In this one, I am in the run portion of the 70.3, and about half way (fade in) we burst out of the elevators and ask where the operating room is. They point, and we go to the end of the hall to find a pristine hospital operating room. We pull the card and find out what our challenge is.
Ok, when did they inject impossible challenges from The Amazing Race into IronMan races??? My brain is on overdrive, and I have no idea where it is going to stop.
So, tuesday, my eldest son was sick, and so wednesday i took some emergen-C to make sure i didn't get sick. Then the middle one came home and was really not feeling good. I am working from home now and he is slurking and wheezing and blowing his nose on the couch. I took the vitamin-c, the emergen-c, and some cold-eeze losenges so i dont get sick. I have also been washing frequently so i dont get sick. This is the worst time for them to be getting sick, since i am in the middle of my taper and I am worried that my body is thinking, "rest time? must be time to get sick!" I know how that works! Did i also mention that i took an Advocare SLAM to get the B vitamins, and the other stuff that is in SLAM which provides energy and also works to prevent a cold. They should really market that to people who have colds. I don't know if it would work for that, but i bet it does, and it is a huge market. Non-celebrity super cold relief - without a prescrition.
Anyway, this morning I did my final bike training during taper week before my race. The aero bar adjustment was just right, and I felt comfortable during the entire ride. I kept the ride to race pace for the most part, and only went a little faster at one point to catch up to a group of riders. I am not sure why i wanted to catch up to them, because they all speak fluent spanish and I could not understand a word they said, but I did. We all followed a rider who looked like he was trying to create the biggest possible blister in the worst possible place. I could not understand what the crazy puertoricans were saying, but i know they were laughing and making fun of the guy. It looked like he had some fighting wildcats in his biker shorts. I would estimate his cadence at about 90, but for some reason he was bouncing - A LOT. One of the other riders tried to emulate what he was doing, but could not because most of us can easily pedal at that cadence. Maybe his seat was not right, or something.... I don't know. All I DO know is that he is going to be sore for weeks. I would throw in a "as sore as..." here, but I can not think of anything that is socially acceptable to compare to being sore in that particular spot. It would go downhill from there.
So, here I sit, doing laundry, amp'd up on vitamin C, and waiting for the end of the workday so I can officially be on race-prep time. Just so you know, I am also load testing an e-learning web solution using HP LoadRunner. That is the Nerd part. I just don't talk about it much.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Dream a little dream
Only a couple more days until my first test at the Half Iron Man distance. I am on taper, and my stomach is a bit jumpy. My dreams are all about racing, and so far, there have been as many good results in my dreams as bad.
Bad result: Before the OUC sprint tri that I did the bike leg for the corporate relay, I dreamt that I started my leg in a large parking lot. I was unsure of the course, so I followed another cyclist, who proceeded to cyclocross across a ditch, and finished the bike course in 4 minutes. In my dream I was disqualified, and my arguement that "I was just following that guy over there" was not good enough.
Good result: Last night, after watching some online videos about Iron-man races, and triathlons, I envisioned that it was 15 degrees cooler than what I was training for, and that gave me super-human strength. My dream logic is sound, right? If an additional 10 degrees warmer causes performance to decrease by 20%, then being 15 degrees cooler will give me a 30% edge over what I have been training for? I should also mention that in the dream lots of people went to swim the course on Saturday before the race, and the second shock of the river didn't happen until that evening, so several hundred people got sick for the race. I know that is not really nice, but it allowed me to place in my division (0-39 clyde). Again, it is a dream, people, I am not hoping anyone gets sick. That would suck.
On another note, I have my new bike, and have ridden it some and am VERY comfortable on it. It is like it was made for me. My first 35 mile ride resulted in no lower body discomfort, and a minor adjustment is going to take care of the upper body discomfort that I was feeling in my shoulders. I may even be able to catch up on some sleep during the race because it is so comfortable. Well, maybe not, but still, I love it.
Taper is going well. My legs are feeling pretty good. I felt some popping in my shoulders during the swim on Tuesday, but there was no pain, so I was able to continue. I think it had to do with the new position on the bike, and over time the strength will increase and the popping will go away. Good thing about this is that the race starts with swim, so I will be good until the bike, when my shoulders will get way tired, and then they will be able to hang free and sway back and forth just fine for the run. This would suck if the swim was last. They may have fallen off in the water if that were the case.
So, Friday is the travel day, saturday is the big expo and final little workout, and Sunday is the big race. My start is 2o minutes after the Pro's go, so the slow ones will have the honor of passing me on their second loop of the run while I start my first. That will be about 3+ hours into it, so if they have their names on their butts like I see some of them doing, then I will recognize them.
I am way nervous and excited. Erk!
Bad result: Before the OUC sprint tri that I did the bike leg for the corporate relay, I dreamt that I started my leg in a large parking lot. I was unsure of the course, so I followed another cyclist, who proceeded to cyclocross across a ditch, and finished the bike course in 4 minutes. In my dream I was disqualified, and my arguement that "I was just following that guy over there" was not good enough.
Good result: Last night, after watching some online videos about Iron-man races, and triathlons, I envisioned that it was 15 degrees cooler than what I was training for, and that gave me super-human strength. My dream logic is sound, right? If an additional 10 degrees warmer causes performance to decrease by 20%, then being 15 degrees cooler will give me a 30% edge over what I have been training for? I should also mention that in the dream lots of people went to swim the course on Saturday before the race, and the second shock of the river didn't happen until that evening, so several hundred people got sick for the race. I know that is not really nice, but it allowed me to place in my division (0-39 clyde). Again, it is a dream, people, I am not hoping anyone gets sick. That would suck.
On another note, I have my new bike, and have ridden it some and am VERY comfortable on it. It is like it was made for me. My first 35 mile ride resulted in no lower body discomfort, and a minor adjustment is going to take care of the upper body discomfort that I was feeling in my shoulders. I may even be able to catch up on some sleep during the race because it is so comfortable. Well, maybe not, but still, I love it.
Taper is going well. My legs are feeling pretty good. I felt some popping in my shoulders during the swim on Tuesday, but there was no pain, so I was able to continue. I think it had to do with the new position on the bike, and over time the strength will increase and the popping will go away. Good thing about this is that the race starts with swim, so I will be good until the bike, when my shoulders will get way tired, and then they will be able to hang free and sway back and forth just fine for the run. This would suck if the swim was last. They may have fallen off in the water if that were the case.
So, Friday is the travel day, saturday is the big expo and final little workout, and Sunday is the big race. My start is 2o minutes after the Pro's go, so the slow ones will have the honor of passing me on their second loop of the run while I start my first. That will be about 3+ hours into it, so if they have their names on their butts like I see some of them doing, then I will recognize them.
I am way nervous and excited. Erk!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A taste of the win.
Yesterday was the OUC Orlando sprint triathlon! Horray! This is the first time I have ever done a relay, and the pressure was on. My company had done this race last year, and had gotten 1st place in the corporate relay division. The guy who did the bike last year blew out his knee, so they were down one member. I let them know that I would be interested in participating, and that if given a choice, I would prefer the bike leg. Kirby is a pretty kick-ass swimmer, and Craig is a really really great runner, so that seemed to be perfect. We called ourselves the Pale-Ails, since Kirby was recovering from a bulged vertebrae, and Craig had recently had abdominal surgery and was still in recovery. Kirby said he would be going a little slower cause he hadn't been swimming lately, so would only be putting up 1:30 100's, and Craig said he was slow and would only be doing 6:30 miles. HOLY COW! So I was the weak link, but still we had a pretty killer team, and I just had to make sure that nobody passed me on the bike.
The race started, and I waited....and waited...and waited. Our swim heat was 30 minutes after the race started - time enough for transition to begin seeing elite people transitioning from the bike to to run by the time we transitioned to the bike! I got the signal from Craig that Kirby was about 2 minutes out, so I got ready. Then I saw the first silver colored cap - it was a 13 year old kid! but right behind him was kirby. He was easy to notice since he is 6'5" and pale. (hence the pale-ails) we ran into transition together, and ran to the bike. I already had shoes and helmet on, and he threw over the chip for me to velcro onto my ankle. Then I grabbed my bike and was off! Running, running, running, running. All the way down the bike racks, then all the way back to the beginning of the transition. I crossed the mat and jumped on the bike. I pushed down the pedal, and there was no resistance!!! NO RESISTANCE! My chain was not even on in the front.
Ok, the day had not started on a great note. I woke up and put on my racing outfit, including my long-sleeved UA heatwear, and headed out to put the bike in the car while eating some yogurt and oatmeal. Flat tire in the rear. I pumped it up to see if it would hold air, but i knew it would not. Once I got to the race, I decided to change it. I am thinking that is when the chain slipped off without me noticing. Note here: the markings guy(his name must have been Richard because he sure was a d..) did our markings, and insisted I needed arm markings. He also mentioned that I should take my UA shirt off. Why? Because it is too hot. But this keeps me cool! Dick shook his head side to side, so I put my UA shirt back into my bag, and donned my bike shirt - WHICH STILL COVERED THE BODY MARKINGS COMPLETELY! Anyway, back to the race.
...no resistance on the pedal! I reached down and spent 15 or so seconds to pull the chain up onto the sprocket and I was off! The little part at the beginning was kinda fun, and I started passing people. "On your left" I would call when I passed someone. It became kind of a chant after a bit into the race, and it was fun. I whizzed by whole groups of people and if I saw a medium speed person getting ready to pass a slow person, I would call "ON YOUR LEFT" and whiz by. The first straight stretch down South street must have had some grade to it, and the wind must have been at our backs, because I flew down that road. 27mph whoot!. Then a right turn (I would rather have had more left turns, but eh, what can you do?) There was the wind. down to 20mph, then another right turn and full headwind with a slight incline. I tucked into aero and maintained 18mph. Then a series of right then left then right turn, then another straight stretch. Weird, when we got to the place where the second lap starts, people are weaving around in the middle of the street! GET OUT OF THE WAY! Then the second loop. I was ready for the straight stretch and belted into it. Bike computer says 30mph, then right into the wind, then right into full headwind, then a little squiggle, and I am in the final stretch. Idiots! get out of the way! I passed 15 or so people in the final area leading up to the transition area, and was still calling out "On your left" and to one guy, "Hey man, I have to pass you on the left, so MOVE OVER!" I will be civil after the race. Another pet peeve of mine is people slowing to almost a stop on corners. It is not raining, GO! So I get to the black line a little quickly and the bike is not stopping. I ended up planting my foot, trying to unclip my right foot, while pinching the front brakes at the same time - back tire goes up! I am sure it looked a little goofy, but I did not cross that line.... Transition was easy, since I was one of the first of the relay people into transition, I threw my bike at the bar, and took off my chip to hand to Craig. Then he flew. He was starting out at a jog that was faster than my fastest run, but I cheered him past and sat down to figure out what planet I was on. It doesnt look like the official results are up yet for this year, but we won the corporate division this year with a time of 1:07. I did 11.5 miles in roughly 33 minutes, and we almost got the best time in all of the relay teams. I think only the first place men's team beat us, and they only got us by a couple seconds.
Overall it was a great experience, and I got that taste of a win. I have a half IM in two weeks, and even though I do not plan on coming home with first - I am going to see what it is all about, and then, who knows? I got the bug. I also found it interresting that several people in what would be my age group got under an hour. 400m swim, 11.5 bike, and 3.75 mile run with two transitions in less than an hour. That is awesome, and scary at the same time. But it is also cool to be able to see how fast it can be done, and I will work to cut my times for all three disciplines down. I just started this sport less than a year ago. I feel great about how far I have come, and at this point, I have not found a reason not to go lots farther - and faster!
P.S. Thanks CB!
The race started, and I waited....and waited...and waited. Our swim heat was 30 minutes after the race started - time enough for transition to begin seeing elite people transitioning from the bike to to run by the time we transitioned to the bike! I got the signal from Craig that Kirby was about 2 minutes out, so I got ready. Then I saw the first silver colored cap - it was a 13 year old kid! but right behind him was kirby. He was easy to notice since he is 6'5" and pale. (hence the pale-ails) we ran into transition together, and ran to the bike. I already had shoes and helmet on, and he threw over the chip for me to velcro onto my ankle. Then I grabbed my bike and was off! Running, running, running, running. All the way down the bike racks, then all the way back to the beginning of the transition. I crossed the mat and jumped on the bike. I pushed down the pedal, and there was no resistance!!! NO RESISTANCE! My chain was not even on in the front.
Ok, the day had not started on a great note. I woke up and put on my racing outfit, including my long-sleeved UA heatwear, and headed out to put the bike in the car while eating some yogurt and oatmeal. Flat tire in the rear. I pumped it up to see if it would hold air, but i knew it would not. Once I got to the race, I decided to change it. I am thinking that is when the chain slipped off without me noticing. Note here: the markings guy(his name must have been Richard because he sure was a d..) did our markings, and insisted I needed arm markings. He also mentioned that I should take my UA shirt off. Why? Because it is too hot. But this keeps me cool! Dick shook his head side to side, so I put my UA shirt back into my bag, and donned my bike shirt - WHICH STILL COVERED THE BODY MARKINGS COMPLETELY! Anyway, back to the race.
...no resistance on the pedal! I reached down and spent 15 or so seconds to pull the chain up onto the sprocket and I was off! The little part at the beginning was kinda fun, and I started passing people. "On your left" I would call when I passed someone. It became kind of a chant after a bit into the race, and it was fun. I whizzed by whole groups of people and if I saw a medium speed person getting ready to pass a slow person, I would call "ON YOUR LEFT" and whiz by. The first straight stretch down South street must have had some grade to it, and the wind must have been at our backs, because I flew down that road. 27mph whoot!. Then a right turn (I would rather have had more left turns, but eh, what can you do?) There was the wind. down to 20mph, then another right turn and full headwind with a slight incline. I tucked into aero and maintained 18mph. Then a series of right then left then right turn, then another straight stretch. Weird, when we got to the place where the second lap starts, people are weaving around in the middle of the street! GET OUT OF THE WAY! Then the second loop. I was ready for the straight stretch and belted into it. Bike computer says 30mph, then right into the wind, then right into full headwind, then a little squiggle, and I am in the final stretch. Idiots! get out of the way! I passed 15 or so people in the final area leading up to the transition area, and was still calling out "On your left" and to one guy, "Hey man, I have to pass you on the left, so MOVE OVER!" I will be civil after the race. Another pet peeve of mine is people slowing to almost a stop on corners. It is not raining, GO! So I get to the black line a little quickly and the bike is not stopping. I ended up planting my foot, trying to unclip my right foot, while pinching the front brakes at the same time - back tire goes up! I am sure it looked a little goofy, but I did not cross that line.... Transition was easy, since I was one of the first of the relay people into transition, I threw my bike at the bar, and took off my chip to hand to Craig. Then he flew. He was starting out at a jog that was faster than my fastest run, but I cheered him past and sat down to figure out what planet I was on. It doesnt look like the official results are up yet for this year, but we won the corporate division this year with a time of 1:07. I did 11.5 miles in roughly 33 minutes, and we almost got the best time in all of the relay teams. I think only the first place men's team beat us, and they only got us by a couple seconds.
Overall it was a great experience, and I got that taste of a win. I have a half IM in two weeks, and even though I do not plan on coming home with first - I am going to see what it is all about, and then, who knows? I got the bug. I also found it interresting that several people in what would be my age group got under an hour. 400m swim, 11.5 bike, and 3.75 mile run with two transitions in less than an hour. That is awesome, and scary at the same time. But it is also cool to be able to see how fast it can be done, and I will work to cut my times for all three disciplines down. I just started this sport less than a year ago. I feel great about how far I have come, and at this point, I have not found a reason not to go lots farther - and faster!
P.S. Thanks CB!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Nervous as hell.
Ok. I realize that my race is only a little over two weeks away. I ordered a new bike this morning. I hope to get at least 100 miles on the bike before the race, so I can be ready, but I am nervous. I am more worried that the older bike would not hold up, than I am about fitting on the new bike. I have had an epic struggle with getting into the correct position on this new bike, and I have come to the realization that I am struggling because the bike is a little too big for me, and that it was not meant to be ridden in the aero position. It is a beginner road bike, for people to make that transition from comfort riding to racing. That being said, it has been a great bike for me to get started in this sport. Now I want to go fast, so I am going to get a Time Trial bike. Hopefully, it will get here and be ready to go on Tuesday of next week, so i will have 11 days of riding on it before the big race. I should be able to get comfy on it by then. The goal is that by being in the aero position, and on a lighter bike, that I can milk out a little more mph, and be in a better position to complete the run. AW, who am i kidding, I just really want a kick-ass bike to ride in the race.
I also received my wetsuit in the mail yesterday, and I got to try it out this morning in the lake. It was really nice. wet suits float. when you are in the water, and you are laying back, you don't really have to do anything to be in the right position in the water. I kinda felt like a cork with paddles out there, bobbing on the top of the water. I tried to kick a little, and i was immediately splashy. My feet are at the top of the water without kicking. I spent the rest of the time making sure they were directly behind me, and that they were pointed to reduce drag, and that they moved very little. Who needs to kick? I will save the legs for the bike and the run.
So, I didn't sleep much last night. Part from still recovering from my 10 mile run, part because I got a wetsuit, and part because I had already decided to buy the new bike. Visualization is a really important factor for me. For everything I do, I first visualize myself doing it, then I feel better doing it. So frequently I picture myself in a stressfull situation, and how I hope to perform. Last night I could not sleep, because things I had already placed in my movie of Augusta had changed. It is like a weird paradox of the Butterfly Effect with Aston Kutcher, only I visualize the future, not change the past. So, I had to re-record my movie, with a wetsuit, and a different bike. I also have to rework the hotel, and how I am getting there, because I canceled my hotel, and am going to ride up with friends and stay with them to save some money on the hotel room. between this savings, and the savings of not having to have the bike shop go through my road bike from tip to stern, and not driving, and such, i figured I saved at least a little bit of money to put towards the new bike, right? Naw, I am just trying to rationalize it. I really really wanted a new bike.
60/10 this weekend turned into 60.....10, but that is ok. 60 with 40 in hills, and a 10 mile run the next day is better prep in my book. Now, only 4 more days of build-up before taper begins. I have a mini-bike-race. (not a mini-bike, but a small bike race - only 11 miles.) and a 12 mile run on the workout plan. I hope I am ready.
I also received my wetsuit in the mail yesterday, and I got to try it out this morning in the lake. It was really nice. wet suits float. when you are in the water, and you are laying back, you don't really have to do anything to be in the right position in the water. I kinda felt like a cork with paddles out there, bobbing on the top of the water. I tried to kick a little, and i was immediately splashy. My feet are at the top of the water without kicking. I spent the rest of the time making sure they were directly behind me, and that they were pointed to reduce drag, and that they moved very little. Who needs to kick? I will save the legs for the bike and the run.
So, I didn't sleep much last night. Part from still recovering from my 10 mile run, part because I got a wetsuit, and part because I had already decided to buy the new bike. Visualization is a really important factor for me. For everything I do, I first visualize myself doing it, then I feel better doing it. So frequently I picture myself in a stressfull situation, and how I hope to perform. Last night I could not sleep, because things I had already placed in my movie of Augusta had changed. It is like a weird paradox of the Butterfly Effect with Aston Kutcher, only I visualize the future, not change the past. So, I had to re-record my movie, with a wetsuit, and a different bike. I also have to rework the hotel, and how I am getting there, because I canceled my hotel, and am going to ride up with friends and stay with them to save some money on the hotel room. between this savings, and the savings of not having to have the bike shop go through my road bike from tip to stern, and not driving, and such, i figured I saved at least a little bit of money to put towards the new bike, right? Naw, I am just trying to rationalize it. I really really wanted a new bike.
60/10 this weekend turned into 60.....10, but that is ok. 60 with 40 in hills, and a 10 mile run the next day is better prep in my book. Now, only 4 more days of build-up before taper begins. I have a mini-bike-race. (not a mini-bike, but a small bike race - only 11 miles.) and a 12 mile run on the workout plan. I hope I am ready.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Lance tells me to eat more.
So, in an attempt to begin logging my food, I signed up with the Daily Plate. I must say, I am super-extremely impressed. I signed up with weight watchers a few years ago for the same reason, and they were awesome with recognizing all foods, and having info on them. I did not have to enter much information about food at all. Since then, I have been disappointed with the food logging sites because I felt like I was the first one who was using the site, and had to enter every item of food individually. It takes about 1/2 day of that before I give up. The Daily Plate is not like this. You do not have to enter the info for your piece of bread, because you can choose the brand you bought and they have it. That is how good it is. I can't stress how friggin awesome this site is for tracking food. I also can track my weight, my body fat, and lots of other stuff because I signed up with the livestrong site, and they add to it.
That brings us to the problem. I put in my weight, my goal of losing a pound a week, added my workout for yesterday (35mile bike, hard - which took just over one and a half hours) and started putting in my food. Yesterday was a weird day for me because it was the first day that I got done with my bike ride and was full. I did this on purpose because I need to have proper nutrition in order to get to the end of my race. I have been learning this the hard way. - i.e. BONK BONK BONK BONK. - so I had a pretty good breakfast (or so i thought) before I left, hydrated on the way to the ride, and hydrated during the ride. Yogurt and banana muffin before, gatorade before and during, PB&Honey on the bike, took endurolytes. I got to the end, and was pretty full. I had a planet smoothie on the way home, and started entering my food and exercise into the tracker. I entered lunch too. Then looked at the numbers and almost choked. I only had 3000 calories left for the day. Wait a minute, I had not even eaten enough calories to cover my workout, much less fuel myself for the rest of the day. 2800 calories is my BMR, and 2800 calories used on the bike meant that I am not eating enough by a long shot. SO all these days I have been thinking that I was being a pig for eating a little more at dinner, I was actually just barely not starving.
Logic, and the common thought about eating seems to dictate that I should be losing weight at an alarming rate. I am missing roughly 2000 calories a day! I should be losing a pound every two days! But I have lost no weight. Here are my reasons for this. (They may not be the real reasons, but they are my reasons, and I am sticking to them. If you have others, leave me a comment.) 1. My body thinks it is starving, so it is in starve mode. Everything gets stored as fat, and the body is trying to conserve and not release any energy. This would mean that I am lethargic, not able to recouperate, and feel not great.
2. I am building TONS of muscle. I naturally build muscle. I have avoided any sort of weight lifting for this reason. I am trying to get smaller, not bigger, and if i lift, it will be to build lean strength, not to build mass. The only mass I want to build will be in arms and shoulders. My hope is that building mass in my shoulders and upper body will suck up the saggy skin I am getting because I am losing my gut.
Really, both of these are good reasons why I am not losing weight. The third reason I am not losing weight is that I have only been working out at this level for less than 6 months. February is when I started this program, and really, the first couple months were a shocker at how out-of-shape I really am.
Ergo, Lance says I need to eat more food. Roughly 2000 calories more food on long workout days. This is one more BIG meal, and/or more food before and after working out.
I also look at the pie charts that are created from entering the food, and it looks like I need to reduce fat, and increase lean protein - at least yesterday. Most of my food is carbs, and they are not straight veggies, but a processed carb like bread or more bread, or muffins or tortilla chips. I need to work on the veggies and lean meat with my food, as I eat more of it, that way I can start looking at losing the weight. Don't worry, I am not going to go all paleo diet, or atkins, or south beach, or whatever, just eat more veggies, and less bread and stuff like bread.
That could be a major reason I did not feel well on my (what turned into a) 6.5 mile run. I was likely dehydrated (another thing Lance says I need to do is drink more water) and poorly nutritioned when I set out. To top that off, the stupid community center where I was planning on water refuel had changed the combo! Urgh!
That is good for now. I will type more at another time.
That brings us to the problem. I put in my weight, my goal of losing a pound a week, added my workout for yesterday (35mile bike, hard - which took just over one and a half hours) and started putting in my food. Yesterday was a weird day for me because it was the first day that I got done with my bike ride and was full. I did this on purpose because I need to have proper nutrition in order to get to the end of my race. I have been learning this the hard way. - i.e. BONK BONK BONK BONK. - so I had a pretty good breakfast (or so i thought) before I left, hydrated on the way to the ride, and hydrated during the ride. Yogurt and banana muffin before, gatorade before and during, PB&Honey on the bike, took endurolytes. I got to the end, and was pretty full. I had a planet smoothie on the way home, and started entering my food and exercise into the tracker. I entered lunch too. Then looked at the numbers and almost choked. I only had 3000 calories left for the day. Wait a minute, I had not even eaten enough calories to cover my workout, much less fuel myself for the rest of the day. 2800 calories is my BMR, and 2800 calories used on the bike meant that I am not eating enough by a long shot. SO all these days I have been thinking that I was being a pig for eating a little more at dinner, I was actually just barely not starving.
Logic, and the common thought about eating seems to dictate that I should be losing weight at an alarming rate. I am missing roughly 2000 calories a day! I should be losing a pound every two days! But I have lost no weight. Here are my reasons for this. (They may not be the real reasons, but they are my reasons, and I am sticking to them. If you have others, leave me a comment.) 1. My body thinks it is starving, so it is in starve mode. Everything gets stored as fat, and the body is trying to conserve and not release any energy. This would mean that I am lethargic, not able to recouperate, and feel not great.
2. I am building TONS of muscle. I naturally build muscle. I have avoided any sort of weight lifting for this reason. I am trying to get smaller, not bigger, and if i lift, it will be to build lean strength, not to build mass. The only mass I want to build will be in arms and shoulders. My hope is that building mass in my shoulders and upper body will suck up the saggy skin I am getting because I am losing my gut.
Really, both of these are good reasons why I am not losing weight. The third reason I am not losing weight is that I have only been working out at this level for less than 6 months. February is when I started this program, and really, the first couple months were a shocker at how out-of-shape I really am.
Ergo, Lance says I need to eat more food. Roughly 2000 calories more food on long workout days. This is one more BIG meal, and/or more food before and after working out.
I also look at the pie charts that are created from entering the food, and it looks like I need to reduce fat, and increase lean protein - at least yesterday. Most of my food is carbs, and they are not straight veggies, but a processed carb like bread or more bread, or muffins or tortilla chips. I need to work on the veggies and lean meat with my food, as I eat more of it, that way I can start looking at losing the weight. Don't worry, I am not going to go all paleo diet, or atkins, or south beach, or whatever, just eat more veggies, and less bread and stuff like bread.
That could be a major reason I did not feel well on my (what turned into a) 6.5 mile run. I was likely dehydrated (another thing Lance says I need to do is drink more water) and poorly nutritioned when I set out. To top that off, the stupid community center where I was planning on water refuel had changed the combo! Urgh!
That is good for now. I will type more at another time.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Back to School
Kids are back to school now. I think that scheduling will likely get a little harder, at least it has the past two days. Between the muggy, sticky, furnace of a state, and the whole 'WORK' thing, and then random appointments, debate clubs, basketball practice, and then whatever the youngest decides to throw in the mix, it is going to get interesting. I may have to resort to working out in the wee hours of the moroning, or late in the evening. (yes, that misspelling was on purpose, cause that is where my brain is at that time of day).
I also have a few more epic workouts to put in before race day... which is looming like a bully towering over the nerdy kid on the playground. There are still questions as to whether this nerd can handle it. Think positively. I did a 50/3 brick a couple weeks ago, so my 55/8 this Sunday should be no sweat, right? Right. I still have more than 4 weeks until the race to work out the kinks in my stride.
Originally I wanted to ride to the race in my truck, stay in a hotel room by myself, and be able to sleep and prepare for the race on my own, but I recently realized that A) I have to save money, and B) I could do with trusting my friends to help me out, and C) I am going for the experience, and what kind of experience would I have if I did the whole thing by myself. I am cancelling my reservation for my room, and am not going to drive up to Augusta. I am going to room with the crazy Puerto Ricans, and hang out with my friends. Race the longest race of my life, and hope nutrition holds true during the race.
Today, 6 mile run at race pace. I need to loosen my legs up from the epic 5 hour yard clean-up I did on Sunday. I still can not touch my toes, and it is two days later.
I also have a few more epic workouts to put in before race day... which is looming like a bully towering over the nerdy kid on the playground. There are still questions as to whether this nerd can handle it. Think positively. I did a 50/3 brick a couple weeks ago, so my 55/8 this Sunday should be no sweat, right? Right. I still have more than 4 weeks until the race to work out the kinks in my stride.
Originally I wanted to ride to the race in my truck, stay in a hotel room by myself, and be able to sleep and prepare for the race on my own, but I recently realized that A) I have to save money, and B) I could do with trusting my friends to help me out, and C) I am going for the experience, and what kind of experience would I have if I did the whole thing by myself. I am cancelling my reservation for my room, and am not going to drive up to Augusta. I am going to room with the crazy Puerto Ricans, and hang out with my friends. Race the longest race of my life, and hope nutrition holds true during the race.
Today, 6 mile run at race pace. I need to loosen my legs up from the epic 5 hour yard clean-up I did on Sunday. I still can not touch my toes, and it is two days later.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Recovery.
I have to admit up front. I did not go at 70% effort for my entire bike ride this morning. I intended to. I started out tired, and late, and tired, and had to reassemble my trusty steed, because I had removed the stem thinking I had ordered the correct one from amazon.com only to find out that the one I had ordered had a quill that was too large. Anyway, I had to put the old long one back on, aired up the tires and took off. This week I have been doing pretty good at recovering and taking it easy on my workouts. Monday was a day off, but I played 2 hours of basketball with my son's team of 13 year olds. Tuesday was supposed to be a 6 mile way easy run. I turned it into a 4 mile tempo run, with another 2 hour basketball practice. Wednesday was even better with a 1800 mile easy ladder swim workout turning into 35 minutes treading water trying to help the little one swim better. Today I did the distance as prescribed on the workout form. 25 miles. I did the first 6 at about 16 mph, but it seemed like I was going a little slow for the effort I was putting in. The second 5 miles was the same, maybe 1 mph faster, but I began to notice that I may be battling a bit of a headwind. At the turnaround, I realized I was fighting more of a headwind than I thought. I hit 18mph easily, and felt it. You know what it is... It is the NEED FOR SPEED!!!!! I was feeling pretty good so I amped it up a bit, just for fun. 20...... 21...... 22.... Kept 22 for a bit. That was a good time. Wind was at my back, so I held the 22mph for the rest of the 5 miles until the turnaround. Then I dropped it back down to 17, but this 17 was much easier to keep.
In order to keep it to a 25 mile distance, I turned around at about 2.5 miles into the second lap, and then I kicked up the speed again to 21 or so MPH. I love going fast. I can't transition to run after going fast, but I love it just the same. After leaving the loop and getting back to moderate interaction, I knocked it back to 19mph for a bit. The wind was still at my back ;)
Then came the high interaction. I love and hate this part at the same time. I hate it because there is no shoulder, and I am riding on a two-way road with no median lane, so the cars get close. I love it because the cars are close, and the speed limit is 25, which means they go 30. I like to draft a bit there. It is only 2 miles, but due to some drafting, and some big gear pedaling, I hit 26mph for about 1.5 miles. I love that part. The last 5 minutes back to the house was an easy spin and I am done.
Good times. Sorry coach. It really did feel good though....
In order to keep it to a 25 mile distance, I turned around at about 2.5 miles into the second lap, and then I kicked up the speed again to 21 or so MPH. I love going fast. I can't transition to run after going fast, but I love it just the same. After leaving the loop and getting back to moderate interaction, I knocked it back to 19mph for a bit. The wind was still at my back ;)
Then came the high interaction. I love and hate this part at the same time. I hate it because there is no shoulder, and I am riding on a two-way road with no median lane, so the cars get close. I love it because the cars are close, and the speed limit is 25, which means they go 30. I like to draft a bit there. It is only 2 miles, but due to some drafting, and some big gear pedaling, I hit 26mph for about 1.5 miles. I love that part. The last 5 minutes back to the house was an easy spin and I am done.
Good times. Sorry coach. It really did feel good though....
Monday, August 17, 2009
Good weekend.
I have to say, I had one of the best weekends I have had in quite a while. There was nothing in particular that made the weekend so great, just a good weekend. The weird thing is that this week's training schedule was the heaviest that I have had ever. Training started with hill repeats early in the morning on Saturday. 6x 1/2 miles with 1.5 mile warmup, and 1.5 mile cooldown. I have to say that this was tough, but I got through it, and even was able to pull out a sprint at the end of the 6th repeat to finish strong. Then did not walk as we made our way from the hill back to the car (which is very tempting to do). My son had a basketball game, and I got to help coach. He ended up winning the game, and the team worked together and did really well. My son did exceptionally well. Ice bath and lazy day for the rest of Saturday, and then the epic LSD workout on Sunday. 50 miles bike, and 6 miles running. We ended up cutting the run short because of the seriously hard workout on Saturday, but I still felt for the first time like I might be able to race a 70.3 and finish the race at the finish line, not in the DNF medical tent. Part of that may have been a change in nutrition that I am working with. I went old-school on the food part, and ate peanutbutter and honey on the bike, and drank several (3) bottles of gatorade. Also, every 10 miles on the bike i took two more endurolytes. Ended up taking 2 the night before, and 12 before I started to run, and once i got to the run, I felt pretty good. I had some muscle soreness from the hills, but for the most part just kept a normal pace and finished my workout.
Then I played a game with the fam after lunch and just enjoyed being a family. Grilled burgers for dinner, and everything just melded together to have a great weekend. No one thing made it great, just enjoyed life.
This week is a recovery week. Volume of bike is significantly lower than last week. 25 total miles this week, vs. last week which was 100+. Run volume is increased 2 miles over last week, but the speed is lower, and swimming is increased 600M over last week, but is also slower. Should be a fun week.
Then I played a game with the fam after lunch and just enjoyed being a family. Grilled burgers for dinner, and everything just melded together to have a great weekend. No one thing made it great, just enjoyed life.
This week is a recovery week. Volume of bike is significantly lower than last week. 25 total miles this week, vs. last week which was 100+. Run volume is increased 2 miles over last week, but the speed is lower, and swimming is increased 600M over last week, but is also slower. Should be a fun week.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Here's bug in your eye.
Today, I was attacked while riding my bike by some sort of mutant grasshopper/locust. I say 'attacked' because I think it takes effort on the part of a large bug to hit me in the eye while I am riding by at 17mph. It reminded me of when I was a kid and my brother and I would use dirt clods as grenades. sometimes it was clumps of grass that we pulled out of the yard, and some times it was on the farm where the freshly tilled soil formed pretty awesome grenade sized clumps of dirt. Only once was it puff-ball mushrooms that had turned rotten and made a poof of green rotten mushroom spores. We learned fast on that one.
Anyway, one or two times, instead of throwing the clod in an arc, or up in the air first, my brother threw it straight at me, like a baseball. That is cool if you have a shield, which sometimes I had, but when there is no shield, and you are not ready for the clod....well. Poof. One such clod hit me in the face and that sucked. This mutant friggin grasshopper thing hit me in the face, and if I had not had sunglasses on, I would likely still be picking pokey mutant friggin bug legs out of my brain.
Other than that, my ride was pretty ok today. It was a pace ride to get used to my half-iron man pace, so 17mph max. 25minutes warm up at about 16mph to get to the nice part of the road, 15 minutes aero at 17, 10 minutes at 16, 15 minutes in aero at 17, then 35 minutes cooldown. Cooldown ends up being between 15 and 19, depending on the traffic. For some reason when I am in a high interaction area, I focus more on traffic than the mph and am probably drafting off of the cars, cause I get to 19mph lickety split. Every time i caught myself doing that, i shifted down and spun faster, probably comedically bouncy, but i kept my speeds down. Overall, not too bad. Then I grabbed a bite to eat, took a shower, drank too much coffee, and headed to work.
Tomorrow is a monster swim. 3000M open water in a lake. Focus is going to be breathing, stretching out, and high elbows.
Anyway, one or two times, instead of throwing the clod in an arc, or up in the air first, my brother threw it straight at me, like a baseball. That is cool if you have a shield, which sometimes I had, but when there is no shield, and you are not ready for the clod....well. Poof. One such clod hit me in the face and that sucked. This mutant friggin grasshopper thing hit me in the face, and if I had not had sunglasses on, I would likely still be picking pokey mutant friggin bug legs out of my brain.
Other than that, my ride was pretty ok today. It was a pace ride to get used to my half-iron man pace, so 17mph max. 25minutes warm up at about 16mph to get to the nice part of the road, 15 minutes aero at 17, 10 minutes at 16, 15 minutes in aero at 17, then 35 minutes cooldown. Cooldown ends up being between 15 and 19, depending on the traffic. For some reason when I am in a high interaction area, I focus more on traffic than the mph and am probably drafting off of the cars, cause I get to 19mph lickety split. Every time i caught myself doing that, i shifted down and spun faster, probably comedically bouncy, but i kept my speeds down. Overall, not too bad. Then I grabbed a bite to eat, took a shower, drank too much coffee, and headed to work.
Tomorrow is a monster swim. 3000M open water in a lake. Focus is going to be breathing, stretching out, and high elbows.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Man, I am sore.
Just telling you, I am really sore. LSD Brick on Sunday took it all, then Monday night I followed it up with a track workout. Squats and lunges kicked my ass. Seriously, I hurt so bad that i am Snap-Crackle-Popping out of seats, and basically falling down onto the toilet or the office seat to sit down. It feels like someone kicked me in the ass. I swam this morning, and thought that the swim would shake out the soreness. I really thought it worked too. I swam 5x500 or 2500. It felt good. Then, as I stepped out of the lake, the soreness set in x2 and it followed the water. As my abs came out of the water they went KA-Thump and were sore, as my butt came out of the water, KA-THUMP my ass was WAY sore, and it traveled down my legs as they came out of the water, so it was almost painful to step onto the bank and go back to towel off to go home.
Speaking of the lake, what the hell was in the water today? There must have been a storm yesterday that knocked branches and leaves and grass into the water, because as I made my way across the lake, I kept grabbing things. This is not a good feeling in a Florida lake, and each time I would jerk my head out of the water and check to make sure that i had not just grabbed a snake. During the mindlessness of crawling across the lake I would envision that all of the lake snakes had babbies and that when I looked up I would find that I was really swimming through a two inch layer of baby poisonous snakes. Then I thought of my friend Geni and how she already has visions of stuff in the water and how she would have just totally freaked out.
Time to cook dinner. It is my night. That means Spaghetti! whee!
Speaking of the lake, what the hell was in the water today? There must have been a storm yesterday that knocked branches and leaves and grass into the water, because as I made my way across the lake, I kept grabbing things. This is not a good feeling in a Florida lake, and each time I would jerk my head out of the water and check to make sure that i had not just grabbed a snake. During the mindlessness of crawling across the lake I would envision that all of the lake snakes had babbies and that when I looked up I would find that I was really swimming through a two inch layer of baby poisonous snakes. Then I thought of my friend Geni and how she already has visions of stuff in the water and how she would have just totally freaked out.
Time to cook dinner. It is my night. That means Spaghetti! whee!
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