Tri Season & Yoga

I ended my tri season on July 31st or so.  My knee got fucked up about a week and a half before that.  I went out for a run with Texas Iron on a Tuesday night run.  About half a mile in, my right knee started hurting.  By the time I was in a mile and a half, I couldn't run at all.  Walking was fine, but my knee hurt so much that I was limping.  Fuck!  I took it easy and basically anything that I did hurt it.  Even swimming hurt it.  I'm seeing a PT now but I decided to hang up my tri shoes for the season.  I had a race in 4 days and I couldn't do it.  Doing PT would delay running and I couldn't put full effort into the TriRock in September.  My heart hasn't been into this season so I decided to call it quits.  I may be done with triathlons but I hope I not and that I can find something to get my motivation back.

I did get back into yoga last week.  It is one thing that I can do without my knee hurting too much.  I haven't gone in a year and it was amazing to be back.  I was having a shitty time lately and I did it for the mental clarity as much as the workout.  The mental clarity was what I really needed and I'm going back at least once a week to keep it up.

My plan for the month of August is to do whatever I feel like.  Some cardio, some weights, some yoga.  Just whatever I feel like doing that day.  This will also allow my knee to heal.  After that, I'm hitting up my personal trainer again and will get back into running as soon as possible.

And that is what is going on with me right now.

4 Weeks Ago: 13 miles
3 Weeks Ago: 4.5 miles
2 Weeks Ago: 0 miles
Last Week: 0 miles
Asics run mileage: 238 miles

Frustrated

I raced Couples Triathlon last Sunday and it sucked.  My swim was decent, my bike was OK, but I just had nothing on the run.  I was averaging about 9min/mile.  I don't think I've ever ran that slow in a triathlon except for my Ironman.  I'm frustrated because although I'm training, I seem to be getting slower.  Ok, I take that back.  I really didn't train for a few weeks because I was sick, but still, 9min/mile in a sprint is fucking HORRIBLE for me!  What the hell?  I need to put on my big girl panties and suck it up.  Since this year's season isn't going as well as I expected, and it's my own fault, I'm just going to concentrate on sprints for the rest of the year.  I have Jack's Generic in August and then the TriRock sprint in September and call it a season.  I know what's wrong though.  I've lost the drive, the fire, the desire to really push myself to make myself faster.  I need to get that feeling back somehow.

5 Weeks Ago: 10 miles
4 Weeks Ago: 11 miles (6 were in Portland!)
3 Weeks Ago: 0 miles (sick)
2 Weeks Ago: 9 miles
Last Week: 4 miles
Asics Run Mileage: 220.5

Blergh!

As usual, I really need to be more consistent about updating this blog.  However, unlike my blogging, I've been fairly consistent with my training.  I'm usually missing 1-2 workouts a week but it isn't like I'm going pro or anything like that.  I've stuck to my running pretty well, been decent with swimming, and I've only biked maybe 1-2 times a week.  For June, I'm ramping up my biking and slacking on swimming since swimming seems to be my strongest leg right now.  Go figure.  Oh, side note, I had a really good swim practice last week where we did a a set with a bunch of stuff and then 12x25 at the end and then did that two times through.  The first 12x25 was OK but on the second 12x25, something really clicked.  I felt different swimming and it felt much more efficient.  Instead of spinning my arms like Wile E. Coyote, I was taking slower strokes that seemed longer, more powerful, and more efficient.  Because of this, I was actually about 2 seconds faster per 25 than the 1st round of 12x25.  So, although I was more tired, I was faster.  I want to remember that feeling because it was a good feeling and gives me something to work towards regarding my swimming.

Running sucks right now because it is hot and humid.  Best time of the day to run is right before sunset.  My weight goal for the end of May was 185 since I started the month at 188.  I weighed myself at 184 on June 4th which is close enough.  My goal for the end of June is 181 so I need to stick to it.  I've found that drinking is the biggest thing and among drinking, beer is the bad one.  Wine is OK but I tend to overindulge when drinking.  So, cutting out drinking means less overindulging.  And "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

Weekly run mileage (4 weeks ago): 21 miles (fuck yeah!)
Weekly run mileage (3 weeks ago): 12.5 miles
Weekly run mileage (2 weeks ago): 16 miles
Weekly run mileage (last week): 12 miles
Asics mileage: 186.5 miles

First Race in 2.5 Years

Last Sunday was my first triathlon in 2.5 years.  It actually went better than I expected.  The swim was good, rough but good.  Bike was cold but I was wearing a hoodie and a beanie.  I lost my sunglasses though.  Run was better than I was expecting.  I finished at 59:41 and it felt good to be back in spandex.  It hurt and made me realize that if I want to get faster, I'm going to have to get more serious about training.  And in the last week, I have been more serious and disciplined to a point.  I hurt my groin yesterday so I had to cut my 9 mile run short by 4 miles because it was starting to change my gait.  I couldn't ride this morning because of it so I'm just going to take it easy and try to run on Tuesday.  Other than that, I think I'm starting to get the weight thing under control a bit.

Weekly run mileage: 9 miles
Asics mileage: 125 miles

I'm back to triathlons!

After spending a year and a half focusing on weight lifting (which improved dramatically) and running (which didn't improve dramatically), I'm back to triathlon training.  I've been out of triathlons for about 2 years and I do miss it.  I'm also realizing how much time it takes up.  My non-working out life is getting to be a bit more balanced and that's a good thing.  Stuff changing at the job is giving me more free time and I've found myself in a relationship which gives me a reason to shower and hurry up and get home after a swim work out.  It's quite nice.

I hope to update this more now that I'm back into triathlons, but I've said that before, and the last time was on January 6th, but I mean it this time!  I hope.  Since the last update, I've done about 100 miles for the year with about 40 on a new pair of shoes.  Since I'm more tri focused now, and that means more consistent, I hope the average run miles will start to come up.

Regarding getting back into triathlons, swimming was the easiest.  I seem to have the muscle memory for swimming and although the cardio portion wasn't there, my stroke wasn't that bad.  My biking has fallen off quite a bit and I expect that to be the most painful for getting back.  Running fell off drastically and I need to get a better mental attitude.  Overall, I seem to have the endurance but I no longer have any top end speed on anything at the moment.  My goal is to be consistent with all the workouts and do them all for March.  In April, I'll start pushing myself to get faster.  The first 2 weeks of March were a bit rough, but this past week was a rest week and I did every single workout.  Next week is a full week and I plan on doing all but maybe 1-2 workouts.  It feels good to be back in this.  Except that my butt hurts from the bike.

(old) Asics mileage: 332 miles
(new) Asics mileage: 47 miles
Weekly run mileage: 20 miles
Year-to-date run mileage: 111.5 miles

2012 In Review

I just read my post reviewing 2011 and the biggest thing is that I didn't run as much this year as I did last year.  This year, I ran about 572 miles which is an average of 11 miles per week.  This is about 48 fewer than last year so not drastically off, but still off.  I have no excuses for this past year, really.  I was just lazy and talked myself out of a lot of workouts for various reasons.  However, that seems to be turning around where I am talking myself out of fewer and fewer workouts.  It got to a point where I just felt like fucking shit all the time and I'm tired of it.  I've been gaining motivation over the last couple of weeks and trying to keep up with that positive trend because a year of being lazy and unmotivated isn't good.  It's a chore to go workout these days and it used to not be a chore.  I need to push through the mud to get to the other side so that workouts fucking kick ass because I'm doing crazy stuff and it feels good to do it.

My weight yoyoed a lot this year starting off at around 191, climbing to 196 after England, dropping to 181 around March, and I ended the year at around 187.  My goal is to still get to 178 and stay there.  My running will be better as well as the body image of myself.  I'll likely have to buy some new clothes but I can deal with that.  I do have some positive things, though.  I PRed the 10K distance at the IBM Uptown Classic in October.  After that though, my running speed fell off.  I've been hitting it at the gym with my personal trainer all year long and it has really paid off.  My cardio has dropped off since the peak of triathlon training, but I am definitely in much better overall shape than before.  I have a great combination of cardio, strength, and balance which many people don't posses.

Here are my goals for 2013:
1) 178 and maintain it.
2) Get back into triathlons.
3) Sub 45 10k.
4) Keep up the motivation.
5) 11 pull ups.

Bring it, 2013!

Asics mileage: 279 miles

I'm still here

I'm still here although I doubt anyone reads these anymore.  Oh well, I'm writing this for me.

I haven't posted in over 2 months but I'm still training.  My run up to the IBM Uptown Classic 10K was great but I've been unmotivated since then.  Training with the personal trainer is going well and I continue to get stronger and stronger.  Also, I went snowboarding earlier this month and I found a new expensive hobby to participate in.

Regarding running, I'm still doing it but with not as much desire and motivation as I used to.  Work has been wearing me down and it's affecting pretty much every aspect of my life unfortunately.  I'm doing what I can to fix that but I need to find joy in running again to keep me running.

The highlight was the IBM Uptown Classic 10K on October 6th.  Or 7th.  It was the first Sunday of October.  My time was 45:59 and I PRed by about 41 seconds.  They changed the course and it wasn't as hilly as it used to be.  And I felt pretty good going into it as well.

Other than that, I'm running but not with a real purpose.  It's better than not running though.  I've put 126 miles on pavement over the last 2.5 months for an average of about 12-13 miles a week which I guess that isn't bad at all.  So, hey, when doing the stats, that's not so bad.

But I do know it's time for new shoes.

Asics mileage: 214.5 miles

Staying Consistent

I've been staying pretty consistent lately.  Wish the miles were up there a bit more, but I'm still doing everything on a fairly regular basis.  I am seeing progress in running this year.  Most of my long runs are in the 8:30-8:45min/mile range when the year or two before, they were about 9:00-9:30min/mile or more during the summer.  Additionally, I got my body fat checked and I'm at 11% right now.  I don't feel like I'm that low but this is good because I haven't been losing weight lately.  I've just been gaining muscle while losing an equivalent amount of fat.  I'm pretty happy with it and I feel really strong right now.  It's a very good thing.

4 Weeks Ago: 12.5 miles
3 Weeks Ago: 12 miles
2 Weeks Ago: 15.5 miles
Last Week: 14 miles

Asics Run Mileage: 142 miles

2 Months Sucks!

Two months since my last update sucks!  Although I haven't been updating, it doesn't mean I haven't been running.  I haven't been running as much as I want to, but I'm still doing it.  I think I'm averaging about 2 runs a week with about 11 miles a week as well.  I meant to take the summer easier just because I don't run well in the heat and work has been crazy.  However, I need to put on my big girl panties and start running 3 days a week with 15+ MPW no matter what.  I have the IBM Uptown Classic on October 7th and I want to PR that race.  I have also been hitting the gym a decent amount and I am definitely getting stronger and doing things I didn't think I could do even just a few months ago.  I'm pushing my trainer to come up with crazier exercises to challenge me.  He's a good trainer and I credit him ability to push me to another level.

Also, I'm still riding and swimming a few times a month just to maintain that activity.

Weekly run mileage: 12.5 miles
Asics mileage: 88 miles

Long Overdue Update

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted. I haven't stopped working out though. Actually, a lot of shit has gone on recently and I'm still working out. For example, I worked 75 hours last week and I still got 4 workouts in. Take that, work! Not much to say at the moment except that I really don't have any goals besides to stay skinny. Weights with my personal trainer are going well and I'm still running. I even try to throw in a single swim and bike in a week, too.

Run mileage since last update: 140 miles
Asics mileage: 236.5 miles (shit, time for new shoes)

Bleh

That's how I've been feeling the past week. I've been burning the candle at both ends lately and I'm getting tired and unmotivated to work out at times. I need to focus but I admit that I have been having a lot of fun lately. Can't keep it up though and I have to find a balance.

Two weeks ago was a pretty good running week for me with about 16 miles. Last week wasn't so good with only a single 7ish mile run. I skipped this morning's workout because of laziness so I have to run on Wednesday. I have the Cap 10K on Sunday so we'll see how that goes. I have been avoiding social outings on nights before runs so maybe that will help.

2 Weeks ago: 16 miles
Last week: 7 miles

Asics run mileage: 96.5 miles

Yep, I'm definitely running.

Got in a total of 19 miles last week. The long run on Saturday was actually the shortest run of the week since I'm trying to stay below 20 miles per week. I'm also making progress with weight training and weight loss. With a month of the paleo diet, I lost 8 pounds and I'm down to 13% body fat. I still have a bit to get to my goal weight but I can get there.

Weekly run mileage: 19 miles
Asics mileage: 73.5 miles

Hmmm, I might be running again

My abs are feeling much better and I've been running more. I actually ran 3 times last week, a crappy run on Monday, a decent interval workout on Wednesday, and then a nice long run on Saturday. I checked out my mileage on Garmin Connect and I actually ran 18.5 miles last week. So, I guess I'm running again. And it feels great! My abs hurt a bit from time to time but nothing that I think is too concerning. My knees feel fine as well and everything is just feeling pretty good at the moment. I'm going to work on speed again since it seems that I haven't lost much base, it should be a fun few weeks before the Cap 10K.

Weekly run mileage: 18.5 miles
Asics mileage: 54.5 miles

This Weather Has Sucked

for when I want to run. I want to run, but I don't want to run when it is 45* and rainy. Because of that, I didn't do much quality running last week when I really needed it. Yeah, I'm making excuses but I still did 7 miles. Also, my lower ab issue seems to be gone completely so I'm OK to run again. Also, I went and watched the Austin Half and Full Marathon this morning for inspiration. I'm going to go to bed by 9pm tonight to be up at 4:45am to run with Gilbert's Gazelles again.

Weekly run mileage: 7 miles
Asics mileage: 36 miles

Making Progress

Making progress on my injury. My abs seem to be getting better which is very fucking good. I ran 12 miles last week with relatively little pain. A total of 12 miles with a track workout thrown in there as well with Gilbert's. Felt good to run again. Not much running this week since I had LASIK done last Friday but once I'm OK to run from both the eye doc and the physical therapist, I'm back on it.

Also, I started the paleo diet again this month. Trying to change up stuff to see how it affects my physique. I'm seeing positive things already so we'll see how this goes for a month or more.

Weekly run mileage: 12 miles

Asics mileage: 29 miles

I'm running again

I'm running again but it isn't to the level that I want obviously. My lower abs are feeling better and the direction from my PT is to ease into it but I can run. My abs will start to hurt at the beginning of the run and then will ease up. Once they start feeling worse, stop because then I'm just hurting myself further. So far, I'm running 3-5 miles about twice a week but I'm going to start ratcheting that up over the next few weeks. I have lost some speed and endurance but not that much. Oh, 2 weeks in Europe with only 2 workouts didn't help either.

Additionally, my roommate and I are challenging each other to go full (or at least 90%) paleo for the month of February. When I was on full paleo the first time, I really felt good. I had a lot more energy, I wasn't as tired, and I just felt good and clean all over. I'm going to be trying to get back there. The biggest challenge that I have is the discipline in saying no to foods that I like to eat but aren't paleo and that it takes prep work to eat paleo. Right now, if I'm strapped for time, I just go out and grab something quickly. However, paleo options for doing that are few and far between. This will make me think ahead though.

Weight: 192

Weekly run mileage 4 weeks ago: 3 miles
Weekly run mileage 3 weeks ago: 0 miles
Weekly run mileage 2 weeks ago: 6 miles
Weekly run mileage: 8 miles

Asics mileage: 17 miles

2011 Review

Well, it is the end of another year where I review how I've done training wise for the year. First, let's start with last year's post about how I did. This year, I actually ran about 620 miles which is an average of about 12mpw. This is better than last year but would still like to be up to 15mpw or more. This year, I've done better in the cold weather. During this summer, it was absolute hell since it was the hottest summer on record. I ran when I could but I did it just for attrition and really didn't make any progress. I have been making progress with running lately but I was just sidelined with another injury unfortunately.

I didn't lose any weight this year and probably gained a couple of pounds unfortunately (191). That was mostly due to working out with my personal trainer where I'm just kicking ass when I'm not injured. I seem to have this "Don't fucking give up" mentality where many other guys that seem to be fitter and more in shape than me can't do the things that I do. It's pretty awesome and I can tell that my body is stronger because of it. However, I still have this layer of fat that I would love to get rid off quickly. Maybe this will be the year. My roommate and I seem to encourage each other so hopefully we can help each other focus and find the determination and discipline to get where we want to be.

I'm off for a couple more weeks while my strained ab muscle heals and then I'm in England for a couple of weeks where I hope to do some running but I don't expect to do too much. After that, I'm back to running and I'm going to take advantage of the coolish weather while I can before the summer swelter hits.

I really need to move to a cooler climate.

Damn you, Dr. Phil!

I had to call out my PT, Dr. Phil Davis, because I saw him today and he gave me bad news. It's not his fault, but it still sucks. I'm out of running for a couple of weeks. I hurt my lower abs a few weeks ago. It was lingering for a few weeks until last week when it started getting worse and worse. It got to the point where it was affecting me even when I was walking. Not good at all. I took it easy for a few days and saw Dr. Phil this morning. I have a strained lower ab muscle. Luckily, it isn't a hernia but I'm still out of running for at least 2 weeks. So, the plan is to take it easy but I can still do stuff as long as it doesn't hurt. And this isn't good with the holiday food and stuff around. I was making progress towards losing weight, too.

Last week was 10 miles before I bagged running for the rest of the week until I figured out what's wrong with my abs. I also got new shoes. Other than that, not much else going on.

Weekly run mileage: 10 miles

Asics mileage: 264 miles

I'm making progress with running. . .

. . .but I'm not making progress at keeping this damn blog updated. Ugh.

3 weeks ago was the Turkey Trot which was a good time for me. It was a tougher course that was pretty much uphill the first 2 miles and then 3 very fast miles after that. My last mile was around a 7 minute mile which is fantastic. I think my mileage may be off that week though since I had a naked run that I forgot about since my HRM battery was dead. Let's say that I ran 4 miles on Tuesday for a total of 15 miles that week with a race.

2 weeks ago was the Spicewood Vineyards 10K. Once again, this was a tough course that was pretty much uphill the first half and then downhill the 2nd. Also, it was about half a mile short. I ended up getting 2nd in my age group but it was a small field on a tough course. The good thing about that week was that it was my highest mileage in a long time at 20 miles. And nothing broke!

Last week was just a normal week. It was really cold here and I did afternoon runs instead of morning runs. Actually, I did only 1 afternoon run. Anyways, I'm really, really happy about yesterday's run though. It was 8.5 miles on a relatively hilly course and it was my longest run in probably almost a year. However, it felt fucking fantastic! I never really pushed myself that hard and was just running at an easy pace. Well, that easy pace ended up being around an 8:20/mile average. From running consistently with Gilbert's Gazelles is really paying off. I do have some issues with the program since I'm the only 10K person around so I have to seek out an individual training plan. However, I am seeing results so that's a win. I'll keep it up and see how it goes and I may actually get faster. One last thing, yesterday's run really was a "run with joy" run and I didn't have a single negative from the run. My pace was great, I felt good, and the distance was awesome!

3 weeks ago run mileage: 15 miles
2 weeks ago run mileage: 20 miles
Last week run mileage: 14.5 miles

Asics mileage: 254 miles (time for new shoes)

Still running

I'm still running. The good thing is I think that my knee is healed. I'm sure it isn't 100% but it hasn't really bothered me in a few weeks now. I'm not even taping it any more and it still feels fine. Hell, I did the Warrior Dash with no taping and it felt fine. My mileage is up there a bit and I'm seeing progress running with Gilbert's Gazelles.

Like I said above, I did the Warrior Dash. I did it after running 7 miles in the morning. That was one of the dumbest decisions of my entire life. I was feeling the 7 miles with every single step of the WD, but I still finished in 32:34 and I could've done it faster on fresh legs.

2 Weeks Ago: 19 miles
Last Week: 14 miles
Asics Mileage: 204.5 miles

Post Boston Blues

I went to Boston this past weekend. It was a blast. I had every intention of working out but didn't. Everyone knows how that goes. Besides the kick ass run I had on Monday of last week, I put in another 4 miles. This week was an easy week because I've got some things going on in my head and wasn't really motivated and I just put time in the shoes. Hopefully next week will be more hard, fast runs.

Mileage 2 weeks ago: 11 miles
Weekly run mileage: 16 miles
Asics mileage: 171.5 miles

Hmmm, I can't wait until next week

Let's see. Running with Gilbert's Gazelles is actually going pretty well. I was a bit frustrated at first because there wasn't much attention but you kind of have to be your own advocate and I'm getting better at that. See, everyone that I run with is doing half or full marathons and I'm doing lowly 10Ks. Well, I like 10Ks but there aren't many others so I/we get lost in the sea of Marys. So, it is going well and I think training with a group at least twice a week will really pay off soon. Last week, I put in a total of 17 miles with 2 Gilbert workouts and then a 5K on Saturday. I did the Donkey Dash and the results are below. Basically, I wasn't as fast as last year but I paced myself much better.



Ok, here is the kick ass thing. This can't wait until next week because it is almost 3 days later and I'm still amped about this. On Monday, with Gilbert's, we did a warm up, 4x1 mile repeats, cool down. The repeats were take the first one at X, drop by 0:15 on the next, and then hold that for the last 2. First one I took what I thought was nice and easy. 7:24. Next one I was running with a few other people where I kinda kept up with them but I was the last person. 6:58. Ok, pretty happy with that and didn't think I could pull it off for the 3rd lap. 6:57. What the fuck. Ok, I really was pushing myself on the 3rd and thought I had burned all my fuel on the 3rd one. I gave it all on the 4th one and was dying the entire time. 6:44. What the holy fuck did I just do? Did I really just run a 6:44 mile? Not only that, did I just run a 6:44 mile after running 3 mile repeats just before that? Damn, that felt good. I got home looked at my GPS data. My heart rate was pegged at 190+ the entire time and I haven't see my heart rate that high in years. Fuck me, I think I can actually run at times. No, this isn't super fast but for me, it is damn good progress.



So, besides running, training is going well when I'm doing it.

Weekly run mileage: 17 miles
Asics mileage: 144.5 miles

A Change

The biggest thing in the 4 weeks since my last update is that I have changed running groups. I'm running with Gilbert's Gazelles for their 5K/10K program. I'll go back to Texas Iron when I get back into triathlons again, but right now I need the 2-3 group workouts a week in the early mornings where work can't interfere. I really, really want to make progress with my running. I've been saying it for years but I really need to do it. I'm not even close to my potential but I can't seem to make progress when I workout on my own.

Besides that, I'm still working out with a personal trainer. I think he's about to fire me because he cannot find an exercise that I cannot do yet. He's throwing some crazy shit at me but I do it fine. I'm not focusing on the typical exercises like bench presses, curls, squats, etc. I'm just doing some insane functional stuff that really pushed my core strength, balance, and my entire body in general. I kick ass at it.

Oh, I also did the IBM Uptown Classic 10K on October 2nd. Considering my fitness level, I didn't do so bad and average 7:50/mile. I was 2 minutes slower than the previous year but like I said, I did pretty well considering my fitness level.

Other than that, I need to focus more as usual. Work is stressing me out a bit and as I've increased my workout schedule, I need more sleep with it. If I don't get sleep, I'm more tired than usual which makes me miss workouts to catch up of sleep. Or I just need to put on my big girl panties and just get the shit done.

3 Weeks ago: 12.5 miles
2 Week ago: 9.5 miles
1 Week ago: 17.5 miles
Last week: 13 miles

Asics mileage: 127.5 miles

Because I Can

Recently I have taken a two week trip to California for work. These trips are good because I get to meet people that I work with often, but rarely get to see them and a few I have never actually seen before. I also get to work with people from other organizations that I don't get to work with often. Ether way, we start talking to build a relationship and discuss what we do for fun and stuff like them. Pretty normal stuff. Well I seem to be not normal.

We don't always talk about work so our lives outside of work come up often. If you know me, you know that I'm pretty into triathlons and fitness in general. So this is what I usually talk about. I tell them that I do triathlons and I have done races from sprint distance up to Ironman distance races. I am not as fit nor motivated as I used to be but I'm still generally healthy and active and my entire life revolves around these things. Many people think this is strange. They don't understand why I do this and ask me what I do it. My response: because I can.

I actually thought about this and that's about the best thing that I could come up with. I like a challenge and pushing myself to my limits. But I already done one Ironman so I proven that I can do it so why don't I return to the confines of the couch and a pack of smokes? Why don't I go back to eating fast food for lunch, pizza for dinner, and happy hour 4 nights a week? Because my life doesn't revolve around that stuff anymore. I have found things such as running and triathlons that bring me much more joy than watching TV and hangovers. It's easy to sit on the couch and easy to eat ice cream. It's hard to get up at 4:30am some days and it is hard to make yourself go for at least a 3 mile run when you're tired and it is 104* degrees outside. Pushing yourself to do an Ironman and the sacrifices that come with it are very difficult. But I do it because I can. Life isn't easy and I figure that if I can do things that I don't want to do when things are going OK, this actually helps out when things in life aren't going so well. I've developed a sense of being able to push through things when the going gets tough. And a lot of people don't get that by any means. Luckily, I have surrounded myself with a bunch of like minded friends who are into fitness and triathlons and they get this mentality. And I do have some other friends that aren't as hardcore as me but they at least accept what I do although I agree with them that I am slightly crazy for doing these things at times. But it still comes down to the fact that I'm like this because I can be.

Weekly run mileage: 14.5 miles
Asics mileage: 75 miles

I raced!

Yep, I raced. I did the TriWaco and it was kind of a last minute thing. I got a message from Dan about doing the swim leg of a relay and I was like, "Sure!" I actually swam 4 times in those 2 weeks. I got to the race, I was nice and relaxed, checked out the course, and did my thing. It was so-so. I like racing and it was fun, but the water was really hot and lots of sun in my eyes. And of course, my goggles fogged up in about 30 seconds. I hadn't swam open water since last year but I know how to sight and swim in a pack so I didn't feel the need to practice it before; I've been doing it for years. I was on feet the way out and then we started hitting track from the wave in front of us. At that point, it was tough to stay on feet because I was trying to avoid everyone swimming a bit slow. The sun sucked at this point and I was swimming along and looked left. I saw the yellow turn buoy about 10m to my left and I was already a couple of meters past it. There were people swimming straight at that point since they didn't see the buoy. I cut across some swim lanes quickly and kept going. The next buoy was right in the sun and I didn't see it until I was about 2 meters away from it.

Coming back wasn't that bad. The sun was behind us but there was still a ton of traffic in the way. I couldn't find any feet to stay on so I basically swam by myself the entire time. As it got closer, I swam closer and closer to the buoys. I scoped out the course knew not to swim from buoy to buoy because they weren't perfectly straight. I took the last 2 turns in and was picking it up a bit. I felt pretty tired at this point which is the point of a swim relay. I was concentrating on good form and wearing myself out since my day was done. I got out of the water and I had stashed flipflops by the exit. I put them on and then I had to climb, climb, climb. The T1 was up a back and forth ramp and this was the longest T1 run I have ever seen. I passed about 10 people or more going up the ramp because many people slow down during transition. It's still a race; move your ass and go! Before, Dan and I had planned on meeting at the end of transition since that would minimize the amount that he had to run with the bike. The other Eric caught me at the swim exit to say that we had to meet by the bike rack. At this point, my heart rate was spiked from running up the stairs. I gave Dan my chip, he was off, and I was done.

Dan's goal for the bike was to go sub 1 hour. He was totally geeked out in an aero helmet, aero wheels, and skin suit. He went out like a wild man and Eric and I just chilled. Well, I chilled and grabbed a beer while he warmed up. Oh, BTW, running in flip flops is not a good thing and I tore up my feet. But it was better than running barefoot on concrete. Dan came in and it was close to being under an hour. After the race, we found out his final time was 1:00:00. He was only 1 second away from his goal. Damnit! He'll get it next time though. Eric had the run and that was definitely the toughest leg of the course. 2 miles flat, 2 miles of gnarly hills, 2 miles of flat. Oh, and 6 miles of heat. We saw him for about the last third of a mile and he was struggling because of the conditions. He crossed the line and we were done for the day. He was hurting but he did draw the short straw, but he did well. Our relay team finished in 2:30:25 and we ended up 1st in the men's relay (out of 4 teams) so we did well. We went back to the room, showered up, and headed home.

Oh, my swim and T1 time was 31:57 so I didn't get a true swim split unfortunately. I was really looking forward to it though but timing isn't perfect. I probably went around 30:00. There was a lot of talk that the course was accurate at 1500m but I doubt it. The pace on Run-Far had it at 1900m which is closer to what it felt like. So, who knows how long it was actually, but that's the nature of swim courses.

Other than that, I run about 10.5 miles for the week. Kinda low but that was a bit planned.

Weekly run mileage: 10.5 miles
Asics mileage: 257.5 miles

Summer Training Sucks!

I know I'm in the minority when I say this but I really don't like the heat of the Austin summer. Training in this summer really sucks! It's really hot, it's uncomfortable, never is a good time to train, blah blah blah. The good thing though is that this training is building mental fortitude. My philosophy at the moment is to just get through the summer and not let the heat melt me. So far, I've actually been increasing my mileage each week. I'm not looking forward to each workout, but I'm doing them anyways because I know it'll be worth it in the long term. So, it sucks but I'm bothering through it until cooler weather gets here.

With that said, it's been a fucking long time since I updated this damn blog. I kept thinking it has been only a week or two but it has been 5 weeks. Ugh, but I'm still training. I'm actually running about 14-15 miles each week the last few weeks and I want to keep that up. My knee is getting better but it still hurts a decent amount. I'm actually being pretty good about doing my PT and that is paying off. Although I haven't updated this in awhile, I have still been keeping track of my run mileage.

June 6th: 8 miles
June 13th: 13 miles
June 20th: 13 miles
June 27th: 15.5 miles
2 Weeks Ago: 14 miles
Last Week: 13.5 miles

Asics Run Mileage: 247 miles (shit, I need new shoes)

8 Mile

Yep, I ran just 8 mile last week. Crappy, but the Tuesday workout with Texas Iron wasn't bad. I did go camping and hiking and kayaking so that was some activity amongst the beer drinking. I was going to run on Friday morning but my Thursday swim rubbed my toes raw from the fins and running Friday morning hurt like hell. No bueno. I'll be 10+ again this week but most importantly, I should be getting fit for a knee brace on Friday of this week. That should help out with my knee pain that I've been having for months now.

Weekly run mileage: 8 miles
Asics mileage: 170 miles

Has it been 3 weeks?

Has it been 3 weeks? And that last post was about how I'm not updating my blog enough? I'm such a hypocrite. Anyways, knee issues are still present and the more I work out, the more they creep back into the spotlight. I knew this was going to happen so I'm going to get a knee brace this week and see if that helps a lot. I am hitting swimming and biking/spin class once a week consistently and I'm trying to increase them to something reasonable. Over the last few weeks, I have been increasing my run mileage from 6 to 9 to 10.5 miles. I'll shoot for about 12 miles this week and see how it goes. I'm also going back to Texas Iron workouts which is what I need. It just sucks because it is so damn hot out already.

Weekly run mileage: 10.5 miles
Asics run mileage: 162 miles

My poor neglected training blog

My poor neglected training blog. It isn't that I don't love you. It is just that although I enjoy training, it is kind of a chore to write down about training. But I know it is important to pay more attention to you in order to make this relationship to work.

OK, let's get this out of the way. In the last 5 weeks, I've ran about 50.5 miles for an average of about 10 miles per week. Pitiful, but I have an excuse. I've been suffering from knee issue and I had orders to take it easy so I cut back my running to only 6 mpw some weeks. I've lost my top end fitness, not that I had much to begin with, but I need to start fighting to get it back. However, the good thing is that my knee is feeling much better now. I'm only cycling once per week with 1 spin class and that is just sad. I'm getting my ass handed to me on the rides and I may drop down to the J&A intermediate ride this coming week. I am swimming a bit more though and that is a good thing. Oh, Coach Fish had me doing freaking breaststroke and my back is feeling it today.

As for the knee, long story short is that I had a lot of pain in my knee and it is because I have alignment issues with my knee caps. They tend to drift off laterally which stresses the tissues medially which is where I'm getting the pain. I'm working on exercises for them as well as trying to get a brace to help. So, it is good to know what is wrong and that it is up to me to get it better. It is great to be able to go up and down stairs without wincing.

As for my diet, it fucking sucks. I've come to the conclusion that I am a stress eater and I have too much of an emotional connection with food. If I'm feeling stressed out, I want to eat or drink something to make me feel better. If I'm sad, I want to eat or drink something to make me feel better. If I do something great, I want to eat or drink something as a reward. Also, I probably think about food more than sex and that's bad. I just don't like being hungry at all and I love the feeling of being satiated. Once I start to get the hunger pangs, I'm looking for food within minutes. I really need to stop this emotional connection with food and suck it up and go hungry for a few hours if I need to. I've gained 5 pounds easily in the last few weeks and that shit has to stop. I need to break these habits and connections that I have in order to be able to maintain a healthy weight without 10+ hours of exercise a week especially as I get older and it is tougher to maintain a healthy weight.

So, that's that.

Asics mileage: 136.5 miles

Well, look who has been lazy

I've been lazy working out and lazy posting on my blog. Well, here goes. The last few weeks of work have been kicking my ass but I didn't cut out working out completely. Everything dropped in half for a few weeks but I'm getting back into it. Speaking of, I swear it seems that swimming is my sport. The 2nd swim since September and I'm still in the fast lane. WTF? I didn't have as much range of speeds nor "endurance speed" but I still felt fluid and easy to swim. I'll take it I guess.

Had an MRI on my right knee last week. Got the results back and I'll post them below but things look weird and I'm going to see an orthopedic specialist to get his expert opinion on it. However, I'm still running but not as much as i would like and not as pain free as i would like either. 6 miles 3 weeks ago, 9 miles 2 weeks ago, and then 11 miles last week. It's getting hot out there so I'm going to significantly enjoy running less over the next 6 months.

Asics mileage: 86 miles

Bricks Still Hurt

Today was my first brick run in probably 6 months. Yep, they still hurt. I was just trying to get through the run and didn't feel good at all. Last week was a lighter week with only a 3 mile and then about an 8 mile run. The 8 mile run was really tough though. I didn't run in the morning and in the afternoon, I had plans. I worked at My Park Day and helped tear down a BBQ pit and tear up some tree trunks. Man, swinging an axe for an hour or so is fun. After I did all of that, I was ready for a nap. But, I went and ran nearly 8 miles in stead. After that, I was ready for bed at 6pm but struggled to stay up until 9pm. It was a good mental toughness workout because I had to do a long workout when I wasn't up for it and it turned out OK. This week was a longer. Not much to really say besides the brick workout. Well, the Tuesday run kicked my ass and I didn't have enough food and sleep before it. Thursday was just a quick, fast neighborhood 5k. I decided to take yesterday's long run nice and easy and it actually felt pretty good. I kept my heart rate low and I really didn't feel trashed afterward which was nice. And surprisingly, it wasn't that slow either. Then, I did the painful brick today.

Weekly run mileage: 17 miles
Asics mileage: 60 miles

Angry Knees

I don't know what it was about yesterday's run but my knees really hurt after it. I ran 8 miles instead of my usual 7 and I guess that really pissed them off. Stupid knees. I wish they didn't hurt so bad after running. Other than that, it was a decent 16 miles of running for the week.

Weekly run mileage: 16 miles
Asics mileage: 32 miles

Shoes are done & cholesterol

Well, after 287 miles on my Asics Gel Nimbus 12, I've broken in a new pair and will retire these. I think they have some life left in them but I don't want to push it and risk injury again. My knees bothered me more than usual after my long run this week and at the end of my long run last week, my metatarsals started hurting. So, new shoes starting on Tuesday. This week, I ran 16 miles and it went OK. Tuesday was actually a good run because although I felt like crap for the workout, I actually did pretty well. I did my long run on Friday which was OK. Today was basically 4 miles of junk but I did do some sprints in there to get my heart rate up. Next week is my last week of running and weights only and then I'm going back to full triathlon training which I'm kinda looking forward to. It's been a long time since I've been in the pool and it'll be fun to get back to it.

Also, I got some blood work done last week and I'm still healthy. HDL of 62, LDL of 98, triglycerides of 71 and total cholesterol of 174. TC/HDL ratio of 2.8. Not bad at all for a fatlete.

Weekly run mileage: 16 miles
Asics mileage: 287 miles (retired)

Another 9 Miles: Recovery Week

Had a lighter week this week after ramping up the last 3 weeks to 17 miles last week. A speedier workout on Tuesday with Texas Iron and then just an easy run yesterday to the gym and back. Nothing spectacular at all. I did ride my bike today and although it was windy as hell, I enjoyed it. Also, I need to start getting back to swimming soon and having been off of swimming for 6 months, it'll be interesting to be back. Oh, and I'd like to see how my shoulder does, too.

Weekly run mileage: 9 miles
Asics mileage: 271 miles

Another 17 Miles

This is another week where I'm increasing my mileage and hit 17 miles this week. Not bad at all. I may shoot for 18 miles this week and then take a "rest week" at only 14 miles. Anyways, I split these miles across 3 runs and each run was actually really good. Tuesday was a hill workout with Texas Iron and we did Wilke And The Six Dwarfs which was a bitch of a workout. It was also below freezing. Friday was an early, easy Neighborhood 5K but there was about an inch of snow on the ground. It almost never snows here and it was awesome running in the scrunch, scrunch, scrunch. Did a 7 miler on Sunday that was actually a pretty fast LSD run for me. I was pushing it and averaged 7:53/mile for 7 miles. So, that's it. It's about time to change my shoes, too.

Weekly run mileage: 17 miles
Asics mileage: 262 miles

Another 16 Miles

Hey, I'm showing some consistency with running. 15 miles the last 2 weeks and then 16 miles the past week. Very nice for me. My hip flexor is feeling much better this week as well and I'm getting it worked on. It's almost a non-issue at this point with the exception of a few ab exercises. Stretching it out beforehand definitely makes it feel better. At this point, my knee is the problem. I'm getting it worked on as well and it's actually getting worse before it is getting better. I know that it'll happen but it is still frustrating. I did have a great workout with Texas Iron on Tuesday. Friday was my long run instead of Sunday and it was nice being lazy today. Well, not that lazy since I went to yoga today to get my downward dog on. Also, I ordered these guys which should be here within a week. My current pair are feeling fine so we'll see how much longer they last.

Weekly run mileage: 16 miles
Asics run mileage: 245 miles

Another 15 miles

Yep, another 15 miles. Had a good interval workout on Tuesday with Texas Iron and then a short run on Thursday. Sunday was a decent long run that felt rough. I think the weight lifting has made my legs heavier. I got through it, but it wasn't easy and it wasn't super rough either. But it was a run which is better than not a run.

Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 229 miles

Slimy Hat

Yes, this is something that I never expected to talk about. I went for a run this past weekend and I wore my running hat since it was cold and rainy. When I got done with my run, I took off my hat and it felt weird. I threw it on the counter and walked away. I came back to pick it up and it definitely felt weird. I felt around more and my hat felt slimy. Not just a little bit but a lot over a large portion of the hat. Something about it getting wet made the nastiness on the hat congeal and become disgust. Oh, and when I picked up the hat, there was slime on the counter where it had been. That hat went into the washer 5 minutes later and now it isn't so slimy.

Run mileage last week was about 15 miles. Not bad and my body is feeling soso. Sometimes it feels good and sometimes it feels bad. Who the hell knows what will be hurting when I run. I did have a good TI workout on Tuesday with mile repeats of 7:41, 7:27, and 7:08. Felt great. Did a run to the gym, workout, run from the gym on Saturday and a longish run later Sunday. I really should've done the Sunday run earlier in the day.

Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 214 miles

I was lazy

I was lazy last week. Nothing to it besides that. I could've done a few more workouts but just didn't feel like doing them. So, I need to dig deep and find some motivation again because I feel like I've regressed in nearly everything the last 2 weeks. I was doing well up until Christmas and then I just said "Fuck it!" and have been off the wagon since then. Well, I'm back on the wagon damnit.

Weekly run mileage: 10 miles
Asics mileage: 199 miles

My body remembers

Well, I think I'm fairly healthy again. My knee isn't bothering me nearly as much anymore. Well, I can't say that because I have good days and bad days. For my sports hernia, it is much better although I've been doing nearly nothing for PT. Anyways, on Tuesday, I did a run workout with Texas Iron and it hurt like hell. Had an easy run on Thursday and then did the New Year's Underwear Run where I was actually running fairly fast for me uphill and downhill. It was about 4 miles but I was definitely pushing the pace. Then, tonight, I did the neighborhood 5K and I set a PR for it. I don't know what was up with me but it felt good running that loop at a 7:36/mile pace. And I still had gas left, too. My total time was 23:33 and I started off well because I got to the stop sign in under 10:00 which was a first for me. I don't know what it was, me being well rested, I had a full belly, it was cool outside, but this was a nice, quick run. I guess my body does remember how to run fast (for me). We'll see how it goes this week with Texas Iron workouts.

Weekly run mileage: 15.5 miles
Asics mileage: 189 miles

2010 Run Mileage

I ran a total of 545.75 miles in 2010. How many did you run? That averages to 10.5 a week and 45.5 per month. I really wanted to average more like 15mpw but I had a couple of injuries that laid me up for awhile. I hope that 2011 is better for me for running and I can run more consistently. I had a good workout on Tuesday which helped and I'll have another "easy hard workout" on Tuesday before I start cranking up the intensity and speed again. The great thing about 2010 running is that I PRed the 10k distance by about 1:40 and I hope to take another 1:40 off of my time in April. As usual, injuries is going to be the big thing and I hope to get my weight down a bit as well. I lost 3 pounds this year so at this rate, I'll be down to my goal of sub 180 in about 3 years.

Another Mileage Update

Man, work has been busy which has prevented updates, but really hasn't prevented training that much. It has had some impact but I've been working out in the mornings more. Well, here's my run mileage the last few weeks:

Two weeks ago: 14 miles
Last week: 9 miles
Asics run mileage: 173.5 miles

Mileage Update

Been busy lately so not much time for updates. Yeah, I've used that excuse WAY too much before. Anyways, my toe is getting much better and I don't really think it is bothering me much anymore. But my hip flexor still bothers me frequently but it is getting better also.

Weekly run mileage, 3 weeks ago: 5 miles
Weekly run mileage, 2 weeks ago: 12 miles
Weekly run mileage: last week: 14.5 miles
Asics run mileage: 150.5 miles

Frustrated/Injured

After my long run two Sundays ago, my toe started hurting. I was concerned because it felt like a stress fracture. I went to see my PT later in the week and he thinks I have a stressed out flexor tendon in my foot. I took all week off of running and then ran 3 miles this past Sunday. My toe hurt again so it looks like I'm back on the DL for the time being. This is really frustrating because I seem to be injury prone. I try to ramp up my training regarding running and I keep getting hurt. This is preventing me from making progress running because as soon as I start making progress, I get hurt and then I can't train for awhile. This is difficult mentally since I am trying really hard to get better at running but I need months (6-24 months) of consistent, injury free running to really see some gains and that just isn't happening with my body. This fucking sucks!

Weekly run mileage: 3 miles
Asics mileage: 119 miles

An on time update OR 19 miles!

For once, I think I'm getting an update on time this week. Not much to add this week except that I am increasing my mileage fun and actually ran 19 miles this week. I don't want to hit 20 quite yet since I know my body tends to get injured once I start doing 20+ per week. I think I might hover in the 19-20mpw range until the end of Dec and then ramp up to about 25mpw. I do have a story to share. I had a date planned for Friday night. I got downtown about 45 minutes early for my date and had some time to kill. I had access to a shower so I decided that I had enough time to go for a 3 mile run and shower before my date. Ah, the life of an athlete. I did my 7.2 mile long run this morning and it was absolutely perfect running weather in the low 50s. The breakfast tacos and coffee afterward were great as well. I love this time of the year. Everything seems to be going well at the moment and I'm pretty happy about that. My weight is stagnant but my body composition seems to be changing.

Weekly run mileage: 19 miles
Asics mileage: 116 miles (my 3 mile run were on my old shoes)

Two Weeks Of Updates

I think I'm owed 2 weeks of updates. Damnit, me being lazy. Well, I'm still running and weight lifting and I feel like I'm making progress with both so everything is going well. I can't drop weight but why complain about that anymore since I haven't been able to do that for a couple of years now it seems. I am going to try to throw in more spin classes and/or bike rides. Well, only 1 per week but I'll try to fit it in.

2 Weeks Ago: 11 miles (yeah, not a good week)
Last Week: 18 miles
Asics Mileage: 100 miles

Last Week & Donkey Dash 5K

Not much going on last week. Weight lifting is going well and so is running. I put in about 16.5 miles last week which is OK. I did the Donkey Dash 5K and it was my first 5K in awhile. I really need to work on my pacing in 5Ks but still did 22:40 for a pace of around 7:18/mile. Not that bad but first mile was 6:40 and last mile was 7:49. Yep, need to work on pacing. It was good though.



Weekly run mileage: 16.5 miles
Asics mileage: 71 miles

IBM Uptown Classic 10K

The highlight of last week was the IBM Uptown Classic 10K. It is my fall baseline 10K to see how I much I improve over the winter and I did it last year. I've been iffy about my fitness lately so I really didn't have many expectations for this race. So, I'll skip the details because a 10K isn't really that exciting. I did a few tuneups during the week though and carbo loaded a bit.

Started off on the race and I was taking it fairly slow but not too slow. Actually, I was going hard. Well, it is difficult to say but I was pushing it a bit from the beginning. First mile clocked in at about 7:46 which is about what I did last year if I recall correctly. Second mile was about 7:42 and it felt pretty good. I was surprised at the time and how well I was feeling so I decided to push it a bit more. Came in at 7:28 for Mile 3 and then Mile 4 was a nice gradual downhill with a time of 7:12. I was pushing it the last 2 miles, and still feeling good, because I knew that Mile 5 was the hilliest mile on the course and I would go off pace in that mile. Well, that didn't happen. For Mile 5, I averaged 7:39 while climbing about 150 feet. I pushed it up the hills but not to the point of blowing myself up. Also, there were lots of people following the curve of the road and not running tangents. When my Mile 5 split came in and saw that it wasn't 8:20 like it was last year, I got excited. I started thinking that I could beat last year's time so that was more motivation to keep running strong. For the last mile, I knew that half of it was downhill and half was uphill. On the downhill, I was cruising easily at about a 7:00/mile pace. Did I mention that I love the gradual downhills because I can run them well? Turned around to go up the gradual uphill and crossed Mile 6 at 7:14/mile. I was way ahead of last year's time and still feeling great. I kicked it up a gear to finish the last partial mile with a pace of 6:22/mile and a total time of 46:38. This was 1:40 faster than last year and I am very happy with that result. I wasn't expecting to go this fast and I just ran the race that I wanted to race. I was looking at the splits of many others and I actually negative split the 5Ks by about 1:00 while most other people had a positive split of a few seconds to sometimes minutes. I like to ease into the race instead of going out too hard and blowing up early.

Overall, I am very happy with my race and my fitness and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do over the winter.

Weekly run mileage: 12 miles
Asics mileage: 54.5 miles

EDIT: Forgot to post my Garmin data.

Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts:

- Did the last Splash N Dash of the year at the end of Sept. It wasn't that fast for the swim, but it was actually my fastest run ever. Weird.
- Interval work with Texas Iron last Tuesday felt great!
- Doing a long run the day after lifting weights isn't good.
- I'm done with biking and swimming for awhile to concentrate on weights and running. I'll swim and spin occasionally but it won't be on any frequent schedule.
- Also changing up my diet to see if it'll help.
- I'm sleepy.
- Got a new pair of running shoes.
- Got a benchmark 10K this Sunday with the IBM Uptown Classic. It'll be interesting to see how my fitness compares to last year.
- Got the Donkey Dash 5K the weekend after that.

Asics Mileage: 42.5 miles
Run Mileage, Last Week: 17
Run Mileage, 2 Weeks Ago: 12.5
Run Mileage, 3 Weeks Ago: 13

I'm running again!

After bruising my toes in the Austin Triathlon and taking 2 weeks off, I got back to running this week. I ran 2.5 miles on Monday night, 4 miles on Friday morning, and then 6.5 miles this morning on Town Lake. After taking 2 weeks off I thought my hip flexor would be a lot better. It isn't. I ran on Monday and my hip flexor was hurting pretty much the entire time and it was fairly bad, too. It was actually more painful than before taking off the 2 weeks. After the run, my hip flexor hurt on Tuesday and Wednesday but was feeling a bit better on Thursday. Ran again on Friday a hip flexor hurt bad for first mile and then the pain lessened a lot but I still felt it. Today, I had the same thing going on but by the end of the run, the pain had gone away almost entirely and I was running about an 8:30 mile. I see my doc tomorrow to assess the situation but I think I'm back to running. I've lost a bit of fitness though which sucks, but it happens. The good thing is that it seems that the weather is about to change and it is going to get a lot cooler soon.

My slowest Oly time ever and I'm very happy with it

Well, I did the Austin Triathlon this past Monday. I was a bit intimidated by it because my training this year has been really inconsistent except for the last month or so. Last year, I felt the same way but I dropped down from the Oly to the sprint and ended up with 3rd in my AG. This year, I actually felt worse but decided to tough it out and use it as motivation.

I did taper a bit for this workout but didn't really do much carb loading. Last week's workouts were definitely lighter and I did do a tune up on Sunday. Got everything done on Sunday and was up most of the weekend getting ready for a cookout on Monday. So, it wasn't the ideal taper that I would try to do for an A race. Got up and went to the race site on Monday morning. Said hi to a lot of people and did a lot of waiting around. Wandered down to the water and put on my wetsuit for the first time in over a year. Got in the water and it actually felt great at about a nice 73* or so. I thought it was near perfect water temp for racing. I swam and didn't get much traffic and just tried to take it fairly easy. It was actually a pretty relaxed and comfortable swim for me. I tried staying on feet the entire time but every time I caught up with a pair, they weren't going fast enough for me. I need to work on starting out faster and settling in to stay with someone to draft off of. Time was 27:30 which I was happy with since I'm swimming about twice a month for the last 9 months or so.

In and out of T1 fine. Took awhile to get my wetsuit off though so lost time there but no other issues otherwise. I did it in about 2:35 which was fairly fast for the rest of my AG but not in the top by any means. I do remember that I was running faster than others with my bike. A lot of people forget that transitions are still part of the race and take their time. I actually race them.

Got on the bike and there is the usual bunching of people right after the dismount line. They annoy me. I got past them and got going on the bike. It wasn't until about a mile into the bike that I had my feet in my shoes though. I just wanted to get going comfortably before trying it. However, I do need to try to the rubber band trick with my shoes to get going a few seconds faster. The bike was fun and I really like that course. It wasn't too crowded the first couple of laps either. I think I went a bit too fast on the 1st lap and tried to dial it back a bit on the 2nd. On the 3rd, it started raining. I took it cautiously around the turns but dialed it up a bit on the straights. There were a few parts where people were taking bad lines and I tried riding the tangents and there were definitely a few spots where I took much better lines that other racers. Finished with a time of 1:07:51 for 21.9mph according to the race results. Oh, I didn't have areo wheels or an areo helmet.

T2 was meh as well. I got into T2 and realized that there weren't many bikes around me at all. My socks went on fairly quickly this time but I still need to figure out how to do these races without socks. Got running and could've been going a bit faster.

Got on the run and checked my time and was shocked. I was just at 1:40 or so which left me 0:50 to break 2:30. Before the race, I was thinking that I would've been happy with anything under 2:40 or 2:45 due to my lack of fitness. Well, this was my longest race of the year by far and I just went fairly strong on the bike and I haven't done many brick runs nor running in the heat and humidity, but let's give it a shot anyways. At first, it felt like I was running 9:00/mile but I clocked in an 8:06 for the first mile and I felt good. It was hot and humid but I still kept going. I just remember the entire run that I tried to keep my form going which will make my coach happy. I noticed a few times where I was letting my body get upright, tilting my head back, and shuffling my feet and tried to stop that immediately. I got through the 1st loop and was still on pace for a sub-2:30 race but was waiting for the wheels to fall off at any moment. I thought they would at around Mile 5 when I clocked a 8:45 mile, but I had only 1 mile left to go so I turned it up a bit the best that I could. Crossed the line at 2:29:02 with a run time of 49:30.

Shit, I broke 2:30! I was ecstatic because this was way better than I was hoping to do. I guess this race really reinforces that I race much better than I train. My bike and run splits were faster this race than any other race this year and this was my longest race. I will also say that this was probably my most intelligent race too since I raced the tangents whenever I could. My GPS watch said that the run course was only 5.92 miles compared to the 6.21 miles an official 10K is. Either the distance was off or running the tangents on a twisty course like that really, really adds up.

But I finished, I was very happy wit my slowest Oly ever, and I can't wait for the next one.

Weekly run mileage: 13 miles
Asics mileage: 231.5 miles

Actual Update!

It's been awhile but I have an actual update this weekend and it is a good one. I've seemed to have turned a corner with my workouts lately. I'm actually not dreading them and I'm completing more than I skip. I'm looking forward to them and I am actually making progress. Fucking feels great! We'll see if I can keep it up for a couple of weeks before it becomes habit but I am trying to sacrifice workouts less for workouts because the work will be there tomorrow. The biggest thing is that my runs have actually been very nice the last 2 of the 3 weeks.

Yesterday's ran was just fantastic. It started out at a nice, cool 64* and Mile 1 was 8:35. They got progressively faster and I kicked it up a lot the last full mile for a time of 7:39 for Mile 7. Cooled down after that and had a generally pleasant run. Today was a bike and a brick and my legs were definitely fatigued from yesterday's run. Overall, I am making progress again and I'm enjoying it.

Weekly run mileage: 19 miles
Asics mileage: 218.5 miles

Mileage Update 2

Another update since the last update. I've been running but I haven't been diligent about logging my miles. This is a decent estimate based upon my Garmin data. For the last week, I have been more motivated though and I think it is showing in my training. I actually had decent workouts on Thursday, Friday, and today. My run today was actually not bad with the last 3 miles of the 6 miles at about an 8:30/mile pace which is decent for me considering my recent long runs. The last 3 miles really felt good and I just ran based off of PE instead of heart rate. We'll see if I've turned a corner with my training.

Asics run mileage: 197.5 miles

Mileage Update

I have completely lost track of my mileage lately so I'm going to do my best guess since my last update. Been sick a few times in the last few weeks and other excuses for not being more consistent with training. It isn't anything but my own fault but I think I'm starting to turn things around. I just have to realize that sometimes I'm going to work out tired or fatigued and I just have to pull on my big girl panties, suck it up, and do it.

Asics mileage: 142.5 miles

Humidity

So, at Tuesday practice last week, I had a "come to Jesus" talk with my coach about running in the heat. He said that what I'm suffering (1:00-1:30/mile slower than winter base pace) is happening to everyone. He said that it is usually the humidity that slows people down and that is definitely true. I've noticed that I can run fine at 98* later in the day, but running in the mornings at 80* and 80% humidity kills me. I should be going off of perceived effort instead of pace and/or heart rate. OK, this makes me feel a bit better, but not much. I'll keep chugging along though. We also talked about my hurting foot and he said to not change my gait at all because that'll cause injuries. Yeah, I don't want anymore of those.

I did have a great run workout last Tuesday. We did two 1 mile loops and then we did 4x900m intervals. My times were 2:59 (uphill), 2:53 (downhill), 2:52 (uphill), 2:38 (downhill) so I got faster each one and my heart rate got up above 180bpm as well. The last one felt great because I was really concentrating on form and it shows.

Other than that, I ain't got much other news besides the fact that I'm still having motivational problems for what seems like 2 years now.

Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 107.5 miles

Varsity Triathlon

I really do mean to write these on Sunday or Monday when things are fresh in my mind, but life is busy. So, the run mileage last week was 16.5 miles or so which isn't bad. The problem is that most of those miles were junk miles just to get the miles in and not any quality miles. I bit problematic but I did get the a bunch of LSD miles in.

I did the Varsity Triathlon last Sunday put on by Red Licorice Events. Long story short is that I finished 1st in my age group. Actually, there were two others in my AG that finished ahead of me, but they finished in Top 3 Overall so that bumped me up to 1st in my AG. It was a small race so I take that into consideration, but I still won! Swim was shallow with some dolphin diving and it hurt since it was so short and fast. T1 was quite a jog to the area up a hill and on concrete with bare feet. That hurt a bit. Came out of T1 and tried to get going on my bike. Some freak accident happened and my shoe got caught between the ground and the pedal and when I pushed down, I heard a "pop". I thought it had come out of the pedal but when I got to the side of the road, I noticed that the shoe plate snapped in half at around the ball of the feet. Eh, they're 6 years old so it is time for new ones anyways. Kept going on the bike and thought I was doing great. At the turn around, I saw that I was 4th overall at that point. I turned around and ran into a wall of wind. 25mph going out and 18mph going back in. Brian caught up with me and we chatted a bit. Got on the run and I hurt immediately. It was really humid and I averaged about 8:18min/mile which is slow for a 2(ish) mile run. I came in and finished and after talking with a few others, I found out that I podiumed but then figured out that I got 1st in my AG. Sweet!

Other than that, I think I swam once and got a spin class in. I'll write more tomorrow for this past week.

Weekly run mileage: 16.5 miles
Asics mileage: 92.5 miles

17 Miles

I've been meaning to write an update since last Sunday, but I'm just now getting around to it. Oh well. From what I can remember, I did run 17 miles last week. It was hot and slow, but I ran. I think I got a spin class, a bike, and maybe a swim in, too.

Weekly run mileage: 17 miles
Asics mileage: 76 miles

More Fat = Better Cholesterol Numbers

Yeah, this is going to be a good one. But let's start. I've been on an alternative diet for about 6 months now. I started out on a paleo diet, but that didn't work for me. There were too many foods that I liked that were forbidden on the paleo diet. However, I've heard the health benefits of paleo diet as well as the Omnivore's Dilema diet and other alternative diets. Here is one thing that pretty much all of them have in common: they all promote eating of natural, unprocessed foods. So, I decided to ditch the paleo diet and move to more of a "paleoish" diet but in actuality, I just try to eat clean, unprocessed foods. I did drastically change the intake of macronutrients. For example, the typical low-calorie American diet is something like 60/10/30 for carbs/protein/fat. The typical triathlete's diet is closer to 60/20/20. My diet is more like 30/35/35. Drastic reduction in carbs and pretty healthy increases in protein and fat.

Now, what are the tenants of my current diet? Here they are:
- Meat. Lots of lean meat with some bacon thrown in there. I eat bacon 1-2x/week and most people consider this very unhealthy but my cholesterol numbers below show differently. Most of my protein comes from fish and poultry but I won't turn down red meat either.
- Fruits and veggies. Lots of them; pretty much unlimited of both of them. Try to eat them raw but can't tolerate most raw veggies so I end up lightly cooking them. Avocados are great for any time of the day and I put them in many dishes. Again, most people consider them unhealthy because of their high fat content.
- Nuts, beans. Yep, lots of them. Nuts are mostly for high fat content and a balanced ratio of carbs, protein, and fat. Beans are good for carbs, if needed, and fiber.
- Whole grains & legumes. This is where I start to diverge from the typical paleo diet. They say to basically don't eat anything that humans have started to eat as a result of agriculture. With my whole foods approach, I feel that things such as quinoa and oats are OK. Also, legumes like peanuts and chickpeas I consume.
- Wheat, corn, & soy. I'll continue to eat wheat and corn, but they are in very limited quantities. I'll actually seek out some gluten free dishes but the truth is that I still eat about 3-5 servings of wheat a week. Compare that to the average American that eats 3-5 servings of wheat per day. Limited corn as well with virtually no HFCS. As for soy, I haven't been a fan for years. Soy is OK, but if you eat too much of it, there are chemicals in it that are very similar to estrogen and this could produce hormonal changes in your body for both men and women.
- Dairy. I have low-moderate dairy consumption. At the moment, it is mostly Greek yogurt and regular yogurt for smoothies. Cheese is cool too, but not too often. Don't get me wrong though because I still love cheese.
- Other. Sugar is the big thing which I try to avoid unless cheating, but things such as olive oil and spices are fine.
- Cheating. I allow myself 2 cheat meals a week. Sometimes, I don't even take them. I'll still cheat during the week with a soda or a piece of chocolate, but my cravings for those things are starting to go away.

So, that is basically the diet that I've been on through the last 6 months and I've been sticking to the 30/35/35 pretty well so far. I haven't lost much weight on it, but my pants are looser and I just feel damn good, too. I rarely have those afternoon crashes from huge lunches because I'm eating lower GI foods that don't spike my blood sugar as much. I just feel great on this diet.

Now, I had some blood work done last week. I wanted to see how this affected my blood chemistry. I don't have numbers from the past year or so so I don't have a good baseline to compare these to.

Numbers from 02 JUNE 2010:
Total: 159
HDL: 59
LDL: 84
Triglycerides: 82
Total/HDL Ratio: 2.69
LDL/HDL Ratio: 1.42

As for the results, my HDL has never been higher. All of the other numbers are within normal and acceptable ranges. Actually, I have damn great cholesterol numbers! I've heard about people going to paleo diets and their cholesterol numbers skyrocketing. Although I am not on a true paleo diet, I am definitely consuming more fat in my diet and it has had a good effect on my cholesterol numbers. Now, tell that to the average American and watch them get a confused look on their face.

Now, time to discuss my workouts. I consider the workouts on Monday as part of last week so I won't talk about those. Nothing on Tuesday because I skipped the Texas Iron run workout to go to a happy hour instead. Can't remember what I did on Wednesday, if anything. Wait, I think maybe I did a light elliptical. Yes, I did because I was watching the crime where Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game. Thursday was suppose to be a TI aquathon but it got rained out. Oh, I did do 3 miles in the morning. Friday was 3 miles when it was 96* outside and I think I set a new PR for my neighborhood 5K time of 24:41. It was an easy run but it was hot and I was tired. Saturday was a 2 hour ride where I felt really strong on the ride but averaged only 19.5mph for it. Damn headwinds. Got off the bike and ran 10min/mile for 3 miles. Fucking horrible. It seemed that I was stopping to walk 50m every quarter mile or so. Not the best run at all, but it was a brick and they hurt when you're trying to get back into them. Today was a humid 7.2 mile run around Town Lake. I was completely soaked with sweat when I was done and there wasn't a dry piece of clothing on me. I maybe averaged about 8:30/mile which is OK.

But here's the thing. Last weekend's workouts completely defeated me. This weekend, they weren't nearly as tough, but they were tough and I stuck them through. Part of this heat acclimation is just getting out there and getting it done and this weekend, I got it done. It ain't pretty, but it was done. So, I am trying to stay positive and focus on pushing through these barriers. Also, this is 4 straight days of running for me.

Weekly run mileage: 16 miles
Asics mileage: 59 miles

Rough Weekend Workouts

Man, work is keeping me busy. I had a rough weekend of workouts this past weekend. Friday and Saturday were "rest days" where I didn't do anything. Sunday was a bike ride where I just rode around the Bee Caves loop. Then, I went down Lost Creek and decided to keep going on Lost Creek to see how it was. It was BAD. It was hot out and I almost called in some SAG support because those 3 hills back there were kicking my ass. Then, on Monday, I was under nourished, under hydrated, tired from the day before, hot, humid, and had bronchial spasms from the day before and had a miserable 5.5 mile run with 9:00/mile. Just horrible, but it is done. Still ended up with 15 miles for the week. What else? Oh, I weighed in at 190 on the 1st so I was flat for all of May. Why the fuck can't I lose weight? I'm on a super clean diet and still can't lose weight. Oh well. Because of the rough workouts this past weekend, I need to have some good, strong workouts this weekend and to get back on track.

Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 43 miles

Motivated

After fighting laziness for months it seems, I seem to have a spark of motivation back when it comes to working out. I've had some great workouts the last 2 weeks and I just have the desire for the next work out and to kick ass at it. A couple of my recent great workouts were a long run last Saturday night, a tough brick workout with Texas Iron on Thursday, a portion of the Real Ale Ride on Saturday, and then a long run followed by an "easy" bike that had me averaging 18.6mph this morning. Seriously, I took the ride at about a moderate pace and my legs woke up and kicked ass during it. I had a lot left in me but took it kinda slow because B&G were taking it slow.

There were some downs though. I tried to do the Splash N Dash on Tuesday. Well, I did it but it wasn't pretty. I got some kind of stomach bug a couple of hours before and did the entire race wanting to throw up. Yeah, that wasn't fun but got redemption on Thursday from that brick workout. It was one of those work outs where I can't look down at my heart rate monitor and must keep going no matter how much it hurts. I needed that work out.

Weekly run mileage: 12.5 miles
Asics rul mileage: 28 miles

10 Miles

10 miles last week. I really need some spare motivation all around if anyone has any that they want to give me. Also, I'm done with my current pair of shoes due to blisters. Getting new ones tonight. Man, I feel like crap at the moment.

Weekly run mileage: 10 miles
Asics mileage: 248.5 miles

15.35 Miles

I ran 15.35 miles over 3 runs last week. Not bad. I also did two bike rides. Oh, that reminds me. One of those runs was a brick run. The highlight of the week was a tempo run with Texas Iron where I pushed the same pace that I did at the Texas Round-Up 10K. It was only about 4 miles, but I was a bit fatigued. I should've gone faster though. Also, my weight for April started at 192 and ended at 192. Sucks.

Weekly run mileage: 15.5 miles
Asics mileage: 238.5 miles

Looks like I'm in need of new shoes.

I've run half marathons faster than that!

First thing first, last week, I ran exactly 15 miles. Since it was over a week ago, I've completely forgotten what else I did.

This week, I was leading up to the Texas Round-Up 10K on Saturday. A bit of tapering and work getting in the way. I did the race on Saturday and it went OK. Usually, I pick it up a bit in the last mile, but at around Mile 5.25, there was a pretty large hill, actually the largest one on the course. After that, I was dead so my last mile was actually one of my slowest. I guess this is good because I held steady pretty much the entire race. I felt OK. The end result of this race was suppose to be a measurement of how I did in regards to run training over the winter. At the IBM Uptown Classic 10K in October, I did 48:18. On Saturday, I did 48:34. So, I was about 16s slower. The course was tougher but the biggest thing was I was hampered by 2 injuries over the winter. Now, I'll do the Updown Classic again in October and see how I improve in the heat over the summer. Oh, my title. When I did a half marathon in 2006, I averaged 7:40/mile. On Saturday, I averaged 7:50/mile. I can't wait to get faster.

I also rode outside today for the first time in awhile. Yeah, I need to ride more. Somehow, I still managed 20.1mph. My ass hurts now. I did a 2.5 mile brick run and yep, bricks still hurt.

Last Week Run Mileage: 15 miles
This Week Run Mileage: 13.25 miles
Asics Mileage: 223 miles

15 Miles And Focus

Well, I got 15 miles of running in this week. Not bad at all, but I'm going to hold this for about 2 more weeks and let me body get used to the mileage. Other than that, I did a couple of weight sessions and a spin class. Yeah, still lazy/busy with work but I'm getting more focus and discipline about getting workouts in.

Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 194.5 miles

Better

Last week was a bit better. I was pretty consistent about running, but I know I didn't do a single swim and I did maybe 1 bike. Actually, I don't think I did a single bike workout last week. Since I'm working again, I have a tough time remembering what I did each week since my day now focuses around working and then fitting in the workouts versus the unemployed mentality of workouts and then everything fits around it. Anyways, I'm getting more into the mental discipline of trying to fit in more workouts. I still need to do core/strength stuff because my body is hurting from being in an office chair again and I need to keep my back strong and psoas loose.

I did 14.5 miles last week on the ground. This week, I'm shooting for 15 miles and then holding that until after my 10K on April 24th. I think I've ramped up my mileage fairly quickly and just want to hold my mileage steady while my body rebuilds itself.

On a bad note, I gained 2.5lbs in March. I'm back to eating better so far this month and trying more paleo-ish/whole foods diet and not cheating as much. But when I cheat, do I cheat! Easter Sunday was a gorgefest of all kinds of good food. Between three people, we devoured 2 lbs of bacon and it was delicious.

EDIT: Garmin has updated their Garmin Connect interface and it looks a lot better. A lot more good info is easier to get to instead of clicking 4 or 5 times to get to anything good.

Weekly run mileage: 14.5 miles
Asics mileage: 179.5 miles

Back to running

I logged about 13.5 miles last week which was 2 more than the previous week. I'm shooting for 14.5 this week but both weeks (this and last) have had tough Texas Iron workouts which are great for me. I think I did maybe 1 weight session, 1 elliptical session, and then 1 bike ride last week with the 3 runs. So, 6 workouts in a week which is actually pretty light for me, but the new job is throwing things off a bit. I'm getting used to being all "Go! Go! Go!" all day long and for the most part, it is good for me. Another week of one-a-days and then easing back into two-a-days most days next week. Oh, the bike ride on Sunday with Brian and Geri was actually a fun ride. It was windy as hell but we tooled around this neighborhood off of Wm. Cannon with some nice hills and that was pretty awesome.

Weekly run mileage: 13.5 miles
Asics mileage: 165 miles

Overdue Update

I started a new job this week so I really haven't had time to really update much. I did workout a decent amount last week and I actually put in 11.5 miles which is the big thing. I haven't been in the pool in a long time but I was hitting the weights a decent amount and got maybe 2 bike rides in. Now that I'm working again, my goal is to get in one workout per day for a couple of weeks and then try to move back to two-a-days after that. My weight has gone up a couple of pounds this week which isn't good but I don't know why because I haven't been drinking so I don't know what's going on. Oh well, I'll get back on the wagon and start losing weight again soon. I'm actually above 190 again at the moment which doesn't make me happy.

Weekly run mileage: 11.5 miles
Asics mileage: 151.5 miles

We now return to your regularly scheduled workout program

After the bike wreck, 3 weeks ago today exactly, I'm back to a normal workout schedule. I ran on Monday, rode twice on Tuesday, ran on Wednesday, no freaking clue what I did Thursday, core and spin class at 0'dark thirty on Friday, nothing on Saturday, and then 4 mile run and 22 mile ride today. I'm still having a bit of rib pain but it is definitely decreasing. My hip is sore to the touch but doesn't impede me at all while exercising. I thought my ribs would hurt more on Friday from the core work but it wasn't that bad. I'll be doing upper body tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. I'm glad that I have nearly full range of movement in my torso again because my posture was being affected negatively from the bike wreck i.e. I was slightly hunched over all the time. As expected, working out hurts like hell because my LT is pretty low, but after today's ride, I feel it coming back already. On Tuesday, I'll be back with Texas Iron and that run will surely make me want to puke, but I love it.

Weekly run mileage: 10 miles
Asics mileage: 140 miles

Back To Running

I'm still recovery from my wreck, but I did get back on the bike last week on Thursday. It was for only about 45 minutes, but it felt good. I am still a bit mentally wary on the bike, but it'll get better with time. My hip was OK on the bike but the ribs were still a bit sore, especially breathing heavy or getting out of the saddle and really cranking on the pedals. I also went for a 1 mile run on Saturday night and my ribs and hip hurt for about half a mile. After half a mile, the hip stopped hurting and my ribs hurt less. Did nothing yesterday because I was hungover, but ran another 3 miles today. Fuck it, I'm running again. It felt way too good to run again and I can suffer through the pain of the bruised ribs for the joy that running brings me. So, I'm back! In addition to that, I have silky smooth legs again for the first time since the wreck.

Weekly run mileage: 1 mile
Asics mileage: 130 miles

February Weight

On the first day of Feb, I weighed 190. I jumped up to 192 pretty quickly, but came down to about 188 9 days ago. 8 days ago, I had a bike wreck and the only physical activity that I've done since then is 30 minutes of elliptical twice. Today, I still weighed 188. On my old diet, I would've been up a couple of pounds by now. Since I'm on this paleoish/natural foods diet, I was able to maintain my weight even without exercising. And that's a good thing. I started running again and that felt OK, but the bike wreck has delayed my training a bit. One week out and I'm feeling a lot better, but still not nearly as active as I want to be. It'll get better and I plan on getting back on the bike this week and maybe trying running again on Sunday.

Wreck

I crashed my bike. I'm OK though. The next question is how did it happen? Well, I had stopped to adjust something on my bike. I started going again and I was in the back of the group. I was going to try to catch up with the guy in the front since he and I were of similar speeds. So, I stood up to accelerate and as soon as I started on my downstroke of my right leg, the chain skipped or popped off. You know the feeling that you get when you are walking up or down stairs and you are expecting one but it isn't there for some reason? Yeah, that's what I felt at that exact moment. The problem is that there are a few more laws of physics that come into play. I was completely off balance and started swerving? I swerved right, then left, and then right again. This time, the wheel turned perpendicular to my frame and over I went. I was thrown from the bike a bit because I didn't have the telltale bruising on the inside of my legs and I ended up with my feet caught in the brake pedals. I remember everything of the wreck and I even remember hitting the ground and my head whiplashing onto the asphalt. The impact caused my glasses to come off and go skidding along the road and I remember hearing that sound, too.

I just laid there for awhile to kind of assess the situation. I remember moving my hands and legs and they were fine. Since my head hit the ground, luckily I was wearing my helmet, I had a slight headache. The thing that hurt the most were my ribs and I had trouble breathing for awhile. I could feel the burn of road rash already and I was seeing blood, too. And my hip hurt. My riding buddies were on the scene by then and I just continue to lay there until I felt like getting up. A few people in cars stopped and asked if I was OK and I gave them a thumbs up.

So, I got up to assess the damage. It was by far my worst wreck in my life, but not bad compared to other wrecks I've seen. My money maker was OK, but I had road rash, cuts, and scrapes in 14 different spots. I was mobile and Alicia checked my pupils and there weren't dialated or anything like that. I just remember that if this happened to me as a kid, I would've been screaming and crying. Anyways, I had half a thought to continue on the ride, but since I was only 1 mile from my house with a cracked helmet, I just bagged the ride and went home. I told my friends to have a good ride. Then, I went home to lick my wounds.

Got home and my roommate helped me out. The bike was OK, surprisingly. The handlebars, saddle, and skewer got a bit of damage but luckily my body protected the bike. I cleaned my wounds in the shower and that wasn't exactly pleasant. I had someone around for the rest of the night in case any symptoms of head trauma presented themselves but I seemed to be OK. I got some bandages the next day and that really helped. I put 2nd Skin on my elbow because that had the worst road rash. It is in a part that moves and it was just very annoying. My shoulder and knee cap had Neosporin and large bandaids on them. My ribs and hip were pretty well bruised. Laughing hurt like hell for about 2 days and moving because of the hip wasn't pleasant either. Sleeping that first night wasn't fun.

Six days out and I'm feeling a lot better. My hip is still sore as well as my ribs. I'm done with bandages on the scrapes because they are heeling pretty well. Running and swimming are out, but I did the elliptical very easily yesterday. I could do a spin bike but I'm not ready to be back on the road. In case I need to make a sudden move, my ribs are going to hurt so I just need to protect myself. I am moving around very gingerly still which sucks but I've had an accident and I need to heel. I'll be better in about 2 more weeks and then I should be back to normal.

First Run!

First run in 6 weeks was yesterday. I did a 4.1 mile loop around Town Lake and it felt great. Here is the data for that run. I was really, really happy to be able to run again. At the end of it, nothing really hurt. Well, my toe didn't hurt and that was the biggest thing that I was worried about. Even a day later, it still feels OK. I'll get a few pangs every once in awhile, but it is nothing like what it was when I first hurt it. The soleus on each calf was bothering me yesterday day but they are fine now. This morning, my quads and hamstrings are a bit sore but that means I was working hard yesterday. It seems that the aquajogging paid off because my pace was OK at about 7:58/mile yesterday even though my heart rate was a bit higher than I wanted.

Other than that, some good news is that I'm officially below 190 now. I weighed in at 188.5 this morning. This paleo-ish diet seems to be working because even though I'm not strictly paleo, I'm definitely eater cleaner.

Other than that, I had a good week of workouts. Had a hard swim with some tough spin workouts and some outside rides. I even did a few weights and core workouts as well. Now that I'm starting to run again, I can't wait to see how much ass I'll kick in training over the next couple of months.

Weekly run mileage: 4 miles
Asics mileage: 128.5 miles

Born To Run versus Paleo

This morning, I took a trip to the local coffee shop to finish up reading Christopher McDougall's Born To Run. It was a good read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has definitely motivated me to have a kick ass run which will be my first run in 6 weeks.

Long story short is that this book is about ultra runners, runners who regularly run 30-100+ mile foot races. It goes into some of the philosophies behind running these distances and what intrigued me even more was some of the evolutionary biology as to why humans evolved to run and evidence that points to these conclusions. It also focus on the Tarahumara people of Mexico who are known as the greatest distance runners on this planet. It also explains their training and diet techniques that they use for running these great distances.

And that's kind of where I want to pick up with on this post. I've recently adopting a paleo-ish diet recently and the purpose of this post is to kind of share my thoughts of comparing and contrasting the BTR methods and the paleo methods.

For paleo, there are several great sources of information out there that can provide a much more clear picture of what it entails, but in short, the diet consists mostly of meats, veggies, fruits, beans, legumes, and other foods that were available to human ancestors for the last 2 million years. The lifestyle promotes the avoidance of any dietary elements that have been developed in the last few thousand years and the main ones are dairy, grains, oats, and starchy foods. Lots of protein and fats are essential with few carbs. What these means is no milk or milk products (cheese, ice cream, etc), wheat, corn, rice, potato, etc. For the typical Western diet, that is a lot of foods that are now staples. Expanding upon the diet, a lot of the paleo concepts include little cardio work and more focus on sprint/speed work as well as weights. Intermittent fasting is also another concept that is promoted within the paleo community.

As for Born To Run, it seems to be a vastly different philosophy. In it, it says that humans have evolved to be creatures of chronic cardio where early human ancestors needed to run 20+ miles a day to run down their prey. And meat was a rare treat, but a necessary one. Most of the early humans ate carbs, grains, and basically any plant source that was edible. So, most of the people in BTR eat a high carb diet with some meat. In addition to that, BTR promotes barefoot or minimalist running. Most of the people in that book have no shoes or thin leather coverings on their feet mainly to provide protection from rough, sharp surfaces. The theory is that with barefoot running, you'll develop a more natural running form that humans have evolved over the years. You'll also strengthen the bones and soft tissues of your lower body that will actually help you run further. You'll be less injury prone because modern shoes pamper the human body, gets it weak, and therefore it isn't able to take the punishment of even running 10 miles per week a lot of times.

To compare, BTR is about chronic cardio whereas paleo is about short bursts of speed and strength. BTR is about high carbs with some meat while paleo is about high protein and fat with minimal carbs. The thing that they have in common is to go back to lifestyles that humans have developed over thousands of years instead of the modern lifestyle which is frankly very lazy for ancestral humans. I guess that one advantage that has set us apart from the Neanderthals is that modern humans have developed the ability to become more efficient and adapt to changing conditions. Unfortunately, it seems that our genes haven't caught up and a lot of the modern comforts are actually killing us.

During this post, it seems that the paleo diet should be considered more of a Neanderthal diet. While it worked for our cousins, they are now extinct.

There are good points that both viewpoints make. I'm not saying that one is better than the other because both are very one sided and once you have made your mind up about a particular issue, it is a bit difficult to pull yourself back and see it from the other side as well. I'm glad that I've learned about both recently and can compare and contrast them against each other as well as modern medical knowledge. If anything, it made me think about a lot of things and thinking is always good.

Nothing

Nothing really to talk about. Not much new on the training front; well nothing to mention. I get to run in about a week and I can't wait. I did a spin class on Wednesday night and averaged 160bpm for the entire ride with a max of 184. That was a big thing for me. My shoulder is still bothering me. It is the short head of the biceps where it attaches to the coracoid in my shoulder. I don't know if swimming bothers it but I'm pretty sure weights (biceps curls) bother it.

Oh, almost forgot!

I almost forgot my update for last week. Not much to really say except that I swam once, did a bike ride, more weights, and an aquajog. Not really a full training week, but I felt good. I'm lifting weights more and I like it for the most part. Still not the same as a hard run workout, but it is enjoyable. I saw Phil on Friday and I'll be able to run in about 2 more weeks. 10mpw at first and then adding 10% per week from there. Hopefully my toe is healed well and I have no issues getting back into running. Also, my weight at the end of the month was 190 so I was down from the high of 196 at the beginning of the month, but only down 2lbs from 192 which is what I weighed on 01 JAN. At least I made a little bit of progress but I do feel a bit thinner.