Week Six Complete: Started strong... ended in the bathroom

Week six is in the bag. I had a pretty good week of training until Friday afternoon.  We had some bad weather which left me one swim short on Thursday and I got some kind of bug, which left couch and toilet bound from Friday to Sunday.  That being said, I missed two runs and a ride this weekend, but I did get my other rides and runs complete.  I’ve been out of the bathroom for a few hours now; hopefully, the worst is behind me.  I’m going to Nyquil it up tonight and I’m hoping get a two hour ride tomorrow, my normal rest day.  We’ll see how I feel.  On a positive note, I’m sure the scale will be good to me tomorrow, considering I’ve only eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and crackers in the last two days.

Monday
Rest Day

Tuesday
S - 300wu, 8x50 dr, 12x100 @20sec, 8x50 dr, 200cd
R - 1:00 Z2

Wednesday
B - Trans: 0:45 Z2 (QC)
R - 0:15 Z2

Thursday
S - 300wu, 8x50 dr, 3x125 @20sec, 2x175 @30sec, 3x125 @20sec, 8x50 dr, 200cd
B - 1:00 Z1 (100+ RPM)

Bad weather, no swim.

Friday
R - 1:00 Z2

No run, couch bound.

Saturday
B - 2:00 Z2

No bike, couch bound.

Sunday
R - 1:00 Z1 to Z2

No run, couch bound.

Scheduled Total Hrs: 9:00
S: 2:00
B: 3:45
R: 3:15

Tale of the Tape: Week Six

Monday morning weigh-in

Starting Weight: 208 lbs

Last Week’s Weight: 205 lbs

Current Weight: 203.7 lbs

Weekly Difference: -1.3 lbs

Total Lost: 4.3 lbs

Well, at the end of five weeks of training I’m only down four pounds.  Not exactly the pound per week I was shooting for, but I did have New Orleans and Thanksgiving to contend with.  I think I’m actually down a bit more, I just weighed tonight after dinner and I weighed the same as I did first thing this morning. I guess that’s a good sign.  However, I did spend an hour at the gym completely destroying myself and Fonda.  Cardio and weights… boot camp style. I was a bit perturbed about this morning’s weigh-in and for my sins, I made myself pay.  Fonda was collateral damage.  It was a rest day, but I didn’t really care.   

I feel like I have a pretty good stretch of training up until Christmas and a good opportunity to shed some weight.  With work being slow and no travel plans, I should be able to squeeze in a few extra workouts and really buckle down on my diet.  I’m going to set a mini goal of three pounds per week for the next three weeks. 

 

Mini Challenge:  Weigh 195lbs the morning of December 23rd

Success: Bottle of Glenlivet XXV
Failure: Shaved head

I think a 25 year old bottle of scotch to share with friends and family during the holidays is a good way to enjoy my success.  Conversely, cutting off all my wonderful locks is an outstanding way to remind myself of my failure and allow my friends and family to laugh at my expense. I’m not sure which they’d enjoy more. Side note: Fonda hates my head bald.  Failure will a double whammy.

This week’s stats:

Beer: 4 x Shiner Bock
Scotch: None
Wine: 5 x (2 Red, 2 White, 1 Dessert)
Champagne: 2 x unknown
Soft Drink: 1 x Dr. Pepper (TCU/Baylor football game)
Sake: 1 x peach flavored (very sweet; should have gone with some traditional dry sake)
Best Thanksgiving Meal: Three-way tie- turkey and dress; beef tenderloin; sushi
Favorite dessert: Orange and cardamom crème brulee (paired perfectly with a dessert wine)
Best post Thanksgiving Meal: Dad’s homemade enchiladas

It looks like I have a few tough weeks ahead of me.  I’m excited about the challenge, but not so excited about the thought of losing my hair.  Not to worry, success or failure will be documented by photos and potentially a video, so everyone may bask in my joy… or pain.

Week Five Complete: Good week with family, turkey, and open road

Week number five is complete.  This week also encompassed Thanksgiving and a trip home to be with my family.  In spite of a short work week and the holiday weekend, I’d say training went pretty well.   Unfortunately, I did not get any swimming done.  The weather was too bad early in the week and the latter was too hectic with travel and Thanksgiving activities.  That being said, I did get all my runs and rides in this week, to include a fun little Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  I did have to rearrange some workouts, but all in all, most of them felt pretty good.

Besides all the great family time and awesome food, the highlight of the week was the annual Ft. Worth Turkey Trot.  They estimated 30,000 runners and spectators.  I’m not sure how many actually made it, but it was a pretty good turnout.  They also let dogs run, which is pretty cool too. Loki loved it! The race consisted of a 1k, 5k, and a10k, all starting on or near Camp Bowie.  I ran the 10k, which I felt wasn’t a bad course.  The first mile or so ran west on Camp Bowie and then north into a residential area.  From there it zigzagged around a neighborhood, with some small hill, but nothing too bad.  The water stations were not quite every mile, but it was a relatively short race, so no biggie.  The end, which is always the best part of any race, had the typical music and hordes of people.  Oh, there was also a nice little car chase between a Mustang GT and three FW Police cars. It was on the opposite side of Camp Bowie from the runners, luckily they must have turn before they hit the main race area, blocking the street. As they screamed by, I wondered: It’s 8:25am, Thanksgiving morning and you’re running from the police. How crappy is that guy’s life right now?  Pretty crappy I’d say.

For this race, I used it for a fun replacement of one of my run workouts.  I didn’t break any land speed records, but I did have a good run.  I ran the 6.2 miles in 58:43, which was about a 9:21 per mile pace.  Like I said, not exactly fast, but that is the longest I’ve run in the last five weeks and the best per mile pace for any run over 30 minutes. I’d call that progress! 

I also invented a new game. It’s called: Slow Runner Bingo! 

Runs slower than 9 minute miles:                   Check

Passed by person 10 years older:                    Check
Passed by person 20 years older:                    Check
Passed by person 30 years younger:               Check
Passed by six month pregnant woman:           Check
Passed by guy pushing baby buggy:               Check
Passed by guy in goofy costume (turkey):      Check

BINGO!!!!  I Win!!!

It’s an honor system game, which actually works out pretty well.  Who’s going to lie about being passed by a guy in a full turkey costume… feet and all?  It’s embarrassing enough just to admit it.  I think it’ll be a great stocking stuffer for friends or family members who are running challenged, like me.

 

Monday
Rest Day

Tuesday
S - 300wu, 8x50 dr, 1x300 @40sec, 3x200 @30sec, 1x300 @30sec, 8x50 dr, 200cd
R - 0:45 Z2

Bad weather all day. Ran at gym.

Wednesday
B - Trans: 0:30 Z2 (QC)
R - 0:15 Z2

Bad weather all day. Gym workout.

Thursday
S - 2500m
B - 0:45 Z1 (100+ RPM)

Added R- 10k Turkey Trot

Moved bike to Friday

Friday
R - 1:00 Z2
B - 0:45 Z1 (100+ RPM)

Moved run to Thursday

Saturday
B - 1:45 Z2
R - 1:00 Z1 to Z2

Moved bike to Sunday

Sunday
R - 1:00 Z1 to Z2
B - 1:45 Z2

Moved run to Saturday

Scheduled Total Hrs: 8:00
S: 2:00
B: 3:00
R: 3:00

Actual Total Hrs: 6:00

S: 0:00
B: 3:00
R: 3:00

These next few weeks of training should go pretty smoothly.  No more travel until Christmas and work will be relatively slow.  My pool will probably close down for two weeks, sometime this month.  They are adding a giant bubble over it for the winter, which will be cool, but I lose two weeks of swimming.  The next closest pool is about an hour away and I’m not sure if that’ll work with my schedule.  We will see.

Have a great a great week and thanks again for reading all my ramblings. 

Tale of the Tape, Week Five

Week five, Monday morning weigh-in

Starting Weight: 208 lbs

Last Week’s Weight: 201.3 lbs

Current Weight: 205 lbs

Weekly Difference: +3.7 lbs

Total Lost: 3 lbs

So… New Orleans was completely awesome and I would not change a thing about the weekend.  That being said, I am up three pounds from last week.  I dreaded the thought of typing this all day.  Did I really gain over three and half pounds last week?  I’m not sure about that; however, the scale doesn’t lie. 

A friend of mine and I were talking about body types this weekend.  He’s in great shape.  He’s tall and athletic.  He’s even got the obliques that run down the front inside of your pelvic bones. It’s ridiculous. If you’re up on your physiology, his body type would probably be considered an ectomorph.  Ectomorphs can burn calories just by thinking about eating food (I made that up, but I think its true).  My body on the other hand, hates me.  It literally wants to gain weight.  Maybe it’s preparing me for a nuclear winter or possibly for a plane crash in the Alps. Unfortunately, all those ectomorphs would try to cook my ass up, once the packaged peanuts ran out.

I know the deal.  Diet, exercise, genetics, and age - they all play a factor.  It doesn’t mean I have to like it.  Every day is a new day.  Every week is a new week.  I’ve learned way more from my failures than I ever learned from my successes.  So, here’s to a new week. Cheers! < raising glass of water  >  ;)

This week’s stats:

Beer: Check (New Orleans)

Scotch: Check (New Orleans)

Wine: Check (New Orleans)

Champagne: Check (New Orleans)

Champagne taste test results: 1st $20 bottle, 2nd $12 bottle, 3rd $55 bottle (price isn’t everything!)

Unexpected great food of the weekend: North Star Caviar, with nitrogen chilled Grey Goose

Worst food producing horrible face: Yellow mustard (also see FB profile pic)

Best food I don’t remember eating: Wagyu beef

Best breakfast: Sliders and donuts (District Donuts Sliders Brew, New Orleans) – Un-freaking-believable!

OK… I think I’ve gotten all my partying out of me for a while.  The holidays are traditionally tough on the diet, but I still have a lot of work to do.  Increase the activity and decrease the intake… too easy, right?!?

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and safe travels.

Week four complete; Rough Scheduling

This past week was pretty challenging when it came to my training schedule.  Between craziness at work and an awesome trip to New Orleans, I did not get all of my training sessions in.  Luckily it was a recovery week and I don’t feel like I missed too much.  I was short one swim, one bike, and one run.  I did get a long run in, which I definitely need the most, but I hate that I missed the long ride.  I’m going to make it up tomorrow, which is normally my rest day.  Considering I just took three rest days in New Orleans, I don’t think my body will hate me too much. 

Because I knew my schedule would be crazy I tried to frontload some workouts early in the week and even double up on them.  I also moved my long run to Wednesday, because I was fairly certain I would be in no condition to run on Sunday, after three night in New Orleans.  I was correct.

 

Monday

Rest Day

Tuesday

Swim: 300m warm up, 8x50m drill, 3x125m @ 20sec, 2x175m @ 30sec, 3x125m @ 20sec,     
     8x50m drill, 200m cool down
Run: 0:30 HR Zone 2

Added: Bike: 0:30 HR Zone 2 (Quick Change to run)

Added: Run: 0:15 HR Zone 2

Moved swim Wednesday due to conflict with work.

Wednesday

Bike: 0:30 HR Zone 2 (Quick Change to run)

Run: 0:15 HR Zone 2
Swim: 30minutes of freestyle

Added: Bike: 0:30 HR Zone 1 (100+ RPM)  

Had to do a short swim due to work.

Thursday

Swim: 300m warm up, 8x50m drills, 16x25m @10sec, 1x400m @60sec, 16x25m @10sec, 8x50m drills, 200m cool down
Bike: 0:30 HR Zone 1 (100+ RPM) 

Added: Run 1:00 HR Zone 1-2

Friday

Run: 0:45 HR Zone 2

New Orleans

Saturday

Bike: 1:30 HR Zone 2

New Orleans

Sunday

Run: 1:00 HR Zone 1-2

New Orleans

 

Total Hrs: 7:00

S: 2:00
B: 2:30
R: 2:30

This week is Thanksgiving weekend, and yet again, another challenging week of scheduling for me. I’ll be traveling to Texas on Wednesday to be with the family through the holiday weekend.  I’ll probably have to take my bike with me and possibly find a place to swim. I am doing a 10k Turkey Trot on Thursday, which I’m excited about.  Hopefully I can cram in all my sessions this week.  I think it’s doable. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Tale of the Tape: Week Four

Monday morning weigh-in

Starting Weight: 208 lbs

Last Week’s Weight: 205 lbs

Current Weight: 201.3 lbs

Weekly Difference: -3.7 lbs

Total Lost: 6.7 lbs

Ok... three weeks since my first weigh in and I’m just over six and half pounds down.  Not spectacular, but not bad.  Pretty much what I’d expect, since I’m not being uber critical about my diet. I’d say I’m well on my way to 178lbs by race week.  I don’t feel much lighter, or don’t think I look it, but I’ll take the stats as a win.  I just have to remind myself it’s a long race, not a sprint.  Also, every pound I lose, makes for an easier run and better ride.  The down side, I don’t float as well in the pool. 

Next weekend I’ll be in New Orleans and the following is Thanksgiving… oh, crap!  Discipline don’t fail me now!  I’m going to call New Orleans a wash and Thanksgiving... I’m not sure.  We’ll have to see.  I do love Thanksgiving.  Having parents that are divorced equals multiple meals, which is actually one of the few benefits of divorce.  My poor brother will be having about four Thanksgiving meals... did I say "poor" brother.  Lucky, I'd say! Anyways, I'll try to drop at least one pound per week, for the next two weeks. That'll put me under 200 lbs post Turkey Day. I'd say that's pretty good for the first round of holidays.  That'll give me a good three weeks of hardcore training and diet before Christmas hits, and then the awesomeness of the second round of holidays occurs.

This week’s stats:

Beer: None

Scotch: None

Wine: None

Favorite indulgent: Two handfuls of dark chocolate chips

Guilty pleasure, I hated myself for eating every bite: 1 x Donut (damn work mates!)

Best health meal: Stuffed baked chicken, with steamed broccoli and sweet potato slices

Second best meal: Turkey meatballs, with wheat pasta and marinara (Yummy!)

Breakfast I haven’t gotten tired of yet: Greek yogurt

I hope everyone has a great week.  I’m excited about New Orleans and seeing my buddy Brock.  I’m sure I’ll come back with plenty of beads, especially since I’m still rocking a “C” cup!

Week Three Complete: The ups and downs.

Training week three… done.  I didn’t find this week’s training any more difficult than the previous.  The mileage increase is gradual enough that it doesn’t feel overly taxing. That being said, I did have my moments this week.

If you read Friday’s blog, you know how bad that was, but this week wasn’t all figurative blows to the nether-regions.  This week I swam 2500m freestyle, straight, with no brakes. I’m pretty sure that’s the farthest I’ve ever swam.  I did swim for four hours straight once, in order to motivate a youth swim team who was trying to break some kind of swimming relay record. However, that wasn’t freestyle and I was a young, studly lifeguard at the time.  I have no idea how far I swam, but I do know that afterward, I had the best Dr. Pepper and Snickers bar that I’ve ever had in my life. Mmmm, I loved being a lifeguard.  Anyways, it was a good training swim and I felt pretty good afterward.

As far as my running goes, I don’t really feel like it’s coming along that well.  I’m not exactly sure what to expect though.  This is the base phase of the training; so, it’s just time to get use to the mileage.  I feel like I’m just trudging along though.  I really don’t enjoy it that much, at least not like I use to, years ago.  I’m counting on the running getting easier as I continue to lose weight; especially, if I don’t have to carry all this “tons-of-fun” around with me. 

I did buy some yoga videos.  They’re specific to triathletes.  I did a couple of sessions this week and it felt pretty good.  I need to establish more of a routine and incorporate them into my training schedule.  The videos are called:

Spinervals Flexible Warrior 1.0: Athletic Yoga for Triathletes
Spinervals Flexible Warrior 2.0: Cross Training for Multi Sports
Spinervals Flexible Warrior 3.0: Flexibility for Swim, Bike, Run

In retrospect, they were a bit pricey and I’m not a fan of the names (flexible warrior… give me a break), but they seem to be pretty good so far.  I bought all three volumes and have done the flexibility routine on the first disk.  I might have gone overboard with buying all three, but I figured I would get bored quickly, so I thought variety would be nice.  I’ll let you know if they just repeat themselves. Namaste Bitches!

Monday

Rest Day

Tuesday

Swim: 2500m
Run: 0:40 HR Zone 2

Moved swim Wednesday due to conflict with work.

Wednesday
Swim: 2500m
Bike: 0:30 HR Zone 2 (Quick Change to run)
Run: 0:15 HR Zone 2

Awesome swim… a little boring, but got it done.

Thursday

Swim: 300m warm up, 8x50m drill, 12x100 @ 20sec, 8x50m drill, 200m cool down
Bike: 0:45 HR Zone 1 (100+ RPM)   +0:15

Moved swim to Friday for recover from Wednesday’s awesomeness.

I rode an hour on accident; I forgot how far I had to ride.  Oh well!

Friday

Swim: 300m warm up, 8x50m drill, 12x100 @ 20sec, 8x50m drill, 200m cool down
Run: 1:00 HR Zone 2

Crappy run day.

Saturday

Bike: 1:45 HR Zone 2

Sunday

Run: 1:00 HR Zone 1-2

Total Hrs: 8:00

S: 2:00
B: 3:00
R: 3:00

Next week is recovery week; so, the mileage is a little less.  It’s a good thing too. We’re going to New Orleans on Thursday and will be there all weekend, trying to stay out of trouble.  Not a whole lot of training will be happening.  I’m going to try to get most of my training done before we leave, we’ll see. 

Thanksgiving is coming up soon!!!  I LOVE TURKEY DAY!   Cheers.