	SPEED SKILLS	4mi	40min	165
W	4/17/13	FITNESS	GYM	VAR	1:15	170/125
TH	4/18/13	R or B
F	4/19/13	SPLASH/RIDE	SW11/B21	750m/12.5mi	TIME:______	HR:____
SA	4/20/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	4/21/13	REST	Recovery pace bike22	12.5mi	40min	130
M	4/22/13	REST	Race speed run23	1mi	8min	165
T	4/23/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
W	4/24/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TH	4/25/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
F	4/26/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SA	4/27/13	REST	---------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Weight_____ Resting HR_____      __Sleep  __Fatigue  __Stress  __Soreness
SU	4/28/13	A-priority Race	Kemah Boarwalk OLY TRI	DIST:______	TIME:______	HR:____