The Greens

My new favorite kids book

The other day I was listening to the Fit2Fat2Fit podcast at work. I stay about a month behind on my podcast list, it's awful. But on this one Drew interviewed the CEO of Organifi, a company that makes powders you can mix into water or juice. This post is not sponsored in any way and I did not use Organifi products, although they do seem wonderful.

My current list of complaints begins by still hovering around 210 lbs and being unable to run thanks to a persistent foot pain. The new pain that has been racking up this year is (I think) arthritis in my elbows, wrists, and hands. Joint pain doesn't play games - it sucks. Also I've been waking up with lower back pain.

Then you can imagine my surprise when this podcast guest said that he had been drinking greens every morning, and after 7 days did not wake up with lower back pain anymore. That did get my attention. Then the rest of his joint pain cleared up shortly after the 7 day mark. I immediately had to investigate this product line.

Organifi offers a line of green (and now red) juice powders. The green juice is mostly vitamins and superfoods, totally organic. The ingredient list is very robust with stuff that I know has been good for me in the past. The red juice is a powder of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory foods that looks amazing. Seriously amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on some of this stuff.

Fortunately, I already had some greens. I bought a jar of vitamins & greens from the clearance section at a GNC a few months ago. And since I already start each day with a full bike bottle of water (24oz) I figured I could go ahead and throw the greens in there for a week and see how it felt. The greens are a complete vitamin, mineral, superfood, and energy supplement.

Monday was the first day on the greens. Tuesday evening I hit swim practice with my team, that ended up being my only workout on the week. It got a little hectic, but by the next monday I did indeed feel great. Seems like the greens worked! It is a fantastic way to start my mornings.

Trader Joe's also has both a green juice powder and a red juice powder. I'm really wanting to try the red stuff now. I also found several options for green and red powders on Amazon. They don't all have the same ingredients but I bet the results will be similar yet still different for every person/powder combination. Still after only one week I am totally hooked on these greens.

This past Monday was IM day at swim practice. I still got in the 1500 yard warmup and 1500 yard IM set. But my joints. My joints did not like the IM set at all. It turned into just a kick set, and tonight (Tuesday evening) my right elbow is still in enough pain for me to skip swim practice tonight. Joint pain sucks. I thought after last week this was going to go away. I'm still having some lower back pain when I wake up too, but that could be the mattress or pillow. It feels like that has eased up some anyway. But the joint pain, that's real today. I'm not quite sure what that means. Maybe I need to give swimming a rest? Still have a couple of open water races coming up.

Have you ever tried adding powdered greens to your morning water? Any red juice tips?

Doing the Deuce!

This past Sunday morning was the 3rd time I raced the Big Deuce, a two mile open water swim race in local Jordan Lake. It was an interesting swim race, and I did pretty good.  This year I have really been enjoying the open water, and the Rev3 Cedar Point is only 6 weeks away so this race is a perfect fit.

Sunday morning I had no trouble getting out the door and over to the lake bright and early. Found the bathroom, packet pickup was a breeze, and before you know it I was hanging out with friends talking about strategy and training.

Packet pickup and the lake

Started off of this boat ramp in the water

I got in a nice warmup, then found some friends of mine from church that were swimming with their daughter. Everybody was ready for some fun!

There was a bit of treading water, then a countdown and we were off!  All of the 2 milers were in the first wave, followed by the 1 mile men, then the 1 mile women.  The crowd looked thin, but there were actually plenty of people racing!

I started off with a hard effort, and hung in drafting off of the leaders for the first 200 yards or so. The first two sighting buoys came up pretty quickly, and I felt good about my effort and results.  Then there was a turn buoy that seemed like it was spaced a lot farther apart than the sighting buoys.  This was a triangle course, so after the first turn was another turn buoy, then head back towards the starting line. The 1 milers only did 1 lap, but I had to turn around and go back for a second lap.

And that's where things started to get interesting. Some woman decided to start breaststroking as soon as we got to turn and start the second lap! You know those turns are always crowded.  You don't need to keep your head above water to sight right then. That kick came back and hit my left hand and jammed my index finger really bad.  So starting out on lap 2 and I've got to deal with a busted wing! ouch!  I mean, there's always other people getting in the way and I get kicked in all sorts of places, but this may be the first time I've gotten kicked in the finger!

So I kind of took it easy getting back out to turn buoy #1.  By the time I had cleared turn buoy #2 on lap 2 the finger finally stopped hurting.  With 3 buoys left I kicked it up a notch, then did it again with 2 left, then finally started a sprint to the finish line when I hit the last buoy.

I finished in 1:04:34, good enough for 38/86 men and 5/9 in my age group. Overall, not a bad way to spend a sunday morning. I feel pleased with my effort and performance.

Now, the excuses.

A couple of years ago I did this race in 58:04. Why so much slower this year? Well on saturday I did a 4 hour bike ride.  And I kind of ate like crap for the last part of that week. So I kind of feel like I was a bit tired in the legs.  I knew I had to run sunday afternoon as well, but I tried not to save anything for that. When you're racing, put all you can into the race. I still thought I could break an hour.

I had some friends racing too. In the 1 mile race had a couple of swimmers from the RAM team, Billy finished 6th place overall and Tom finished 10th, they both won their age groups. There was also a couple that sings in the church choir that did the 2 mile race with their daughter. The kid finished about a minute behind me, and Kenn and Betty a few minutes behind her.  So I definitely held onto the choir room bragging rights. And let me tell you something else. It takes a special kind of confidence for this almost-40-year-old man to be hanging out with church friends in only a speedo. But, you know, I rocked it.

So here's the real story of Sunday:
First Breakfast
swim 2 miles
Second breakfast
sing in church choir
lunch and only lunch
run 15 miles
first dinner
second dinner
nap
third breakfast
sleep

Of course I did plenty of stuff with Kelley and the kids too. but there was seriously a lot of nice clean eating. and some rewarding snacking in between. and the gu's and honey stinger waffles during the run.

Overall it was a great weekend, but this week has left me feeling a bit overtrained. Next week is the biggest week of the entire year, and the kids have been sick. I'm fighting so hard not to catch it. This weekend has the Lake Logan half iron, my time test for Rev3 CP. So I cannot go into that or the heavy week sick or overtrained.  I'm sure I could have swam faster if I was well rested, so I'm sleeping in for the rest of the mornings this week and taking Friday as a complete rest day.  Let's hope that works!

MB PR

This weekend was a blast! I got to hang out with a lot of old friends and totally blew away my own expectations for the race. I absolutely nailed a 3:46:32, and never walked for the first time ever. It was a special valentines day away without the kids, just special time with me and Kelley.

Friday afternoon we started later than expected, but still got the kids dropped off and headed down to Myrtle Beach. We made it to the expo in plenty of time.  After grabbing the gear and swag, I found the beer tent.

IPA for the win!

 The part about this weekend that I was really looking forward to was seeing so many friends. At the expo, we ran into my friend Laurie, who I haven't seen since high school! She actually graduated with my brother Michael, and was a church friend who now lives in Fayetteville with her family, and they were all at the expo too. Really cool to see her again.

After we actually got dinner from the bar upstairs from the expo. It was a really nice environment, great food, and it wasn't crowded. Pretty decently romantic spot for Valentines day! Plus Kelley got to sit in a tremendous oversized chair.

Totally interested.

We always stay at the La Quinta near the starting line, but now they have added a back road that leads to a Target. And you know that means we loaded up on cheap valentines day candy.

Saturday morning came early. 5:15 my alarm went off and I got downstairs to get some breakfast. I discovered it was pouring down very hard rain and it was really cold. Not a good combination. The race started at 6:30 with the crankchairs starting first at 6:25. I knew we were cutting it close when we saw the crankchairs cruising by as we were walking to the start line!  haha, that's a bit too close. Still, I got my good luck kiss, she went to the half marathon side of the street, and I started looking for the 3:45 pace group. They had a 3:35 and 4 hour pace group, so I figured I would get somewhere in between them.

I wasn't going to run with anything that wasn't waterproof, so no music. Figured I could just talk to people. It was 41* and raining at the start. I got to wish a "good luck" to the people I just elbowed my way through, and then we were off! Lots of people were running in trash bags. I didn't want to have to discard anything later, so I just took off. Hit start on the garmin when I got to the starting line and the rest is history.

Mile 1 was in the dark, but the rain did stop.The halfers started on the left side of the divided road, and the full marathoners on the right. Before the first turn we had to cross over the divided median, and I saw a bunch of the halfers looking at me funny. So of course I had to raise both hands in the air attack-zombie style and said "it's the attack of the full marathoners", which I thought was pretty damn funny. crickets. I got nothing out of those people. But I did split an 8:09!

Mile 2 the sun came up. Since the rain was gone and the streets were still crowded, there was plenty of challenge to puddle dodge. Split an 8:07.

At 2.75 miles, something strange happened. I got passed - by a girl. While this would not otherwise be noteworthy, it was the first time I got passed on the day. And she looked at me funny, like she was surprised to pass me. It was odd. Mile 3 split 8:17.

I could see the 3:35 pacer in there, and figured I would hang out near that guy for as long as I could since I still felt great. When Kelley checked the weather forecast the night before, every hour the chance of rain would decrease while the listed wind speed would increase. And the winds were supposed to swirl, so there would always be a headwind. fun times. I did start drafting. Here there was still plenty of people in the race who were bigger than me, so I put them between the wind and my face. While it might not have smelt particularly great, it did make things easier. And I don't think it was too noticeable.  Mile 4 in 8:12, I took my first gel at the mile 4 aide station.

Mile 5 goes out by the airport, and there is usually a band playing there. This time as I ran by I got to thank them for coming out, then they started playing Folsom Prison Blues. 8:46 thanks to the extra time to take the gel.

There is a timing mat through this little shopping village at the turn around, then back towards the airport. Mile 6 was 8:12, then mile 7 was 8:31.  As I was running back towards Ocean Blvd, I could see all of the runners still going to the shopping village. Right before we split off, I found Kelley at my mile 7.5 and got to say hi to her and blow a kiss. Very motivating to know that she was getting through the miles with a smile. Mile 8 was 8:30, and I took another gel then.

Once you get on Ocean Blvd, you stay there until about mile 21. That one road has the majority of the course, but by then it's over an hour into the race so the sun is up, there's a tailwind pushing you forward (sometimes), and you get to see the boardwalk and the ocean.  It's beautiful, and monotonous, and you just let your mind wander and watch the miles run away. Mile 9 was 8:20, then mile 10 in 8:28. Right after the mile 11 marker you start seeing signs for the halfers to split off, which they do. Once the vast majority of the people peel off and head for the finish line, you get a slight depression and a peaceful calm at the same time.  Mile 11 was 8:17. I found another guy from Raleigh who thought I was crazy, but he had a wild beard and was pretty fun to talk to. He was doing a relay, and ran from mile 6 to 10. Great talking to you Tim, ended up being some fun miles.

At the mile 12 aide station I had to stop and poop. I took another gel first, then had to wait on the port-a-let for a little bit. If you've been counting, all of these miles so far have been in the 8 minute range. Mile 12 took 8:14, then mile 13 was 9:49, thanks to about a 90 second crapper stop. It felt good to lighten the load, but I was ready to get back out there.

I hit the 13.1 halfway point at 1:50:44, not a bad split. Again, I was just feeling good and taking each mile as it came to me without any real feeling of push or elevated heart  rate. Pretty crazy indeed.

The second half of the course goes up into North Myrtle Beach. The starting line is on 21st ave, and we finally turn off of Ocean Blvd somewhere around 68th st, if that gives you a frame of reference for how far into North MB we get. Now, start by understanding that there is nothing interesting about North Myrtle, nothing happens there, it's just a few small hotels and lots of beachfront houses. I don't remember much about these miles, but I'm not sure if that's because they are boring, or mindless, or just all looked exactly the same. They were all uphill, however. Which I thought was odd.

I had no expectations to negative split this course but you can certainly see my interest level wain in these miles.
Mile 14: 8:22,
mile 15: 8:38,
mile 16: 8:36 (took another gel),
mile 17: 8:19 (ok must have had a tailwind),
mile 18: 8:44,
mile 19: 8:29,
mile 20: 8:34 and another gel

And that was the most interesting part of North Myrtle. Consistent, plain, meets expectations.

Mile 21 went in 8:58, that's where the course turned and we started running uphill into a stiff headwind again. Heading back to the start/finish line there's a couple of out-and-back spurs to keep the competition in sight. I knew the aide stations at miles 16 and 22 had gels provided on the course, so I took those. Mile 22 took 8:50.

My personal best distance record was 21 miles without walking. So this time I really wanted to get that gel at the mile 22 aide station without having to take a walk break, and I did! So excited to finally break through that one. And I still felt like I didn't need to walk after that, so I figured I'd shoot for 23. Mile 23 took 9:23, but I didn't walk through it. Finally, the first mile over 9 minutes besides the poopy mile 12. This time it was fatigue that slowed me down. My quads were burning. My ass was on fire. Calves were totally starting to melt down. But I was not dehydrated, so I didn't hit the wall at mile 23 like I usually do.

Mile 24 was 8:47, and this might be the biggest surprise. Again, no walking, extending that PDR. To turn in a mile in the 8's that late in a marathon is insane. Never thought I would do that. Mile 25 took 9:19, that's more like what I was expecting. Actually, these really late miles for me are usually in the 10 to 13 minute range, so this whole thing was uncharted territory. And I still wasn't walking. Just trying to maintain good running form. I didn't have to go fast, just had to keep going. I think it was around mile 20 or 22 when I felt confident about my ability to break 4 hours.  But mile 26 was 9:09, and that's out of this world crazy.  I was finally back at Broadway cruising up towards 21st ave again. When I saw that finishing chute I knew it was real.

Not only was I going to break 4 hours (goal!) and set a PR that I didn't expect to get, I was going to smash that PR and might actually get under 3:50, which would also surpass most of my friend's marathon PR's.  And I never had to walk. That was totally unexpected and incredible. I never actually believed that I could run the entire length of a marathon without walking or falling apart in the end. insane.

I came through the finish line on fire and hit stop on the garmin. I got my medal, then looked at the garmin. When I read it, I screamed it. I read it again out (and very) loud - THREE FORTY SIX THIRTY FIVE YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH shouted as loud as I could, and the announcer guy even said how happy we apparently were to finally be finished running 26.2 miles. He was right.  I'm not a 3:46 marathoner. I'm maybe one of the typical middle/rear middle of the pack guys who's going to struggle and train hard and maybe break 4 hours once. My old PR was 3:56 in Charleston marathon 2012, and I never actually expected to break 4 hours again. I'm 38, way too old to get any faster. But I just did, and by around 10 minutes. that's absurd. No way I would have predicted that.

As soon as I finished screaming for pure joy, Kelley was right there. She ran the half in 2:33, after only getting in 2 training runs since early december thanks to a piriformis problem. She had enough time to go back to the hotel, get some warm clothes, and make it back down in time.

Right before the scream

and right after!

As soon as I started making my way out of the finishers chute, I got caught by my good friend from college Meredith. Haven't been able to hug that neck for maybe 18 years (she graduated before me) and this, right now, is the time when I run into her? I still haven't come down from the endorphins, still jacked up high and crying over my time and that's when I have to introduce Kelley and meet her friend too. Not exactly my most photogenic moment. Loved getting to see her, but that was crap timing. We need to catch up when I can put together two coherent thoughts.

Finally, I've calmed down enough to take in some fluids and food, and process what just happened.

wow.  just wow. that was totally unexpected.

So was this!

Kelley captioned this "we found an elephant at the finish line of the marathon", and I started making jokes about how I know I've put on a little weight but that's just cruel. ha! The fence here is just to keep the beer drinkers in, not the elephants out.  Interesting fact, did you know elephants eat Fruit Loops? The trainer guy would throw fruit loops and peppermint candy on the ground and the animal would pick them up with his trunk and eat it.

Afterward we got enough fluids and walked around a bit, it was time to head back to the hotel. The elephant followed us out, and we got a few more pics.

No fence or anything, we're just walking down the street when the beast comes up behind us

incredible

That's a swinging tale

Have you ever wanted to Stranger Rodeo an elephant? I was seriously tempted to grab hold of that tail and see how long I can hang on. Maybe if I hadn't just finished a marathon. At the time, the elephant was walking much faster than I was. Opportunity lost.

What made this marathon different?
I've been trying to figure out why I was able to hang on and suffer longer this time than ever before. Maintaining good form is key, yes. As is the mental capacity to keep pushing out miles when your legs are on fire and you want to stop. But I really  think it's got to be the plants!

My fitness overall is still elevated from the B2B full iron distance in October, yes. that takes a long time to calm down. But we did the Paradigm Diet challenge in December, and those habits stuck around. We still eat a mostly vegan diet, and it's become easy to know when my weight is up a few pounds or I just feel heavy from eating too much sodium or meat. And we now know how to make that stuff all go away within a couple of days. I finished the Challenge at 175 lbs, 18% bodyfat - that was in December - and I hit the starting line - in February - at 175 lbs, 18% bodyfat. This was done on purpose. I know when I'm not properly hydrated and need to make a smoothie for breakfast the next day. I know when we need to make some Colon Blow for dinner to push some of that weekend meat through the system.  Overall I feel better, have more energy, and look younger than I did before thanksgiving.

When this becomes a long term habit, the long term effect leads to increased endurance and greater overall fitness. The extent of this was totally unexpected. I mean just 4 months ago I did the Ironman marathon almost an hour slower! (4:37 run split) Nobody is going to claim they can take an hour off of their marathon time in 4 months. It's got to be the plants.

The Paradigm Diet - the basis of our fueling
Starting the Paradigm Detox Day 1
Finishing the Paradigm Detox with a 5k PR

What Else did we do?
After getting all cleaned up, we hit the Planet Hollywood for lunch, and it was quite overrated. Then we hit the outlet stores for some shopping. I got some Kenenth Cole dress shoes that are beautiful (yes I'm secure enough in my masculinity to admit that). Then we got to meet up with the Boys!

Dean, Pat, and Jon are fraternity brothers from college. Pat ran the half, as did all of their wives. I was looking for these people while I was on the course, and they were looking for me. We all get together in the spring for a guy's weekend of heavy drinking, there's about 10 of us that usually jump in. But today we all got to hang out for a couple of beers before dinner, then had a really nice meal together. We all left the kids at home, so this was really special and fun. Like I said, on this trip, getting to see old friends and spend time alone with Kelley was just as important as running the race.

Sunday morning we cleaned up, grabbed breakfast and hit the road back to Raleigh. The whole weekend was fun, social, and fast. The only thing I could have asked for was more of the same. Kelley got to see some people that I didn't. I love being plant-powered, glad I pulled out such a strong race. And I'm grateful for a quick recovery too.

Now let's turn it up and hit the trails! March 1st (yes 2 weeks away) is the Umstead Trail Marathon. Nothing like 26.2 in the woods, this is going to be fun. It's another 1 star Marathon Maniacs streak!

Monday's Dumps

Brain dump, that is. Here's how last week went down: busy. it was jam packed. The workouts were regular and steady, the nutrition was constant and mostly vegan, and I had no time to blog. I actually did have some good content to write about, but then promptly forgot it all so you get this instead.

Horse derp selfie - not as easy as it looks

Evil Genius trying on the unicorn mask for the first time

At the hockey game last week!

Only my kids would rake a zen garden pathway into the leaves when we're supposed to be raking them up

Bigun says we carved a 70 into the yard trying to outline the beds

Those pics were supposed to be a 5 things Friday post.

That's week 1 of the garden. We're adding a second raised bed this year which I am incredibly excited about. I got a seed order placed from High Mowing Seed Company, they sponsor the NorthWest Edible Life blog, I read her, and I like to support companies that like to support bloggers. Hopefully we'll have a good time gardening this year! The kids sure are looking forward to it.

Workouts were really good too, all week long. Tuesday I had a good swim with the RAM team. Ran 38 miles on the week. 7 monday, 5 wednesday, 6 thursday and 20 on Saturday. Did yoga 6 days, and hit the strength training 3 days. Solid week all around. This 20 miler kicked off the cycle. 20, then a recovery week. Another 20, then a taper week. Then Myrtle Beach Marathon, then taper week, then Umstead Trail marathon. Game on people! Here we go!

My weight is spot on right now too. We're still doing mostly paradigm meals, and it still rocks. I started the week at 178 and got down to 175 pretty quick. That's racing weight, so it's where I want to be. Everything feels good and looks pretty good too. Now if I could just get these dang kids to clean up their room every now and then.....

Have a great MLK day!

Paradigm Detox Day 1

The Monday after Thanksgiving weekend traditionally is when most people freak out about being overweight or how much weight they put on over the Thanksgiving weekend. I certainly had that moment of panic this morning, yes indeed. But I also had a plan in place.

I read The Paradigm Diet late last year, and even put a review up here singing the praises of the program We started off the year as vegans, but Ironman training quickly got in the way of the reduced caloric intake so eggs and eventually meat worked its way back into our normal routine. Since then, I found the author, Dr. Adam Dave, MD, on facebook and we became fast friends. Again I can highly recommend this book if you haven't heard of it before, and he's put out some others as well. His advice was taken to heart when my foot started acting up in late summer and I was very appreciative.

Then a few weeks ago marathon season hit in Southern California. When the good doctor reported a marathon PR of 2:49, ran barefoot and shirtless to show off that single digit bodyfat I was intrigued. Then the next weekend he put up a 2:58 marathon, so you know it wasn't a fluke, I had to be a bit more inquisitive. Does this guy actually actually still follow the plan in his book? Can that really fuel  these fast marathons?

Yes and yes. I got the short version of his habits, but he gave it to me with a challenge. I should be the next experiment. Give it two weeks and I should shred right up! So every day for the next 14 days I will blog daily weight and bodyfat %, complete food journal, and workout log. It will be an afternoon post and I don't expect any comments around it, but it will give me a category reference to look back at and see how shredded I get.

The theory behind the Paradigm Diet is to only put in the most optimal foods for the body to perform at it's best. This will minimize body fat naturally, as well as make you look younger and feel better than ever. Injury problems should melt away as the body heals itself. It's vegan (no animal products at all), sure, but it's really plant based whole foods vegan. No potato chips or any other processed stuff that doesn't happen to contain meat.  The main structure of the plan looks like this:

bananas and dates before morning workout
AM workout
frozen fruit smoothie breakfast
big-ass salad (kale, beans, avacado-lemon juice-soy sauce dressing, rasins, etc) lunch
Giant Steamer dinner (vegetables, beans, greens) topped with raw veg dinner
more fruit for dessert if needed

Sometimes my main workout comes in the evening, like swim practice tuesday and thursday, and obviously starting the day with fruits and fructose is designed to fuel that morning workout. Not entirely sure how that is going to play out.  I'm also going to push the core strength and yoga along with normal marathon training, so every day should (might) contain one swim/bike/run workout, and one strength and/or yoga time.  This stuff is high carb, high fiber, with lots of protein and very little fat. Everything is whole foods, nothing processed.  Let's go!

Monday Dec 2 2013
MMNW: 185.2 lbs, 22.2% bodyfat (Thanksgiving weekend was not kind on the scale)
1 banana, 2 dates
AM workout: run 3 miles, 25 minutes, treadmill, felt great.
Breakfast smoothie: banana, apple, spinach, frozen (peaches, canteloupe, blueberries), OJ, water
Lunch: oatmeal (soy milk, chia seeds, flax seeds, rasins, almonds), and some animal crackers
Dinner: Big salad - Romaine, avocado, pumpkin seeds, rasins, edamame. unbelievably good!
PM Workout: Yoga
Snack:

Oatmeal isn't paradigm (processed instant oats), neither is the soy milk. But we were out of town all weekend without enough groceries for a proper lunch. That dinner salad was amazing. Take a whole avocado and mash it up with the juice from 1 lemon and some soy sauce. incredible dressing for your salad.

My hope for this 2 week detox is that I will shred down some body fat, my right foot is hurting a little bit again so that should heal up, and it should become a habit. Dr Dave says that this style is very habit forming, I bet he's right. Challenge accepted!

Why Vegan (revisited)

I wanted to revisit the Why Vegan topic that I wrote about when we did go totally vegan at the first part of the year. It was really fantastic, and I really did enjoy it. But we couldn't make it into a habit, even after 2 solid months. I had a couple of expectations going into it that were all met, and a few that were disappointing.

Lately I've had vegan/vegetarianism on the brain again. Once you get into a plan like that for a couple of weeks, how it makes you feel, how you look, it's all very appealing. But those are the side affects of the lifestyle and it's not easy to maintain.

The biggest side effect that I was hoping for was faster recovery from the workouts, and I certainly got that. Only a few hours after a hard run and I'd be feeling great. Run in the morning and I'd be totally recovered for the swim that night.  Get some good sleep and I'm ready to hit the bike the next morning. That's the rhythm of Ironman training, you can keep up or get injured or get left behind.

The other thing that really worked for me was "looking my age". Meat and other animal products contain carcinogens and other elements that come naturally or are created through most cooking methods that prematurely age people. So what we normally think a 37 year old man should look like is what people used to think a 50 year old man looked like. When I had been vegan for a month, most people guessed my age at 25, but I got a few 23's in there and even started getting carded at bars again.  Once after showing a bartender my driver's license he actually said "holy shit man, good for you" because I looked so "young". I could challenge that concept by arguing that most others looked older than their actual age so the concept was skewed, but I really had no problems accepting that I looked over 10 years younger than I actually was.  it was pretty awesome.

What disappointed me was the weight loss. Weight loss is a side effect of a vegan diet, not an intended consequence. The body "right sizes" itself by getting rid of unneeded body fat. I knew from the way I was working out that I needed to get down to a certain weight (175 lbs, under 20% body fat) and I thought that being vegan would get me there. It did not.

The other thing that didn't work was the portion sizes. Supposedly you can eat just massive quantities of plants and fruit without gaining weight. Since I like eating massive quantities of food, that's what I did. The weight did not come off, there was no "right sizing", I stayed over 180 lbs and over 20% body fat the entire time. Now that is a totally normal weight for my height, and nobody would call me overweight or obese with those numbers. completely normal. But I wanted to get lean. The way I work out has to be fueled with a lot of energy. So I think the portion sizes I used were still out of control.

There are still plenty of bad vegan foods you can eat. French fries, potato chips, breads, pasta ( no egg noodles), and I really did stay away from most of those. We did mostly whole foods. It was really some incredibly tasty stuff. And no animal products at all. So when the weight didn't come off it just didn't seem worth it to me. The biggest problem is that I have a bowl of cereal every night before bed, and have since I was a teenager. Vegan milk, while fantastic in my oatmeal, sucks on cereal. And cereal is all processed carbs that have no place in a whole food based diet.

So you can imagine how I felt when the tendonitis put me on the sidelines for a few weeks. Fast recovery from the workouts is paramount to preventing injury, and that's one of the benefits of being vegan. I started back on the cereal wagon in March, and then added more dairy and eggs back in. Then by the summer we were cooking meat. The workouts get longer the farther you get into the training plan, and when I'm burning 2500 calories a day just during the workouts, and it can be really tough to get in 2500 calories a day total in a vegan diet, much less adequately fuel the body for the rest of the day after those work outs.

Yes we're not plant based anymore and haven't been for several months now. We just couldn't make it a habit once the workouts started getting harder and the weight wasn't coming off. I still read lots of books about diet and believe the science behind things like the Paradigm Diet and Vegucated. But my lifestyle takes milk and eggs. I'm still also frustrated with the amount of belly fat I'm carrying even though now my weight is down to 174 lbs and 18.6% body fat. I'll find the right way to get lean eventually, but this didn't turn out to be it. Close with some very nice benefits, but either it didn't work or I didn't do it right.

All the Crazy

This week was totally filled with insanity.  Kelley and the kids were in Disney World for the entire week, and that's a whole post by itself.  I had to stay in Raleigh, couldn't make the trip because I had to work.  Work turned out to be the most normal part of my week here by myself.

First peep the crazy ironman training

I had to move my swim from tuesday up to monday for a meeting.  So after work I had a chiropractor appointment at 5, swim practice at 6:45, and a meeting about the team web site afterwards.  I'm starting to work on the team's site some just to volunteer.  It feels so good to be back in with the RAM team again!  got in 3 practices this week.  It was a recovery week for the bike & run distances, so I kind of backed off a bit on those. 

Tuesday was as close to normal as the week got.  I biked before work, ran after work, and that was it.  Wednesday had a bike before work, sushi lunch with a friend, and after work a church meeting, then choir practice, then a 5 mile run.  Thursday had a bike before work, then afterwards a swim practice followed by a social event with the team.

A cool thing happened at the social event.  It was at a brewpub, one of my favorite breweries that is close to the pool.  I was the first to get there, but only 2 other people showed up.  Even the organizer bailed on us.  So when I get there, I hit the bar and order an IPA.  The bartender pours it, then comes back and asks for my ID.  When I tell him I'm old enough for that to be a compliment, he kind of laughs.  Then he sees my drivers license and actually says "Holy shit man, good for you! wow" and I bust out laughing.  Yes I really am 37 years old.  Yes I really look 23.  I blame the vegan and multisport lifestyle.

Then Friday.  Thank God for a rest day.  Even on the recovery weeks I'm incredibly glad for a rest day.  This guy at the office puts together a social lunch, and there's about 7 of us in this restaurant.  I happen to be sitting next to these two 24 year old girls retelling that story from the bar last night with the caveat that they may be too young to fully appreciate it.  I get the obligatory chuckle and a "yea, that's cute" from one of them.  And they really are nice friendly people.  So I have to tell them that I'm actually 37 and make jokes about how when I was graduating from college they were graduating up to using the big girl potty.  I got a serious double take on that one.  Turns out they actually believed that I was still in my early 20's as well. "my boyfriend is 25 and you totally look younger than him" and all that goodness. It came as quite a shock to them.

Seriously people.  I've always had a bit of a baby face.  If I let my hair grow to the length that most adult men keep it there is a lot of gray in there.  But I've only been vegan for 3 months and I swear it's gotten the wrinkles out of my face and kept my skin clear.  I didn't look this young when I actually was as young as I look now.  this is insane.

On the flip side of all that ego-boosting goodness, I think I may be overtrained a bit.  Yes with Kelley out of town I didn't have her incredible kitchen skills put to good use so I ate like crap all week. I was a really bad vegan. So I'm going to blame my poor eating choices for the way I felt during some of those workouts.  In fact I still feel like crap tonight compared to last sunday night.  Wednesday and thursday I woke up with an elevated heart rate.  Your resting heart rate when you wake is supposed to be the lowest point of the day.  And when I was singing in the choir both wednesday night and sunday morning in the service I had a tough time controlling my breath when singing.  Then the long run on Sunday (only 8 miles - nice recovery week) was incredibly rough.  It started out good but by 6 miles in my legs felt like lead, I had trouble keeping a steady breathing pattern and my form started to break down.  I don't know if this is because of eating take-out all week or the extra swim distance or just my body adjusting to the extra mileage of the ironman base phase.  Whatever it is I don't like it.  That's why I skipped sunday's bike ride too.  Welcome to BPD (bipolar posting disorder), where everything is wonderful one minute and horrible the next.  I am so incredibly looking forward to some clean home cooking this week and just hope that everything gets straightened out.

When it's all said and done I put up 8600 meters in the pool, 80.75 miles on the bike, and 18 miles running for a total of ~9:40 in workout time for just s/b/r.  Great recovery week, lots of social activity, really missed the wife and kids while they were gone.  It's not a bad week for them to be gone however, since it was difficult for me to get home before 10 pm.  That's the way it happens sometimes. 

This week is already off to a roaring start.  Wild and busy times coming up around here!  And I'll be posting tons of pics and stories from the Disney trip as soon as I can get organized.

Eat & Run

I just finished off reading Scott Jurek's book Eat & Run about being vegan and running ultramarathons.  It was, in a word, incredible.

Scott really puts himself out there in this book.  It's an autobiography in the truest sense of the word.  He covers a lot of family dynamics, dealing with disease and the loss of his mother, and the brutal Minnesota winters.  There's also a lot of upside and positive aspects about becoming vegan and how he made the connection between food, fuel, speed, and winning ultramarathons.

Scott Jurek was a runner and cross country skier in high school, then as an adult turned into an ultramarathon champion winning Western States 7 times after going totally vegan.  In the book he puts recipes and meal plans out there, including how he fuels up for long runs.  The stories he tells are incredible, inspiring, and truthful.  There are lots of high points and low points that he had to go through to become a true champion, and he gives up all the glorious details. 

Since I've been vegan this year I'm seeing considerably faster recovery times and he talks about that a lot in the book.  I was surprised how much I was able to relate to his story.  He gives a lot of detail about the conversion process into being vegan and how it affected his training. 

He also talks a lot about his involvement in Born to Run, which was quite enlightening.

I can't say how much I really enjoyed this book. Two thumbs up!  Get a copy if you haven't already read it!

A day of eating

A good local training buddy asked me to post about a typical day's eats, and today was a typical day so I figured it's as good as any to sample.  He's been vegetarian for a few years now and wants to spot the differences in going vegan.  Today was a great vegan day and a fine day for ironman training, so it's a good slice of life.

5:50 AM: Up and at 'em.  Ate a banana before hitting the gym.  45 minutes on the stationary bike hill program, covered 15 miles in 44:54.  that's a touch slower than normal.

7 AM: I eat the same breakfast every day. 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, microwave for 2 mins, top with a banana, rasins, and a spoonfull of chia seeds and flax seed.

8 AM: At work.  Today I was polishing a data transfer script like it was my knob.  It took all day, with other meetings and "work stuff" going on. I also make (and drink) an entire 12 cup pot of coffee every day.  I take it black, no cream or sugar.  Now that I have some teammates who drink coffee, they get a few cups in the morning and a few in the afternoon.  But I bet I still consume an entire pot by myself.  I used to drink 1 pot in the morning and 1 in the afternoon as well, but now I end up sharing.

11:30 AM: I brought my lunch today and ate at my desk while reading blogs.  I ended up with a bigger lunch than normal, I just went a little crazy this morning with the leftovers.  I made a burrito with some leftover black beans & rice, then added some leftover tofu crumble taco stuff that also had black beans in it.  Also threw some guacamole (homemade) and salsa (storebought) on there, with Texas Pete.  That's a massive burrito.

I also brought a pita and hummus (homemade), which is a current addiction.  It made a great side.  And I grabbed 2 desserts we had in the fridge, a raw vegan brownie and a raw vegan cinnamon roll.  The cool thing about raw vegan desserts is that they taste like dessert and are completely yummy, but still consist of healthy ingredients so they are totally guilt free.

The cinnamon rolls in question.  One with glaze and one without, just for effect. 

Typically I'll bring leftovers or a green smoothie into the office for lunch.  That means the dinners are really great.  Other lunch options include the cafeteria at the office (open for breakfast and lunch) or just whole fruit.  Throw 3 bananas and 3 apples in a bag and get out the door.  It's a very filling lunch.

5:15 PM: Back home after work and time to play with the kids for a bit. They eat dinner at 5:30, Kelley and I usually join them between 5:30 and 6.  Tonight's dinner was particularly spectacular.  It was some mashed sweet potatoes, sautee'd red cabbage, dressing, and another pita and hummus.  That's going to be some great leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

6:45 PM: choir practice at the church.  I sang my heart out, it was a really good time.

8:45 PM: Back home and the kids were still up.  I got to read a bedtime story.  Since I'm out of the pool until March 1 letting the tattoo heal up, I get to settle into the DVR.  Typically then I'd hit the treadmill for 5 miles in zone 2.  I think since I can't swim tomorrow night I'll just do the run then.  So wednesday is typically a bike morning and run evening workout day.  That has to be followed by a big snack.

10 PM: Snack time.  This used to be cereal in milk.  Sometimes, it still is.  Tonight it was just another cinnamon roll.  They are too good!  Other typical evening snacks include another pita with hummus, or an entire large bag of microwave popcorn.  Kelley really likes the popcorn too.

11 PM: Bedtime.  It should be earlier than that.  Typically my evening workout starts at either 6:45 (swim practice) or 8 pm when the kids go to bed.  Coming down from the workout high, and eating enough after the workout then catching some TV and/or QT with my lady will keep the evening crash until at least 11, typically. 

I thought this was hilarious.  Apparently, when I slept the night I got the new tat, I was still enough for the ink to transfer a pattern onto the sheets.  And yes those are fleece sheets with penguins on them.  They are comfortable enough for me to actually use fleece sheets with penguins on them.

So that's what a vegan athlete in the early stages of an Ironman training plan typically eats on a typical day.  Highlighted by a big-ass burrito. 

In other news, Bigun lost another tooth tonight! It's only her 3rd tooth to come out, and she pulled it herself.  We didn't get a toothless pic yet.  But the tooth fairy has to come tonight!  And tomorrow morning holds another bike ride.