Long Overdue Update

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

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

Bleh

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

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

2 Weeks ago: 16 miles
Last week: 7 miles

Asics run mileage: 96.5 miles

Yep, I'm definitely running.

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

Weekly run mileage: 19 miles
Asics mileage: 73.5 miles

Hmmm, I might be running again

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

Weekly run mileage: 18.5 miles
Asics mileage: 54.5 miles

This Weather Has Sucked

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

Weekly run mileage: 7 miles
Asics mileage: 36 miles

Making Progress

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

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

Weekly run mileage: 12 miles

Asics mileage: 29 miles

I'm running again

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

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

Weight: 192

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

Asics mileage: 17 miles

2011 Review

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

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

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

I really need to move to a cooler climate.

Damn you, Dr. Phil!

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

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

Weekly run mileage: 10 miles

Asics mileage: 264 miles

I'm making progress with running. . .

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

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

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

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

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

Asics mileage: 254 miles (time for new shoes)

Still running

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

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

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

Post Boston Blues

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

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

Hmmm, I can't wait until next week

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



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



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

Weekly run mileage: 17 miles
Asics mileage: 144.5 miles

A Change

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

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

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

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

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

Asics mileage: 127.5 miles

Because I Can

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

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

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

Weekly run mileage: 14.5 miles
Asics mileage: 75 miles

I raced!

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

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

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

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

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

Weekly run mileage: 10.5 miles
Asics mileage: 257.5 miles

Summer Training Sucks!

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

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

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

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

8 Mile

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

Weekly run mileage: 8 miles
Asics mileage: 170 miles

Has it been 3 weeks?

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

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

My poor neglected training blog

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

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

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

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

So, that's that.

Asics mileage: 136.5 miles