Tripin

Today's Monday Morning Naked Weight (MMNW) was a bit dissapointing, but not by much.

Last week: 198.8 lbs, 25.6% body fat
Today: 197.6 lbs, 25.1% body fat
Loss of 1.2 lbs, 0.5% body fat
Total loss: 10.2 lbs, 3.4%


So I crossed the 10 lb mark officially. But it's been 4 weeks and I was hoping to be closer to 14 or 15 lbs. I blew it this weekend. But that was a blast.


I think the Snail tried to kill me saturday morning. I spent the weekend in Atlanta taking some travel time. The trip was fantastic. I got into town friday night after dropping the girls off at my parents house in Greenville. I got to hang with my God-parents which is always a blast.

Then Saturday morning I met the Snail out for a trail run. We decided to take a trail around Kennesaw mountain. Actually, we went OVER Kennesaw. The total run was exactly 6.2 miles. We power hiked what wasn't runnable. That was all of the steep climbing and going up over rock faces. The run was amazing. We ended up climbing two smaller mountains before going to the top of Big Kennesaw. I actually had to stop a few times just to lean against something and catch my breath. thought I would puke. it was awesome. You could see all of Atlanta from the top! And I had no camera (boo).

Saturday afternoon I got to meet up with one of the guys I used to work with down there. Ever been to a Taco Mac? It was really cool. 200 beers on tap. Plus just being in a sports bar in Georgia while watching a UGA football game on 15' tv's..... You should have heard the way that place exploded with every Bulldog touchdown. Go Dawgs! of course they lost though. tough season for the Dawgs; and they were playing Auburn. I had wings, nachos, and plenty of beers. That's why the loss was only 1.2 lbs.

Sunday I got to have lunch with Wes before hitting the road again. He's all ramped up and ready to knock down IMAZ next weekend. Good luck bro!

The rest of my training was really good last week. I got in 4 runs (20 miles), a bike ride, 2 yoga's and 2 Tri Power workouts. Would have shown a decent weight loss if it wasn't for those wings. Bad vegetarian; bad.

Going Down!

Yesterday's MMNW came in at 198.8 with a body fat at 25.6%. That's a 2.4 lb loss from last week and a 0.8% drop in body fat. Total weight loss so far is 9.8 lbs, not bad for 3 weeks! It is incredibly nice to be under 200 again. That hasn't happened for several months. I'm getting anxious about 195. That was the spring low and my lowest weight in about 2 years.

I've got a bike ride coming up. My friends talked me into doing a 2 mountain climb in a couple of saturdays. It's going to be a blast. but I don't want to push any more weight than neccesary up those hills. The two mountains combined are about the climbing and distance of Paris mountain that I've climbed a few times in SC, but there are some steeper inclines (20% grades) and 12 miles in between the two mountains that we get to ride out and back. I can't wait.

I'm still riding the Ironman registration high. Knowing it's on makes it seem so much more real. IMFL 11 baby!

I'm in!

It's on like Donkey Kong!

Today is the day that registration opened up and I can't believe I actually got in. I am registered and ready to roll.

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Any recommendations on a hotel to stay at?

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instant registration shock.

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Summer of 2008 I ran my first sprint triathlon. I thought those people who did ironmans were fucking insane.

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Summer of 2009 I decided that Ironman Florida was the one for me if I ever went fucking insane. Fall 2009 I did the Beach 2 Battleship half and after doing a half I knew I could do the whole thing. I prepared to sign up for IMFL 2010. Kelley wasn't down with that so we agreed to delay for a year, hence the 2010 "Ironman Prep Year".

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Prep year done. I still totally freaked out after actually getting in. Ironman is only for the completely fucking insane.

(semi) Wordless Wednesday

Bigun in her Marathon Maniacs 26.2 shirt. She loves the running club.

Do not give Evil Genius a pair of boxing gloves. Word.

My saturday night halloween costume. The actual costume was Pro Wrestler, but the general perception was either Transvestite or Gay Leopard.

It was fierce.

Fear The Dragon!

Intimidating, isn't it?

Kelley was a boxer. Also quite intimidating. She drew on a black eye that looked real.

Bigun went as Princess Aurora, and Evil Genius went as Woody.

Went trick or treating with some of the neighborhood kids.


Sunday afternoon we all ran in the Monster Dash. Even the kids ran the 1 mile race, and they did great! Everybody ran in costume. I wore a fairy costume instead of the wrestler getup.

You didn't think I could get any more gay than the wrestler costume, did you?
Wings. Pink wings. I ran a mile in public in pink wings as a fairy.




These were in an online gallery from the local newspaper

Woody. Too cute.

MMNW: 201.2 for a week 2 loss of exactly 0 pounds. I'm ok with it. I ate no halloween candy. I got no workouts in the whole weekend. Monday night I ran 6 miles nice and slow, and tuesday morning weighed in at 199. So I'm ok with it.

Happy Halloween!

First Week MMNW

Well the first week on the Racing Weight plan is in the books and the result:

7.4 LB LOSS!!! Down to 201.4 today, and the bodyfat percentage was down from 28.1% to 26.2%!!

I am very happy about this. I know every week won't be that big of a loss, but dang it feels good. The second week usually is a lot less than the first week, if you ever watch the Biggest Loser. So I'm not expecting to lose 7+ lbs every week.

My magic number I think is around 1800 calories a day. I'm loving the www.trainingpeaks.com software. Putting everything in there isn't that much of a burden, and the tracking is totally worth it. I'm sure in time I will get used to eating the same counts, and not need the software anymore. But for now it's a big time saver!

The workouts have been great. 4 days of running, 1 day on the bike and some active rest. Saturday night I went out for a friend's going away party and consumed over 1700 calories (including 4 pints of beer and a guacomole burger). Sunday I ran 9.5 miles at a slow 6.2 mph pace to make up for the cheat meal saturday night. It all evens out.

Next week hopefully I'll break 200! Now it's time for another workout.

A New Dawn

October is here, and yes it's halfway over and this is my first post. It's time to be honest and open about a few things though, starting with September.

September Totals:
Swim: 4 swims, 4112 yards
Bike: 4 rides, 159 miles
Run: 7 runs, 36.3 miles
Strength: 2 workouts, 30 minutes total
Yoga: None at freaking all.

In September, I did the half ironman and a 5k and that was about all. I'm into solid offseason mode and enjoying it. I'm also enjoying eating anything I felt like through September. MAYBE 1 workout a week. Same trend through the first half of October too.

I totally blew off the Pinehurst Oly. Offseason, I am fat and slow and out of shape. The truth is that I was pretty overweight and sluggish through the half ironman too. This year I timed my peak (NOT on purpose) about mid-summer, maybe even early summer. This obviously did not bode well for the late summer/fall racing.

I love October. The leaves, the cooler temps, it finally feels good and looks good outside after months of that hell we call summer in the deep south. Normally this time I'm dying to get out on the bike, climb some hills, see some leaves. Instead I'm getting excited about the orange halloween boxes at the Krispy Kreme. I'm still loving the college football, the baseball playoffs, all that stuff is great. but my body... not so much.

I have decided that I cannot push this 200 lb + body any faster than 18 mph consistently on the bike. I cannot push this 200 lb + body any faster than about 9 minute miles while running. I need to be more aerodynamic in the water to swim faster. That means this belly has got to go.

Racing Weight:

Last night I finished reading the book Racing Weight. It was very good overall. It is not a diet book as much as it is a book about your diet and how it relates to your training plan. The author is a nutritionist and avid triathlete, and he really does know his stuff. As a nerd, I could certainly appreciate how much science went into this plan.

The book's plan is based around a 5 point system:

• Improve your diet quality
• Balance your energy sources
• Timing Nutrition
• Manage your appetite
• Training Right

The basic approach is to keep a 60% carbs, 20% fat, 20% protein macronutrient mixture. Which really means to eat a shit ton of vegetables. I can certainly get on board with this. The author likes to give food types a point system where you can add up what you eat instead of feeling like it's a restriction.

I like the parts about timing nutrition around your workouts. The funny part is that most of the log entries are simply suggesting "a balance of high quality foods". You go high carb, mid-protein, and low fat before and after the workout, then get a good balance with your other meals.

He also likes supplements, which I find unusual since the rest of the book is all about grass fed and organic everything. But still I'm willing to go along with it. I know the Gatorade I've been using has way to much sugar.

I was expecting the training chapter to be more concise. It basically came to the conclusion that high intensity interval style training and medium intensity long slow distance (LSD) workouts in commbination will provide the best weight loss formula for both carb stores and fat stores. So you mean I need to do an interval run, a tempo run, and a long run every week? Good thing I haven't been doing that for the last year. Oh wait.

Basically, this book breaks down the same thing every other book says with science. and the science is cool. And he is a big advocate of tracking both nutrition and workouts.

My Plan:

I'm starting today. It's monday. I started an account on Training Peaks, and I'm logging everything. Even that I drank 6 cups of coffee at work today. I'm actually cutting down on the coffee, so I'm hoping that tracking it will help.

The starting point: 10/18/10 Monday Morning Nude Weight (MMNW): 208.6 lbs

This is a far cry from the 195 of the spring that got me into those tiny jeans. But I'm not interested in tiny jeans. I'm not interested in fit of anything. I want speed. The racing weight theory is that thinner leads to faster. and when I was 135 lbs I was running sub-6 minute miles all the time.

The finish line: 160 lbs goal weight

There is always bounce back, so I'm going to try and get down somewhere in the 150's and then allow a "comfort release" to stay around 160. I know this means losing almost 50 lbs. and that ain't easy or fast. But it is time.

I'm going to get there slowly and by making smart choices. Calories in, calories out. I'm only going to run through the winter. Sure I might occaisionally bike or swim just as cross training, but abandoning my last tri of the season was really a precursor to totally running dominance. The book does a good job of examining the different endurance sports The author is my same height, and has the same basic build by his own description. His starting point was also right around 210. He is now very comfortable and fast at 157. He purposely keeps a different weight and uses different supplements during tri season than when he's just running.

Today I took in 1781 calories and burned off 823 with a fast 5 mile tempo run after work.

Get a body fat scale. I just picked one up and haven't figured out how to use it yet. The biggest goal of getting lean is to get (for me) down to a single digit body fat percentage. The program is supposed to keep your muscle and help shed just the fat. We should already be in pretty good shape as endurance athletes. So muscle is there, just bring it to the surface.

Eat real foods, mostly plants. During the time when I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted, I put down a lot of chicken wings and drank a lot of beer. Both are off limits. A vegetarian or mostly vegetarian lifestyle will provide the fiber and carbs needed to hit the 60% mark. Veggies are carbs any way you can get them. Fruits are carbs, and they are really good. If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not really hungry. The author stresses calcium intake as well, so be sure to get plenty of milk and yogurt. Whole grains are great.

Watch the calories around normal times. After getting into the office I would eat a Fiber One bar (150 calories) around 10:00, then a PowerBar (240 calories) before working out over lunch. Lunch is sensible, but sometimes also had a protein bar on the way back to the office after working out. then a 3:30 snack, another energy bar (Clif Bar anyone?) before the post-work workout, then maybe another protein bar. Now I'm going to start out with only one workout a day, and one energy bar before. I still need to get new supplements for pre-during-and post- workout consumption. But the total of the three should not exceed more than 150 calories and must contain a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. Most gatoradeish drinks have no protein. This should make a huge difference.

No spring marathon. This is a tough one, as I love a spring marathon and really want to run the Tobacco Road full marathon again. But marathon training does not promote weight loss. Get lean to get fast means a bunch of 5k, 10k, and half marathons. My main goal for next year is still Ironman Florida. So the summer and fall will bring on all the century rides and full marathons that I can handle. Until I see 160 lbs, it's all running and no long distances.

At 190 lbs, I'm getting my next tattoo. I need a mid-point motivator. And I'm not going to reveal what it's going to be, but I've wanted it for several months now. And I haven't seen 18X lbs since around the time we got married (12 years ago), so this is a real milestone.

I made the best snack tonight. I started with a piece of wheat toast, and added ketchup and mustard, and some texas pete. Then topped it with a Boca Veggie burger, and topped that with a fried egg. It. Was. Amazing. Small carbs from one piece of bread, but good protein in the veg burger and egg, and some fat being fried in olive oil.

Olive oil and avacados are your friends. So are nuts, specifically almonds. Limit the use, but don't be scared of them. I'm also going to start taking fish oil supplements and adding flax seed into my morning oatmeal to be sure I get enough fat.

At 160 lbs, Lance Armstrong is considered to be one of the heavier cyclists on the pro tour. I have no hopes of Lance speed, but I know the correlation between body weight and speed. Body weight and Ironman have a special relationship too. So am I crazy or do you think this sounds reasonable? Get a copy of the book if you want to try it. I'll be glad to share my tracking along with anyone else if you want to give it a shot too.

Grrrrr - a 5k Race Report

The Biggest Loser 5k in Myrtle Beach SC was this saturday. I was really trying to PR since this was my only 5k this year. I might end up with a turkey trot or something, but now is the time to really go for it. My runs have been fast lately and I was feeling good.

Before the race:


Being that this was a Biggest Loser 5k, trainer Bob Harper was there. So were Phil and Amy (from SC), Ali and Helen who were the first two female winners. There was also a giant (like 6'7") former contestant that I didn't recognize. It was very inspirational. The tv crews were there, and the episode is supposed to air on Thanksgiving. The theme was "Don't Compete, Just Complete". so there were a ton of walkers. And they all wanted to be up near the front where Bob the trainer was speaking. Apparently, they are doing 20 of these events next year and this one was the pilot. We had 2600 people signed up to run between the 5k and the 1 mile runs!

So they gave the inspirational "get America moving" speech, which is certainly something that I can get behind. But I don't think they specified the "get the hell out of my way" point quite effectively enough. The starting gun went off and we didn't move. Remember, we were maybe 30 feet behind the starting line. The former contestants led things off, and I don't remember passing them but apparently I did.

The start was incredibly congested. I started the Garmin as soon as I crossed the timing mat, and it was a full 2 minutes until I finally was able to get under a 10 minute pace! So much for PR-ing. They never said walkers should stay to the right! I didn't think you could fit that many people in the first 35 ft of a race. But I must have passed a hundred people in the first few minutes. Kelley got to talk some with Ali, one of the winners and share her weight loss story. And that meant I was going to have to stay closer to an 8 minute pace to have a chance to PR rather than the 8:20 pace I was going to try.

Once I made my way past the walkers I checked my pace. 6:54, too fast. slow down. 7:04, still too fast. 7:02, damnit slow down or your going to burn out. Even with the congestion at the start I checked my distance for the first time at 1.2 miles, about 9:20. That's way too fast, no way I can hold it.

Bob the trainer ran with the crowd some. I almost caught him, he was maybe two people ahead of me when he peeled off from the pack to join the 1 milers at their start. I still got to yell a "Hey Bob Rock on!" when I went past him and he did acknowlege it. That was kind of cool.

At 1.7 miles my abs gave out. I walked a little bit just to catch up so I could hang onto an 8 minute pace to try and muscle it out. But that's what happens when you start out too fast. The abs can't hold up. Plus they said there were two water stops along the route and I was surprised to get past halfway before seeing the first one. But I walked the water stop at 1.9 miles and a couple more times after that. But after that first water stop I couldn't hold pace consistently for any real distance.

About 2.5 miles in I just decided to stray out at a 9 minute pace. Still had to walk once more. But I should have been able to finish it out.

The route was fantastic. It was really flat, a lot of time off of the roads. It wound through an amusement park, through parking lots, and finished on the boardwalk. Once again, management was the key. Navigate the traffic at the start and keep an even pace that you can hold throughout the race. Consistency is the key.

The goal to finish was under 26:00 for a PR. When I crossed the mat I stopped the garmin at 28:16. Missed it by that much. Still I put up a valiant effort.

The official results came in, and my chip time was 26:35. I was much closer than I thought! Not sure how the chip time was that much faster than the garmin time, but ok I'll take it. Finished 133 out of 1945 finishers, which is still much higher than I was expecting too. But top 10% is nice!

Kelley at the finish after the race. She finished in 31:06 and had a great time!

My friend Mae Anne found me after the race. Blogger meetups are the best! Her husband and kids were there too and they were so sweet.

And Kelley got a pic with the big man Bob Harper! He was greeting people at the finish line, but wasn't there when either one of us finished. But during a spot while there wasn't very many people were crossing the line, she grabbed him for a pic. Bob is awesome! He was so cool and personable, I was totally starstruck.

We had to find some shade after the race. It was HOT! 90+ degrees out there. It's almost october people! this is stupid. At least we got medals.

Kelley's mom and Gene came down with us for the weekend, so they kept the girls while we were racing, and brought them to the finish line while we were running. It was great having everyone down there. The kids absolutely went nuts for the beach and the hotel.

Have you ever been to Myrtle Beach before? It's the tackiest beach in the country. You either love it or you hate it. I hate it. It's the redneck's riviera. I'm not real big on beaches to begin with, but MB has got to be the bottom of the barrel. It is the redneck's riviera.

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I saw not one but TWO pregnant women in bikini's at the same time at the same pool in our hotel. Fortunately, only one of them was smoking. Kelley said she saw a third show up later.

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I left the pool to go for a walk on the beach. Now the speedo I use in the pool was the only swimsuit I had on the trip, so that's what I wore to the beach. I am glad that I can say I was not the oldest, fattest, or only guy in a speedo on that beach.

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I saw more exposed boobies on that beach than was really necessary. Those guys really should have covered up.

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The beach was kind of crowded, but not by peak summer standards. Still, there was between 800 and 900 women out on that beach. Approximately 750 were wearing bikini's. 2 of those women were actually dateable (if I was in a position to notice dateable women which I'm not). Maybe 30 of those women were under age 50.

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The pool, the beach, everywhere else in Myrtle Beach except the race site. It was a parade of "what not to wear". Or at least "what not to wear when you're that damn old". or that size. or both. So I fit in great.

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So final thoughts: Great race. Well organized. Great cause. I might be on national TV. MB sucks but it is a flat place to race. My bottom line is my bottom. I am still carrying around 200 - 207 lbs, and I just can't push 8 minute miles at that weight. I also can't push the bike faster that 18 mph consistently (see Patriots race report) at that weight. I have started reading Racing Weight, and it's time to admit that I can't get any faster without slimming down. Even this weekend, I need to make Ryan's dreams come true and hit the beach in that Speedo thong, but make it look good like he does. Is it going to get boring if I start posting some weight numbers?