March 12th, 2012

Kona Ironman Inspired

Hello everyone,

 I hope all your training and goals are being met with ease. I need your help !!!

I’m not quite mental yet so not that kind of help but a simple vote for my video, My Son and I put this video together and I feel it sends the message loud and clear that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Please follow the link and vote for me  http://apps.facebook.com/konainspired?x=us_facebookapp_137_4

October 19th, 2011

2011 Ford Ironman World Championship FINISHER!!!!

I did the big one on Saturday Oct 8th 2011 Kona, It was everything I expected it would be.

Words can’t describe the feelings I had Saturday morning right after body markings, but I’ll try anyway, It was a feeling the very moment in time out of the vast universe, there I was on a small island in the pacific standing by T-1 and I knew this is where all the up’s and downs in my life led me, this is where I belonged this day and it was one of the greatest feelings I ever had.

Looking back at the last eight years of my life and all the choices I had, I made the right path to this every step of the way even before I knew what Ironman was, it always was part of my lifes training and I found me there.

2.4 mile swim 112 bike and a fun 26.2 run

I tried a full In St George 05/07/2011 and was 15 minutes late getting out of the water (DNF) My first full distance Ironman was Kona this Is where I gained the title IRONMAN.

April 16th, 2011

IRONMAN, KONA HERE I COME 2011

Some of you know me as pushback and some know me as Frank Banaga. I won a lottery slot for Ironman 2011 at KONA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has still not set in as of yet however as time passes I know much training is still needed and it will set in.

I don’t have many words to say right now so I’ll leave with this, In 2003 I was very sick, It was hard to walk and also hard to do the simplest things that we all do every day like putting on socks and shoes or even going to the restroom and I remember asking myself why me? what did I do to deserve the illness I had. As years pass The answer is getting clearer, that RA illness was a great gift, without it I wouldn’t be who I am today, eight full marathons, two half Ironman events and next month I do St George Utah full Ironman and finish or DNF I still get to go to Kona because I’m using my 2011 70.3 in Ca as my qualifying entry to Kona.

That gift was packaged very painfully and it took many challenges to overcome to finally see what it really was. It was a ford IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SLOT and I’m so happy I took the gift and made the best of it.

Dream big and live bigger.

Frank B.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 04/16/2011
  • Time: 17:41:01
  • Total Time: 00:00:00.00
  • Distance: 140.6 miles

January 10th, 2011

Ironman training saves me from dangerous and expensive drugs!

Just found another atricle on suppressed immune systems because of extreme training. When will doctors see the correlation and not prescribe meds but tell you while your in pain now you need to sign up for an Ironman or a marathon, Would that be take two marathons and call me after you cross the finishline??

The notion of an Ironman triathlete laid up in bed with a cold may seem like a contradiction, but in reality, endurance training and triathlon competitions can temporarily impair immune function, leaving you vulnerable to colds.

Researchers found that among 150 ultra-marathon runners competing in a race in South Africa, one-third developed upper respiratory tract infections within two weeks after the race. Among more than 1,800 runners competing in the Los Angeles Marathon, almost 13% reported coming down with a cold within a week after the race. And in the Western States Endurance Run, about one in four athletes reported symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection within two weeks after the race.

Why the spike in colds after these endurance events? The thinking is that the physical stress of endurance exercise increases the circulating concentrations of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. In the short term, these hormones can help you meet the immediate physical demands of Ironman competitions, but the price paid can be a temporary suppression of the immune system — often just enough to allow a head or chest cold to set in.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 01/10/2011
  • Time: 11:33:56
  • Total Time: 00:00:00.00

November 24th, 2010

I missed Ironman Arizona 2011 signup, sad but still crazy.

Ok, After three years trying to get into a full Ironman I was ready for signup AZ Ironman, it opened monday to online signups at 11:00am pacific time, I had my credit card in hand I ran through the active singin and made sure My account was working the day before. 11:00 hits and I go to signup, the screen says not taking apps yet try again later, waited a few seconds and tried again and I was in !!! I filled out the med questions and checked every box that applied and went to checkout, put in my credit card # which is visa 4251-451-****-*** (just seeing if any ones is reading this) and boom I sent it and then bam “DATA ERROR CODE CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE”!!! I WAS CRUSHED!!! SO DEFLATED!!! I sat at my computer shocked and tryed again with another credit card and the same result. I called Active and waited 35 minutes until I got a body to talk to EXPLAINED THE SITUATION AND SHE SAID LETS SEE NOPE YOUR NOT REGESTERED….. AND…..WAIT A SECOND………… ON MINUTE…………..AND I’M SORRY ONLINE REG IS CLOSED FOR THIS EVENT. Wow this was hard to swallow.

I took the rest of the day get over it and then thought I’M doing a full Ironman in 2011(.)   I signed up for the one in Utah and was instantly happy and on fire again, it’s on. I have a 1/2 Ironman in Oceanside in April and then four weeks later this full in Utah. Now looking at this unforeseen line up I’ll do the half and be primed up to go to Utah and I would not  have it any other way!!! Thats what Ironman is at the core, find a way and anything is possible.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 11/24/2010
  • Time: 10:53:01
  • Total Time: 00:00:00.00

November 17th, 2010

More research on extreme exercise and breaking down ones immune system

 I found this article today and again I feel this is working for me.
 Im in remission from RA and now only taking folic acid as my meds and a dose of an ironman training.
 I pulled part of the aritcle from an ironman website writen by Christopher Jenson a nutrition and epidemiology researcher 
  Endurance exercise and catching a cold often go hand-in-hand. Researchers following ultra-marathon runners competing in a race in South Africa found that about one-third of the 150 athletes they tracked ended up developing an upper respiratory tract infection within a few weeks of the race. Among athletes competing in the grueling 100-mile Western States Endurance Run, about one in four reported cold symptoms in the two weeks following the event. And in over 1,800 runners competing in a full marathon, almost 13 percent reported coming down with a cold within a week of the race
What’s up with the spike in colds post-exercise? The theory is that the physical stress of a heavy bout of endurance exercise increases the circulating concentrations of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. In the short term, these hormones help you meet the immediate physical demands of exercise. But the price paid is a temporary suppression of your immune system — often it’s just enough of a window of opportunity for a head or chest cold to take hold.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 11/17/2010
  • Time: 10:34:39
  • Total Time: 00:00:00.00

October 11th, 2010

Trial and Air 10/09/2010 10:00am pacific 7:00am Hawaiian time.

Kona Ironman was this weekend and the regular people started at 7:00 am. A great goal of mine is to do Kona Ironman and I know somehow I will but for now another great goal was accomplished Saturday 10:00am pacific time, I have completed my private pilot license and now I can act as pilot in command if any single engine land aircraft carrying passengers.  The FAA examiner was a retired Navy pilot instructor and former N.T.S.B. accident investigator. I flew a Cessna 152 for the air work. The one on one oral lasted 2.5 hours and the flight test was 1.8 hours.
Thanks again to Rheumatoid Arthritis because if I never got ill I would have just waited for “someday” to come to get my pilot license and never would have. During the flight training my marathon training came to play so many times as I got closer to the finish line it got harder and you can’t look at the whole picture you have to like so many things take it one step at a time. We need to enjoy the ride of life’s ups and downs and know one day that you close your eyes for the last time and see the memories of things you did and stuff you wanted to do and never did. Your list of things you did should carry on long before you feel what you missed.  
 So now I focus on 70.3 California in 2011 and the full in Tempie Arizona 2011. All this and I had a chance to run a few miles Sunday.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 10/11/2010
  • Time: 06:18:45
  • Total Time: 00:45:00.00
  • Calories: 293
  • Distance: 4 miles
  • Average Pace: 11:15.42/mile

July 20th, 2010

Lump sum log with a dash of Seuss????

Training is going well, and I decided to start a website that deals with runners and RA. It should be up in a few weeks, It will be mostly sharing the ups and downs of training and running with RA and just moving one step at a time, kinda like climbing to the moon with only kites as stairs, many many steps but it’s the last  one step that gets you there.

 If you look at the journey whole you just may not want to go, but if to try and don’t give up the kites are there so try you luck, the view is grand and the task is grander but finish this and then you’ll know that RA is simply a restriction and not lifestyle, I know it hurts, aches and pain stakes but that’s the pain that you’ll get past and live you life as it’s your last.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 07/20/2010
  • Time: 06:32:26
  • Total Time: 9:00:00.00
  • Calories: 6339
  • Distance: 52 miles
  • Average Pace: 10:22.84/mile

June 11th, 2010

run run run

Updating my miles in a lump sum.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 06/11/2010
  • Time: 12:00:00
  • Total Time: 1 days 13:48:00.00
  • Calories: 32604
  • Distance: 255 miles
  • Average Pace: 8:53.33/mile

June 10th, 2010

Diclofenac was My Doctors drug of choice (for Me) wait!

As we learn more about drugs and how they affect us, many will fall to the best advise of our Doctors and loose their life. It’s not the fault of the Doctors, they as all of us are constantly learning new things and the more we learn about our bodies the more changes are made. We need to heal from within and put the pills aside only for very bad days  and not take them because someone says to take them. MY Doctors choice for me was 150mg Diclofenac daily and it made me feel good, I knew deep inside It was wrong to take it but  it was needed. Now no drugs and I run 20 miles a week and now I’m training for an Ironman in 2011. I am glad I wasn’t just another number on the stats of death by meds. I enjoy the second chance the universe and I gave me. just found this report from  (CBS) 

For the first time, some commonly-used pain relievers have been linked by significant clinical evidence to a higher risk of heart-related deaths in otherwise healthy people.

The nine-year Danish study looked at non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including ibuprofen, which was associated with a 29 percent greater risk of fatal or non-fatal stroke.

The group of drugs examined is known as NSAIDs, which are commonly prescribed to people suffering from arthritis or inflammation due to short-term conditions.

The study, published in the American Heart Association’s journal, “Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes,” focused on the drugs ibuprofen, diclofenac, rofecoxib, celecoxib and naproxen.

Study authors said they had been unable to determine the risks of celecoxib based on the results of their research. Naproxen - sold over the counter under brand names including “Alleve,” was actually linked to a decreased risk in heart failures.

“Even though the frequency of these effects is quite low, they are still important,” said Emil Loldrup Fosbøl, the study’s author. “People should at a minimum be aware that this is a problem.”

For individuals taking NSAIDs who are at a greater risk of stroke, the American Heart Association’s advice is “a stepped-care approach to pain management,” which recommends doctors only opt for the higher-risk medications after first demonstrating lower-risk drugs are ineffective.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 06/10/2010
  • Time: 13:34:53
  • Total Time: 00:00:00.00