Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Holy Weight Fluctuations!
As I said before, Thursday I weighed 183 and 181.5 on Friday. Today, I weighed 188. Damn, my body does not like to maintain a steady weight. Damnit, this is so freaking annoying.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Weight & Update
Oh, I forgot to log this. My weight on Thursday was 183 and on Friday it was 181.5. I'll see how much I weigh tomorrow morning. I'm sure my weight is around 185 because I was drinking beer after the race.
Today, I'm not feeling very sore at all after the CapTexTri. My hamstrings are a little sore and that's it. I don't think I gave enough credit to my coaches, Jamie & Andrea, from Texas Iron. They're great coaches. I also want to thank the entire tri community. Everyone is always friendly and helpful. Lauren has been an awesome training partner since we are both similar speeds at everything and both of us are super competitive which makes competing against each other fun. The spectators at races are great as well. I always have a blast at races just watching the spectators. I had several people cheer for me during the race on Monday and even though I barely recognized who they were, since I was going by so fast ;-), it's greatly appreciated. I also said "Thanks" to as many volunteers as I could find while I was out on the course.
Today, I'm not feeling very sore at all after the CapTexTri. My hamstrings are a little sore and that's it. I don't think I gave enough credit to my coaches, Jamie & Andrea, from Texas Iron. They're great coaches. I also want to thank the entire tri community. Everyone is always friendly and helpful. Lauren has been an awesome training partner since we are both similar speeds at everything and both of us are super competitive which makes competing against each other fun. The spectators at races are great as well. I always have a blast at races just watching the spectators. I had several people cheer for me during the race on Monday and even though I barely recognized who they were, since I was going by so fast ;-), it's greatly appreciated. I also said "Thanks" to as many volunteers as I could find while I was out on the course.
Monday, May 29, 2006
CapTexTri
This morning I raced in the CapTexTri here in Austin. I'm still feeling really, really good from my performance at the race so I'll just get into it.
Pre Race
I got up this morning and got ready. This was a B race, actually more like a C race for me. I wasn't focusing on it at all. Hell, I rode 50 miles and swam for 2 hours 2 days before the race. I should've been resting. I wasn't too worried about doing well in this race. Over the last few days, I've been eating crap. Not crap, but not well since there were so many Slowtwitchers in town. I had a lot of ice cream, Salt Lick BBQ on Saturday night, and even beer on Saturday. Sleep was also lacking as well.
On the morning of the race, I got up at about 4:30am. I just like taking my time to get ready. For breakfast, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, yogurt, a granola bar, and an apple. For the rest of the morning, I drank 32oz of Gatorade. I ate about half a Clif Bar and half of 20oz of Gatorade right before the race. My stomach was full this morning. Also, I didn't carb load because I find it more painful than what it's worth. So, no more carb loading for races Oly and below.
As usual, my stomach was a little upset and I had 5 RP's this morning. I tied a record. I doubt I will ever beat my record of 5 RP's because this morning my entire GI tract was empty by the time I got into the water. I had two problems this morning. The first one started a few days ago. I lost my HRM strap so this race was going to be based on effort and not heart rate. Then, I left my HRM watch at Lauren's place yesterday and this race was going to be interested. I had no HR to go off of and then I had no clue what my time was either. This was the first race without any feedback on how I'm doing during the race so we'll see how I do. The second thing was that I had put my Gatorade bottles in my gym bag. Well, they leaked. Everything in my bag was sticky with diluted Gatorade. Messy.
The race started at 7 but my wave didn't go off until 8:20. It was a pain in the ass waiting around the entire time. The waves were messed up this year. Last year, my age group was near the end and it was the same thing this year. The first few waves were males under 19 and over 40. The ladies were next and then it was men 35-39, men 30-34, and then males 20-29. Everyone wasn't happy with that. I didn't get my wetsuit on until 8. I had my knee taped up so I was good to go. Like I said, I couldn't finish eating and drinking all of my stuff.
It was about 15 minutes before my wave started staging up for the swim. It seemed like we were waiting to get into the water forever. Just a bunch of guys standing around. I started getting nervous about 30 minutes before the start of the race. I usually get nervous, so it was good that I only got nervous that close to the start of my wave. We were staging up, and then they gave us the signal to get into the water.
The Swim
We got into the water and it was about 73 degrees. It was cool enough to feel good. I had my sleeveless wetsuit on and it was perfect for the race. I lined up in the front, where I should've been, but in the middle. We were in the water for about 3 minutes before the gun went off. I was talking to people about how fast everyone was going to go. No one answered about their intended pace so I decided to make people try to swim over me. And if they tried to do that, then they would get kicked a lot. The gun went off and the race was on. There wasn't much bumping and grinding at first. There was a bit, but not much. I noticed that there seemed to be 2 packs that formed up on the first stretch. Of course, the fast A pack was on the inside of the buoys. There seemed to be a B backed that formed up on the far left of the course. As I swam, I moved closer to the buoys to get a better line. I tried to find some feet, but I couldn't find too many. I found one pair of feet and they seemed slightly slow for me, but I stayed behind them. I think I went out a little fast and I couldn't get my breath, but staying behind the feet allowed me to slow a bit and rest a bit. The first turn came up pretty fast and I took it pretty well. I veered to the outside and added a few yards on while making the second turn.
I then found a pair of feet and I stayed on them for awhile. At this point, I felt really good in the swim. I was taking good strokes, not dropping my elbows much, but breathing was a problem. I developed a breathing pattern. Right, right, left, left. Basically, I was taking two breaths on a side, taking 3 strokes, then two breaths on the other side, 3 more strokes, etc. That worked for me much better than breathing only on my right side. I have no problems on my left side, but I just needed air. I was pushing myself on the swim.
I stayed with my feet for awhile and then I wanted to push myself more. So, I left my feet and passed that guy. I got in front of him and I was looking forward sighting for buoys. I couldn't see anyone. Well, I ran into a few people, but they were other waves that I was passing and getting in the way. At this point, it seemed like I was in the lead of the B pack of swimmers. I felt like I had people behind me, no one drafting off of me because I couldn't feel hands on my feet, but I just had that feeling that there were others behind me. I just kept putting one arm in front of the other and trying to get nice, long strokes. I had problems sighting because my goggles fogged up a bit. Not bad, but enough to be annoying. The swim was overcast so I should've had my clear goggles on, but I opted for the tinted ones in case the sun came out. This was important because I almost missed a buoy. It was underneath a bridge in the shadows and luckily I was swimming straight enough that I didn't completely get off course. I was zig zagging a lot today, but not that badly. Ok, ok, I need to work on swimming in a straight line. I got the buoy under the bridge and kept going. After that buoy, I lost all sense of direction. I overshot the buoy for the last turn around because it wasn't a normal turning buoy and I had no one to follow. I was about 25yds further than I should've and I turned and swam to the other buoy. The rest of the B pack caught up with me and I turned it up a notch to beat them to the buoy. I got turned and I was now in the home stretch.
I was still having problems. I almost hit a canoe. I was wondering what the fuck the canoe was doing so far in the path of the swimmers. Well, the question was why was a dumbass swimmer so far in the path of the canoe. On the far right there was a bridge support. To the left of it was a buoy and to the left of that was another bridge support. There was maybe 25 yds between the buoy and the left bridge support. Well, I swam to the left of the farthest left bridge support. Yeah, I was a dumbass. My 1500m swim was more like 1600m between the missed turn around and then the missed bridge support. The zigzagging helped as well.
I kept going and I finally had the last turn buoy in sight. Since I wasn't going to use my arms anymore and I was pissed about being so far off course, I picked it up a bit. I turned the buoy and sprinted to the ramp. I swam up pretty far to the ramp and when I tried to stand up, the water was up to my mid thighs. Some volunteers pulled my left arm but I was still extremely dizzy. I reached out my right arm and it took a few seconds before someone grabbed it and helped me up. I was out of the water. I was looking for a clock and there was none there to check my time. Since I had no watch, I had no clue how I did. I felt like I did really well though so I felt happy. I went up the steps and I was in the grassy chute to the T area. I was in almost a fullout sprint. Why jog through the T area because it's still a race? I passed like 8 people but I was really winded when I got to my spot on the rack. I need to perfect getting my wetsuit off. I had to sit down and take it off which costs a lot of time, but I was winded and still dizzy. I threw my cap and goggles down and had my wetsuit off. To get ready for the bike, I had only 2 things to do: sunglasses and helmet. I unracked my bike and started running out. A shoe fell out the pedal immediately so I took the other out shoe and I was off. I ran through the T area pretty quickly with my bike. There were some sandy areas that were a PITA to run through. I took a right out of the T area and passed like 5 more people who were either walking or just doing a light jog with their bike. I almost hiked my bike over my should and ran it through the area that way. I would've spilt my aero bottle though. I crossed the mount line and got off to the side. I had to put my shoes on and then clip in. I didn't seem to take me too long to get in the shoes and I was then on the bike.
The Bike
Geoff, the new assistant coach for Texas Iron, told me about 2 days before to take the 1st loop slow, go harder on the 2nd and 3rd loops, and then slow again on the 4th. I was worried about my running off the bike since all of my bricks are very painful and I'm always running at about an 8:30-9:00 pace for the first couple of miles. Well, I threw that advice out the window when I got on the bike. When I was on the main course, the first half loop I absolutely hammered it. I needed to get my legs going and I was pushing myself. I knew I was pushing but it felt good. After doing the hairy part with all of the turns around Congress, I took a left onto Congress (more to come about that later) and it was a slight downhill. I got up some speed, kept my cadence around 95-100 and got into a groove. I took the right onto Cesar Chavez and kept my rhythm going. I felt really good at that point. I was in a groove and kept it up while settling down. I was heading out on Cesar Chavez and saw Lauren heading back in. That was the only time that I saw her.
The first couple of loops were fairly uneventful. The course was really, really crowded and it seemed like corners were more scary this year than they were this year. I lost a water bottle when it was ejected from my rear bottle cage. I felt bad about it, but I avoided that bump after that. Also, I took my other water bottle and put it in my jersey pocket. I felt good on the bike. I knew I was pushing myself, but I didn't know how hard since I had no HRM. After the second loop, I checked my time and I was done in about 33 minutes. Not too bad. I was out for my 3rd loop now. My legs were feeling it a bit, mostly in my quads. I was worried that I pushed too hard and my run would blow up, but I still had 2 loops to think about that. On my 3rd loop, I was heading south on San Jacinto, took the right onto 11th, and I was building up speed to make the fast left onto Congress. I noticed an older guy on the right where I was lining up to take a hard line through the turn. He was only going 14ish while I like taking that turn at 20+ because I can. He cut across me so I decided to go on his outside. Well, he was taking a pussy line through the turn and started to drift way to the outside. I yelled, "On the outside, on the outside!" and he heard me and reacted accordingly. But it was almost too late. His handling skills weren't that great so he still tried pretty hard to run me into the curb. At this point I'm fucking freaked out. I'm doing 20+ mph. On the left, I have some old guy pushing me to the right. On the right, I see a curb that is quickly approaching. Before I hit the curb, I see a major crack in the concrete that is much bigger than the width of a bike tire. Seriously, I'm expecting to crash, but I'm looking for ways to get out of it. The old guy is backing off a bit, but is still leaving me very, very little room. Enough to get through, but not without some magic. At this point, I'm out of my saddle and I hit my brakes. This causes my back tire to lock up and fishtail to the right to the curb. Luckily, my right pedal is coming up to top dead center and I push my weight forward. By pushing down on the right with my weight forward caused the back of my bike to kick out to the left and clear the curb. I hit the crack in the concrete at an angle so my tire didn't get stuck. Through all of this, I remember hearing some either gasp or say "Oh my God!" while watching all of this. I put you it looked like a high speed wreck was about happen, but due to my bike handling skills and fucking lightning fast reflexes, I missed it. Once I passed the old, slow, dangerous guy, I yelled because my heart rate jumped up about 30 bpm because of the adrenaline rush. I yelled "Woooooooooo!" in excitement from saving my ass from that close call. I got out of the saddle, hammered it some more and kept going totally pumped up now.
Another event on the 3rd lap was that I was passed on the bike. I only was passed maybe 5 or 6 times and most of them were at the beginning, but this was the first time that I got passed on the bike by somebody in my age group. Some guy in a yellow jersey. I'll remember him later and get my revenge. He passed me and I kept going. 4th loop wasn't eventful either and I was taking the turns much more conservatively. Going out on Cesar Chavez was still a hammering point, but coming back I upped the cadence and as prep for the run. I had downed 2 Gu's and 2 bottles of diluted Gatorade and Nuun. I felt well hydrated. It was still overcast, but not cool. My quads were feeling it and I was getting worried on how the run was going to turn out. My speed on the bike was fast and I don't even want to know what my heart rate was for the ride. One thing that I was practicing on the 4th loop was drafting. Not blatant drafting but I would ride up behind someone in their draft zone and when I got about 2 feet from their wheel, I would wip over. I should've stayed on a wheel for a few seconds to get rest, but everyone was going so slow. I did this on the 4th loop because the headwind picked up a bit. There were some good things to this. I benefitted from a draft for a second or two, but it was scary. I was doing this to a lot of people that weren't great cyclist and they seemed to weave a lot. I was also in areobars making quick motions. The good thing was a lot of time I would yell "On your left" and the person would move to the right without my jerking around them.
Ok, I was coming into T2 now and I was spinning to get my legs ready. I made the turn into the last chute and got out of my shoes. I rushed the dismount line and passed 2 people right there. I didn't run as quickly through T2 as I did in T1. I racked my bike and took off my helmet. Socks and shoes went on and I grabbed my hat, my race belt, my water bottle, and my Gu's. Having that much crap was a problem. I couldn't run that fast because I felt like I had too much crap. I was running through the T2 area, but not fast. My sunglasses were bouncing, but I was having fun. I crossed the mat, heard the beep, and I was on the run course.
The Run
I passed up the first aid station right away. I didn't have any free hands anyways. After the aid station, I stopped and got everything situated. I put my Gu's in my jersey pockets, put my hat on, put my race belt on, and kept going. I was expecting to be trashed on the run, but I really wasn't. I was somewhat tired, but I usually feel that way on bricks. I kept going and putting one foot in front of the other. Man, I was happy too. Last year, I DNF'ed after I got out of T2 because of my peroneal tendonitis. This year, I was so happy to actually be running. I was feeling better and kept going. Since I had no heart rate monitor or anything, I kept running off of perceived effort. I felt fine, like I was pushing, but not too much. I felt like I was at a pace that I could run for the rest of the race. At a turnaround point, I saw Eric Gilmore behind me. I knew I would beat him out of the water and I thought he might catch me on the bike, but I knew I had no chance on beating him on the run. Well, this confirmed that I got him off the bike. But that didn't last long.
The first water stop was at about Mile 1 and it was sponsored by Jack and Adam's. My plan for this race was something that I learned from Lauren's race at Ironman Arizona. Every water stop, I walked, I had at least one cup of water on my head, at least one down my shorts, and then I drank at least 2 more. This stop had some ice water so it helped out quite a bit. I was feeling really goofy so Jack gave me a cup of water and I threw it right back at him. He looked like he needed to cool off a bit. That cheered me up a bit. And I kept running. I had no clue the pace that I was running at, but I wasn't getting passed much. Just kept plodding along. I was Lauren turn in to finish her race after I stopped at the J&A's water stop. She looked strong.
I turned left on Congress to go up pretty much the biggest hill on the course up the Congress Ave bridge. At that point, someone else in my age group passed me. I was down 1 spot from the bike and 1 spot from the run. Not much else happened. I saw Leary and Suzanne at the turn left onto Congress and they cheered me on. Eric Gilmore passed me at that point so I guess I held my ground pretty well to that point. I high fived some TNT people and kept it up. Barb and Ron cheered me on near RunTex. After that, I finished my first loop. Only 1 more to go.
I got water and did my usual routine. I think I took my last Gu at that point as well. I think I threw a couple of Gu's away at some point as well. They were in my jersey pocket and I had too many back there. They kept bouncing and annoying the shit out of me. I was feeling pretty good when I hit the J&A water stop the second time, but I was starting to get slightly fatigued. I walked about 10yds after the water stop just because I like walking a bit. I think my form was good, but I would notice that I quickly lost it and then I would have to think to get it back again.
I kept trash talking people kinda. Someone would pass me, I would check out their age group, and yell stuff like "The only reason I'm letting you pass me is because you aren't in my age group." I was just joking around, but I was having a great time. I absolutely love racing. I didn't have fun at the Texas Tri, but pretty much every other race has been absolutely enjoyable. I was thanking volunteers and high fiving people from time to time as well. I felt great and I was enjoying the race. Having a spectator friendly course is great. Once again I turned left on Congress up the hill, the race got really interesting for me. I found someone in my age group. I think it's the guy that passed me on the run earlier. I was thinking on how I should pass him. If I caught up with him, I should be fine for the rest of the race. He was looking somewhat tired. I tried passing him once up the hill, but I was pushing myself too hard. I backed off and held on. We turned right onto some other street and there was another surprise for me. The guy in the yellow jersey that passed me on the bike wasn't doing so well on the run. Shit, I caught up with him! I'm about to pass 2 people in my age group. I never do this. I was running my pace and I think I was slightly faster than them. I picked up a burst of speed and left both of them. Once I settled back into my pace, I just get going. I kept giving them "The Look". I was looking back at the guy in the blue that was actually keeping up with me fairly well. I kept checking to see how he was hanging on. A water stop came up and I walked it. Blue Jersey Guy passed me and I was pissed. I wanted to drop him, but I've been feeling sluggish since the turn onto Congress. I just sat back, kept an eye on him, and bided my time. We took another left onto Congress and I saw Leary and Suzanne again. I said to Leary "That guy is in my age group and I'm going to run him down!". Suzanne said something like "Pick someone out and run them down!" Hell, yeah, I was about to do this. Well, that turn onto Congress has a slight downhill. I've been practicing my downhill running where I pick up my pace quite a bit and then recovery. Well, time to pass this guy who was at this point about 5 yards in front of me. I hit the downhill and put almost 15yds on this guy in no time. Seriously, over the course of maybe 20 seconds I had passed this guy and put a decent amount of time on him. There was still a slight downhill so I put my head down, concentrated on form, and kept up my speed on this downhill.
On the Congress bridge, I passed two more people in my age group. Well, they had numbers on their calves that were in my age group, but I have no clue if they were on their first or second lap. Either way, I kept up the pace and was picking people off left and right. This was feeling good because I felt like my pace was fairly constant the entire race. I picked it up at the end, but instead of the last 100yd dash, I had picked up the pace for the last 1.5 miles. And I kept it up. I had to keep it up to make sure no one decided to try to run me down. If they were going to pass me, they were going to freaking work for it. I turn onto Barton Spring and passed that water stop. I was less than 1/2 mile away and I didn't need water. I saw Adam and told him that I had just run down 4 age groupers in the last mile. I high fived Ron and Barbara and I kept going. I was hurting now, but I kept it up. I saw the finish line ahead of me. I couldn't sprint the last part, but I could keep up my pace up. That's a good sign that I paced myself well and that is really good because I have no feedback this entire race. I was about to take the turn to the finishing chute. I turned my race number around to make it look good. As I crossed the finish line, I took of my hat and sunglasses with my hands in the air.
The Results
I checked the time and it said 3:42:ish. Taking into account I started 1:20 late, I had an unofficial time of 2:22 and change. Holy fucking shit, man. Before this race, I had no expectations. I didn't feel like I was in great shape because I've had an elevated heart rate lately and my running has suffered due to injuries. My swim has improved, but I haven't been training for hard fast stuff like an Oly distance race. Everything has been HIM and IM focused. Crossing the line that quickly shocked me. I would have been happy with something under 2:30, but I can't believe I beat it by that much. I finished and I felt great. Ok, a little tired, but not to the point where I had trouble walking or anything hurt, including my knee. I taped up my knee for the race and it was fine the entire time. Now, it sounds like a bowl of Rice Crispies, but during the race it was great.
Once I got the official results, I PR'ed St. Anthony's by 2:43. This is great for many reasons. 1) St. A is a salt water swim 2) The transition areas were much, much smaller and therefore much quicker 3) The bike is a single loop course with fewer turns, fewer people, and much flatter and 4) The run was flatter as well. Today was hotter than St. Anthony's and more humid, but wind wasn't bad and it was overcast. Either way, I just totalled rocked the house today. Compared to last year at CapTex, I was 2 seconds slower on the swim, but the swim was about 100-150yds short. On the bike, I was only 36 seconds slower. That's big because last year I was maxing out my heart rate since I knew I didn't have a run afterwards. Average heart rate was maybe 165-170 range so I was moving. My transitions were also much quicker this year as well. I had no comparision on the run since I DNF'ed, but compared to St. Anthony's, I felt much more comfortable and I didn't walk at all except for the aid stations.
I learned a lot today. I think I'm not going to race with a HRM anymore unless I'm doing an IM. I went totally off of perceived effort today and it showed that I did better. I normally keep my pace throttled back because I look at my HRM and my heart rate is too high. I *KNOW* I was pushing it on the bike. I could just feel it in my chest and legs. I was worried that I would suck ass on the run. Nope. I can hammer it on the bike and be OK on the run. I also just ran my race instead of looking at my watch every 60 seconds to check my time and my pulse. Lauren's method of water station worked well. I was soaked after every water stop and I came out feeling great. My shoes were soaked though and that felt weird, but I didn't develop any blisters. I ran with my white hat and I think that helped. I need to work on my open water swimming and sighting. Having the shoes on my Bebop pedals isn't such a good idea. I need to chill out on the turns at CapTex next year to avoid wrecks and stupid people. I only need to take as many Gu's as I need and not carry any extra. Well, one extra so for the run I should've had 3 instead of 4.
Finally, I feel like I'm almost there. You know the point where you think you are fast. I'm not quite there, but I'll be there some day. I finished 10th in my age group so it's a big deal to break into the top 10. There were 76 people in my age group so I did very well. I have room to improve as well. My swimming is progressing well and my bike gains are slower, but I'm still improving. I have a lot of work on the run, but that'll come with weight loss and time. I'm really looking forward to Buffalo Springs now to see how I do at completing my first Half Ironman event. I should do pretty well since I feel like I'm better at longer distances. I have a mental edge to keep my body going. Most importantly, I had a blast today. I tried to have a smile on my face the entire day and I was chatting with people and having a good time. I still feel high at 3am from my race today. And speaking of, I need to go to bed now. I just feel so good.
Pre Race
I got up this morning and got ready. This was a B race, actually more like a C race for me. I wasn't focusing on it at all. Hell, I rode 50 miles and swam for 2 hours 2 days before the race. I should've been resting. I wasn't too worried about doing well in this race. Over the last few days, I've been eating crap. Not crap, but not well since there were so many Slowtwitchers in town. I had a lot of ice cream, Salt Lick BBQ on Saturday night, and even beer on Saturday. Sleep was also lacking as well.
On the morning of the race, I got up at about 4:30am. I just like taking my time to get ready. For breakfast, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, yogurt, a granola bar, and an apple. For the rest of the morning, I drank 32oz of Gatorade. I ate about half a Clif Bar and half of 20oz of Gatorade right before the race. My stomach was full this morning. Also, I didn't carb load because I find it more painful than what it's worth. So, no more carb loading for races Oly and below.
As usual, my stomach was a little upset and I had 5 RP's this morning. I tied a record. I doubt I will ever beat my record of 5 RP's because this morning my entire GI tract was empty by the time I got into the water. I had two problems this morning. The first one started a few days ago. I lost my HRM strap so this race was going to be based on effort and not heart rate. Then, I left my HRM watch at Lauren's place yesterday and this race was going to be interested. I had no HR to go off of and then I had no clue what my time was either. This was the first race without any feedback on how I'm doing during the race so we'll see how I do. The second thing was that I had put my Gatorade bottles in my gym bag. Well, they leaked. Everything in my bag was sticky with diluted Gatorade. Messy.
The race started at 7 but my wave didn't go off until 8:20. It was a pain in the ass waiting around the entire time. The waves were messed up this year. Last year, my age group was near the end and it was the same thing this year. The first few waves were males under 19 and over 40. The ladies were next and then it was men 35-39, men 30-34, and then males 20-29. Everyone wasn't happy with that. I didn't get my wetsuit on until 8. I had my knee taped up so I was good to go. Like I said, I couldn't finish eating and drinking all of my stuff.
It was about 15 minutes before my wave started staging up for the swim. It seemed like we were waiting to get into the water forever. Just a bunch of guys standing around. I started getting nervous about 30 minutes before the start of the race. I usually get nervous, so it was good that I only got nervous that close to the start of my wave. We were staging up, and then they gave us the signal to get into the water.
The Swim
We got into the water and it was about 73 degrees. It was cool enough to feel good. I had my sleeveless wetsuit on and it was perfect for the race. I lined up in the front, where I should've been, but in the middle. We were in the water for about 3 minutes before the gun went off. I was talking to people about how fast everyone was going to go. No one answered about their intended pace so I decided to make people try to swim over me. And if they tried to do that, then they would get kicked a lot. The gun went off and the race was on. There wasn't much bumping and grinding at first. There was a bit, but not much. I noticed that there seemed to be 2 packs that formed up on the first stretch. Of course, the fast A pack was on the inside of the buoys. There seemed to be a B backed that formed up on the far left of the course. As I swam, I moved closer to the buoys to get a better line. I tried to find some feet, but I couldn't find too many. I found one pair of feet and they seemed slightly slow for me, but I stayed behind them. I think I went out a little fast and I couldn't get my breath, but staying behind the feet allowed me to slow a bit and rest a bit. The first turn came up pretty fast and I took it pretty well. I veered to the outside and added a few yards on while making the second turn.
I then found a pair of feet and I stayed on them for awhile. At this point, I felt really good in the swim. I was taking good strokes, not dropping my elbows much, but breathing was a problem. I developed a breathing pattern. Right, right, left, left. Basically, I was taking two breaths on a side, taking 3 strokes, then two breaths on the other side, 3 more strokes, etc. That worked for me much better than breathing only on my right side. I have no problems on my left side, but I just needed air. I was pushing myself on the swim.
I stayed with my feet for awhile and then I wanted to push myself more. So, I left my feet and passed that guy. I got in front of him and I was looking forward sighting for buoys. I couldn't see anyone. Well, I ran into a few people, but they were other waves that I was passing and getting in the way. At this point, it seemed like I was in the lead of the B pack of swimmers. I felt like I had people behind me, no one drafting off of me because I couldn't feel hands on my feet, but I just had that feeling that there were others behind me. I just kept putting one arm in front of the other and trying to get nice, long strokes. I had problems sighting because my goggles fogged up a bit. Not bad, but enough to be annoying. The swim was overcast so I should've had my clear goggles on, but I opted for the tinted ones in case the sun came out. This was important because I almost missed a buoy. It was underneath a bridge in the shadows and luckily I was swimming straight enough that I didn't completely get off course. I was zig zagging a lot today, but not that badly. Ok, ok, I need to work on swimming in a straight line. I got the buoy under the bridge and kept going. After that buoy, I lost all sense of direction. I overshot the buoy for the last turn around because it wasn't a normal turning buoy and I had no one to follow. I was about 25yds further than I should've and I turned and swam to the other buoy. The rest of the B pack caught up with me and I turned it up a notch to beat them to the buoy. I got turned and I was now in the home stretch.
I was still having problems. I almost hit a canoe. I was wondering what the fuck the canoe was doing so far in the path of the swimmers. Well, the question was why was a dumbass swimmer so far in the path of the canoe. On the far right there was a bridge support. To the left of it was a buoy and to the left of that was another bridge support. There was maybe 25 yds between the buoy and the left bridge support. Well, I swam to the left of the farthest left bridge support. Yeah, I was a dumbass. My 1500m swim was more like 1600m between the missed turn around and then the missed bridge support. The zigzagging helped as well.
I kept going and I finally had the last turn buoy in sight. Since I wasn't going to use my arms anymore and I was pissed about being so far off course, I picked it up a bit. I turned the buoy and sprinted to the ramp. I swam up pretty far to the ramp and when I tried to stand up, the water was up to my mid thighs. Some volunteers pulled my left arm but I was still extremely dizzy. I reached out my right arm and it took a few seconds before someone grabbed it and helped me up. I was out of the water. I was looking for a clock and there was none there to check my time. Since I had no watch, I had no clue how I did. I felt like I did really well though so I felt happy. I went up the steps and I was in the grassy chute to the T area. I was in almost a fullout sprint. Why jog through the T area because it's still a race? I passed like 8 people but I was really winded when I got to my spot on the rack. I need to perfect getting my wetsuit off. I had to sit down and take it off which costs a lot of time, but I was winded and still dizzy. I threw my cap and goggles down and had my wetsuit off. To get ready for the bike, I had only 2 things to do: sunglasses and helmet. I unracked my bike and started running out. A shoe fell out the pedal immediately so I took the other out shoe and I was off. I ran through the T area pretty quickly with my bike. There were some sandy areas that were a PITA to run through. I took a right out of the T area and passed like 5 more people who were either walking or just doing a light jog with their bike. I almost hiked my bike over my should and ran it through the area that way. I would've spilt my aero bottle though. I crossed the mount line and got off to the side. I had to put my shoes on and then clip in. I didn't seem to take me too long to get in the shoes and I was then on the bike.
The Bike
Geoff, the new assistant coach for Texas Iron, told me about 2 days before to take the 1st loop slow, go harder on the 2nd and 3rd loops, and then slow again on the 4th. I was worried about my running off the bike since all of my bricks are very painful and I'm always running at about an 8:30-9:00 pace for the first couple of miles. Well, I threw that advice out the window when I got on the bike. When I was on the main course, the first half loop I absolutely hammered it. I needed to get my legs going and I was pushing myself. I knew I was pushing but it felt good. After doing the hairy part with all of the turns around Congress, I took a left onto Congress (more to come about that later) and it was a slight downhill. I got up some speed, kept my cadence around 95-100 and got into a groove. I took the right onto Cesar Chavez and kept my rhythm going. I felt really good at that point. I was in a groove and kept it up while settling down. I was heading out on Cesar Chavez and saw Lauren heading back in. That was the only time that I saw her.
The first couple of loops were fairly uneventful. The course was really, really crowded and it seemed like corners were more scary this year than they were this year. I lost a water bottle when it was ejected from my rear bottle cage. I felt bad about it, but I avoided that bump after that. Also, I took my other water bottle and put it in my jersey pocket. I felt good on the bike. I knew I was pushing myself, but I didn't know how hard since I had no HRM. After the second loop, I checked my time and I was done in about 33 minutes. Not too bad. I was out for my 3rd loop now. My legs were feeling it a bit, mostly in my quads. I was worried that I pushed too hard and my run would blow up, but I still had 2 loops to think about that. On my 3rd loop, I was heading south on San Jacinto, took the right onto 11th, and I was building up speed to make the fast left onto Congress. I noticed an older guy on the right where I was lining up to take a hard line through the turn. He was only going 14ish while I like taking that turn at 20+ because I can. He cut across me so I decided to go on his outside. Well, he was taking a pussy line through the turn and started to drift way to the outside. I yelled, "On the outside, on the outside!" and he heard me and reacted accordingly. But it was almost too late. His handling skills weren't that great so he still tried pretty hard to run me into the curb. At this point I'm fucking freaked out. I'm doing 20+ mph. On the left, I have some old guy pushing me to the right. On the right, I see a curb that is quickly approaching. Before I hit the curb, I see a major crack in the concrete that is much bigger than the width of a bike tire. Seriously, I'm expecting to crash, but I'm looking for ways to get out of it. The old guy is backing off a bit, but is still leaving me very, very little room. Enough to get through, but not without some magic. At this point, I'm out of my saddle and I hit my brakes. This causes my back tire to lock up and fishtail to the right to the curb. Luckily, my right pedal is coming up to top dead center and I push my weight forward. By pushing down on the right with my weight forward caused the back of my bike to kick out to the left and clear the curb. I hit the crack in the concrete at an angle so my tire didn't get stuck. Through all of this, I remember hearing some either gasp or say "Oh my God!" while watching all of this. I put you it looked like a high speed wreck was about happen, but due to my bike handling skills and fucking lightning fast reflexes, I missed it. Once I passed the old, slow, dangerous guy, I yelled because my heart rate jumped up about 30 bpm because of the adrenaline rush. I yelled "Woooooooooo!" in excitement from saving my ass from that close call. I got out of the saddle, hammered it some more and kept going totally pumped up now.
Another event on the 3rd lap was that I was passed on the bike. I only was passed maybe 5 or 6 times and most of them were at the beginning, but this was the first time that I got passed on the bike by somebody in my age group. Some guy in a yellow jersey. I'll remember him later and get my revenge. He passed me and I kept going. 4th loop wasn't eventful either and I was taking the turns much more conservatively. Going out on Cesar Chavez was still a hammering point, but coming back I upped the cadence and as prep for the run. I had downed 2 Gu's and 2 bottles of diluted Gatorade and Nuun. I felt well hydrated. It was still overcast, but not cool. My quads were feeling it and I was getting worried on how the run was going to turn out. My speed on the bike was fast and I don't even want to know what my heart rate was for the ride. One thing that I was practicing on the 4th loop was drafting. Not blatant drafting but I would ride up behind someone in their draft zone and when I got about 2 feet from their wheel, I would wip over. I should've stayed on a wheel for a few seconds to get rest, but everyone was going so slow. I did this on the 4th loop because the headwind picked up a bit. There were some good things to this. I benefitted from a draft for a second or two, but it was scary. I was doing this to a lot of people that weren't great cyclist and they seemed to weave a lot. I was also in areobars making quick motions. The good thing was a lot of time I would yell "On your left" and the person would move to the right without my jerking around them.
Ok, I was coming into T2 now and I was spinning to get my legs ready. I made the turn into the last chute and got out of my shoes. I rushed the dismount line and passed 2 people right there. I didn't run as quickly through T2 as I did in T1. I racked my bike and took off my helmet. Socks and shoes went on and I grabbed my hat, my race belt, my water bottle, and my Gu's. Having that much crap was a problem. I couldn't run that fast because I felt like I had too much crap. I was running through the T2 area, but not fast. My sunglasses were bouncing, but I was having fun. I crossed the mat, heard the beep, and I was on the run course.
The Run
I passed up the first aid station right away. I didn't have any free hands anyways. After the aid station, I stopped and got everything situated. I put my Gu's in my jersey pockets, put my hat on, put my race belt on, and kept going. I was expecting to be trashed on the run, but I really wasn't. I was somewhat tired, but I usually feel that way on bricks. I kept going and putting one foot in front of the other. Man, I was happy too. Last year, I DNF'ed after I got out of T2 because of my peroneal tendonitis. This year, I was so happy to actually be running. I was feeling better and kept going. Since I had no heart rate monitor or anything, I kept running off of perceived effort. I felt fine, like I was pushing, but not too much. I felt like I was at a pace that I could run for the rest of the race. At a turnaround point, I saw Eric Gilmore behind me. I knew I would beat him out of the water and I thought he might catch me on the bike, but I knew I had no chance on beating him on the run. Well, this confirmed that I got him off the bike. But that didn't last long.
The first water stop was at about Mile 1 and it was sponsored by Jack and Adam's. My plan for this race was something that I learned from Lauren's race at Ironman Arizona. Every water stop, I walked, I had at least one cup of water on my head, at least one down my shorts, and then I drank at least 2 more. This stop had some ice water so it helped out quite a bit. I was feeling really goofy so Jack gave me a cup of water and I threw it right back at him. He looked like he needed to cool off a bit. That cheered me up a bit. And I kept running. I had no clue the pace that I was running at, but I wasn't getting passed much. Just kept plodding along. I was Lauren turn in to finish her race after I stopped at the J&A's water stop. She looked strong.
I turned left on Congress to go up pretty much the biggest hill on the course up the Congress Ave bridge. At that point, someone else in my age group passed me. I was down 1 spot from the bike and 1 spot from the run. Not much else happened. I saw Leary and Suzanne at the turn left onto Congress and they cheered me on. Eric Gilmore passed me at that point so I guess I held my ground pretty well to that point. I high fived some TNT people and kept it up. Barb and Ron cheered me on near RunTex. After that, I finished my first loop. Only 1 more to go.
I got water and did my usual routine. I think I took my last Gu at that point as well. I think I threw a couple of Gu's away at some point as well. They were in my jersey pocket and I had too many back there. They kept bouncing and annoying the shit out of me. I was feeling pretty good when I hit the J&A water stop the second time, but I was starting to get slightly fatigued. I walked about 10yds after the water stop just because I like walking a bit. I think my form was good, but I would notice that I quickly lost it and then I would have to think to get it back again.
I kept trash talking people kinda. Someone would pass me, I would check out their age group, and yell stuff like "The only reason I'm letting you pass me is because you aren't in my age group." I was just joking around, but I was having a great time. I absolutely love racing. I didn't have fun at the Texas Tri, but pretty much every other race has been absolutely enjoyable. I was thanking volunteers and high fiving people from time to time as well. I felt great and I was enjoying the race. Having a spectator friendly course is great. Once again I turned left on Congress up the hill, the race got really interesting for me. I found someone in my age group. I think it's the guy that passed me on the run earlier. I was thinking on how I should pass him. If I caught up with him, I should be fine for the rest of the race. He was looking somewhat tired. I tried passing him once up the hill, but I was pushing myself too hard. I backed off and held on. We turned right onto some other street and there was another surprise for me. The guy in the yellow jersey that passed me on the bike wasn't doing so well on the run. Shit, I caught up with him! I'm about to pass 2 people in my age group. I never do this. I was running my pace and I think I was slightly faster than them. I picked up a burst of speed and left both of them. Once I settled back into my pace, I just get going. I kept giving them "The Look". I was looking back at the guy in the blue that was actually keeping up with me fairly well. I kept checking to see how he was hanging on. A water stop came up and I walked it. Blue Jersey Guy passed me and I was pissed. I wanted to drop him, but I've been feeling sluggish since the turn onto Congress. I just sat back, kept an eye on him, and bided my time. We took another left onto Congress and I saw Leary and Suzanne again. I said to Leary "That guy is in my age group and I'm going to run him down!". Suzanne said something like "Pick someone out and run them down!" Hell, yeah, I was about to do this. Well, that turn onto Congress has a slight downhill. I've been practicing my downhill running where I pick up my pace quite a bit and then recovery. Well, time to pass this guy who was at this point about 5 yards in front of me. I hit the downhill and put almost 15yds on this guy in no time. Seriously, over the course of maybe 20 seconds I had passed this guy and put a decent amount of time on him. There was still a slight downhill so I put my head down, concentrated on form, and kept up my speed on this downhill.
On the Congress bridge, I passed two more people in my age group. Well, they had numbers on their calves that were in my age group, but I have no clue if they were on their first or second lap. Either way, I kept up the pace and was picking people off left and right. This was feeling good because I felt like my pace was fairly constant the entire race. I picked it up at the end, but instead of the last 100yd dash, I had picked up the pace for the last 1.5 miles. And I kept it up. I had to keep it up to make sure no one decided to try to run me down. If they were going to pass me, they were going to freaking work for it. I turn onto Barton Spring and passed that water stop. I was less than 1/2 mile away and I didn't need water. I saw Adam and told him that I had just run down 4 age groupers in the last mile. I high fived Ron and Barbara and I kept going. I was hurting now, but I kept it up. I saw the finish line ahead of me. I couldn't sprint the last part, but I could keep up my pace up. That's a good sign that I paced myself well and that is really good because I have no feedback this entire race. I was about to take the turn to the finishing chute. I turned my race number around to make it look good. As I crossed the finish line, I took of my hat and sunglasses with my hands in the air.
The Results
I checked the time and it said 3:42:ish. Taking into account I started 1:20 late, I had an unofficial time of 2:22 and change. Holy fucking shit, man. Before this race, I had no expectations. I didn't feel like I was in great shape because I've had an elevated heart rate lately and my running has suffered due to injuries. My swim has improved, but I haven't been training for hard fast stuff like an Oly distance race. Everything has been HIM and IM focused. Crossing the line that quickly shocked me. I would have been happy with something under 2:30, but I can't believe I beat it by that much. I finished and I felt great. Ok, a little tired, but not to the point where I had trouble walking or anything hurt, including my knee. I taped up my knee for the race and it was fine the entire time. Now, it sounds like a bowl of Rice Crispies, but during the race it was great.
Once I got the official results, I PR'ed St. Anthony's by 2:43. This is great for many reasons. 1) St. A is a salt water swim 2) The transition areas were much, much smaller and therefore much quicker 3) The bike is a single loop course with fewer turns, fewer people, and much flatter and 4) The run was flatter as well. Today was hotter than St. Anthony's and more humid, but wind wasn't bad and it was overcast. Either way, I just totalled rocked the house today. Compared to last year at CapTex, I was 2 seconds slower on the swim, but the swim was about 100-150yds short. On the bike, I was only 36 seconds slower. That's big because last year I was maxing out my heart rate since I knew I didn't have a run afterwards. Average heart rate was maybe 165-170 range so I was moving. My transitions were also much quicker this year as well. I had no comparision on the run since I DNF'ed, but compared to St. Anthony's, I felt much more comfortable and I didn't walk at all except for the aid stations.
I learned a lot today. I think I'm not going to race with a HRM anymore unless I'm doing an IM. I went totally off of perceived effort today and it showed that I did better. I normally keep my pace throttled back because I look at my HRM and my heart rate is too high. I *KNOW* I was pushing it on the bike. I could just feel it in my chest and legs. I was worried that I would suck ass on the run. Nope. I can hammer it on the bike and be OK on the run. I also just ran my race instead of looking at my watch every 60 seconds to check my time and my pulse. Lauren's method of water station worked well. I was soaked after every water stop and I came out feeling great. My shoes were soaked though and that felt weird, but I didn't develop any blisters. I ran with my white hat and I think that helped. I need to work on my open water swimming and sighting. Having the shoes on my Bebop pedals isn't such a good idea. I need to chill out on the turns at CapTex next year to avoid wrecks and stupid people. I only need to take as many Gu's as I need and not carry any extra. Well, one extra so for the run I should've had 3 instead of 4.
Finally, I feel like I'm almost there. You know the point where you think you are fast. I'm not quite there, but I'll be there some day. I finished 10th in my age group so it's a big deal to break into the top 10. There were 76 people in my age group so I did very well. I have room to improve as well. My swimming is progressing well and my bike gains are slower, but I'm still improving. I have a lot of work on the run, but that'll come with weight loss and time. I'm really looking forward to Buffalo Springs now to see how I do at completing my first Half Ironman event. I should do pretty well since I feel like I'm better at longer distances. I have a mental edge to keep my body going. Most importantly, I had a blast today. I tried to have a smile on my face the entire day and I was chatting with people and having a good time. I still feel high at 3am from my race today. And speaking of, I need to go to bed now. I just feel so good.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Let me tell you about my "rest day"
According to Jamie & Andrea's schedule, I was suppose to have a rest day and walk the CapTex course. That didn't happen. Paulo Sousa is in town this weekend to hold some run and swim clinics and then to get his butt kicked in the CapTexTri sprint on Monday. Lauren had to do a 3 hour ride and invited me to go along. I love riding so I figured I would take my road bike out since I had better gearing for climbing and I'll just go easy. It was a good ride. I just took my time and spun up the hills without pushing myself too hard. We did the Dam Loop with the ATC ride starting at 8:30. It was a good ride. Of course Lauren and I got dropped almost immediately on Southwest Parkway because we weren't hammering. That was fine though and I was trying to have a nice easy ride and I did. I accomplished my goal of just spinning up the hills and not pushing too hard. There were a couple of points that I picked up the pace or powered over the top of a hill, but it just feels good to do that from time to time. At the end of my easy ride, I checked my avg speed and it was 17.8mph. Last week, I average 17.9 and I was pushing hard too. The difference was that today I was on my road bike and last weekend I was on my tri bike. Yeah, I'm definitely faster in the hills on my road bike. After the ride, I had about 3 breakfast tacos and my legs didn't feel tired at all. It felt like I had gone on a nice easy ride and I was ready to run a half marathon afterwards.
After the ride, we went back to Lauren's place to hang out until 2pm for Paulo's swim clinic. Then, we went to the swim clinic. It was good. I learned some things and some new drills. I'll just take all of that information and incorporate it into my repertoire of swimming knowledge, pick it apart, and apply the things that I think I work for me. I asked him by Big Question when it comes to swimming and I think asking this question is very beneficial for me. I asked him "What is the single biggest problem that I have that I can work on to improve my swimming." His answer was "Just swim more." I've felt for awhile now that my stroke is pretty good. I admit that it isn't perfect, but for someone that's been swimming for just over a year, I think it's pretty good and my times reflect that. I don't think it's worth it for me anymore to work on drills are changing my technique that much because I'm not going to get that much benefit from it. For me to get faster, I just need to swim more and swim faster. His answer just confirms what I've been feeling about my swimming for awhile now and I now have a firm plan on how I can get faster in the future.
Also, to anyone what my key to swimming is, I'll tell you. It's mental discipline. When I'm in the water, I'm thinking way too much. I'm thinking the entire time about good catch, strong pull using my lats with elbow up, end the stroke short, rotate with high elbow recovery, enter, and extend. I'm always thinking about everything, but I'm not stressing about it so it appears that I'm really relaxed. Also, when a coach says something like "Try to not drop your elbow when you pull.", I don't try to do it, I do it. I have to use a lot of mental concentration to do it, but I start swimming that way really quickly. What I liked to do is when I was with TNT, we started out with 500yds warmup and 100yds cooldown usually. For each of these 100's, I would break it down into first 25 I would work on body roll, second 25 would be a good catch, next 25 would be high elbow recovery, and last 25 would be strong pull. By doing this, I practiced with awareness how each of these small steps feel and muscle memory started to kick in to make it easier to swim.
After the ride, we went back to Lauren's place to hang out until 2pm for Paulo's swim clinic. Then, we went to the swim clinic. It was good. I learned some things and some new drills. I'll just take all of that information and incorporate it into my repertoire of swimming knowledge, pick it apart, and apply the things that I think I work for me. I asked him by Big Question when it comes to swimming and I think asking this question is very beneficial for me. I asked him "What is the single biggest problem that I have that I can work on to improve my swimming." His answer was "Just swim more." I've felt for awhile now that my stroke is pretty good. I admit that it isn't perfect, but for someone that's been swimming for just over a year, I think it's pretty good and my times reflect that. I don't think it's worth it for me anymore to work on drills are changing my technique that much because I'm not going to get that much benefit from it. For me to get faster, I just need to swim more and swim faster. His answer just confirms what I've been feeling about my swimming for awhile now and I now have a firm plan on how I can get faster in the future.
Also, to anyone what my key to swimming is, I'll tell you. It's mental discipline. When I'm in the water, I'm thinking way too much. I'm thinking the entire time about good catch, strong pull using my lats with elbow up, end the stroke short, rotate with high elbow recovery, enter, and extend. I'm always thinking about everything, but I'm not stressing about it so it appears that I'm really relaxed. Also, when a coach says something like "Try to not drop your elbow when you pull.", I don't try to do it, I do it. I have to use a lot of mental concentration to do it, but I start swimming that way really quickly. What I liked to do is when I was with TNT, we started out with 500yds warmup and 100yds cooldown usually. For each of these 100's, I would break it down into first 25 I would work on body roll, second 25 would be a good catch, next 25 would be high elbow recovery, and last 25 would be strong pull. By doing this, I practiced with awareness how each of these small steps feel and muscle memory started to kick in to make it easier to swim.
Friday
Friday's update is a little late. I just want to apologize to all of my fans out there for the delay. I know how much you need to here about my workout to make yourself feel complete. That day wasn't much to say. I was suppose to do a short swim that day, but I didn't get a chance to do it until after work. Of course I was an idiot and I thought Stacy might be OX to swim in, but there were already 3-4 people circling in each lane and about 6000 kids in the pool. No way. That day, my leg hurt really badly. I didn't have any kinesio tape so that's what I'm thinking it was. My ankle wa hurting as well which was surprising. I was limping a few times while walking around. There is no big surprise that that running tears up your body, but it feels like running really tears me up. All of my issues are in my left leg, damnit.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Today's Events
This morning was a bike ride on the trainer. 60min ride with 3x4 min fast and 2 min RI. It was fine. I felt like I was getting sick this morning, but after the bike ride I felt fine. I tried to get about 8.5 hours of sleep last night, but I kept waking up off and on about an hour before my alarm went off.
Tonight's workout was a run workout with Texas Iron. 15min warmup followed 4x800m at Barton Springs. This is known as the "gate to gate" workout. I only did 4 of them because I'm racing on Monday. My times were 2:32, 2:30, 2:45, and 2:38. Yeah, I went a little too hard the first couple and I was feeling it. After I finished the last interval, I felt like I couldn't even talk for about 3-4 minutes. The next part was 4-8 hill repeats but I skipped out on them. I was done after the intervals. Maybe I am getting sick. I did my cool down run of 10 minutes and then soaked in the water.
Now, I keep having this gastrointestinal problems. Basically, every afternoon I get some pretty bad gas. It starts at around 3pm and lasts until 6pm or so. It's almost every single day and I was feeling it on my run today. My stomach is all sloshy and I just have to fart constantly. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do about this? I've tried not eating and I get gas. I've tried eating and I get gas. Maybe it's because of my high fiber diet that is causing it or maybe I'm slightly lactose intolerant and all of the yogurt and milk and cereal I eat causes problems.
Any ideas?
Tonight's workout was a run workout with Texas Iron. 15min warmup followed 4x800m at Barton Springs. This is known as the "gate to gate" workout. I only did 4 of them because I'm racing on Monday. My times were 2:32, 2:30, 2:45, and 2:38. Yeah, I went a little too hard the first couple and I was feeling it. After I finished the last interval, I felt like I couldn't even talk for about 3-4 minutes. The next part was 4-8 hill repeats but I skipped out on them. I was done after the intervals. Maybe I am getting sick. I did my cool down run of 10 minutes and then soaked in the water.
Now, I keep having this gastrointestinal problems. Basically, every afternoon I get some pretty bad gas. It starts at around 3pm and lasts until 6pm or so. It's almost every single day and I was feeling it on my run today. My stomach is all sloshy and I just have to fart constantly. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do about this? I've tried not eating and I get gas. I've tried eating and I get gas. Maybe it's because of my high fiber diet that is causing it or maybe I'm slightly lactose intolerant and all of the yogurt and milk and cereal I eat causes problems.
Any ideas?
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
30min Swim
The only workout today was a 30min swim with some fast 25's in there. Well, since I swim in a 33yd pool, I had to do some fast 33's instead. My 600yd warmup swim is getting awesome. Yesterday was a 9:06 time and today was a 8:54. I averaged under 1:30, 1:29 to be exact, for a warmup swim and it definitely felt like a warmup swim. Ok, it was a little fast, but I felt like I wasn't overexerting myself. After that was a couple of 100's and then I did 3x33 fast, 66 active rest, 3x33 fast, 66 active rest, 4x33 active rest, and then 200yds cooldown (at a 1:34 pace). Overall it was almost 1500yds.
Also, I checked in today at 185lbs.
Also, I checked in today at 185lbs.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Bike felt good
Tonight's bike workout was 60min with 5x1min fast thrown in there. This is a rest week so Jamie & Andrea have me doing shorter workouts with a little bit of intensity thrown in there as well. On the 1min intervals, I got my heart rate up to about 160 which felt good. During the easy parts, I kept my heart rate at about 145 whichi is excellent because that felt comfortably hard but easy if that makes sense. Before, I felt like I was going to die if my heart rate got above 135. Hopefully my biking pain threshold is up. I'm wanting to do more fast stuff because I have some stressful stuff going on right now and doing painful intervals makes me feel good. Yeah, I'm a masochist, but it makes me smile.
If you see me today, remember that I'm not wearing any underwear ;-)
So, this morning after my swim at Stacy, I forgot underwear to change into. I do this about once every 3 months. It doesn't bother me because I'm usually free balling around the house in athletic shorts, but its, uh, a little disconcerting being in public all day like this. Remember if you see me today, we are a little bit closer than you probably would like.
I had a great swim this morning. I got in the pool and split a lane with some guy that was doing the backstroke all over the freaking lane, but I hopped in and did a 600yd warmup. I busted it out in 9:06 which is about 1:31/100yds. That's just my warmup. I felt like I was effortlessly flying through the water. It just felt gooooooooood. After that, I did 10x100 and I averaged about 1:27 and 0:20 rest. Not too bad. Then, my cooldown was 400yds and that was done in 6:16 which is another 1:34 time. Yeah, that was my easy "forever" pace as well. It felt like I couldn't swim any slower without modifying my form to be very bad. There are some good things and some bad things about this. One good thing is that my form and fitness has improved so much that my effortless swims have gotten really, really fast compared to where I started. The bad thing is that I'm not going that much faster when I try to push myself and I'm using a lot of energy when I try to push myself. I can only still get out about a 1:15 at my fastest 100yd time. The range between my bottom end swim and my top end swim has narrowed greatly. But overall, the bottom end has increased substantially which is probably more important.
After that, I went back to Kathryn for PT. She rocks. We got a new PT routine established and I'll work on it. She gave me more kinesio tape which I love. That stuff works wonders. Kathryn also has fingers of steel and really finds all the spots that are sore and tender and she thinks she's not digging into them, but I'm about to jump off the table because of the fingers of steel.
I had a great swim this morning. I got in the pool and split a lane with some guy that was doing the backstroke all over the freaking lane, but I hopped in and did a 600yd warmup. I busted it out in 9:06 which is about 1:31/100yds. That's just my warmup. I felt like I was effortlessly flying through the water. It just felt gooooooooood. After that, I did 10x100 and I averaged about 1:27 and 0:20 rest. Not too bad. Then, my cooldown was 400yds and that was done in 6:16 which is another 1:34 time. Yeah, that was my easy "forever" pace as well. It felt like I couldn't swim any slower without modifying my form to be very bad. There are some good things and some bad things about this. One good thing is that my form and fitness has improved so much that my effortless swims have gotten really, really fast compared to where I started. The bad thing is that I'm not going that much faster when I try to push myself and I'm using a lot of energy when I try to push myself. I can only still get out about a 1:15 at my fastest 100yd time. The range between my bottom end swim and my top end swim has narrowed greatly. But overall, the bottom end has increased substantially which is probably more important.
After that, I went back to Kathryn for PT. She rocks. We got a new PT routine established and I'll work on it. She gave me more kinesio tape which I love. That stuff works wonders. Kathryn also has fingers of steel and really finds all the spots that are sore and tender and she thinks she's not digging into them, but I'm about to jump off the table because of the fingers of steel.
Monday, May 22, 2006
184.5?!?!?!?
Today's weigh in was 184.5. what the fuck? I mean, I usually drop a pound or so over the weekends. I rode for 2.5 hours on Saturday (2000 calories), did a 20 minute brick (300 calories), ran 11 miles on Sunday (1800 calories) followed by a 30 minute swim (300 calories). I've burned a total of 4400 calories this weekend and I gained weight. My food consumption was slighly higher, but nothing was that bad except for 3 breakfast tacos (I usually have 4) after the ATC ride and then a mocha milk shake later that day. I have one milkshake or bowl of ice cream per week and that's my treat. Damnit, this can be frustrating sometimes.
RHR: 57bpm
I tested my resting heart rate this morning using the same methodology I did yesterday morning. It came in at 57bpm. Still higher thand my expected of 50bpm.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Nips
Man, running lately has really caused my nipples to chafe. It isn't fun because after a long run like today's, my nips have this slight tingly sensation in them the rest of the day.
And I think this is a record 4th post in a single day.
And I think this is a record 4th post in a single day.
Trashed
Well, I ran 11.1 miles today. I didn't run it very fast, 1:37:12 which is an 8:45/mile pace, but it's the fact THAT I ACTUALLY RAN 11 MILES TODAY! Since I've been injured, I haven't been able to work out much at all. At first, it was just 30 minute runs and 45 minute bike trips here and there. During this time, I lost a lot of speed and intensity. With today's run, it shows that I didn't lose much endurance, though. It's still there, but I just got to make sure that I don't push myself and get injured again. Speaking of, I had some kinesio tape for my Achilles and calf and I have some regular athletic tape on my knee to pull my knee cap in more medially. With both of these things on there today, my legs barely hurt at all. My calf was a little sore at first and is a little sore now, and my knee was feeling funny at first, but once I got warmed up I felt like I was 100% again. Damn, this stuff is really working. My calves weren't tight and I had very little knee pain at all. I hate taping but if it works for me and keeps me running, I'll do it. I also see Kathryn, my old PT, again on Tuesday and I can't wait to start seeing her again.
After the run, I went to Barton Springs and did a 30min recovery swim. Well, I soaked my legs first for about 10 minutes because they really needed it. The first two 4.1 mile loops were good. The last 2.9 mile loop was pretty hard. I was running somewhat slow, but because of this weird elevated heart rate thing, my heart rate was around 160 whereas it felt like it should have been in the 150-155 range. My form stayed fairly good, well good for me. I know I have crappy form, but I maintained the best form that I could maintain. So, I soaked in BS and then swam a mile in 31:15. After that, I'm completely trashed. My ankles are so sore right now. I still need to mow my yard today, though, so that's not going to allow me to rest. I have one of those ol' timey reel mowers. I got it because I need more exercise and mowing with that once a week should be good exercise. I also need to clean out my garage and get Couch Boy a desk or something to put in his room so he can then get all of his crap out of the rest of the house.
Oh, one funny thing. I parked at Jack & Adams and started my run from there. I do this because I hate paying for parking, especially on the weekends where it'll cost me $6 to swim at BS. Well, that's a bunch of B.S.! I did my run, went to my car, got some money, and walked over to BS. Got there, and then I realized that I forgot my goggles. Damnit! I walked back to my car and back to BS to do my swim. If I was lazy, I would've just gone back to my car and gone home, but I'm trying to be more disciplined so I finished my workout.
For the rest of the day, I'm going to be as productively lazy as possible.
After the run, I went to Barton Springs and did a 30min recovery swim. Well, I soaked my legs first for about 10 minutes because they really needed it. The first two 4.1 mile loops were good. The last 2.9 mile loop was pretty hard. I was running somewhat slow, but because of this weird elevated heart rate thing, my heart rate was around 160 whereas it felt like it should have been in the 150-155 range. My form stayed fairly good, well good for me. I know I have crappy form, but I maintained the best form that I could maintain. So, I soaked in BS and then swam a mile in 31:15. After that, I'm completely trashed. My ankles are so sore right now. I still need to mow my yard today, though, so that's not going to allow me to rest. I have one of those ol' timey reel mowers. I got it because I need more exercise and mowing with that once a week should be good exercise. I also need to clean out my garage and get Couch Boy a desk or something to put in his room so he can then get all of his crap out of the rest of the house.
Oh, one funny thing. I parked at Jack & Adams and started my run from there. I do this because I hate paying for parking, especially on the weekends where it'll cost me $6 to swim at BS. Well, that's a bunch of B.S.! I did my run, went to my car, got some money, and walked over to BS. Got there, and then I realized that I forgot my goggles. Damnit! I walked back to my car and back to BS to do my swim. If I was lazy, I would've just gone back to my car and gone home, but I'm trying to be more disciplined so I finished my workout.
For the rest of the day, I'm going to be as productively lazy as possible.
Supplements
Well, starting on Monday, I'll be starting back on supplements. I'm going to phase them in, though. Last time I started on supplements, I started a bunch of stuff at once. A few weeks later, I started feeling very weird like I was always fatigued. I stopped all supplements and I felt better. This time, I'm going to start a multivitamin called Total Formula 3 made by Vitaline Formulas. Once I'm on that for 2 weeks, I'll start on the ZMA. Two weeks after that, I'll start up again on the B-complex vitamins. Hopefully this will help me pinpoint which supplement is causing me issues.
Elevated Resting Heartrate: 59bpm
I measured my resting heart rate this morning since today was my day to sleep in and didn't have to wake up by an alarm. I've suspected that my resting heart rate has been elevated for some reason the last few weeks. At one point over a month ago, I was just sitting in the gym and I measured a heart rate of about 48bpm for a minute. I don't think I was even laying down, either; I was just sitting up. I mean, I've been training more and at harder intensities so it should go down.
Well, the last few weeks, that hasn't been the case. It seems like my resting heart rate has increased. The test this morning has confirmed it. I had a resting heart rate of 59bpm. I used to be around 52bpm about 6 months ago and I thought I had gotten down to around 48bpm about a month ago. So, what caused the 10bpm increase in about a month?
Well, the last few weeks, that hasn't been the case. It seems like my resting heart rate has increased. The test this morning has confirmed it. I had a resting heart rate of 59bpm. I used to be around 52bpm about 6 months ago and I thought I had gotten down to around 48bpm about a month ago. So, what caused the 10bpm increase in about a month?
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Sleeping With The Enemy
Everyone knows this movie. Julie Roberts is married to some crazy anal guy and she wants out. She actually escapes by falling off a sailboat in a storm and is presumed dead. Her husband freaks out because she can't swim and has a fear of the water. Well, unbeknownst to him, she had been taking swimming lessons. She has crappy swim form.
I don't like peeing indoors
I'm so used to peeing outside, that I would much rather go behind a building or a bush to go pee than to go inside and use a toilet. Also, it saves water. Maybe I like marking my territory or maybe I just like having my penis outside in public.
I did the ATC taco ride today which was a total of about 47 miles. I averaged 18.8mph for a total ride time of about 2:30. Average heart rate was 146bpm. I got dropped almost immediately once the group turned rigth on Southwest Pkwy. Once my heart rate hit about 165bpm, I said that this is too much for me so I dropped off the ride and did my base ride. Problem was that my heart rate stayed elevated throughout the entire ride. My heart and lungs felt fine, but my heart rate was really high comparatively. I've been noticing a higher than usual heart rate recently. My resting heart rate and my working out heart rate seems higher than usual. I don't know what's going on, but it seems like something is off. Well, I kept riding and the hills hurt. I really feel slower on my tri bike than my road bike.
It was hot today so I was drinking a lot. At the beginning of the ride, I had 3 bottles. One was full of water, and the other 2 bottles had about 500 calories each made with 2 scoops of Carbo Pro, 2 scoops of powdered Gatorade, and then a packet of Clif Shots electrolyte thingy. I started off feeling full from breakfast, but by draining the first bottle in 45 minutes, I was feeling really full. I need to one of two things: 1) have a less concentrated mix and have all of my bottles with about 200 calories or 2) drink one bottle of about 350 calories and then a bottle of water with Nuun in it.
It wasn't that hot, but it was hot. As usual, towards the end of the ride, I felt a lot better than I did at the beginning of the ride. The hills on 360 were tough, but not that bad looking back at it. I did a 20 minute run off the bike. Once again, I had an elevated heart rate for my perceived effort, but not too badly. Towards the end of the 20 minute run, I was actually feeling pretty good.
I hung out at ATC for a bit, chatted with Mike, ate some breakfast tacos, and headed home. Now, I'm sitting on my couch after been home for nearly 3 hours and I'm still in my sweaty workout clothes. I'm also trying really, really hard to not fall asleep right now. I should get about 10 hours of sleep tonight which is well needed before a long run tomorrow.
Also, the kinesiotape on my calf is the best thing for my injuries than anything else that I've tried.
I did the ATC taco ride today which was a total of about 47 miles. I averaged 18.8mph for a total ride time of about 2:30. Average heart rate was 146bpm. I got dropped almost immediately once the group turned rigth on Southwest Pkwy. Once my heart rate hit about 165bpm, I said that this is too much for me so I dropped off the ride and did my base ride. Problem was that my heart rate stayed elevated throughout the entire ride. My heart and lungs felt fine, but my heart rate was really high comparatively. I've been noticing a higher than usual heart rate recently. My resting heart rate and my working out heart rate seems higher than usual. I don't know what's going on, but it seems like something is off. Well, I kept riding and the hills hurt. I really feel slower on my tri bike than my road bike.
It was hot today so I was drinking a lot. At the beginning of the ride, I had 3 bottles. One was full of water, and the other 2 bottles had about 500 calories each made with 2 scoops of Carbo Pro, 2 scoops of powdered Gatorade, and then a packet of Clif Shots electrolyte thingy. I started off feeling full from breakfast, but by draining the first bottle in 45 minutes, I was feeling really full. I need to one of two things: 1) have a less concentrated mix and have all of my bottles with about 200 calories or 2) drink one bottle of about 350 calories and then a bottle of water with Nuun in it.
It wasn't that hot, but it was hot. As usual, towards the end of the ride, I felt a lot better than I did at the beginning of the ride. The hills on 360 were tough, but not that bad looking back at it. I did a 20 minute run off the bike. Once again, I had an elevated heart rate for my perceived effort, but not too badly. Towards the end of the 20 minute run, I was actually feeling pretty good.
I hung out at ATC for a bit, chatted with Mike, ate some breakfast tacos, and headed home. Now, I'm sitting on my couch after been home for nearly 3 hours and I'm still in my sweaty workout clothes. I'm also trying really, really hard to not fall asleep right now. I should get about 10 hours of sleep tonight which is well needed before a long run tomorrow.
Also, the kinesiotape on my calf is the best thing for my injuries than anything else that I've tried.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Swimming: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good: I swam 3800yds and some guy I was splitting a line with said "How far do you swim usually? You're fast!"
The Bad: When you want to circle with people, try to pick a lane to circle with people that don't lap you after 133yds.
The Ugly: Fat naked man in the lockroom. Blegh!
I'm so amped up right now. A sign that the normal me is back and not the depressed me or the medicated me. My testosterone levels are high and I just want to go out and run a lung burst 5k pace for about a half marathon right now.
The Bad: When you want to circle with people, try to pick a lane to circle with people that don't lap you after 133yds.
The Ugly: Fat naked man in the lockroom. Blegh!
I'm so amped up right now. A sign that the normal me is back and not the depressed me or the medicated me. My testosterone levels are high and I just want to go out and run a lung burst 5k pace for about a half marathon right now.
When cans of shaving cream explode in your gym bag. . .
. . . it makes a mess.
I woke up this morning and weighed in at 183.5. So, I've lost about 5 pounds in a week. Ok, last week I was a little high from coming back from vacation in ATL, but I'm down to 183.5 which is huge. I've been off the drugs for a weekish now and since they affected me so quickly before that I should start to lose weight very quickly now that I'm drug free. I want to be down to 182 by next Friday and hopefully I'll eat clean and healthy between now and then, keep up my exercise, and I'll drop the weight.
I woke up this morning and weighed in at 183.5. So, I've lost about 5 pounds in a week. Ok, last week I was a little high from coming back from vacation in ATL, but I'm down to 183.5 which is huge. I've been off the drugs for a weekish now and since they affected me so quickly before that I should start to lose weight very quickly now that I'm drug free. I want to be down to 182 by next Friday and hopefully I'll eat clean and healthy between now and then, keep up my exercise, and I'll drop the weight.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
My leg sucks
My leg still sucks. I now have plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, gastroc and popliteal inflammation, and anterior knee pain on the medial side of my knee cap. Yep, 4 different things wrong at once. I'm still working out though because resting really doesn't do much to helping it heal. As Geoff from TexasIron said, keep working out as long as it doesn't get worse.
So, my ill advised workouts today included a swim and a run. The swim was an easy 30 min recovery swim. I got in about 1600m in around 30 minutes so that's pretty good.
The Texas Iron workout tonight was a run workout. The goal of this was a lactic threshold workout. The first 15 minutes was a warmup and my knee was hurting pretty badly at first. Once I got more warmed up, it started feeling better. The second 15 minutes was a tempo run. I left in the 3rd group, but I ended up dropping them fairly quickly though. The run hurt and I kept my heart rate at about 175bpm. My legs felt fine, but the problem with me running that hard is that my lungs don't have it in them. Even though I ran harder, it didn't feel like I went that much faster. After that was a 1/3 mile loop that we ran 3 times. We were suppose to run it at 5k pace or faster. I ran it fairly fast and I was pushing myself, but once again, I didn't really feel like I was going faster. My heart rate was in the 175-180 range. I consistently ran these at 2:18 so that's good. By the end, I felt really good after the harder intervals. The first one hurt but the 3rd one felt pretty good. My knee also wasn't hurting as bad, but just slightly.
The entire run my stomach was bothering me. I just felt really gassy. I found a bathroom and expelled the excess gas which helped a lot, but about 5 minutes later my stomach wasn't feeling good again. It has been bothering me for a few days now.
So, my ill advised workouts today included a swim and a run. The swim was an easy 30 min recovery swim. I got in about 1600m in around 30 minutes so that's pretty good.
The Texas Iron workout tonight was a run workout. The goal of this was a lactic threshold workout. The first 15 minutes was a warmup and my knee was hurting pretty badly at first. Once I got more warmed up, it started feeling better. The second 15 minutes was a tempo run. I left in the 3rd group, but I ended up dropping them fairly quickly though. The run hurt and I kept my heart rate at about 175bpm. My legs felt fine, but the problem with me running that hard is that my lungs don't have it in them. Even though I ran harder, it didn't feel like I went that much faster. After that was a 1/3 mile loop that we ran 3 times. We were suppose to run it at 5k pace or faster. I ran it fairly fast and I was pushing myself, but once again, I didn't really feel like I was going faster. My heart rate was in the 175-180 range. I consistently ran these at 2:18 so that's good. By the end, I felt really good after the harder intervals. The first one hurt but the 3rd one felt pretty good. My knee also wasn't hurting as bad, but just slightly.
The entire run my stomach was bothering me. I just felt really gassy. I found a bathroom and expelled the excess gas which helped a lot, but about 5 minutes later my stomach wasn't feeling good again. It has been bothering me for a few days now.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Spin Bike Today
Nothing special. I was on the spin bike for about 1:35 this morning. I was suppose to spin for 2 hours, but I got up late this morning. Most of the time, I get up after one snooze, but this morning, I had absolutely no clue what was going on until 22 minutes after my first alarm went off. This was the first day that I got up and turned off the alarm without ever realizing it. Well, I vaguely remember it. I was also very tired at work today so I'm going to try to get 9 hours of sleep tonight. Because I was so exhausted, my workout sucked today. I felt like I was really working hard when I was doing my intervals, but my heart rate was low.
So, sleep tonight and I should be fine. My stomach was doing good today, too. I ate too much candy today for some reason. Some days I have great will power and other days I have none. I'm eating less and less candy though so that's good. I'm also tracking my calories again and that's a pain in the ass, but it's worth it.
So, sleep tonight and I should be fine. My stomach was doing good today, too. I ate too much candy today for some reason. Some days I have great will power and other days I have none. I'm eating less and less candy though so that's good. I'm also tracking my calories again and that's a pain in the ass, but it's worth it.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Dinner Sucked
I don't know what I did, but my stomach is bothering me after dinner tonight. I think I ate too much food, but it didn't seem like that much. I had some of Lauren's World Famous Black Bean Lasagna and then a chicken breast with spaghetti sauce. For dessert, I had 2 Fig Newtons. Ok, maybe that is too much food, but my stomach isn't feeling so great right now. Nothing like I'm going to hurl or have diarrhea in the morning, but it isn't feeling well now. I'll sleep it off.
Track Workout
Tonight I had a track workout. I ran for about 16 minutes first to warm up and then I headed to the SFAHS track. The workout was 8-10 1km repeats with 200m rest in between. Each km was suppose to be strong. The first one was about 4:15 and the slowest one was about 4:40. They really hurt tonight. I also swallowed 2 bugs and inhaled another one. I only did 6 kms though because that was all that I had in me. Being injured really took out a lot of my speed and since I have to work so hard to gain speed, this has been frustrating.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Off the meds
Well, today is the first day that I'm off the antidepressants. Let's see if I start losing weight soon. I expect it to be about a month before my metabolism returns to normal and I start losing weight. Speaking of, I weighed in at 185 this morning. I weighed in at 188.5 last Wednesday after going to Atlanta, but that's to be expected from my body and vacation and the subsequent crappy eating and drinking alcohol.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
9 Miles
I ran about 9 miles today. Well, I ran for a total of 1:18. I started out at Jack and Adam's because I hate paying to park in Zilker Park for Barton Springs. I started out and about 3 minutes into the run, I ran into Meggers. I turned around and ran with her the entire way which was cool. Just shooting the shit. I wasn't feeling that hot today. It was really humid and my knee was bothering me. I think the brick yesterday was a little too much. We'll see how I feel tomorrow because 7 hours later, my knee is feeling OK. After I ran with Meggers, I went and did about 20 minutes of aquajogging. My legs felt dead in the water, but they soon loosened up. I got out, got my goggles and then and did a recovery swim. I was suppose to to do 30 minutes. I think I did 2.5 laps of Barton Springs before I got kicked out because of thunder in the area. I got out and called it a day.
I've been exhausted all day. I got 10 hours of sleep last night which felt great. I think I'm about to go to bed now because I could use another 9 hours of sleep. We'll see if that happens. Right now, the back of my knee is feeling pretty good, but the front of my knee has some funny pains in it. I'm going to start seeing my old PT, Kathryn, again (for those that read this and go to see AJ and/or Nicole, please don't say anything). I will see her again next week unless there is a cancellation next week. I just feel like I get more personalized attention with Kathryn than Nicole. And it's cheaper.
I've been exhausted all day. I got 10 hours of sleep last night which felt great. I think I'm about to go to bed now because I could use another 9 hours of sleep. We'll see if that happens. Right now, the back of my knee is feeling pretty good, but the front of my knee has some funny pains in it. I'm going to start seeing my old PT, Kathryn, again (for those that read this and go to see AJ and/or Nicole, please don't say anything). I will see her again next week unless there is a cancellation next week. I just feel like I get more personalized attention with Kathryn than Nicole. And it's cheaper.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Exercising More
What is it about exercising that when I'm done, about an hour later I feel awesome and I want to exercise again? I'm in that post workout high right now and I pushed myself today, and I want to go out and push myself hard again.
First brick in 6 weeks
Today was my first brick in 6 weeks. I started out with the ATC Taco Ride. I did the 30 mile loop. I averaged about 19.6mph with an average heart rate of 147bpm. That isn't that, but I felt like my heart rate was higher than that the entire time. I went out strong and I was in the front of the group, but once we got on Southwest Parkway, I couldn't keep up because my heart rate was in the 165 range and this was suppose to be a base ride for me. I kept riding and I was definitely the last guy in the pack. I thought I'm a decent biker, but I just got my ass handed to me. My workload was 1836 which is roughly the number of calories that I burned.
Once I got back to the shop, I took about a 10 minute transition and then went on my run. I had an average heart rate of 162 which is well above what I'm used to running at that speed. I ran a total of 36:48. I don't know the exact distance, but it was from the ATC shop, up Lamar, then west on the Town Lake Trail to the RunTex water stop underneath the Mopac bridge and back. I'm guessing that I ran maybe 4-4.5 miles.
My knee was acting up at first, but right now it feels fine. I have an hour+ run tomorrow so we'll see how I feel then.
Once I got back to the shop, I took about a 10 minute transition and then went on my run. I had an average heart rate of 162 which is well above what I'm used to running at that speed. I ran a total of 36:48. I don't know the exact distance, but it was from the ATC shop, up Lamar, then west on the Town Lake Trail to the RunTex water stop underneath the Mopac bridge and back. I'm guessing that I ran maybe 4-4.5 miles.
My knee was acting up at first, but right now it feels fine. I have an hour+ run tomorrow so we'll see how I feel then.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
6 Miles & Open Water Swim
I ran 6 miles this morning around the trail at work. Nothing special except that this run was suppose to be at a moderate pace. However, I was expecting to cut some time off of my run, but it really didn't. I still ran it in about 51 minutes though.
Also, my Texas Iron workout was an open water swim. Nothing special except I was cold because I was in the water and not swimming without a wetsuit.
Also, my Texas Iron workout was an open water swim. Nothing special except I was cold because I was in the water and not swimming without a wetsuit.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
1:45 cycling today
My workout called for a 2 hour bike ride. I did it on the spin bike at work. My knee felt fine during the workout, but I would tweak it from time to time. Because of that, my knee was fairly sore afterwards. I went to PT and they fixed it up a bit. The ride was fine because I got some speed work in as well. Nice!
Atlanta Workout Update
I'll keep this short. I ran a 5k on Saturday in Atlanta. My time was 23:15, but the first mile was 8:15 which included a bathroom break and running with Sloan. The 2nd mile was a bit faster because I had to catch up with Sloan and Sloan was trying to pick up the pace a bit. After he died going up a small hill, I did intervals for the last mile. I probably did a 7 minute mile that last mile. I turned around, went back to Sloan, and then he and I picked it up the rest of his run. I got my heart rate up to 182 which is good.
Monday, May 8, 2006
In response to mcoker. . .
"I love that stuff. You ever watch The Biggest Loser? I love that show. It's amazing to see how much weight these people lose on diet & exercise. It's amazing what a person can do with that combination!! I like things like this - although it was just a matter of time. I think like 60% of adults are overweight. That's just amazing to me."
60% of adults are considered overweight, but you have to take that number with a grain of salt. That is using BMI, and by the BMI, I'm overweight. Now, pretty much everyone will agree that I'm not overweight. How can someone with a muscular build with 14% body fat be overweight?
Moving on, I really don't think it's a matter of time. Yes, the obesity scare is getting bigger every day, but I don't know any larger people that are trying to lose weight and being successful at it. All I see at work is people just getting bigger. Faith and I were talking this past weekend and she said that pretty much everyone that she knows gained weight after college. Everyone! I was the lone person that has not gained weight. Well, I gained weight, but I lost it all and I'm back to my graduation weight of 184. Since I've been at my job, I've noticed that my boss has gained about 20 pounds. No one at work is healthy except the guys in my group. I sit around in meetings and there are only maybe 1 or 2 other people that I would consider of normal body weight. Everyone is getting fat and it isn't going to change. You know why it isn't going to change? It's because of Corporate America. There is such a push in some many businesses to to stay late and get that presentation for the board ready for tomorrow morning. Put in some extra hours to get ahead at work. Go smoozing with the boss after work and have a few drinks.
People end up working 60+ hours a week. If you're single, it isn't bad. Actually, who am I kidding. It's fucking horrible. You are your job. You have no hobbies outside of your job because all you do is get up, drive to work and grab a 500 calorie muffin and grande mocha, eat out lunch at the local Mexican place for lunch, and then go home and grab a burger and fries for dinner. Oh, throw in a couple of sodas at work, a trip to the vending machine for some mid afternoon sugar, and some beers after work while relaxing on the couch watching TV because you earned it after your hard day of work. I know so many people like this. They do this because their jobs tire them out so much that they have no energy to actually exercise. Also, they are bogged down with doing life stuff like paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, etc. Our jobs are demanding so much from us that even a single person can't fit in enough time in a day to exercise. And what about the people with families? It's ridiculous.
I'm all about balance. Balance of work, of life, of my friends, of my family, of my health. I will never being middle to upper management. I'll never have a job that requires me to travel a lot. I don't mind putting in extra hours today, but don't expect me in on time tomorrow. I'm almost to the point that I try not to do too good at work because if I do too good at work, I'll get promoted with more responsibility and usually with more responsibility comes more hours. If I work more hours, I'll have to cut something out of my life and I don't want to do that. I love competing in triathlons because it gives me a social outlet to actually hang out with like minded people. It's also a great stress relief for me, and guess what, I'm in shape and I think I can look pretty damn hot!
Ok, I've gone way off topic. I'm glad shows like The Biggest Loser and Honey, We're Killing the Kids exist. Hopefully, it'll inspire people to change their ways, but it's hard to change their ways. I think TBL will change more peoples' attitudes than HWKK will. HWKK is preaching to the choir, but I think TBL will inspire more people. Problem is that the weight lose techniques on TBL I don't agree with. To me, I'm no professional physician or dietician, but it seems like the weight loss that is being promoted on that show is the type that's similar to crash diets and will likely cause rebound weight gain. How is this healthy? People can't lose weight by dramatically changing their lifestyle and then go back to their old ways. I don't think the show ever follows up with people a year or two after they go on the show. The best way to get to a healthy weight is to not diet, but do a permanent lifestyle change. Luckily, I found this out in my 20's instead of my 40's.
Fuck, Mike, now you've gotten me all worked up and I need to go to bed soon.
Point is, people aren't going to change because it's hard to change and most people don't have the will power to make sacrifices to change. It's only going to get worse and it's mostly because of American culture and working hard to get things that you want. Was it worth the high stress job and $150k a year if you drop dead at 55 from a heart attack? I'm now in the minority because I can run 3 miles and do 50 pushups.
60% of adults are considered overweight, but you have to take that number with a grain of salt. That is using BMI, and by the BMI, I'm overweight. Now, pretty much everyone will agree that I'm not overweight. How can someone with a muscular build with 14% body fat be overweight?
Moving on, I really don't think it's a matter of time. Yes, the obesity scare is getting bigger every day, but I don't know any larger people that are trying to lose weight and being successful at it. All I see at work is people just getting bigger. Faith and I were talking this past weekend and she said that pretty much everyone that she knows gained weight after college. Everyone! I was the lone person that has not gained weight. Well, I gained weight, but I lost it all and I'm back to my graduation weight of 184. Since I've been at my job, I've noticed that my boss has gained about 20 pounds. No one at work is healthy except the guys in my group. I sit around in meetings and there are only maybe 1 or 2 other people that I would consider of normal body weight. Everyone is getting fat and it isn't going to change. You know why it isn't going to change? It's because of Corporate America. There is such a push in some many businesses to to stay late and get that presentation for the board ready for tomorrow morning. Put in some extra hours to get ahead at work. Go smoozing with the boss after work and have a few drinks.
People end up working 60+ hours a week. If you're single, it isn't bad. Actually, who am I kidding. It's fucking horrible. You are your job. You have no hobbies outside of your job because all you do is get up, drive to work and grab a 500 calorie muffin and grande mocha, eat out lunch at the local Mexican place for lunch, and then go home and grab a burger and fries for dinner. Oh, throw in a couple of sodas at work, a trip to the vending machine for some mid afternoon sugar, and some beers after work while relaxing on the couch watching TV because you earned it after your hard day of work. I know so many people like this. They do this because their jobs tire them out so much that they have no energy to actually exercise. Also, they are bogged down with doing life stuff like paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, etc. Our jobs are demanding so much from us that even a single person can't fit in enough time in a day to exercise. And what about the people with families? It's ridiculous.
I'm all about balance. Balance of work, of life, of my friends, of my family, of my health. I will never being middle to upper management. I'll never have a job that requires me to travel a lot. I don't mind putting in extra hours today, but don't expect me in on time tomorrow. I'm almost to the point that I try not to do too good at work because if I do too good at work, I'll get promoted with more responsibility and usually with more responsibility comes more hours. If I work more hours, I'll have to cut something out of my life and I don't want to do that. I love competing in triathlons because it gives me a social outlet to actually hang out with like minded people. It's also a great stress relief for me, and guess what, I'm in shape and I think I can look pretty damn hot!
Ok, I've gone way off topic. I'm glad shows like The Biggest Loser and Honey, We're Killing the Kids exist. Hopefully, it'll inspire people to change their ways, but it's hard to change their ways. I think TBL will change more peoples' attitudes than HWKK will. HWKK is preaching to the choir, but I think TBL will inspire more people. Problem is that the weight lose techniques on TBL I don't agree with. To me, I'm no professional physician or dietician, but it seems like the weight loss that is being promoted on that show is the type that's similar to crash diets and will likely cause rebound weight gain. How is this healthy? People can't lose weight by dramatically changing their lifestyle and then go back to their old ways. I don't think the show ever follows up with people a year or two after they go on the show. The best way to get to a healthy weight is to not diet, but do a permanent lifestyle change. Luckily, I found this out in my 20's instead of my 40's.
Fuck, Mike, now you've gotten me all worked up and I need to go to bed soon.
Point is, people aren't going to change because it's hard to change and most people don't have the will power to make sacrifices to change. It's only going to get worse and it's mostly because of American culture and working hard to get things that you want. Was it worth the high stress job and $150k a year if you drop dead at 55 from a heart attack? I'm now in the minority because I can run 3 miles and do 50 pushups.
Honey, We're Killing the Kids
As I was typing up previous post about Morgan Spurlock's "Don't Eat This Book", I was watching the TLC show "Honey, We're Killing the Kids" that I've recorded on DVR. It is in a similar vein as the other books and movies that I like. The show takes some parents and children and analyzes their diets. The show uses age progression simulation to show the parents what their kids could look like at age 40 if they continue on their current course. It's mostly a scare tactic, but it looks to be very true. Of the age progressions that I've seen so far, I know people that look exactly like that or worse.
The one episode that I watched, the parents looked to be fairly healthy, but there were tons of crap in the house. Nothing but sugar, candy, treats, soda, etc. The kids didn't listen to the parents, TVs in the bedrooms, healthy foods for dinner didn't exist often, and things like that. Grandparents were earning the love of the grandkids by bribing them with sweets. Sounds very familiar to how I grew up.
There is very attractive older female doctor that sits with the parents and develops a plan for the parents. The kids resist at first, but they soon learn to like the healthier options. It's almost immediate when the kids stop taking in so much sugar. They are much more well behaved. TV was cut to about 2 hours per day, exercise was encouraged, eating together and doing things as a family were encouraged. You know, things that actually promote relationships within the family.
I liked the show. I think a major problem in America is that parents use the boob tube to babysit their kids. This is easy for the parents and the parents get into the habit of taking the easy way out to get their kids to behave. This actually makes the situation worse for the parents. I always had a TV in my room and I could eat whatever I wanted. Therefore, I ate a lot of junk and I never listened to my parents. Luckily, I just had enough smarts to grow up well behaved and not get into trouble. Also, I figured out that a diet of burgers, pizza, fries, and shakes was going to make me a fat ass. I changed my ways, started exercising more, eat more healthful foods and less junk, and cutting out alcohol. I couldn't do this overnight, though. I've probably been on a health kick for years now. I'm getting better and better and hopfully, one day I'll feel like everything that goes into my body will be healthy and nutritious. I'll develop these habits and hopefully, I'll pass on these valuable lessons on to my kids.
What will make me succeed at this? Everyone tells me that raising kids isn't easy. I know it's not. It's about choices and sacrifices and I believe that I can make the choices and sacrifices to be the best parent that I can be.
The one episode that I watched, the parents looked to be fairly healthy, but there were tons of crap in the house. Nothing but sugar, candy, treats, soda, etc. The kids didn't listen to the parents, TVs in the bedrooms, healthy foods for dinner didn't exist often, and things like that. Grandparents were earning the love of the grandkids by bribing them with sweets. Sounds very familiar to how I grew up.
There is very attractive older female doctor that sits with the parents and develops a plan for the parents. The kids resist at first, but they soon learn to like the healthier options. It's almost immediate when the kids stop taking in so much sugar. They are much more well behaved. TV was cut to about 2 hours per day, exercise was encouraged, eating together and doing things as a family were encouraged. You know, things that actually promote relationships within the family.
I liked the show. I think a major problem in America is that parents use the boob tube to babysit their kids. This is easy for the parents and the parents get into the habit of taking the easy way out to get their kids to behave. This actually makes the situation worse for the parents. I always had a TV in my room and I could eat whatever I wanted. Therefore, I ate a lot of junk and I never listened to my parents. Luckily, I just had enough smarts to grow up well behaved and not get into trouble. Also, I figured out that a diet of burgers, pizza, fries, and shakes was going to make me a fat ass. I changed my ways, started exercising more, eat more healthful foods and less junk, and cutting out alcohol. I couldn't do this overnight, though. I've probably been on a health kick for years now. I'm getting better and better and hopfully, one day I'll feel like everything that goes into my body will be healthy and nutritious. I'll develop these habits and hopefully, I'll pass on these valuable lessons on to my kids.
What will make me succeed at this? Everyone tells me that raising kids isn't easy. I know it's not. It's about choices and sacrifices and I believe that I can make the choices and sacrifices to be the best parent that I can be.
Don't Eat This Book
Since I'm a health nut, I eat well. I like eating well and I love learning about the foods that I eat and how they affect my body. I'm pretty much an amateur dietician by now. I just can't get enough of it. Also, since I'm a triathlete, I like exercise and being not thin, but healthy. Overall, I just like being healthy. I'm seeing how obesity is affecting America and I don't want to be part of it. This is a whole different discussion, but I'll get to the point.
With the craze of "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock, I watched it and loved it. This is also about the same time that "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlossler came out. The obesity scare in America has been increasing in the media over the last few years, but with "Fast Food Nation" and "Super Size Me" out in bookstores and movie theaters respectively, it was a lot easier for normal people to get a more indepth perspective of the fast food industry and other related industries.
Morgan Spurlock was the guy behind "Super Size Me" and he is the author of "Don't Eat This Book". Man, this guy has made it big. His movie was the 3rd highest grossing documentary. He decided to write this book, but I'm pretty sure that it was to cash in on the SSM bandwagon. It isn't bad, but it's obvious that he did this. This is evident in the book because about 50% of the content in this book is very, very similar to SSM. Well, he refers to it a lot, but it's also good because he expands upon a lot of stuff. What I think he did was wait a few years, take some ideas from the fallout of the movie, and use this book to expand upon some things.
Overall, I liked the book. It was preaching to the choir, but I liked it. There are some things that I disagree with in the book, but overall I think he's spot on about 95% of the time. It is definitely through the Morgan Spurlock style so it is fairly funny. He also uses a lot more facts in this book. Well, he used facts in SSM, but actually quoted them in DETB so I could easily believe whether or not they are from a source that I would consider reputable.
So, I recommend the book, but like everything, this is only one source and one opinion.
With the craze of "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock, I watched it and loved it. This is also about the same time that "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlossler came out. The obesity scare in America has been increasing in the media over the last few years, but with "Fast Food Nation" and "Super Size Me" out in bookstores and movie theaters respectively, it was a lot easier for normal people to get a more indepth perspective of the fast food industry and other related industries.
Morgan Spurlock was the guy behind "Super Size Me" and he is the author of "Don't Eat This Book". Man, this guy has made it big. His movie was the 3rd highest grossing documentary. He decided to write this book, but I'm pretty sure that it was to cash in on the SSM bandwagon. It isn't bad, but it's obvious that he did this. This is evident in the book because about 50% of the content in this book is very, very similar to SSM. Well, he refers to it a lot, but it's also good because he expands upon a lot of stuff. What I think he did was wait a few years, take some ideas from the fallout of the movie, and use this book to expand upon some things.
Overall, I liked the book. It was preaching to the choir, but I liked it. There are some things that I disagree with in the book, but overall I think he's spot on about 95% of the time. It is definitely through the Morgan Spurlock style so it is fairly funny. He also uses a lot more facts in this book. Well, he used facts in SSM, but actually quoted them in DETB so I could easily believe whether or not they are from a source that I would consider reputable.
So, I recommend the book, but like everything, this is only one source and one opinion.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
Vacation Training
I'm in Atlanta for the weekend and normally when I'm on vacation, I don't train much. Yesterday, I actually went to the gym and then ran 5k. I went with my buddy Sloan. I totally dropped his ass on the run though. He's been injured for a year so he isn't in the best of shape, but I totally kicked his ass on the run. That was fun. I got some intervals/fartleks the last mile and that felt awesome. I don't think I'll have time to swim before I leave, but I'm pretty sure I can get another 3 mile run in at least. My next run will be intervals for the last part of the run after I do 10 minutes warmup.
Also, I'mt trying to eat fairly healthily this weekend. Not too much junk, but pretty much each junk only when I'm drinking. Speaking of, I haven't been drunk the entire weekend. I was tipsy a couple of times, but not drunk.
Also, I'mt trying to eat fairly healthily this weekend. Not too much junk, but pretty much each junk only when I'm drinking. Speaking of, I haven't been drunk the entire weekend. I was tipsy a couple of times, but not drunk.
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
6.25 Miles
Tonight, I ran about 6.25 miles. Took me about 52 minutes to run that far, so that puts me at about an 8:20/mile pace. That's not bad considering I haven't been running much. I felt like I was running a lot slower though because it seemed like I was working so much harder. My knee was feeling pretty good and right now I'm icing it up. It'll be sore tomorrow, but shouldn't be that bad hopefully since it wasn't hurting much tonight while running. At the end of the run, I did 4 strides and it was good to run fast again. My legs just aren't used to moving that fast since I got injured.
Ouchie!
Damnit, I'm completely sore today. My upper body is sore from the Jack & Adam's core workout on Monday. I can't even stretch well because my delts and lats are so sore that I can't scratch my back. My hamstrings are sore because I didn't stretch after riding the bike last night. Hey, it was 9:45 when I got off the bike and I still needed to go home, eat dinner, do laundry, make fun of my roommates, etc. I'm running today and that'll hurt. I'll ride the bike tomorrow. I'll just spin easy and then throw in some fast intervals. Friday will be a rest day for me so that I can recover from this. Man, I hurt, but it feels good to hurt again.
Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Resting Heart Rate: High 40's
Holy shit, I've crossed a pretty big barrier. It isn't official yet, but I'm pretty sure that my resting heart rate is now in the mid to high 40's. I was at the gym tonight after work and I noticed that my heart rate was fairly low. Well, I've noticed this because I've stopped paying attention to my RHR over the last 2 months. I've been doing my training, but never measured my RHR. Well, I laid down on the floor and watched my heart rate before I got on the bike. It was pretty consistently at 48bpm for about a minute. Crap, that's pretty good! My goal is to get it in the 40-45 range so I'm almost there. I think it's a pretty cool bar trick to have someone measure your pulse and then compare it to there's.
After that, I rode about 75 minutes on the spin bike. I got some speed work in there and that hurt like hell at first, but felt good later. My knee was fairly OK. I'm so freaking tired that I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.
After that, I rode about 75 minutes on the spin bike. I got some speed work in there and that hurt like hell at first, but felt good later. My knee was fairly OK. I'm so freaking tired that I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.
Fucking Ants!
I want swimming this morning. Woke up on time, but of course I was moving really slow. I need to get Lauren to swim with me because if I'm meeting someone to swim, I'm on time. Anyways, I was standing on the deck dreading getting into the water and then I start feeling all of these burning pin pricks on my feet. I look down and there are ants all over my feet. And they are biting me. On a side note, do any ants because fucking fire ants exist in Texas anymore? I keep brushing them off of my feet, but I get a total of about 10 bites. My feet will not be looking good tomorrow.
I get in and swim about 2150yds in an hour. I just wasn't motivated this morning. Tired from sleeping only 6.5 hours and I did Jack & Adam's core workout last night. It was the first time that I did their workout in a month and we actually did a PFT. I did 52 situps, 43 pushups, 70 dips, and 5 pullups. Not bad since I haven't been in a month. I was surprised that I was able to get 5 pullups. Because of that, I was sore this morning swimming. Plus I just wasn't moving fast.
I ran for 23 minutes last night after the workout. I really need to work on speed since I can't run for more than 30-45 minutes at a time. It's the best way for me to keep in shape. Also, biking seems to not bother my knee nearly as badly as running.
Oh, I took a fitness progress picture on Sunday since Mike Coker did one on his blog. I'll post mine later. I don't know if I have a bad mental self image, but I feel I look like a complete fatass even though I'm only about 13% body fat @ 185lbs. Well, I'll post the pic soon so you can judge it as well.
I get in and swim about 2150yds in an hour. I just wasn't motivated this morning. Tired from sleeping only 6.5 hours and I did Jack & Adam's core workout last night. It was the first time that I did their workout in a month and we actually did a PFT. I did 52 situps, 43 pushups, 70 dips, and 5 pullups. Not bad since I haven't been in a month. I was surprised that I was able to get 5 pullups. Because of that, I was sore this morning swimming. Plus I just wasn't moving fast.
I ran for 23 minutes last night after the workout. I really need to work on speed since I can't run for more than 30-45 minutes at a time. It's the best way for me to keep in shape. Also, biking seems to not bother my knee nearly as badly as running.
Oh, I took a fitness progress picture on Sunday since Mike Coker did one on his blog. I'll post mine later. I don't know if I have a bad mental self image, but I feel I look like a complete fatass even though I'm only about 13% body fat @ 185lbs. Well, I'll post the pic soon so you can judge it as well.
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