June's Training in Review: Decent (for Being Busy)

Here's a quick look at June's training in reivew:

• SWIM: 8,800 yards (first swims in 10 months!)
• BIKE: 256.24 miles
• RUN: 105.41 miles
• STRENGTH: 51 hours and 58 mins

This June was much better than last June where I had so little training. I still had 4 nights up north with 4 kids (the gaps in training the 5th through the 9th), so that meant a hit to my strength time and biking time. But on another long weekend get-away, I still got in a long bike ride and then a decent long run a few weeks back.

Speaking of June 2025's crappy training, I've apparently had busy Junes with poor training. This year, I beat all my numbers from June of 2024 as well. And it was also much better overall than June of 2023.

Happy my run miles were back up over 100 miles since March, and thrilled with getting in 250+ bike miles!

The boys and I just got back into town after being at a national fencing tournament for 5 days, so I'm already calling it that July's numbers won't be STEALLAR. I'll work to make them DECENT, but they won't be amazing as I've already skipped 2 bike rides.

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First Three Swims in 10 Months!

I posted a few weeks ago that we had just joined a gym for the first time since March of 2020 (hmm.... what happened then?), and since then, I've had 3 swims.

ONE: Just over 2 weeks ago, I was literally "testing the waters" to see how my sore shoulder would hold up to swimming. And it went surprisingly OK! I swam 1200 yards total, and did 2 efforts of 200 yards each that were 3:02 and 3:04. I was REALLY happy with those times! I knew that they were faster because I only did 2 (and I did an easy 200 between them as well, so there was lots of rest), but the speed surprised me as much as being pretty much pain-free.

Still... just baby steps as to not over-aggravate something.

TWO: Then last week, we had just gotten back from a few days up north, and I had time to fit in a quick swim. This one was more humbling as I did 2x500 in 8:15 and 8:11 (a total of 1750 yards with warm-up, cool-down, and some kick drills near the end). I can usually get my 500s under 8:00 (and I usually do THREE), and in my best swimming days a decade ago, I could do 3x500 around 7:30. This was to be expected.

But still, the good news was that my shoulder wasn't flaring up!

THREE: Finally earlier this week, I hit the pool for some 200s. It was actually a bit shorter than last week's workout, but it was meant to be HARDER. I did a longer warm-up, then 4x200 in 3:10, 3:15, 3:14, and 3:09 (totaling 1700 yards with everything else). Those times were also expected: a bit on the slower side of average from past 6-8x200 workouts... so quite a bit slower considering I was hashed after doing just 4 of those 200s. I was happy with the first 3:10, and then I REALLY had to work for that 3:14 and 3:09! I was gassed. The bad news is that I felt my right shoulder "flare up" a little during a harder stoke in my cool-down, but then it felt fine the rest of the day.

So 4,650 yards of swimming in 3 weeks is nothing impressive, but I'm happy to be getting back at it. AND happy that my shoulder is mostly OK with it! Hopefully by the end of summer I can be up in the 2,500 yard range for a "normal" swim, but I have some work to do to get there!

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Back at the Gym!! In a Pool!!

I've been using the small weight room at the college where I currently teach once or twice a week for a few months (where I ran on the treadmill this winter), and I lift the other days at home. And through this past winter, I also regularly popped into the gym of a college where I used to teach to get in some weights as well.

But yesterday, the boys and I got a gym membership for the first time since Covid hit! And this morning, I went for my first pool swim since losing access at the U of M in mid-August last year.

Just after hopping out (after sharing a lane with that guy).


The pool complex from the walking track upstairs. It's GREAT that there's
an oval pool for the old folks to walk in to keep the lap pool more open!


1200 yards total. 200 easy, 200 hard, 200 easy, 200 hard,
4x75 kicking with a board, and 100 cooldown.

That was just a "testing the waters" sort of a swim. I need to see how my (still sore from an injury in Dec) shoulder will react to this. I didn't hurt anything WHILE swimming, so now it's about feeling it out for the rest of the day and tomorrow.

My wife has joked that it's "Swole Stenzel Summer" because the boys want to go and lift weights at the gym with me!! :) I'm looking forward to it!!

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Family Sports News

A few quick things happening in out world of sports last week...

Henry ran his 2nd track meet on Tuesday, and he did the 3200 for the first time. He's still coming off a knee injury, so his training has not been great. He said his goal was to break 13:00, and I told him that was weak. I told him I thought he could break 12:20, and he finished in 12:13. Guess dad knows what's up!

Go Henry!!

The next morning was Earth Day, and Charlie and I celebrated by biking to school. And then he biked to baseball practice after school, and I biked to pick up him from baseball. And then we biked along Ayd Mill Road for the first time to get home:

Heading home against rush hour traffic (obviously).
I'm wearing Charlie's baseball gear on my back.

Thursday night was Charlie's swim team banquet, and he picked up his 2 ribbons from a previous meet, and then his 3 ribbons from state:

His blue ribbon was from a relay, and his 3rd place in state was a relay as well.

Friday night was the high school "Elite Meet" at Hamline University. The best high school runners are invited to compete in almost like a "pre-state state meet." My nephew Ian is a good hurdler, and he competed in the 300 high hurdles, and he finished right in the middle of the pack (5th of 9) to finish 5th in the state! (His time was 39.52 if that means anything to you.)

Some sweet back-lit shots at 7:30 pm! Congrats Ian!!

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Swim Meet and State Fencing

Last week and this past weekend were BUSY. I posted this a week ago with the following 4 photos:

Diving skill is genetic as proved by Charlie’s first dive. (I’m a HORRIBLE diver. 🤷🏼‍♂️🙃) But he got better with each event last night! He earned 2 “personal best” ribbons in the 25 and 50 free, taking FOUR SECONDS off of his best 25 yard time from last year! He knocked his 50 free time from 49 seconds down to 46.55 last night.

Here are the pics that corrospond with that writing, and you can see Charlie get better dive-after-dive:

Looking much better by this point!

Then on Saturday, Henry had TEAM State Fencing. His 4-man high school team fell short and was 5th out of 7 in the state.

The following day was INDIVIDUAL State Fencing, and my wife and I got up early and got out to the suburbs at 6:30 to help set up the gym for fencing (as the team tournament was in a different location than this individual tournament):

Just starting to mark the strips with tape.


My wife and Kundan checking for straightness.

Then it was a big day of fencing! I posted this:

The state fencing tournament marks the end of fencing season! Henry faced a tough pool, and got through it with 3 wins and 2 losses. In bracket play, he earned a bye in the first round, and won 15–10 in the second round. He faced his (tall) buddy Hudson in the third round where they started evenly (4-4 at one point) before Hudson ran away with the win.

Henry finished 33rd in the state tournament 2 years ago, 23rd last year, and 13th today! Progress!

And I love this first pic of Henry getting a touch on the opponent's shoulder:

Busier gym!






Henry and Hudson after Hudson destroyed him in bracket play.

Both boys are still doing "club" fencing, but the official high school season is done for Henry. He likes fencing for his club a lot, so hopefully he can make some strides over this next year and do even better next year in his sophomore year of high school fencing!

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2025 Year End Totals

• SWIM: 88,057 yards.
• BIKE: 1756.15 miles, with 1166.79 of those miles as actual "training."
• COMMUTING BY BIKE: 589.36 of those 1700+ miles (biking with boys as they bike/run, to class, to meetings, to swim, etc).
• BIKE TRAINER: 80 hours 2 minutes (1440.60 miles calculated at 18 mph).
• RUN: 1202.22 miles.
• WALKING: 1098 miles.
• STRENGTH / CORE: 631 hours 43 minutes (approx).
• WEIGHT: 160.0 start, 160.0 finish, 162.2 high (Aug), 155.2 low (Jan), 159.48 monthly average.
• BODY FAT: (monthly average) 14.4% high (Oct), 13.5% low (March), 13.87% average.


SOME NOTES ON THOSE YEARLY NUMBERS:

• SWIM: 10th most out of 20 years of training - right near the middle. I lost pool access mid-August, so that total "is what it is" (which is really my motto for swimming even when I HAVE pool access). Our family is talking about joining a gym late-spring or early summer, so we'll see if I have any swim totals for 2026.

• BIKE: 2nd biggest year ever! It didn't feel like anything special. In fact, my bike totals feel like a let-down, but maybe that's because my PR year was the year prior in 2024, so I was used to doing a lot more - I backed off in 2025. I still commuted a fair amount, but not nearly as much as 2023 and 2024. I had 4 months with 300+ miles in 2024, and only 3 months in 2025. But I still continued my "bike outdoor every month" streak since March of 2023.

One big change in 2025 from previous years was that I had NO mountain biking - I had a lot of "commuting" miles on my old mountain bike, but no actual "mountain biking." The boys are now at that age where they have busy summers, so we don't get out for things like that as easily as we used to.

• BIKE TRAINER: 3rd biggest year ever! Again, much like my biking total, this didn't feel special. 2025 was my 3rd biggest year ever, behind 2021 and 2022. 2023 and 2024 had a bit less because I was outside biking more on those years. And these "trainer miles" in 2025 were a bit slower on average - I used to calculate my trainer miles at 19 mph, but I used 18 mph this year as I often took it easier on the trainer. (I don't have a power meter or any way to gauge "speed" on the trainer, so this is an estimate.)

Adding up "real" bike mileage (1756.15) and "trainer" bike mileage (1440.60) gives me 3196.75 total miles for 2025. That's 3rd lifetime behind 2024's 3700+ miles (where I did more outside but less on the trainer) and behind 2022's 3500+ miles (where I did a TON on the trainer).

• RUN: BIGGEST YEAR EVER!! FOR THE 5th STRAIGHT YEAR!! I was in a walking boot and not running at all from late summer 2019 through Feb 2020. Then I slowly started to run again as Covid hit. 2020 was a "rebuilding" year, and then I ran a PR for milage in 2021. And again in 2022, and 2023, and 2024. And now a 5th PR in a row for 2025! Wild! THAT WILL NOT CONTINUE!!

I didn't have *as* great of year at the races in 2025 as I did in 2024, but it wasn't bad. I learned that a month of crappy training in June really took a bite out of my speed - I set a few lifetime PRs in 2024 (5K, 5 mile, and 10K), and then I re-set the 10K PR again early in 2025. But June of 2025 taught me that if I want to be fast, I really need to be consistent. I'm not complaining as I LOVE all the family fun we had in June, but I need to be realistic that in my mid-40s, I can't have an entire month that's "not the norm" and then plan to race fast. I'm OK with that! Life is balance - it's not all about racing as fast as I can at every race... especially as I age.

Long run distance each week of 2025. No long runs shortened due to
injury! And all "normal" long runs (not pre- or post-race) of 10+ miles.


Total weekly run distance for 2025. A visible build in
late summer for the TC 10 Mile in early Oct.

The only thing that stands out as "interesting" in that graph is the one blue dot (indicating a race week) in late November that doesn't take a dip at all. That was because I fit in a 5K while actually adding in another run. I was happy that worked out the way it did!

• STRENGTH / CORE: BIGGEST YEAR EVER!! I just noted that it was my 5th straight year with a running distance PR, but this is my 6th straight year with a strength time PR! I didn't expect to keep that up in 2025, but I did. I went almost 50 hours longer than I did in 2024. I, again, do NOT EXPECT TO KEEP THAT UP in 2026!

• WALKING: I've been going on more Garmin-tracked walks since early in 2023 (before going on an anniversary trip to Italy where I was concerned about how much walked we'd do and didn't want to hurt myself). I've never tracked it before in my "year in review" posts, but I looked back on my Garmin to see what I did in 2025 compared to 2024. I THOUGHT I was walking more this year, but I really wasn't: I walked 1088 miles in 2023 and 1098 miles in 2024. (That's walks logged as a walking activity on my Garmin, not just total movement saying "you walked about this far.") I've logged a walking activity of at least 1 mile every day since November 2023 (that's not TOTAL walking in a day, but at least 1 walk that was 1 mile or more... so 3 walks in a day all of 0.75 miles wouldn't count).

Related to "walking:" I hit 10,000+ steps every day (a streak that started in early April of 2023), and I also had 125,000+ steps every week except one in late June. I've logged at least one 1+ mile walk every day since late November 2023. I set a monthly steps PR in October of 2025 with 680,329 steps (nearly 22,000 each day). And I've kept a streak of at least a 30 minute workout/day going since late in 2023 (EXCEPT for Thanksgiving Day where I ran the Turkey Day 5K and then logged a "walk" on the way back to the car of over 1 mile, but less than 30 minutes. So I missed getting in my 30+ minute activity that day (with a 17:42 5K and a 24:00 walk) for the first time in almost exactly 2 years [around Thanksgiving 2023].)

• WEIGHT: climbing back up a bit. I was averaging over 160 lbs from 2016-2020. Then I was down at 157.x on average from 2021-2023. In 2024, I went down a bit more to 156.8. And in 2025 I was up to an average of 159.48 lbs. To be fair, I've been doing a lot of longer/harder upper body workouts, and some of that might be muscle. But to be fair in another direction, I also like snacks, and I haven't been the best about resisting those recently.

Monthly averages for 2025: pretty consistent.


Monthly body fat averages. Nothing for Dec because I never
logged anything before BeginnerTriathlete died in early Dec.

Here are my monthly totals according to my training log:

[Note that where I tracked my miles on BeginnerTriathlete shut down in early December, so the date at the top doesn't show through the end of the year. But I Photoshopped in December's totals once the year was over to make it correct.]

2025 mileage. Lost pool access in mid-Aug (obviously).


2025 time. Blue is strength, and maroon "sports" is all trainer time.


Monthly totals if I added in "bike trainer miles" at 18 mph.

That last graph really highlights my big March, a smaller June with lots of fun family trips, and a quieter Sept and Oct focused more on running and less on biking.

Also, in all of my training prior to 2023, I had one graph get CLOSE to 500 total miles in a month. (That's miles of running + miles of biking + swimming yards multiplied by 100, which is how BT shows that info.) Then in 2023, I went over 500 miles of combined training 3 times, and I went over 500 miles SEVEN times in 2024 (coming close another 2 times). Up above in the graph from 2025, I broke 500 miles 4 times: March, May, July and August. I can't really make that a "goal" for doing that X many months in 2026, but it's clear that the more overall miles I put in, the better/faster I race.

And March of 2025 was my highest mileage month EVER. I didn't realize that before going back and checking these "year in review" posts! I've barely cracked 600 total miles a few times, but March was closing in on 700 miles (683.37 to be exact).


Other random graphs:

Weekly steps.


Monthly steps showing October's PR.


Intensity minutes: averaging 1,559 / week during this timeframe.


Average high and low heart rate. The dips in the “high” HR are from easier weeks.


Floors climbed: 2 bigger lines in June from hiking and Hawaii.
(Also corresponds with lower “intensity minutes” a few graphs above.)


Total "activity" time (again, showing a big March).


Calories.


Combined distances (not counting swimming as "yards x100" like the BT graphs do).


Swim time, losing pool access in August.


Bike time, again showing that big March!


Bike workouts, showing small June and Oct.


Running ascent: my run miles aren't usually very different month-to-month,
but Feb and Dec were a LOT on the treadmill with 0 ascent.
(And June was running in hilly WI and hilly Hawaii!)


Race time predictor.


Other Garmin-based numbers, including my VO2 max (floating between 60 and 68).


All 2025 activities total. (That run cadence must include
walking/resting during intervals, because I'm more around 170).

TOP ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHTS OF 2025: (counting down from #6 to #1)

(The first 3 here are sort of "low lights"...)

SIX: I learned that I can't have a randomly "easier" month and expect to keep racing as fast. June was a really fun month. I didn't have the same level of training across the board, and my races suffered. I'm totally not complaining, but I'm noting that it happened! If I plan to have some GREAT race, then I need to have months of consistent training leading up to it... and I don't think that I'm planning to have some GREAT race at this stage in my life with busy boys with wild schedules. I'd rather be there for them and do my best at my own pointless sports endeavors. Which brings me to my next point...

FIVE: My slowest 1 mile race ever. After a random June with lots of random (inconsistent but not “bad”) training, I couldn’t keep up my streak of sub-5:00 1-mile races. Officially, the 2025 Raspberry Run 1-Mile was my slowest 1 mile ever at 5:04, and only my 3rd time over 5:00 (behind my first mile race of 5:00.7 in 2008 and a slower one in 2018 when I was deeper into raising younger kids at 5:02). I will NOT be having a sub-5:00 1-mile goal in 2026 - I will be racing a 1-mile, but no fast goals.

FOUR: Hurting my shoulder after a big upper body day. I really started hitting my upper body hard! And during/after a big workout in mid-December, my right shoulder felt crappy... like it did years ago when I had an issue swimming. Dang. It's still not 100% and I'm still taking it easy while lifting (and doing no shoulders). I want to get back to lifting "comfortably" (without concern of hurting something) very soon!

Photo on the day I hurt my shoulder.

THREE: PRing a 10K in my mid-40s on a day I didn't expect to! The 2025 Get in Gear 10K came with an unintentional 10K PR (when I had just set a 10K PR on the same course the year before!). I was hurting half way through, but then I was able to negative split the race pretty dramatically (18:30 first 5K / 17:47 last 5K) to set a 36:17 10K PR. As I mentioned in my race report, I wasn't necessarily super proud of that RACE, but I was proud of my TRAINING that led up to it that made that big negative split PR possible.

TWO: Winning both duathlons I entered in 2025 - which were also the last times those events will be held. And something small went wrong for me at each race. I did the Spring Classic Oakdale Duathlon and learned just before the race that it was going to be the last time running that race. I had a funky Garmin issue which kept me from seeing my bike speed. I entered T2 kind of annoyed, but with a big lead. And then when doing the Fall Classic Oakdale Duathlon, I was in the lead by a lot on the bike, and I got stopped by a train crossing for over 90 seconds! Also, the large margins of victory by this 44-year-old dad sort of shows why these were the last times these races were held: there’s a diminishing number of people still interested in duathlons.

Pink shorts in the spring, Tutti Frutti shorts in the fall.

ONE: Racing with my 14-year-old at his first duathlon! Henry had a great first CC season as a freshman in high school, and he wanted to try something else with that running fitness. So he did the Fall Classic Oakdale Duathlon with me. Not surprisingly, he had a slower split on his mountain bike while wearing a big flappy windbreaker, but he really had a good time! It was so fun seeing him race his first multisport race! He finished 2nd in his age group with the 5th OVERALL fastest final run!

Early on in the first run, leaving T1, and crossing the finish line after his final run!


I LOVE this pic of us!!

Some random PRs that happened in 2025: I had some big upper body weeks that kept going throughout the year; I did my fastest treadmill long run ever (that I have since outdone in 2026 already); I had a huge March with 2nd biggest swim month since Covid started, 200+ outdoor bike miles, biggest run month since Covid started, and a lifetime strength time PR; I posted 561 intensity minutes in 1 day during a big day in July; I tied my highest ever "training load" with 458 at the TC 10 Mile; and I had 2124 intensity minutes in a week in November (having only been over 2000 twice before).

As for goals for 2026, I don’t really have anything “big.” Kick this shoulder injury and this butt thing that has had me skip a few runs - no distance PRs in 2026 as that’s only happened because of my consistency, and this injury has already made me inconsistent. I’m already leaving the “streaks” behind and not working on always having high “intensity minutes” each week. I could focus more on quality and not quantity (especially for leg and core workouts that have been getting longer and lazier). As I’ve said in some year’s past, maybe I’ll just work on “being fit” this year and not gunning to set milage PRs or race PRs or anything dramatic. The sore glute and the sore shoulder might be my body’s way of saying “hey old man, just ease up a bit, OK?” So some intensity might be backed off at times, but I’d still love to put in some bigger months (what I said I would NOT make a goal up above showing the graphs of my training by month, but whatever). I know I won't have another year like 2024 or 2025 again this year, but that's OK.

I also want to start eating a LITTLE cleaner, and to keep from over-snacking so much. I need to feel hungry more often. I tend to walk around the house and always think I need a quick bite. As my niece told my nephew on our car ride up north: "Stop eating! You're not hungry, you're just bored!"


And to close with something I always like to do, here’s a quick look back at the year from my Instagram page with highlights from each month:

Jan: Charlie on a billboard for his school!


Jan: Mexico trip with family!


Feb: a road trip with my boys to the Junior Olympics for Henry in Charolette!...


... where this was the reaction when we learned he did NOT place last!...


... and a fun night out while there!


March: the loss of my uncle Brad (in the middle with his brothers).


March: the boys and Mama had a fun trip to Portugal!
(Which helped propel me to such a big training month.)


April: a family race (and a 10K PR for me).


May: birthday at MOA for Charlie.


May: Henry’s last day of middle school! In the same backpack!


June: lots of fishing.


June: a “north shore” trip with my boys and niece and nephew.


June: birthday bowling for Henry.


June: Hawaii!


July: hours after getting back from Hawaii, the boys and I headed
across WI to Summer Nationals fencing tournament...


... where we had a good time at the Milwaukee Art Museum...


... and then raced back across WI and the metro for a big July 4th party.


Aug: up north and catching fish!...


... and playing on the lake!


Aug: ran into the governor at the State Fair!


Sept: Henry’s first CC season in high school.


Sept: Charlie’s second volleyball season in middle school.


Sept: Henry’s first duathlon!


Oct: a good year for the garden!


Oct: we stopped in the Dells for a night...


... on the way to a fencing tournament outside of Chicago...


... where we were able to spend an afternoon exploring parts
of Chicago that we didn’t get to a few years back.


Nov: garden totals for the year: 4011 total tomatoes (3709 cherry tomatoes
across 4 varieties, and 302 large tomatoes across 4 varieties).


Nov: a solid Thanksgiving 5K for Henry and I!


Dec: a last-minute Vikings game...


... mainly for the RANDOMLY AWESOME halftime show (and a surprising win against the Lions!).
(Lainey Wilson, Andrea Bocelli, Snoop, Matteo Bocelli, and the K-Pop Demon Hunters.)


Dec: Christmas Eve mass.

Here's to a great 2026!!!

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