Week Eight Complete: 9 of 10 workouts... not to bad

Week eight is over and I thought I had all my workouts in the bag.  Unfortunately, the weather in Texas was not conducive to my long ride on Saturday.   I got all of my workouts in, except for my long ride.  And honestly, I really needed it.  Of all my workouts, my long rides are probably one of the most important and those seem to be the ones I continually miss.  I need to look at how I’m going to make up those rides during the following week, if I miss them on Saturday. Beyond that, it wasn’t a bad week of training.  My 2500m was a good 10 minutes faster than the last time I swam it and it felt pretty good.

So, I’m in Texas for about 10 days and I’m looking for a new ride.  I love my Masi and it will always be my first love, but I really need a tri bike; especially since I’m doing a full Ironman.  My Masi has worked out over the years for sprint and Olympic distance triathlons, but I really need a tri specific bike for the full meal deal.  The options in the area of Louisiana where I live are very limited, that’s why I’m look for something in the DFW area.  I don’t relish the idea of buying a bike five hours away from home, but I don’t have much of an option. The other challenge I’m starting to see is that many bike shops don’t keep tri bikes around anymore because they don’t sell as quickly as they used to.  I feel a little skeptical about buying a bike online, though it seems to be the way to go nowadays.  I have a few more shops to check out in Ft. Worth.  Hopefully, I’ll find something I like and feel comfortable on.

Just a quick tease for tomorrow morning... I weighed 194.7 this morning.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep it up for Monday morning.  I’m looking forward to opening the Glenlivet XXV.  Here’s a snap shot of the goods:

Wish me luck!

Monday

Rest Day

Tuesday

Swim: 2500m
Run: 1:00 HR Zone 2

Wednesday

Bike: 0:45 HR Zone 2 (Quick Change to run)
Run: 0:15 HR Zone 2

Thursday

Swim: 300m warm up, 8x50m drill, 12x100 @ 20sec, 8x50m drill, 200m cool down
Bike: 1:00 HR Zone 1 (100+ RPM)  

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

Saturday

Bike: 2:00 HR Zone 2

Sunday

Run: 1:00 HR Zone 1-2

Total Hrs: 9:00

S: 2:00
B: 3:45
R: 3:15

I’ll be in Texas all week and its Christmas.  We’ll see how the training manages through this hectic week.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!  Cheers.

Tale of the Tape: Week Eight

Monday morning weigh-in

Starting Weight: 208 lbs

Last Week’s Weight: 197 lbs

Current Weight: 197.1 lbs

Weekly Difference: +.1 lbs

Total Loss: 10.9 lbs

Seven full weeks down and I’m sitting at 197lbs, not too bad.  I’m about the same as last week, but I also had some crazy stomach flu that weekend.  Sickness weight loss doesn’t really count, because it doesn’t typically stay off.  That being said, I’m just two pounds from my 195 goal by December 23rd.  It’s very doable, but I can’t get too cocky.  I don’t want to have to shave my head, nor does my wife want to see me bald.

I think it’s safe to say that I’ve officially lost ten pounds.  I would argue that the first ten and the last ten are the hardest.  Getting on a good program, diet, and routine is one of the tougher aspects of losing weight; especially, if it’s a big change from your daily activity.  Once you’ve committed to it and it becomes the norm, I feel like it gets easier.  By the time you’ve lost those first ten pounds, you’re on a steady path to success.  That becomes the new norm, which you have proven can be accomplished.  The next bit is easy peasy.

What about the last ten pounds?  Obviously everyone has different weight loss goals, but deciding when you’re in the “last” ten pounds can be a difficult determination.  The last ten pounds when you started may not be the last ten pounds once you’ve reached that initial goal.  Your body has changed, your mindset has changed, and your way of life has probably changed completely.  What seemed impossible before is now in the realm of possibility. Make no mistake though, it will be a physically hard ten pounds.  By this time the body has adjusted to the physical stress that has been applied to it and the body will have adapted.  That’s how the body gets stronger.   This means it will take more stress and more dedication at the end, than it ever took at the beginning; especially, when you’re talking about keeping that last ten pounds off.

I would argue that if you’ve reached the point of your “last” ten pounds, you have all of the tools you need to finish it off and keep it off.  The only thing stopping you is yourself.  Now… reality check.  It looks good on paper, but life’s a bitch.  In twenty years my weight has fluxated from 165 to 185 to 200 to 173 to 215.  Life gets in the way, as well as priorities.  At 40 years old, I honestly cannot afford to keep the weight fluxuation game going; so, I’ve committed myself to being healthier and staying at a healthy weight.  I have a lot of work to do and I'm sure it's not going to be all rainbows and unicorns, but I look forward to that last ten pounds!

This week’s stats:

Beer: 4 x Sam Adams Winter Lager (not bad, Fonda didn’t like it much)

Scotch: None

Wine: None

Champagne: 4 x Bare Foot

Least healthy food, but tasted awesome: Popeye’s chicken (Christmas Party; haven’t had fried chicken in months!)

Best healthy meal: Veggie burger on 100% whole wheat sandwich round, with a little salsa verde

Craving satisfied: Filet mignon (medium rare) YUMMY!

Only two more pounds to keep my hair, should be a good week!  Have a great one!

Week Seven Complete: KHAN!!!

Another week down and another week without completing all my training.  Between work, travel, and being sick it’s understandable that I’ll miss a workout or two, but this week was just pure lack of motivation.  I’m not sure what was going on.  Friday I just kept on making excuses of why I was too busy at the time to run, until I just didn’t run.  Saturday was even worse.  I woke up late and goofed around until I decided I would go for a ride.  I actually put on my bike shorts/jersey and then commenced to watching Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan on the couch until I feel asleep.  I woke up and then had to get ready for a Christmas party.  Holy cow, I watched a movie I've seen a hundred times, in my bike clothes and didn't even ride…. KHAN!!!!   I love Ricardo Montalban.

Well, it’s over and a new week begins.  It should be pretty dead at work this week; so, there will be no excuses for not having time.  I will make a concerted effort to hit all my training this week. That being said, we’re leaving for Texas on Friday, for about a week.  I’ll need to take my bike with me and find a place to swim, but that’s next week’s worry.

Monday
Rest Day

Tuesday
S - 300wu, 8x50 dr, 16x25 @10sec, 1x400 @60, 16x25 @10sec, 8x50 dr, 200cd R - 1:00 Z2

Bad weather, moved to Friday.

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

Thursday
S - 300wu, 8x50 dr, 1x300 @40sec, 3x200 @30sec, 1x300 @30sec, 8x50 dr, 200cd
B - 1:00 Z1 (100+ RPM)

Friday
S - 300wu, 8x50 dr, 16x25 @10sec, 1x400 @60, 16x25 @10sec, 8x50 dr, 200cd
R - 1:15 Z2

No excuse

Saturday
B - 2:30 Z2

Watched Wrath of Khan

Sunday
R - 1:15 Z1 to Z2

Tale of the Tape: Week Seven

Monday morning weigh-in

Starting Weight: 208 lbs

Last Week’s Weight: 203.7 lbs

Current Weight: 197 lbs

Weekly Difference: -6.7 lbs

Total Lost: 11 lbs

Before you get too excited, I was sick all weekend.  Food consumption from Saturday morning to Monday morning consisted of one serving of yogurt, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a veggie patty.  I did drink a lot of water, OJ, Vitaminwater, and took a crap load of legal, over-the-counter drugs.  We’ll see how much of the weight loss sticks.  I did have a pretty decent week of clean food and exercise; so, I might be in luck.

I have pretty boring stats this week.  That only means I must have actually eaten pretty clean.

This week’s stats:

Beer: None
Scotch: None
Wine: None
Champagne: None
Best pizza: Homemade
Worst, but effective weight loss plan: Stomach bug

 I’m feeling a lot better this evening.  I should be back in the saddle starting tomorrow.  If only this crappy weather would go away.  It’s the South… I want my 70 degree winters back, right NOW!

Hope everyone has great week.  Don’t let that bad weather get you down!

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.