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
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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
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
Saturday, June 26, 2010
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
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
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 17 miles
Asics mileage: 76 miles
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
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
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
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 43 miles
Sunday, May 23, 2010
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
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
Monday, May 10, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 10 miles
Asics mileage: 248.5 miles
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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.
Weekly run mileage: 15.5 miles
Asics mileage: 238.5 miles
Looks like I'm in need of new shoes.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
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
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
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 15 miles
Asics mileage: 194.5 miles
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 13.5 miles
Asics mileage: 165 miles
Saturday, March 27, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 11.5 miles
Asics mileage: 151.5 miles
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 10 miles
Asics mileage: 140 miles
Monday, March 8, 2010
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
Weekly run mileage: 1 mile
Asics mileage: 130 miles
Monday, March 1, 2010
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.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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
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
Friday, February 12, 2010
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.
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.
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