Back To The Grind

Day two of the new lifestyle and I found myself not only looking at the labels on food packaging, but I actually stepped upon the treadmill. It felt good to get back on the treadmill. I have decided to start my new exercise program at very easy intensity. The last thing that I need right now is to get hurt and use that as an excuse to be lazy.

I spent one hour on the treadmill, burned 437 calories, and covered 3.41 miles with an overall heart rate of 136. Not bad. I need to find a new place to start swimming again, my membership to the YMCA expired just before Misti and I left to Salt Lake for the wedding.

Nutrition:

Resting Metabolic Rate = 1642
Calories consumed = 1335
Exercise = 437

Calorie Deficit = 745

A New Begining

Today's weight = 272


The first day of my new healthy lifestyle has been pretty uneventful. Monday's are my day off, so I will not be working out today. I am looking forward to getting back into shape with an easy bike and swim scheduled for tomorrow.

Nutrition:
Resting metabolic rate = 1642
Calories consumed = 1827

Calorie Surplus = 185

Method To The Madness

I found a great way to work out down here in the Valley of the Sun. I hate to wake up early, but I hate the summer heat even more. After hearing that the temperature was going to rise above 111 degrees I knew I would have to wake up very early to get in my scheduled workout. I have been working riding and running at night, but even at midnight it is not uncommon for temperature to be greater than 100 degrees.

I have discovered that my body does not do well in the heat. We all remember the Rocky Point Triathlon nightmare in Mexico last may. My heart rate is about 12-15 beats lower per minute if I am out of the heat.

With this being said I woke up at 3am and was riding by 3:30am. It felt great and I was able to cycle better in the cooler weather. I was able to keep my RPM’s at 95, go faster than my typical workout, and go further without totally exhausting myself.

I really enjoyed the ride, and afterwards I headed down to Tempe to meet up with a couple guys from the marathon group and ran a few miles with them. I was back home by 8:30am with two great workouts under my belt. All I had to worry about for the entire rest of the day was what games to watch on the TV.

I can see many more very early workouts in the near future.

It's Official

It is now official that the 95 RPM thing sucks, and I mean realy sucks! It is hard and I don't like it or appreciate it at all. I know that it will make me a better cyclist but it just isn't any fun. I gave it a chance.

Feel The Heat

It is a little warm down here in Phoenix, and when I say a little warm I mean it is scorching, boiling, baking, roasting, sweltering, sizzling, blazing, burning, and blistering hot!

Instead of melting in the unforgivable sun, I decided to run on the treadmill. It felt as through I was cheating with the cool air-conditioning, and I loved it. I was able to complete my planned four mile run with ease. My heart rate was lower than it usually is, and I did not feel as beat up as I usually do from running on the pavement. It felt great!

If I knew the change in the environment would have made such a large difference I would have bought myself a treadmill years ago. Now I am looking forward to another great run this afternoon at the gym on the same treadmill.

Am I giving myself some sort of false hope? Is there any reasons why I should not start running on the treadmills more often?

Mid-Term Exam

Half way through my training for the SOMA Half-Iron, I am now starting to get comfortable with what I am doing.

The last two weeks have been spent getting in some great training. As you know it gets quite hot out here in Phoenix, so I have been working out super early in the morning and also a few short workouts at night. I try my best to stay away from the heat; 114 degrees can make for a long training session.

I now feel like I have a routine that I am finally comfortable with. Some days there is only one discipline to concentrate on, and other times there is a mixture of two. So far I have not reached the point where I feel I am being overwhelmed. I see the bigger picture now and things both physically and mentally are starting to fall in place, and it feels great.

Swim: I swim once a week at the lake. Two times a week I wake up at go to 5:45am masters swim practice. I am still swimming at 60%, but I am working at being more efficient with my body position and stroke. This will make my 60% faster any I will still have energy left in the tank for the rest of the race.

Bike: Once my strongest discipline, this is now where I need the most work. I have been working on en entire different pedal stroke. I am also working on keeping my cadence at 95 rpm. I ride four times a week including one spin class and one long (50+) ride a week. I am now a slower cyclist, but a better cyclist. After a few months with the proper pedal stroke and rpm count my speed should catch up and surpass my previous times.

Run: I am starting to gain confidence in the run again. There first miles are the hardest for me both physically and mentally. Once I break through the first couple miles I am able to stay on cruise control. My mind seems to wander during the run more then any other triathlon discipline. I run 4 times a week with varying distances and tempos. I do go long (10+) once a week, I should add that it is very slow.

Rest: My Rest Day rocks! I love the scheduled rest day.

Click... Click... Click...

Things are starting to click. I am starting to feel really good about my workouts and feel I am making progress each time out. After two not so inspiring weeks I sat down with my sponsor/coach and we are both now re-committed to getting me to the finish line at the Ironman Arizona.

My coach hooked up a crazy machine to my new bike. The machine was called a compu-trainer and it measures the power output of a pedal stroke. On a screen the results are broadcast in real time. The data projected onto the screen confirmed that I have an awful pedal stroke, it is very inefficient and uses only one set of muscles. All of my power in my stroke is from pressing downward. Basically if you were looking at a clock I am trying to get from the 12 to the 6 without going through 1 to 5. To have a better pedal stroke I need to concentrate and work on a few important details.
1- Pedal in a full circle. Apply pressure all the way around, not just up and down.
2- Increase my cadence. I need to pedal with less resistance and have a higher rpm. I have been comfortable with an rpm in the mid 70’s, but to be a more efficient cyclist I will need to bring that up to 85-95 rpm.
3- Drop my heel. By doing this I will incorporate other leg muscles into my stroke.

My Monday night open water swim sessions at the lake have been fantastic. The water feels great and I am seeing improvement each week. By the way I didn’t get lapped last night by the faster swimmers!

I just feel really good right now.