1) I weighed in at 179 this morning. Down is very, very good.
2) Rest day today. I didn't even do the core workout tonight. I just need a mental break, too.
3) I found out some disturbing things about some of my favorite food. I really like Kashi cereals. Their granola bars are OK, but serious is awesome. It's healthy and delicious. I also really like Odwalla bars. They are probably best known for their very expensive fruit juices that are very delicious though. Well, I found out that Kashi was purchased by Kellogg in 2000 and Odwalla was purchased by Coca-Cola in 2002. This really disappoints me because I really like supporting businesses that are health conscious and smaller businesses. It seems like once companies grow to a certain size, they lose track of helping out the community and the culture of the company is to make as much profit as possible. Now, the point of business is to make money, but there usually is some other ideal as well. Now, I don't think companies like Kellogg and Coca-Cola do not have these ideals besides making as much money as possible.
4) Whenever I get into the toiletries section of my gym bag, you'll never know what container has exploded and coated everything in my. It's been awhile since my shaving cream has exploded. That doesn't look like my lotion has leaked again. It doesn't quite smell like deodorant melted this time. Maybe it's my soap because I always love the taste of Mountain Spring soap flavored Triberrry Gu's. And speaking of Gu's, they are really a pain in the ass to clean up from the bottom of a gym bag.
5) Here is some newbie advice to other newbies since I'm 25 days away from my first IM. You will have bad workouts. You will doubt your abilities to work towards your goal. You will feel like giving up. You will wonder if it is really worth it all. You will wonder where your social life went. This is normal. Almost everyone goes through this and it's OK. You aren't alone and these thoughts are very typical. Just remember to not let it consume your life. Remember to go out and have fun every once in awhile. It's OK to get some beers once or twice a month. It's Saturday night and you haven't had pizza in about 2 months? Go ahead and order some Papa Johns. You will need to keep things fresh and not deny yourself 100% of all indulgences. While you are training to become an Ironman, you still need to live a little. Good luck.
6) Using cottage cheese when you're out of vanilla yogurt in your smoothies doesn't work out as well as you expect it to.
Monday, October 9, 2006
Sunday, October 8, 2006
So cold!
I'm now sitting at home trying to warm up after my aquajog. To tell you how cold I get, the temp in my house is 83 degrees and I'm sitting here on my couch wearing a hooded sweatshirt and some sweatpants. That's barely adequate.
The aquajog was suppose to be 7 laps. I only did 5. I had a really crappy aquajog, too. I just wasn't into it. The biggest reason that I want to be done with this IM is so that I don't have to do anymore aquajogging. If I was running, I don't think I would be this mentally worn out. The good thing was if I was doing these 2.75 hour runs and stuff then my body would be more beat up than it is now. I was also suppose to do a 45min recovery swim but I skipped that as well.
The aquajog was suppose to be 7 laps. I only did 5. I had a really crappy aquajog, too. I just wasn't into it. The biggest reason that I want to be done with this IM is so that I don't have to do anymore aquajogging. If I was running, I don't think I would be this mentally worn out. The good thing was if I was doing these 2.75 hour runs and stuff then my body would be more beat up than it is now. I was also suppose to do a 45min recovery swim but I skipped that as well.
Update
Wow, it's been 3 days since the last update. Not cool.
Thursday was a bike workout with Texas Iron. Well, everyone else did a brick workout but since I'm not running on land at the moment, I just did the bike. However, I made an important find. My front wheel is loose. It's been loose for a few weeks but I didn't think anything of it until today. I asked Jamie and Fish about it and they looked at it. What had happened is that it looks like the ends of the hub that hold in the axle came loose. So, the body of the hub was bouncing against the ends of the hub. Jamie tightened down the ends of the hub, but he let me borrow his wheel just to be safe. He wasn't going down some hairy hills like I was. I did 2 loops easy and then 2 loops hard. I had 8 minutes rest between each hard loop. I was doing the slow loops in about 12 minutes but doing the fast ones in about 9:30 so I was going pretty hard when I was going hard. On the last loop, my heart rate topped out at 179. At this point, I tried to keep my heart rate up above 170 just to see how long I could keep it there. I did a cooldown loop and then I went to Rache'ls to watch Grey's Anatomy.
Friday was a rest day but even after pigging out and having about 3 too many cookies at Rachel's, I weighed in at 180 in the morning.
Saturday was a 5 hour ride. I did about 91 miles in 4:53 for an average of 18.5mph. Average heart rate was 133bpm with a max of 164bpm. I did some hills so that slowed me down and caused my heart rate to be somewhat higher. I was in my HRM's Z3 (147-156bpm) for a total of 39 minutes and HRM's Z4 (157-175bpm) for only 6 minutes. The rest was below 147bpm with 50% of my time under 136. This was suppose to be a base ride and it was. Afterwards, I went for an aquajog at Barton Springs. This was the first time in a long time that I was actually cold in the water. I usually get used to it after a few minutes, but I was in the water for 45 minutes and I was freezing the entire time. I cut the run short by about 15 minutes. Came home and ate some food.
What I noticed today was that about 80 miles into the ride was the point that my legs started to get tired. It also seemed like I wasn't keeping my cadence up as well and was doing a lot of time under 90rpm's. I still have a lot to figure out before IMFL but I think I have the time. Well, there will be other IM's and I will learn a lot after the race and figure out what else I need to do differently for my next IM.
Thursday was a bike workout with Texas Iron. Well, everyone else did a brick workout but since I'm not running on land at the moment, I just did the bike. However, I made an important find. My front wheel is loose. It's been loose for a few weeks but I didn't think anything of it until today. I asked Jamie and Fish about it and they looked at it. What had happened is that it looks like the ends of the hub that hold in the axle came loose. So, the body of the hub was bouncing against the ends of the hub. Jamie tightened down the ends of the hub, but he let me borrow his wheel just to be safe. He wasn't going down some hairy hills like I was. I did 2 loops easy and then 2 loops hard. I had 8 minutes rest between each hard loop. I was doing the slow loops in about 12 minutes but doing the fast ones in about 9:30 so I was going pretty hard when I was going hard. On the last loop, my heart rate topped out at 179. At this point, I tried to keep my heart rate up above 170 just to see how long I could keep it there. I did a cooldown loop and then I went to Rache'ls to watch Grey's Anatomy.
Friday was a rest day but even after pigging out and having about 3 too many cookies at Rachel's, I weighed in at 180 in the morning.
Saturday was a 5 hour ride. I did about 91 miles in 4:53 for an average of 18.5mph. Average heart rate was 133bpm with a max of 164bpm. I did some hills so that slowed me down and caused my heart rate to be somewhat higher. I was in my HRM's Z3 (147-156bpm) for a total of 39 minutes and HRM's Z4 (157-175bpm) for only 6 minutes. The rest was below 147bpm with 50% of my time under 136. This was suppose to be a base ride and it was. Afterwards, I went for an aquajog at Barton Springs. This was the first time in a long time that I was actually cold in the water. I usually get used to it after a few minutes, but I was in the water for 45 minutes and I was freezing the entire time. I cut the run short by about 15 minutes. Came home and ate some food.
What I noticed today was that about 80 miles into the ride was the point that my legs started to get tired. It also seemed like I wasn't keeping my cadence up as well and was doing a lot of time under 90rpm's. I still have a lot to figure out before IMFL but I think I have the time. Well, there will be other IM's and I will learn a lot after the race and figure out what else I need to do differently for my next IM.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Elliptical & 4th Day of Swimming
I did the elliptical machine last night at the gym for 60 minutes. I couldn't do another aquajog because I spent too much time in Barton Springs this weekend. I also wanted to do something that didn't leave me wanting to eat every piece of food in my house afterwards. Problem is the elliptical is boring as well and it doesn't really give me that good of a workout. I even up the resistance and keep my cadence up but not so much. Also, I think it shortens my stride. Well, I start running again next Tuesday so that should make me happy.
This morning I swam 3000yds. Did it in about 60min and I was resting a lot between sets. I did 5x200 warmup. Then, I did this weird set where I would do 1x200,1x133,1x66 and each one got faster. I did 2 of those. Then, I did 600yds easy followed by another descending set. 200yds cooldown and I was done. No major breakthroughs except that I was expecting to be toast this morning. I swam fine, though. I was a little fatigued, but not much. I had to cough and coughing while trying to swim and get in enough air to continue breathing is somewhat difficult.
Stacy was fairly warm this morning. I'm at work now and I had a single bowl of cereal and I feel OK. If I had swam in Barton Springs, I would've been through a bowl of cereal, an apple, a granola bar, and then eyeing my jar of peanut butter by now.
You know what, I'm so ready for this Ironman to be over with. This is probably the most difficult thing that I've done in my entire life. I set out a year ago DNF'ing my first half Ironman and determined to get through the year and make the sacrifices to get to Florida. I'm 30 days away now and those 30 days can't get here quick enough. I love training, but some weeks are just crazy because I have no free time at all. My social life sucks and I need more interaction than the old people at Barton Springs and Stacy. I want to expand my thinking besides what will I do at the next workout. Ironman training is not only a battle of your physical self, but it's also a battle of your psychological self. You have to be extremely determined and dedicated to set a stake in the ground and work towards it for a year. It's very solitary as well. I do 90% of my training alone. Why? It's very difficult to find a training partner that is the same speed as me and training for the same race. I've had a few in the last year but they all disappeared for different reasons. I've also had to learn to push myself on my own. I usually think that I get faster by training with people just a little bit faster than me. I catch up to them and then I gun for the next fastest person. Doing my training alone is a battle because I have to make myself hurt by chasing ghosts in the pool or that phantom rider that also just a few yards ahead of me. I have to beat them even though they aren't there because it's easy to go out and say "this speed is "hard" enough". Nope, you gotta take that extra step and push a little harder. You become accountable for yourself and in some ways that's very good.
This has opened my eyes for my future training, but I'm so ready for beer and burgers. 30 more days.
This morning I swam 3000yds. Did it in about 60min and I was resting a lot between sets. I did 5x200 warmup. Then, I did this weird set where I would do 1x200,1x133,1x66 and each one got faster. I did 2 of those. Then, I did 600yds easy followed by another descending set. 200yds cooldown and I was done. No major breakthroughs except that I was expecting to be toast this morning. I swam fine, though. I was a little fatigued, but not much. I had to cough and coughing while trying to swim and get in enough air to continue breathing is somewhat difficult.
Stacy was fairly warm this morning. I'm at work now and I had a single bowl of cereal and I feel OK. If I had swam in Barton Springs, I would've been through a bowl of cereal, an apple, a granola bar, and then eyeing my jar of peanut butter by now.
You know what, I'm so ready for this Ironman to be over with. This is probably the most difficult thing that I've done in my entire life. I set out a year ago DNF'ing my first half Ironman and determined to get through the year and make the sacrifices to get to Florida. I'm 30 days away now and those 30 days can't get here quick enough. I love training, but some weeks are just crazy because I have no free time at all. My social life sucks and I need more interaction than the old people at Barton Springs and Stacy. I want to expand my thinking besides what will I do at the next workout. Ironman training is not only a battle of your physical self, but it's also a battle of your psychological self. You have to be extremely determined and dedicated to set a stake in the ground and work towards it for a year. It's very solitary as well. I do 90% of my training alone. Why? It's very difficult to find a training partner that is the same speed as me and training for the same race. I've had a few in the last year but they all disappeared for different reasons. I've also had to learn to push myself on my own. I usually think that I get faster by training with people just a little bit faster than me. I catch up to them and then I gun for the next fastest person. Doing my training alone is a battle because I have to make myself hurt by chasing ghosts in the pool or that phantom rider that also just a few yards ahead of me. I have to beat them even though they aren't there because it's easy to go out and say "this speed is "hard" enough". Nope, you gotta take that extra step and push a little harder. You become accountable for yourself and in some ways that's very good.
This has opened my eyes for my future training, but I'm so ready for beer and burgers. 30 more days.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Fatigued Tuesday Swim
This morning I swam 5 laps at Barton Springs so that's a good 2500yds or so. It was a miserable swim though. Today is the 3rd day that I've swam in a row. I also went to the Jack & Adams core workout and toasted my arms. But I did 7 pullups at the beginning on my own and then 5 at the end, but the last 5 required minimal help. Point is my arms were tired. Then we did 6x1 warmups. After that, we did 4x1 mass start swims fast. I died after about 3.5 of them. I just couldn't go fast anymore. Tomorrow I have the 4th day of swimming and another core workout. Luckily, I won't have to use my arms again until Sunday.
Oh, 31 days until IMFL.
Finally, is anyone else absolutely sick of summer? I mean, it's October and we still have highs in the 90's. Not cool.
Oh, 31 days until IMFL.
Finally, is anyone else absolutely sick of summer? I mean, it's October and we still have highs in the 90's. Not cool.
Monday, October 2, 2006
Massage & Swim
So far today, I've had a massage from Ron and a quick swim. The massage was very painful because I had a decent amount of sore spots in my butt, my lateral quads, and my calves. Ouch, that hurt. Afterwards, I went to Barton Springs and swam 4 laps. I should've done 6, but I didn't have time. Now I'm feeling pretty relaxed and good. It's nice.
I didn't get up to swim this morning. I got up at 5:30 and my body was like "More sleep!" I tried to go back to sleep for another 2 hours and I didn't get much sleep. Why do I listen to my body?
I didn't get up to swim this morning. I got up at 5:30 and my body was like "More sleep!" I tried to go back to sleep for another 2 hours and I didn't get much sleep. Why do I listen to my body?
Sunday, October 1, 2006
4 Hours in Barton Springs
And I'm frozen solid. OK, I'm not really that bad. My day started off with a quick 3 hour aquajog at Barton Springs. I had Laurie's waterproof mp3 player which entertained my for quite awhile. Then, Laurie showed up and kept me company for the last lap and a half. Overall, I did about 3 hours which is 7 laps or so. One problem though. The aquajogger belt tends to flap back and forth on my back whenever I "step". Well, 3 hours of this wore a sore spot on my back in a couple of places and I was bleeding. Don't worry, I don't have The Herpes so I didn't spread much stuff into the water. It hurt though.
I went out to breakfast with Richelle, Spencer, Laurie and Laurie's husband, Matt. I was so cold that I downed 2 cups of coffee pretty quickly. I really need to stop drinking coffee. I came home and finished off the pizza from yesterday.
Then, I cried. I looked at my training schedule and it said that I had to do a 30min swim in cold water and then another 30min run. Well, I headed back to Barton Springs at around 6:30pm and got home at about 8pm. I'm cold, but dinner is almost ready. I'm having spaghetti; big surprise there.
I went out to breakfast with Richelle, Spencer, Laurie and Laurie's husband, Matt. I was so cold that I downed 2 cups of coffee pretty quickly. I really need to stop drinking coffee. I came home and finished off the pizza from yesterday.
Then, I cried. I looked at my training schedule and it said that I had to do a 30min swim in cold water and then another 30min run. Well, I headed back to Barton Springs at around 6:30pm and got home at about 8pm. I'm cold, but dinner is almost ready. I'm having spaghetti; big surprise there.
Friday & Saturday
I really need to start posting every day and on the day of a workout.
Friday, I was suppose to do a 75min swim but couldn't fit it in. Oh well.
Saturday was actually a great workout for me. I met Meg with some people from T3 (yeah, yeah, I know that they are the "other" triathlon group), but I like riding with other people from time to time. I left from my house and met them at Kiker Elementary School. From there, we did about 60 miles which consisted of the Dam Loop. I really wasn't looking forward to the Dam Loop because I wanted to do some flats. Also, it seems like the Dam Loop kills my legs every time. Well, we went out and I was taking it really easy. I wasn't pushing myself up the hills (yet). The weather was great and I was just on a nice, easy base ride. I kept my heart rate low and my cadence high. I hit a new personal speed record going down 2222. I hit 51.6mph. Wow, it was scary today, too. I had a lot of wind buffetting me around and that was pretty hairy. As usual, there was the Texas Wind from the southeast that made going east or south a total bitch. The Dam Loop protected us from a lot of it, but once we turned south on 360, it was back. I learned something today. I actually spun up the hills. I just put myself in a bigger cog than usual and tried to keep my cadence up. Of course my heart rate went up, but it seemed more controlled and less like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I think this helped save my legs and my heart for the rest of the ride. I did power up one hill, though. The hill on 360 going south on 360 after the bridge. It's a nice long, steady climb and I dropped everyone on it. I got my heart rate up to 170 and held it there for a couple of minutes. I thought I was going to blow up but I didn't. I just held it there constant and get spinning up the hill. I dropped everyone. I had one person catch up to me at the stoplight and that's it. I just felt like showing that hill who's the boss. After that, I took the hills a lot easier since I was only abotu 50 miles into a century. We headed back to Kiker and had to battle the wind pretty much the entire way, but we got back without incident.
That reminds me, at one point I was behind Meg. I noticed something and then said "Meg, I can see your ladybug." Meg has this tattoo of a ladybug on her butt and when riding behind her yesterday, I could see it. That was absolutely the funniest thing that happened yesterday and I made her totally selfconscious about it as well. Her biking shorts were pretty old and you could see through them.
After I left Meg and then, I went back to my house to fill up on fluids. I was at least 1 water bottle behind when I left so I was getting worried. I didn't get dehydrated because it wasn't that hot for most of the ride. I still took down a half of liter of water when I got back to my house and then filled up 2 more bottles for the remaining 30 miles. The last 30 miles was a battle against the headwind and then some fun with the headwind. Coming back home I was pushing a biggish gear at 90rpm going 28mph. My heart rate was at 145 and I felt fine. I got back in my neighborhood and rode around a bit. I pulled into my driveway with 100.16 miles down for the day. Total ride time was 5:37 and I averaged 17.8mph. Not fast at all, but I was suppose to go easy and it was hilly and windy so I'm happy. And once I got off the bike, I felt fine.
After that, I went for a 60min aquajog at Barton Springs. I then search all of Austin for some breakfast tagos. Tacodeli was closed after 3pm, Rudy's stops selling them at 10am, and Taco Cabana stops selling them at noon. Bastards! I had a burrito from Taco C instead. I then got my Saturday milk shake from Amy's. I went home and ate half a bag of Central Market veggie chips. I was still hungry and craving pizza so I ordered Papa John's. I know it was bad, but I was crazying in really badly and since I burned probably glose to 4500 calories that day, I deserved it. I was exhausted for the rest of the day though, but surprisingly not that exhausted. I really think I'm almost ready for IMFL.
I think I forgot to post about Thursday. Went out with Texas Iron and did some hard bike intervals. I talked with Jamie and he trusts my LT and VO2max numbers but he thinks that my LT is actually higher that what was tested. His reasoning is that my performance at Buffalo Springs and the bike time trials don't match up with my LT numbers that I'm getting. Basically, my tests results are confusing and even though I wanted to use these results to pace myself for IMFL, I don't think I can right now. Sucks, but I'll deal with it. I'll just go off of feel and I think keeping my heart rate in the 145-150 range is probably well below my LT and should be good for me for Florida.
Oh, only 33 days away now.
Friday, I was suppose to do a 75min swim but couldn't fit it in. Oh well.
Saturday was actually a great workout for me. I met Meg with some people from T3 (yeah, yeah, I know that they are the "other" triathlon group), but I like riding with other people from time to time. I left from my house and met them at Kiker Elementary School. From there, we did about 60 miles which consisted of the Dam Loop. I really wasn't looking forward to the Dam Loop because I wanted to do some flats. Also, it seems like the Dam Loop kills my legs every time. Well, we went out and I was taking it really easy. I wasn't pushing myself up the hills (yet). The weather was great and I was just on a nice, easy base ride. I kept my heart rate low and my cadence high. I hit a new personal speed record going down 2222. I hit 51.6mph. Wow, it was scary today, too. I had a lot of wind buffetting me around and that was pretty hairy. As usual, there was the Texas Wind from the southeast that made going east or south a total bitch. The Dam Loop protected us from a lot of it, but once we turned south on 360, it was back. I learned something today. I actually spun up the hills. I just put myself in a bigger cog than usual and tried to keep my cadence up. Of course my heart rate went up, but it seemed more controlled and less like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I think this helped save my legs and my heart for the rest of the ride. I did power up one hill, though. The hill on 360 going south on 360 after the bridge. It's a nice long, steady climb and I dropped everyone on it. I got my heart rate up to 170 and held it there for a couple of minutes. I thought I was going to blow up but I didn't. I just held it there constant and get spinning up the hill. I dropped everyone. I had one person catch up to me at the stoplight and that's it. I just felt like showing that hill who's the boss. After that, I took the hills a lot easier since I was only abotu 50 miles into a century. We headed back to Kiker and had to battle the wind pretty much the entire way, but we got back without incident.
That reminds me, at one point I was behind Meg. I noticed something and then said "Meg, I can see your ladybug." Meg has this tattoo of a ladybug on her butt and when riding behind her yesterday, I could see it. That was absolutely the funniest thing that happened yesterday and I made her totally selfconscious about it as well. Her biking shorts were pretty old and you could see through them.
After I left Meg and then, I went back to my house to fill up on fluids. I was at least 1 water bottle behind when I left so I was getting worried. I didn't get dehydrated because it wasn't that hot for most of the ride. I still took down a half of liter of water when I got back to my house and then filled up 2 more bottles for the remaining 30 miles. The last 30 miles was a battle against the headwind and then some fun with the headwind. Coming back home I was pushing a biggish gear at 90rpm going 28mph. My heart rate was at 145 and I felt fine. I got back in my neighborhood and rode around a bit. I pulled into my driveway with 100.16 miles down for the day. Total ride time was 5:37 and I averaged 17.8mph. Not fast at all, but I was suppose to go easy and it was hilly and windy so I'm happy. And once I got off the bike, I felt fine.
After that, I went for a 60min aquajog at Barton Springs. I then search all of Austin for some breakfast tagos. Tacodeli was closed after 3pm, Rudy's stops selling them at 10am, and Taco Cabana stops selling them at noon. Bastards! I had a burrito from Taco C instead. I then got my Saturday milk shake from Amy's. I went home and ate half a bag of Central Market veggie chips. I was still hungry and craving pizza so I ordered Papa John's. I know it was bad, but I was crazying in really badly and since I burned probably glose to 4500 calories that day, I deserved it. I was exhausted for the rest of the day though, but surprisingly not that exhausted. I really think I'm almost ready for IMFL.
I think I forgot to post about Thursday. Went out with Texas Iron and did some hard bike intervals. I talked with Jamie and he trusts my LT and VO2max numbers but he thinks that my LT is actually higher that what was tested. His reasoning is that my performance at Buffalo Springs and the bike time trials don't match up with my LT numbers that I'm getting. Basically, my tests results are confusing and even though I wanted to use these results to pace myself for IMFL, I don't think I can right now. Sucks, but I'll deal with it. I'll just go off of feel and I think keeping my heart rate in the 145-150 range is probably well below my LT and should be good for me for Florida.
Oh, only 33 days away now.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
LT & VO2max Results
So, I'll just go ahead and post them.
Old one:
http://marajade.dyndns.org/media/doc/LT-VO2max 01-11-06.pdf
Latest one:
http://marajade.dyndns.org/media/doc/LT VO2max 09-21-2006.pdf
My LT went up slightly, but my VO2max went from 56.6 to 62 which is about a 10% increase. My weight didn't go down much so it seems like it's just improved fitness. My VO2max probably won't change much unless I drop some lbs and that's the plan. I'm going to concentrate on increasing my LT next year. It seems that my LT right now is 155bpm @ 268w which I think for me is pretty good. For IMFL, I'm not going to push myself that hard, but it's good to know that I can do it for short periods of time during the race.
Any thoughts from everyone else?
Other thoughts:
- My weight is steady at 180.5. Water exercise sucks.
- My gastroc is hurting again, but my 3rd met seems to be fine.
- My body is craving a lot of sleep and food lately.
- Still no alcohol, sweets, or much other junk in my diet.
- I'm tracking my calories again.
Old one:
http://marajade.dyndns.org/media/doc/LT-VO2max 01-11-06.pdf
Latest one:
http://marajade.dyndns.org/media/doc/LT VO2max 09-21-2006.pdf
My LT went up slightly, but my VO2max went from 56.6 to 62 which is about a 10% increase. My weight didn't go down much so it seems like it's just improved fitness. My VO2max probably won't change much unless I drop some lbs and that's the plan. I'm going to concentrate on increasing my LT next year. It seems that my LT right now is 155bpm @ 268w which I think for me is pretty good. For IMFL, I'm not going to push myself that hard, but it's good to know that I can do it for short periods of time during the race.
Any thoughts from everyone else?
Other thoughts:
- My weight is steady at 180.5. Water exercise sucks.
- My gastroc is hurting again, but my 3rd met seems to be fine.
- My body is craving a lot of sleep and food lately.
- Still no alcohol, sweets, or much other junk in my diet.
- I'm tracking my calories again.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Lots of Stuff
Ok, lots of stuff to post.
Monday was a rest day. However, I went to the core workout. It seems like my core has gotten weaker lately. All the ab exercises actually stress me out and I give up fairly quickly. I also did 7 pullups on my own and that's a new personal best. Afterwards, I tried to cheer Meg up since she got some bad news. I tried bouldering her car, but she gave me "the look" when I asked how strong her door handle is.
Tuesday was a morning swim at Barton Springs. I did 6 laps. Nothing special. I took it really easy though. I was freezing until about noon that day, too. That night I was back at Barton Springs after acupuncture. I only did about 70min of a 90min aquajog. I just couldn't take it. Came home and went to bed.
Wednesday was a morning spin bike ride. I didn't cut it short, either. No core workout though. I need some sleep though so I'm going to bed soon.
After Tuesday and Wednesday, I'm sure I have to get out of the water. I was hungry all day on Tuesday and I barely burned any calories from working out in the cold water. Today, I was hungry, but I burned about 1200 calories.
Ok, I'm way too tired so I'm going to bed now.
Monday was a rest day. However, I went to the core workout. It seems like my core has gotten weaker lately. All the ab exercises actually stress me out and I give up fairly quickly. I also did 7 pullups on my own and that's a new personal best. Afterwards, I tried to cheer Meg up since she got some bad news. I tried bouldering her car, but she gave me "the look" when I asked how strong her door handle is.
Tuesday was a morning swim at Barton Springs. I did 6 laps. Nothing special. I took it really easy though. I was freezing until about noon that day, too. That night I was back at Barton Springs after acupuncture. I only did about 70min of a 90min aquajog. I just couldn't take it. Came home and went to bed.
Wednesday was a morning spin bike ride. I didn't cut it short, either. No core workout though. I need some sleep though so I'm going to bed soon.
After Tuesday and Wednesday, I'm sure I have to get out of the water. I was hungry all day on Tuesday and I barely burned any calories from working out in the cold water. Today, I was hungry, but I burned about 1200 calories.
Ok, I'm way too tired so I'm going to bed now.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Weekend Update
It was a low training weekend. 2 hour base ride on Saturday with a 30min aquajog brick in Barton Springs. The wind was horrendous on Saturday and I estimated that we had 20-25mph headwind the entire time. I was doing about 16mph on the way out and then about 27mph easily on the way back in. It was crazy.
This morning was light as well. I did a 90min aquajog in Barton Springs. Pretty much any shorts that I use will chaff the insides of my thights. Not cool. Also, my aquajogger belt is chaffing me as well. Double not cool. I was completely frozen this morning because it's getting colder here. It's nice but not when you are wet. I came home and napped for 1.5 hours to warm up. I had all my blankets on me and I was wearing my flannel pants and a hooded sweatshirt, too. Still cold.
This morning was light as well. I did a 90min aquajog in Barton Springs. Pretty much any shorts that I use will chaff the insides of my thights. Not cool. Also, my aquajogger belt is chaffing me as well. Double not cool. I was completely frozen this morning because it's getting colder here. It's nice but not when you are wet. I came home and napped for 1.5 hours to warm up. I had all my blankets on me and I was wearing my flannel pants and a hooded sweatshirt, too. Still cold.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Nuun!
I got more nuun today in the mail. I'm so happy. I got a 9-tube multipack and also picked up a 3-tube pack of Tri Berry since that's my favorite. I love this stuff!
Had my VO2max tested today. I'll get the results next week but it's definitely higher than last time. I think part of it is because I'm on Advair for exercise induced asthma and I'm breathing better because of it.
Had my VO2max tested today. I'll get the results next week but it's definitely higher than last time. I think part of it is because I'm on Advair for exercise induced asthma and I'm breathing better because of it.
I had an Oreo today. Well, half of one.
At the beginning of last week, I implemented my "no junk food" rule and cut out a lot of crap from my diet cold turkey style. I gave in a bit today. There has been some Caramel Creme Oreos sitting on the fridge for a few days now. They've been tempting me all week. I decided to indulge in one today for some reason. I ate half of the Oreo and threw the other half away. It was nasty. I didn't like it because of the flavor, but most importantly it was too sweet. They say that it takes 21 days of doing something to form a habit. On the reverse side of that it should take 21 days to break a habit, right? Ok, that makes no sense, but that's been my goal: 21 days of no sugar. I'm on Day 12 right now and I wanted to vomit because I ate an Oreo. I haven't had any chocolate or donuts or candy bars or cupcakes or other sweets which are so prevelant at work. I've been good and I'll keep being good. Hopefully this will disappear my sweet tooth (except for ice cream) and that's a good step towards living healthier. I still crave some foods that are unhealthy like pizza and breakfast tacos, but they aren't the sweet things that I seem to have an addiction to and constantly defeats my will power. Well, no more.
I had an LT test done today. I'm getting my VO2max test done today. My finger hurts from getting stuck like 8 times. Ouchie. I'll post the results once I get them.
I did a 60min bike workout with Texas Iron yesterday. 2 easy laps and then 3 hard laps with 3min rest in between. It was fun to get my heart rate up. My legs were dead, heavy, and tired at first, but they loosened up quite a bit. I talked to Jamie about my foot and this is what he recommends. In 2.5 weeks so the week starting 09 OCT, to do 2 15min runs. Next week, 3 15min runs. Week after that, a 15min, 20min, 15min run. Next week, do 2 20min runs before IMFL on that Saturday. He says to get my body used to some impact so IMFL will be easier. I'll take his advice because I really want to run again and these runs will be short enough and at a low enough intensity that they shouldn't bother my foot too badly. So, I will be running somewhat before IMFL and that makes me happy.
I had an LT test done today. I'm getting my VO2max test done today. My finger hurts from getting stuck like 8 times. Ouchie. I'll post the results once I get them.
I did a 60min bike workout with Texas Iron yesterday. 2 easy laps and then 3 hard laps with 3min rest in between. It was fun to get my heart rate up. My legs were dead, heavy, and tired at first, but they loosened up quite a bit. I talked to Jamie about my foot and this is what he recommends. In 2.5 weeks so the week starting 09 OCT, to do 2 15min runs. Next week, 3 15min runs. Week after that, a 15min, 20min, 15min run. Next week, do 2 20min runs before IMFL on that Saturday. He says to get my body used to some impact so IMFL will be easier. I'll take his advice because I really want to run again and these runs will be short enough and at a low enough intensity that they shouldn't bother my foot too badly. So, I will be running somewhat before IMFL and that makes me happy.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
I love the smell of chlorine in the morning
I went to Stacy today. It actually wasn't too bad. The water was actually cooler and I was cold for about 400yds so it was about 76 degrees or so. I just did an easy 2000yds. Yesterday, I did 30min on the elliptical machine. I didn't have the heart to go to Barton Springs to aquajog.
Also, it's almost that time of the year. What I'm talking about is the portion of the year from about October to about March where I freeze my ass off. I'll still swim at Stacy at 6am when it's 34 degrees outside, but I'll be bitching about it the entire time. I need to get some more cold weather gear, too. I want to pick up another piece of REI Power Stretch longsleeve top, but it's $75 a pop, but it's totally worth it. I also want to get another warm hooded sweatshirt and a swim parka. On a side note, my work's webfilter blocks http://tyr.com and http://lanefour.com.
I'm only doing 30-45min of exercise a day and I feel lazy because of it. Most people don't get 60-90min of exercise a week and I'm complaining because I feel lazy. I've also been very good about restraining from eating crap. I had a piece of birthday cake at work yesterday. Well, I ate two bites and threw the rest away. Right now there are half a dozen cupcakes sitting in the fridge and I haven't had one either. Will power strong! Fat cells weak!
Also, it's almost that time of the year. What I'm talking about is the portion of the year from about October to about March where I freeze my ass off. I'll still swim at Stacy at 6am when it's 34 degrees outside, but I'll be bitching about it the entire time. I need to get some more cold weather gear, too. I want to pick up another piece of REI Power Stretch longsleeve top, but it's $75 a pop, but it's totally worth it. I also want to get another warm hooded sweatshirt and a swim parka. On a side note, my work's webfilter blocks http://tyr.com and http://lanefour.com.
I'm only doing 30-45min of exercise a day and I feel lazy because of it. Most people don't get 60-90min of exercise a week and I'm complaining because I feel lazy. I've also been very good about restraining from eating crap. I had a piece of birthday cake at work yesterday. Well, I ate two bites and threw the rest away. Right now there are half a dozen cupcakes sitting in the fridge and I haven't had one either. Will power strong! Fat cells weak!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Well, that might make some sense
As I've been vocal about lately, I've been plagued with injuries this year, all in my left leg. One contribution to them is the wart on my foot. I think the other is my plantar fasciitis. Now, the plantar fascia are thick connective tissues that support the arch of the foot and run from the heel to the toes. I started having PF problems in December of last year and I thought I worked through them, but if I slacked off at them even for a week, my PF would come back. Now, let's say that I didn't really work through them that well. The pain has gone away, but the fascia are still tight given the quickness at the pain coming back when I didn't do anything. What I've also noticed is that compared to me other foot and the other fascia in my left foot, the 3rd fascia is really tight. I work on it with a ball and stretch it and stuff, but it's still tight. Let's assume that it has been tight for so long that it has actually caused my metatarsal head to become misaligned and actually bring my 3rd metatarsal head down. With the 3rd metatarsal head in this position and not in the natural arch shape, it hits first when I take a step or run and caused the bruising that I started experiencing back in June.
Now, is this a plausable explanation or it just a pure coincidence that my 3rd fascia is really tight and my 3rd metatarsal head has fallen and become bruised?
Now, is this a plausable explanation or it just a pure coincidence that my 3rd fascia is really tight and my 3rd metatarsal head has fallen and become bruised?
"They" are staring at me
All day long, whenever I go over there. They are staring at me. They won't quit. I wish They would go away, but They won't. Who are They? They are They! They are the bowl of chocolates and candy that is a mere 10 feet away from my chair at work. Every time that I go to the fridge to get some fruit or yogurt, They keep whispering to me in the wind ala the voices in LOST. But so far since last week, I have resisted the sweet whispers of milk chocolate, crisped rice, peanuts, and caramel. And I won't fall into temptation until after 46 days from now.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Sunday
2+ hour aquajog. Boring as fuck. I have the thought in the back of my mind to not do IMFL because of my injury, but I don't want to do it. I want to back out because I want to be completely prepared for my first IM, but then again if I don't do it, pretty much everything that I've worked for over the last 45 weeks has been for nothing. It's just really, really frustrating that I spent 4 years playing ultimate and plagued with injuries and now that I'm doing triathlons, I'm still plagued with running injuries. My goal next year is just to not have any injuries.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Saturday Workout
I went on a 5 hour ride today. I got in almost 90 miles and I average about 17mph. I went slow today because I just wasn't up to working out today and it was windy as hell. I did 3 loops and each loop was windier than the last. And this was my second attempt to ride today. The first time, I went out and it started raining. So, I headed back to my house and watched TV for an hour. I really need to find a way to stay hydrated. I was drinking 2 bottles of fluid per hour and I was still feeling parched after about 3 hours of riding. I think I need to up my fluid intake during IMFL. Also, I was noticing that my heart rate was slowly climbing throughout the entire ride. Something is up.
I went for a run afterwards. I did 2.5 miles in 22:15 or so. It hurt like hell to run and IMFL is going to be a huge drag if I can't run before then. This really fucking sucks.
Ok, time to shower.
Shoe Mileage: 42.5 miles
I went for a run afterwards. I did 2.5 miles in 22:15 or so. It hurt like hell to run and IMFL is going to be a huge drag if I can't run before then. This really fucking sucks.
Ok, time to shower.
Shoe Mileage: 42.5 miles
Friday, September 15, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
50 Days!
50 days to IMFL. Shit, it's really close now. But one good thing is that I weighed 183 yesterday and 180.5 today. I think I had a lot of water weight after last weekend and I'm slightly dehydrated to. Also, no alcohol and no candy at work so far this week.
Tuesday was a Barton Springs swim. I did 1 warmup, 3 easy, 2 mod, 1 fast, 1 cooldown. On the 1 fast, I was swimming with some other guys that had wetsuits on. I beat them to the dam and I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. That one fast was really fast for me. I was wheezing about a third into it but I kept up the pain. That night, I was going to do a 75min aquajog, but did 60 minutes on the elliptical instead since it was raining. My knee was bothering me so that's not a good sign. I'm going to have to watch that closely when I start running on land again.
Wednesday was a J&A core workout. I'm a little sore from it now. Then, I did about 80min on the bike with some hill sprints. It was slightly painful. I also had other knee problems going on as well. I had this weird popping on the outside of my knee. That's a first.
I got some acupuncture done today. I heard it can help the healing process and since my entire left leg is fucked, I thought it wouldn't hurt. We'll see how it helps me out.
Tuesday was a Barton Springs swim. I did 1 warmup, 3 easy, 2 mod, 1 fast, 1 cooldown. On the 1 fast, I was swimming with some other guys that had wetsuits on. I beat them to the dam and I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. That one fast was really fast for me. I was wheezing about a third into it but I kept up the pain. That night, I was going to do a 75min aquajog, but did 60 minutes on the elliptical instead since it was raining. My knee was bothering me so that's not a good sign. I'm going to have to watch that closely when I start running on land again.
Wednesday was a J&A core workout. I'm a little sore from it now. Then, I did about 80min on the bike with some hill sprints. It was slightly painful. I also had other knee problems going on as well. I had this weird popping on the outside of my knee. That's a first.
I got some acupuncture done today. I heard it can help the healing process and since my entire left leg is fucked, I thought it wouldn't hurt. We'll see how it helps me out.
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