The Traveling Man

Training:
None - Travel Day

Thoughts:

I leave this afternoon for Heber City, Utah. I will make the twelve hour trip as soon as I finish my shift at work. I am very excited about the race on Sunday. I really hope I do well. I have promised myself to stay positive throughout the entire race and overcome the mental barriers I will face. I will post a detailed race report. Wish me luck!

Feel'n Good In The Neighborhood

290 Days until Ironman Arizona

Training:
4 miles / 0:59:08 / 14:47 per mile / 153 bpm

Thoughts:

The goal was to get in 60 minutes of running. I have been told to keep my heart rate at 148 bpm and I have for the most part. Tonight I started running around the neighborhood at a comfortable higher pace which in turn made my heart rate rise a bit, but it felt great. I really enjoyed running at that faster pace and it felt so much more comfortable then the slow 148 bpm pace I have been stuck on over the past month. All I know is that it felt good, real good. I had to walk the last half mile so my overall average would drop a little bit, but man did it feel good.

I Am What I Eat

Morning Thoughts:

I am learning that the 1500-1800 calorie limit each day is more then achievable. The hard part has not been any sort of physical hunger, it has been mental weakness. There are ups and downs, and some days are better then others, but I am feeling great overall about my new lifestyle change.

Nutrition Report

Daily Calorie Intake - 1,674 cals
Fat - 31.9%

Protein - 20.3%

Carbohydrates - 47.7%

I have lost about ten pounds so far and I am feeling great. I figure the since I can only eat between 1500-1800 calories a day, they might as well be good calories. When I do have a mental slip and eat something I should not have I can definitely feel the difference. When I mix in some greasy fast food into my diet, it makes me feel physically lousy. I guess the lesson learned is awful food makes you feel awful.

Question:

What do you eat before your races? I have not been eating any sort of pre race meal. I might grab a banana on the way to the race and chug a glass of water, but that is about it. I am really starting to wonder how much of my poor race performances lately are due to a lack of a pre-race meal. Any suggestions?

What Would An Ironman Do?

291 Days until Ironman


Training:
Rest Day


Thoughts:
Two days ago I participated in what our Tri Club calls an "Underground Triathlon." This is a laid back fun event with no pressure or rules. I arrived just in time for the start. I decided swim just the first of the two 600 meter loops. I figured this would give me a little head start up the huge steep, sheer, vertical, unreasonable, abrupt, precipitous, enormous, gigantic, massive, giant, mammoth, colossal, titanic mountain we had to climb. I made it 1.7 miles up the beast from hell and decided it was time to turn around. The guys who I wanted to get a head start on were already easily passing me as I was struggling to make forward progress up this hill. It was made very clear that at this point in time I do not have the leg strength and confidence to conquer the hills. I turned around and thought I would get in a quality run since I cut both the swim and the bike short. The run was ok, I was able to keep my slow jogging pace.
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The question here is what would an Ironman do? Would an Ironman:

---opt for one loop instead of two on the swim?
---turn around because a hill is giving him a serious beating?
---be content with a slow jog after a poor short swim and bike?
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I did have a great time hanging out with the crew at the lake. There are worse things then being with your buddies, drinking a few beers and telling some good jokes.

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Have you seen the shows where there is an Angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other, talking in the ear of the host trying to convince them to do something either right or wrong? Sometimes I have two figures on my shoulders but instead of an Angel and Devil, they are a fatass and a badass. I need to learn to stop listening to the fatass and start listening to the badass. The problem is the badass has not been saying much lately.

Times They Are A Change'n

Starting tomorrow, as a motivational tool and to put my post into some sort of context, I am going to start adding the bare bone facts of my training at the beginning of each post followed by the days remaining until Ironman Arizona.

The nutrition plan has been working great, I have been losing weight without feeling that I am starving myself or feeling tired. As far as my training the numbers are starting to show improvement. I have been pretty consistent with my workouts which in the past has always been a problem.

This Sunday the AzTriClub, my Tri club, is conducting what they call an underground Triathlon. Basically it is a triathlon without all of the rules and the pressure of a race, plus it is free. I have a great time with this group, and I learn something new each time. I am really looking forward to getting in an open water swim plus working on my transitions.

Next week I am off to Utah for an Olympic distance race called "The Battle At Midway." It should be a great race, plus it is going to be a blast seeing my family again. There are some very nice bike routes up there, and it is going to be nice getting out of this 115 degree garbage. I plan on getting some serious training time in while I am up there.

So Much Easier

The hardest part of the nutrition aspect of the plan you and I put together has been the distractions and temptations in the house. Last night I convinced my girlfriend that in order for me to succeed and achieve my goals I would need her help in with my new lifestyle change. She agreed and we went through the entire refrigerator and pantry and tossed out almost everything. There are now no trans-fats, hydrogenated oils or soda in the house. Then we made a trip to the store and bought tons of healthy foods including fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and crystal light. Now that I am not the only one in my household on a diet, it is going to be so much easier to stay on it.

A Daily Struggle

I am really having a struggle with the nutrition aspect of my weight loss plan. I have noticed that running, biking, and swimming is so much easier for me then staying within 1500 – 1800 calories each day.

When my plan calls for me to ride for 2 hours, no problem. When my plan states to avoid pasta or white breads then whoops, Houston we have a problem. I guess that just like anything else I need to turn eating healthy into a habit, and the only way for me to do that is to practice it over and over.

Catching The Fever

As I was leaving for work this morning my car broke down. The first thing that came to mind was "how am I going to get to my pool this afternoon." It was not concern over the price the mechanic is going charge, or panic that I was going to be late into work. Is this some sort of weird sickness? I can't really get much slower, so can I really justify worrying about missing a workout?
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As painful as it is to work out, and as bad as I am at it, I still look forward to it each day. I am having a blast.

Trying To Keep It Positive

Am I in shape? No. Am I in better shape? I think so.

As we all know I went into my last triathlon in very bad shape, and it showed as I finished second to last, not in my age group, but overall. I am still not in shape, but I do feel as though I am a little closer to it.

I have three races on the horizon that are sneaking up on me:
July 1 - Battle at Midway Triathlon - Olympic Distance
July 22 - Mountain Man Triathlon - Sprint Distance
Aug 4 - Desperado Dual - 100 Mile Bike Race

Even if the lungs are not there for me physically, mentally I am confident I can push my way through the hard times and mental barriers that I ran into during the last race.

A Call For Help

I have slowly worked my way up to the 8 mile distance for my long runs. During my last three running workouts of a low intensity jog / walk combination I have experienced a huge muscle cramp in my right calf muscle. All three times the cramp has occurred just after the six mile distance.

After the first time this happened I thought it might be due to a lack of hydration, so I made sure to drink plenty of water before and during my next time out. Sure enough, at mile six the cramp came back and I had to suffer through it for the next two miles. Knowing that the hydration was not the culprit, I figured it was a lack of sodium in my system. Last night during my third run at this distance, the cramp came back to haunt me again.

If it is not hydration or sodium, then what could it be? These are not small cramps that go away. The calf remains sore for a couple days and remains hard as if I were flexing the muscle. Why is it happening at the same distance each time out?

If you have any ideas please let me know. I want to get this resolved as soon as possible so it does not negatively affect my training schedule.

Locked and Loaded

I woke up early in the morning a couple of days ago and went to the office of my coach, Nick. He hooked me up to a couple machines that measure my target metabolic zones and tell me precisely how many calories my body actually burns, and calculates how many calories I should eat in order to healthily achieve my weight loss goal.

The results showed that my metabolism is very slow (31% slower then where it should be). Basically the calories are not going to burn off by themselves, I am going to have to burn a good portion of them by training and working out. I was given a nutrition plan that lays out a diet that ranges between 1500 and 1800 calories a day. This is going to help my lose weight do to the fact that I burn 2339 calories a day. This caloric deficit is going to help me shed those pounds baby!

I was very encouraged after he Nick educated my on the purpose of these tests and how they apply to what I am trying to accomplish. With my new workout plan, and my new nutritional plan, I am locked and loaded and ready to Rock!

My next Triathlon is in a little less then a month. I will not show huge physical differences between it and my previous race, but there will sure be a huge mental difference!

May Totals

• Swim = 1.13 miles in 0:53:15
• Bike = 41.45 miles in 3:05:51
• Run = 26.24 miles in 6:50:30

• Starting Weight = 262
• Current Weight = 257
• May Weight Loss = 5
• Total Weight Loss = 5