Run with Eric [Search results for fitness] 

The truth about long-distance triathlon (or any endurance sport, for that matter) is that you can't fake fitness. Sure, if you are reasonably fit and have some raw talent, you can go fast at a shorter distance. But a half-ironman is too long to fake it, no matter who you are.
So, I started the race with a solid base of swim training, some good work done on the bike, but nowhere near the consistency I would have liked to have in my run training. Life, sickness, the occasional little injury... it happens.
Based on the above, my race pretty panned out exactly how I thought it would.
Swim - 27:41. My best split in a half-ironman by about 30 seconds and my first time under 28 min. My swim training fell off a bit over the last month, so if I can keep up the frequency that I had over the winter, I am sure I can get down in the 26's. The swim itself was uneventful, aside from getting once kicked in the stomach and again in the mouth when I swam over some slower swimmers (hey, it happens). The stomach kick actually hurt, I had to flip over and do a few strokes of backstroke to catch my breath.
Got into transition, did the switch into my bike gear and was off. I still need to work on my transition speed. 3:58... geez, you'd think I stopped for a cup of coffee while I was in there.
Bike - 2:36:42 (21.44mph). About a minute slower than last year... but about what I expected. The three climbs stung a bit more than I remembered, but I felt very good on the flatter sections. My recent bike changes (new Adamo Road saddle) and switch to S-bend aero bar extensions worked out great... rock solid in the aerobars for everything but the steepest part of the climbs when I got out of the saddle. Which is more than I can say for a lot of guys I saw on super-blinged out Cervelo's, Trek TTX's and various other super-bikes with deep Zipp wheels with aero helmets, sitting up with their hands on their bar ends on the flats. Seriously, just buy a damn road bike. The conditions were the windiest that I've seen the four years I've competed here, there were a few sketchy sections. Some of the other athletes running super-deep front wheels were getting blown around quite a bit. Even with a (relatively) shallow 50mm front wheel, a rear disc, and weighing 190lbs I was holding on for a dear life on Deadman's Curve (this is a speed-limited descent where an athlete died in 2000 when the race was a full Ironman). However the wind was a quartering tail wind on the run back into transition, which made the last 10 miles a lot of fun.
Off the bike and into transition. 1:48 then off onto the run course
Run - 1:34:16 (7:11/mile). Felt pretty good coming out of transition, but I was cautiously optimistic. 6:50's the first few miles. Just tried to stay relaxed. Water and gatorade at every aid station. Added Coke to the menu at Mile 7. Based on my overall lack of mileage, I had a feeling that I might run (excuse the pun) into trouble around mile 9 or 10. That's exactly what happened. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Regardless, I stopped to work out a cramp at around Mile 8.5, walked though the aid station at mile 10, drank two cups of Coke and got back on my way. The 6:50's became 7:30's... managed to hold it together and even put on a little surge to pass two guys on the final stretch.
Overall time: 4:44:25, a whopping 34th in my AG... damn I'm glad to be aging up next year.
For those who care about this stuff... here's my nutrition plan for the race... which despite my poor finish, was pretty on target. Good nutrition can't give you fitness that isn't there..
pre-race brekkie2 cups of coffee2 slice of wheat toast, pb and jellysipped on water bottle all morningimmediately before swim - 1 GU
bike2 bottles with 2 scoops of First Endurance EFS + 1 scoop of CarboPro (roughly 300 cals each)1 bottle of water9 Thermolyte salt tablets (5 at 1 hr mark, 4 at 2 hr mark)2 GU's
rungatorade and water at every aid station, Coke starting at mile 7. 3 more Thermolytes at mile 4

People don't talk about it much, but you've been there. A injury puts you on the sideline for a few days, maybe longer. Those days turn into a week or two. Maybe three. And the discipline that you apply to your workout regimen also applies to your nutrition. But, when the workout regimen goes south so does the diet and the time off from injury not only results in lost fitness, but a few (more than a few?) extra pounds that makes the road to recovery that much longer.

Last week on a run, I pulled up lame with a strained calf muscle. I felt it starting to hurt about 3 miles into the session and at exactly 3.86 miles (gotta love my Garmin), a sharp pain and I was limping back to car. Fortunately it was only a mile walk back to the car.

I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not frustrated. I am hugely frustrated. This is my third significant, activity-limiting injury, in the last 12 months. Getting old(er) sucks. Last spring, it was achilles tendonitis that had me abandon running for 8 months. In November, I strained a back muscle during an overly vigorous sprint effort on the Concept2. And now this.

For the twenty minute walk back to the car and most of the remaining day, I pondered what to do and how I could preserve the fitness gains I've made over the winter. Running is out for at least a couple weeks. Cycling too. Maybe rowing after a few days since there it's not weight-bearing. Ramp up my strength work. But how do I avoid the dreaded injury-related weight gain.

The Paleo diet had intrigued me for some time. Put simply, it focuses on lean meat, fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. No dairy. No grains. Granted, I am still learning what is "allowed" and what isn't, so I'm sure I'm eating some things that aren't strictly on the program. And I refuse to cook myself totally separate meals, so there will be some compromises as I prepare meals that both my family and I can eat.

So, on March 1, I decided to give it a try. It is the perfect time as it is never good to drastically change eating habits during a heavy training cycle and my current activity level is low due to the injury. I'm not going to journal every day, but thought I would share the first few days to provide a sense of how it's going.

Tuesday, March 1, Day 1 - Weight 209.6

Breakfast - coffee w/sugar (drinking it black is something I need to work up to), scrambled eggs, sliced apples
Lunch - fruit smoothie (almond milk, strawberries, melon, banana, soy protein powder)
Snack - handful of almonds
Dinner - sauteed chicken thighs (in olive oil), steamed broccoli, green salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. The rest of the family had brown rice which I skipped.
Snack - 2 oranges

No exercise today. Feel pretty normal, actually. A little hungry at night, but not too bad.

Wednesday, March 2, Day 2 - Weight 204.8 (seriously)

Breakfast - Coffee w/sugar, apples with peanut butter (peanuts are not strictly Paleo, but I haven't had a chance to buy almond butter).
Snack - fruit smoothie (almond milk, strawberries, melon, banana, soy protein powder)
Lunch - mixed green and spinach salad with sliced deli turkey, ham and homemade vinaigrette dressing
Snack - Muscle Milk protein drink
Dinner - Sauteed chicken breast (in olive oil), green peas, pinto beans (opps, not Paleo). Kids had rice as well.

Did an morning 10K (40:49) on the rowing machine. Felt more tired than usual, but that could be due to the fact that I haven't done an aerobic exercise in a week. Evening strength workout. Pushups, core plus 30 min of 30:30 circuits on TRX. Energy a little low today, but surprisingly no hunger pangs.

Another update in a few days.

Things have been pretty crazy around Casa Flores for the last month with my family visiting from California and what, at times, seemed like endless stream of parties to cook and prepare for. So after nearly six weeks focused on celebrating with friends and family, it's time to look toward the future on how to make the new year even better than the last.

2010 was a huge year of change for me and my family. In August, we moved from the beaches of sunny San Diego to the mountains of West Virginia in order for my wife to pursue a lifelong goal of hers, which was to work at The Greenbrier. The stars aligned for her, as she is now playing a key role in the rebirth of the resort... truly exciting times. We swapped roles as she took over the responsibility of primary breadwinner as I quit my job at a telecommunications company and effectively ended my career in technology sales to take over as the primary caregiver for our two young daughters. This has a been a incredible blessing. My relationship with my kids has improved dramatically. Not that it was bad before, but we are much closer now than when I was working full-time.

The other blessing that has come out of the last few months is that the downtime has allowed me to do some thinking about how I want to focus my energies going forward.

Primary 2011 goal - To leverage my experience and passion for endurance sports and fitness by providing coaching and training services, primarily focused on beginner/novice athletes who are looking to use endurance sports as a way to open the door to a fit and healthy lifestyle. The state of West Virginia suffers from some the highest obesity rates in the country, despite the ample outdoor activities that are available here. My aim is to help stem the tide of this epidemic one individual at a time by becoming an evangelist and an educator. The first step is to educate myself more fully and I am currently in the process of obtaining my NASM Certified Personal Training Certification and later this year will pursue my USAT Triathlon Level 1 Certification. Much, much more on this to come as this plan comes to fruition. Stay tuned.

Of course, I have some personal fitness goals as well, some big picture and some more fun little challenges.

• Become a runner again. After six months off, it's healed and time to get back to it. And get back to 80 min half-marathon shape by the end of the summer.
• Row a 6:40 2K on my Concept2 indoor rower. My original time frame was by December 1. A back injury last month derailed my efforts somewhat, but I am back (pun intended) and will be posting my progress here regularly as I try to achieve this goal by February 1.
• Row 2,000,000 lifetime meters by April 31. (at 1,048,829m as of Jan 4)
• Sub 4:30 Half Ironman Triathlon. Goal race - PPD Beach to Battleship Triathlon
• Complete both TRX 40/40 challenges (upper body = low row/atomic pushups, lower body = hip press, suspended lunges)

It's Friday night, the house is asleep... all except for me. This happens to me occasionally. I'm very tired, but for some reason my mind won't shut off.

It's been a solid last 2 weeks of training to kick off the year. In the last 12 days, I've managed 23 hrs of training including 235 miles on the bike, 59 miles of running and 6.5K swimming. Ok, so the swimming is an afterthought... but the bike/run totals are decent, no? After this weekend's workouts, I should end up right around 29 hours.

Anyways, for me that's pretty solid volume. Tomorrow, I going for a group ride with one of the local racing teams here in San Diego, Celo Pacific. It's billed as a low/medium intensity ride... but I have a feeling I'm going to be struggling to hang on. It should be interesting. Sunday, I have a 16 mile run on the schedule.

Tomorrow is 12 weeks out from Oceanside, so these next 6-7 weeks are very critical for laying down as much volume as I can handle. I will probably need one recovery week in there somewhere, the exact timing is still to be determined. About 4-5 weeks out, I'll start to up the intensity a bit with longer race-pace and faster-than-race pace efforts and then it's taper time. It will be here quick so I can't slack off now.

As long as I can avoid getting injured and stay healthy, things are right on track. I am racing in a hilly half marathon on Feb 9 (San Dieguito). That will be a good measure of my fitness. All my training data put me far ahead of where I was this time last year, but the race will be an even better indicator.

Recently, I've been religious about wearing my SLS3 (pronounced SLS-tri) compression socks. My friend from track, Sebastian, owns the company and sold me on them. While the looks are questionnable, they feel fantastic. I've been wearing them after nearly every long bike ride or run and my recovery between workouts has been excellent. While, I'd like to think that all of that is due to my fitness... I will give the socks a bit of the credit.

I also recently picked up a pair of Skins compression tights. After the 120 mile ride last Saturday, my legs were feeling pretty wobbly. So I decided to wear them for my long run the following day. I managed 12 miles and again, the compression seemed to help. My legs never felt sore and afterwards I had very little DOMS. Quite surprising considering what I had put my legs through in the previous 36 hours.

So, yeah, I'm a fan of the compression gear. It is working for me.

Now I'd better get some rest for that ride tomorrow.

'Til next time.

I haven't been running lately due to my Achilles injury. In an attempt to maintain some modicum of fitness, I've rediscovered something with which I was painfully familiar with my freshman year in college. You see, I rowed as a novice collegiate rower way back in 1989-90 and learned how to use the torture device pictured above, also known as a Concept 2 rowing machine. Or as rowers affectionately call it, the erg.

The Concept2 is a well-loved (hated?) machine, and is the standard indoor rowing machine used by competitive rowers throughout the world. There is a World Indoor Rowing Championships (called the C.R.A.S.H.-B's) hosted in Boston, MA every year, as well as satellite
competitions in 21 major cites around the U.S. and Canada. The Concept2 company hosts a online logbook (www.concept2.com/logbook) and ranking page for rowing enthusiasts to compare their performances with others around the world.

The standard distances for rankings are 500m, 2K, 5K, 10K, half-marathon (21,097m), full marathon (42,195m) and 100K. There are also rankings sheets for distance completed in 4 min, 30 min and 60 minutes.

My online ranking page on the Concept2 website is here.

The benefits of rowing are significant. It activates all the major muscle groups (legs, back, arms, core), is non-impact and provides a tremendous cardiovascular workout. More on this to come in later post

The most frustrating thing about being injured is not getting to do what you love. Running on a nearly daily basis has been a part of my life for so long now that not being able to do it is screwing me up.

I'm trying to fill the gaps with hitting the weights, riding the bike and the pool as much as I can. But it is sort of like trying to fulfill a burger craving with a Big Mac. Yeah, its a burger. But it's no Double-Double.

And as much as I love getting out on the bike, which I truly do... most of the time, my schedule doesn't really allow for daily outdoor rides. So, instead of the daily run to get my head straight, I'm lifting weights or hitting the trainer or jumping in the pool... when most of the time, I'd rather be slipping on my running shoes.

But, the good news is that I'm on the mend. After a handful of short treadmill runs to gently test the Achilles, I went for my first outdoor run yesterday in nearly 2 (!) months. 30 minutes. 3.6 miles... at a glacial 8:10 pace. Well, it didn't feel glacial... actually it felt like I was running pretty hard, but I guess that's what happens when you get out of shape.

The achilles still has some twinges every now and then, but I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm out of the woods and will be back to the daily runs within a few weeks.

On the flip side of the coin, while my run fitness has fallen through the floor, my cycling is getting stronger. On Sunday, I did a ride I'm calling the Three Sisters. For those familiar with North County San Diego, the climbs are West Lilac, Old 395 to Deer Springs and Twin Valley Oaks to San Elijo. Below is a pic of the profile... the overlying graph is my HR. Twin Valley Oaks in particular is a pretty tough climb, not long..only about 2.5 miles at about 6%. But there is a section in the middle at around 11% that definitely puts the sting in the legs. Gave me a chance to work on my Contador-esque climbing style.

Next time, I'll take some pics...

Over the last several months, I've been struggling with an issue with my achilles... what I fear is the beginning of tendonitis. This is something I haven't mentioned before primarily because if I did it might become real and I would have to stop ignoring it.

Somehow with the help of a lot of ibuprofen, stretching and ice I managed to get through the preparation for both Oceanside and Wildflower without too many problems. After Wildflower, I took a couple easy weeks which I thought would help. But when I tried to ramp my running back up in late May, it became clear to me that I couldn't ignore it any longer. Waking up nearly unable to walk was a good signal that I needed to take some steps to address the issue before I did some serious damage.

It's been over two weeks since I've run a step, the longest break from running I've taken in nearly 3 years. I'm also getting regular ART treatments to help loosen my calves and am stretching a lot. The pain upon waking up is gone, though both tendons are still a little tender to the touch.

As much as it pains me to stay off the roads, I'm going another 2 weeks before attempting to run.

In the meantime, I'm staying fit with some time in the pool, on the bike (making a point to avoid excessive dorsiflexion), and the elliptical trainer. I'm also taking advantage of the forced off-season to work on an area of fitness that I've long neglected - strength training.

Key areas of focus:
Core strength
Leg strength and power

my basic routine (either done with kettlebells at home or with free weights at the gym)

• squats (quads, glutes, hamstrings as well as core stabilizing muscles in abs and lower back)
  
• hang cleans (quads, lower back, deltoids, biceps, traps, calves)
• deadlift (lower back, hamstrings)
• pushups (chest, triceps and core stabilizers)
  
• lat pulldowns or pullups (lats, biceps)
  
• planks (prone and both sides) (abs, obliques, back)
  
• swiss ball crunches (abs, obliques)
  

I'm really enjoying the change in routine... and I'll tell you what. If you don't think weight lifting gets the heart rate up, do a set of hang cleans. Those suckers are tough.

The 2000m erg test is the defacto standard measure of rowing fitness. It is the distance competed in on-the-water rowing events at the Olympic and World Championship level and is also the distance competed at the World Indoor Rowing Championships (aka the CRASH-B's) in Boston, MA every year.

Now that rowing has become my primary sport during my extended hiatus from running, I need a challenge to motivate me through the winter. And now that I have my very own Concept2 Model D adorning the workout space in the garage, I've decided to take on the challenge of improving my 2K time. My one serious effort was a 6:58.4, which was this past summer about a month after I started rowing.

I've drawn a line in the sand at 6:40, which equates to an average pace of 1:40/500m or a power output of 350 watts. This time would put me in the top half of the rankings in the 30-39 Heavyweight men at last year's CRASH-B's, so it seems like a worthwhile, yet attainable goal for someone who has just taken up the sport.

While a 18 sec improvement doesn't seem like a lot, it requires a significant leap in power output to achieve. My current best effort of 6:58.4 equates to a power output of 305.8, so improving to a 6:40 is a increase of 44.2 watts or 14.4%. No small task.

The bulk of my time on the erg has been steady distance, but in order to improve my power output, I am changing up my training routine by adding the following components to the endurance work I am already doing. In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't come up with the following workouts in a vacuum, I've borrowed heavily from well-respected rowing coach Pete Marston and his Pete Plan for these.

Speed intervals (i.e. 8x500, 250-1K-250 pyramids)
Endurance intervals (i.e. 4x2000, 5x1500)

In addition, I am adding in some strength components to my routine, focusing on posterior chain and core strength. Some specific circuits will be coming in later posts, but here are some of the key movements I am incorporating into my workouts.

Kettlebells - two-handed swings, one-handed swings, cleans
Lunges, split jumps, dumbbell and bodyweight squats, deadlifts, pull ups
TRX Atomic pushups, suspended lunges, burpees, supine hip press, planks, side planks, body saws, ab rollouts.

If I work out late at night, it takes me hours to fall asleep. The physiological reasons for this are beyond my comprehension, but suffice to say that if I work out, say from 9-10pm (like I did tonight), than I'm up until at least midnight.

So, what better things to do when all is quiet in the house than to write a blog post? I'm not really much for watching TV, anyway... most network reality crap bores me to death. Since when did we become such a voyueristic society? Maybe we always have been, I don't know. Anyway, I digress.

Today, I dropped my new/not-new Cervelo PCCarbon frame off to get built up. The story in it is that the frame is new to me, but it is a 2007 model frame. If you watched Chrissie Wellington smoke the field in the 2007 IM world champs in Kona, the red/white bike she was on, that's the same bike I'm talking about. Well, not the SAME bike, the same model. I came by it through some luck and a good friend... I owe him some beers. The catch was that the bike had been in an accident and the end of the aero bars smacked the top tube hard and cracked the frame, leaving a small dime-sized hole. So, I had to have that fixed.

Here is a pic of the frame as it was when I received it and a detail of the top tube fracture.

So, the frame went off to Calfee Design in early Dec and for a reasonable fee, they fixed it up good as new. It arrived earlier this week.

Sorry for the tease, but I don't have any pics of the repaired frame... but I will post them when I get the bike back on Friday.

All in all, for a small outlay of cash and some well-rewarded patience, I now have a new, SWEET frame.

I'm stoked on this for a couple reasons. 1) With all due respect to the fine bike makers at Quintana Roo, the P2C is simply a much more aero, lighter, faster, more comfortable bike than my old Tequilo. Well, the faster part depends on me, but more aero, lighter and more comfortable for sure. And 2) as I've progressed as an athlete, I've started to ride steeper and steeper. And I'm at the limit of what my 55cm Tequilo frame will accomodate. When I'm really hammering, I am on the very tip of my saddle and way out on top of my bar extensions. The new bike is a 58 and with the saddle in the front seatpost position, it will allow me to ride a couple degrees steeper and give me a little more length to stretch out. It should also be more stable at speed since so much of my weight won't on the front wheel.

Once I get fit on the new bike on Friday, I will post before and after pics for comparison.

The timing is perfect for the new ride. This weekend, my coach and our group is doing our first race simulation ride on the California 70.3 course. 41 miles, with 31 miles at race effort and a 4 mile transition run. It's a perfect opportunity to get on the new bike, test it out a bit. It's also my first real chance get a sense of where my fitness is after the last couple months of hard training. I can't wait.

The first big race of the season is in the books. This is my 3rd year racing at Oceanside. It's a great event that I look forward to every year.

My weakness has always been my cycling so my goal heading into the winter was to really work on my cycling and with improved bike fitness, put myself into a position where I could be top 10 in my AG and go sub 4:30 on this course.

Overall, I'd give my winter training an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I certainly made some huge gains in my cycling ability, but I didn't get the mega-mileage that I was really hoping for. Most of this was simply less-than ideal time management and my other life commitments springing up from time to time. It was good, but not great.

On to the race report.

Swim - 28:01 (15th AG, 126th OA)
Oceanside is notorious for having a cold-water swim, there is always a lot of angst in the transition area with people wondering exactly HOW cold is it? The posted water temp was 58.5 and the race director was allowing booties, but in all honesty, it wasn't that bad. I wore two swim caps to help keep my head warm and I was fine. Once the gun went off, I quickly got into a pretty good rhythm. Unfortunately, there were no good feet for me to draft on, though I did feel the occasional hand on my foot. Someone was catching a ride off of me for a while... I hate it when that happens. Oh well. After the 2nd or 3rd buoy I started to catch some of the slower swimmers from the waves in front of me which forced me to zig-zag a bit to get around them. Before I knew it, I was at the turnaround and heading back into the harbor. There were some slight swells near the harbor mouth, but again, it wasn't bad at all. I do have to mention that I picked up some new googles at the Expo, which I absolutely love... the TYR TRacers. They are great... visibility was perfect, no leaking and no fogging. I usually have to clear my goggles at least a couple times during a race... these were perfect. Anyway, I made it back with no issues and climbed out the water feeling pretty good. My time of 28:01 is a PR for me, but not by a big margin. I seem to always swim close to the same time... (2007 - 28:31, 2008 - 28:59).

Transition 2 - 3:43
This race has a very long run from the swim exit to the far end of the transition area and around again. I was running pretty fast to get to my bike and probably pissed some guys off that were jogging slowly when I pushed passed them. Sorry dudes. Got to the bike and briefly considering putting on the arm warmers on that I had laid out. But, despite the fact that air was cold, the sun was out and I skipped them. Got the bike and got on the road quickly from there.

Bike - 2:35:39, 21.6 mph avg (34th AG, 158th OA)
New bike, new position and a focus on cycling for the winter... I had made the investment, this is where I was hoping to see the big improvement from last year. Nutrition on the bike was two bottles of my GuH20/CarboPro mix, 2 scoops of each which equates to approximately 325 calories. This is a proven mixture that I've used a lot in training which my stomach handles easily. One bottle on the downtube and one in my aerobar-mounted bottle cage. I also had a flask with 14 Thermolyte tablets in a small bento box. No solid food. Once out on the course, my legs came under me pretty quickly and I started to roll through the field, passing lots of guys right away. I race without a HR monitor, but I could tell that my adrenaline was pumping and I was being too aggressive. After the first little climb on San Mateo (about 4 miles in), I dialed it back and just kept it steady. The first 20 miles of the course is mostly flat with just a couple little rollers, its very tempting to hammer and put lots of time in the bank. But after having done the race a couple times, I know that it's the back half where the race can be made or broken. Even so, I felt really good and was keeping a nice pace... I hit the 20 mile mark in 52:32 (22.8 mph avg). After the left turn at around mile 23 onto Christianitos, the course gets more challenging with a series of rollers until the first major climb at mile 28. By this time, I had finished my first bottle of nutrition and at the first bottle exchange I swapped it for a bottle of plain water. I also took 1/2 of my electrolyte tablets. From this point on, I alternated between taking drinks of plain water and my drink mix. Just after the aid station, I caught up to a guy with nearly the same exact bike set-up as me (same model Cervelo P2C, same wheelset) in this section who I ended playing cat and mouse for about 15 miles. He would pass me on the uphills, I would catch him on the downhills and the flatter sections, back and forth. It made the time go faster and we ended up working our way past a lot of riders as we passed and repassed one another. I managed to get away from him on the final climb and that was the last I saw of him the rest of the race. Once over the final climb, I caught another guy on a black Guru and we did the same thing on the descent and on the final approach down Vandergrift. I passed him, he repassed me... I fell back to 10 meters... repassed, repeat. All the way back into transition. Rolling back into the Harbor, I finished off my second bottle of nutrition, took the rest of my electrolyte tabs and was feeling really good and optimistic for a good run. I was really hoping for a ride closer to 2:30, but after seeing how my relative performance improved this year, compared to prior years (2007 - 224th, 2008 - 386th ), I was pretty happy.

Transition 2 - 1:47
A pretty quick transition. I had my feet out of my shoes as I rolled in. Got the bike racked quickly and was into my running shoes. Grabbed a flask of TriBerry-flavored GU (w/caffeine, natch) to carry with me and my sunglasses and was off.

Run - 1:29:53, 6:52/mile avg (19th AG, 107th OA)
Last year at Vineman, I had my best run ever in an half-ironman (1:25) by running the first 5 miles very conservatively then slowing picking up the pace the back half of the course. My intention was to use the same strategy and I kept telling myself to take it easy, get the HR under control and let the legs get loose before trying to make any moves. The only wrinkle I hadn't really trained for was the 1/4 mile sand section which was re-introduced this year. We had to run over the sand section at the beginning and end of each loop, so there was about one full mile of running in semi-soft to soft sand. However, my first mile was 6:47 even with the sand section and I was feeling pretty good. Mile 2 was 6:45. I took sips from my gel flask and got some gatorade and/or water at each aid station and I kept the pace right around 6:45-6:50 range for the first loop. I tried not to pay attention to the other athletes or worry about catching anyone, I simply concentrated on keeping a steady, strong pace. Once out on the second loop and through the 3rd (of 4) sand sections, I tried to pick up the pace. I started looking ahead at the runners and worked on reeling them in, one by one... especially if they were in my age group. Despite my efforts, my pace was not improving and even slowing slightly. At the aid station just before mile 9, I started taking cola to try to get a boost from the sugar and caffeine. After doing some mental arithmetic, I realized that I couldn't afford to slow down at all if I was going to break 4:40, I needed to maintain nothing slower than 7:00 pace. That was my motivation the last 2 or 3 miles. Finally, once through the final sand section, the finish line and crowd was in sight and I even managed a slight surge to pass one last guy in my AG in the final straight.

Final time 4:39:02 (14th AG, 95th OA)

I'm happy with the performance. It's not the 4:30 I was looking for, but it's a solid improvement from previous years. Execution was solid, there isn't anything I'd do differently and it's a lifetime PR for the distance (though not by much... I went 4:39:4-something way back in 1999 at Eagleman, a far easier course). Both the swim and bike splits were PR's. The thing I'm happiest about is that my relative performance in all three sports was much more consistant than it ever has been. I still have a lot of work to do on my cycling, but now my ability on the bike is at least somewhat on par with my swimming and running.

Now onto to Wildflower.

A couple years ago, someone handed me a copy of the The Paleo Diet for Athletes, by Dr. Loren Cordain & Joe Friel. In the book's pages, the authors claimed that eating a diet closer to what our Paleolithic ancestors ate has amazing benefits. A diet that eliminates grains, dairy products and legumes and replaces them with an increased intake of animal proteins and healthy fats, along with plenty of vegetables and fruit results in improved body composition, more energy, superior athletic performance, reduced illness and reduction in the risk factors for the modern long-term illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.

Ever the cynic, after reading the book, I set it aside as another fad diet (Adkins, Zone, Hollywood, South Beach) that promised incredible results, yet failed to deliver. But several times over the last several months, I had conversations with friends and fellow athletes who embarked on this way of eating and reported results quite similar to what Dr. Cordain and Mr. Friel claimed. I began to do some research, discovering that Paleo and similar eating philosophies (Primal, PaNu) seems to have nearly universally positive results for those willing to embrace the change. Maybe there was something to this after all.

On March 1, I began my own Paleo journey, adhering to the following principles.

What I stopped eating (or ate a LOT less of)

Month 1:

• No grains (including breads and other baked goods, pasta, cereal, granola, oats, quinoa and rice)
• Minimal dairy (occassionally using some butter for cooking and a small amounts of cheeses like feta or in salads). No milk, no yogurt, no cream. Of course, no ice cream. Ouch.
• No legumes (including all beans, peanuts and soy products).
• Starchy carbohydrates: potatoes
• Refined sugar products: soft drinks (including things like packaged iced teas... ever read the nutrition label of an Arizona Iced Tea?), candy.

• Still no grains, except for the occasional cheat meal.
• Minimal dairy, but now have added full fat organic whole milk as an indulgence (maybe a glass a week) and whole cream in my coffee.
• Dramatically reduced legumes: I try to avoid peanuts, soy... will have some black beans on occasion.
• Starchy carbs (sweet potatoes, parsnips) only immediately before or after hard exercise sessions. I am still avoiding potatoes.

• Fundamentally, Paleo or Primal eating is about "real" food. Unprocessed, as close to the source as you can get. If it's a packaged food, the fewer ingredients the better. But ideally, this style of eating minimizes consumption of foods that come in boxes, cans or jars.
• Meat: beef, chicken, fish, pork. A quick aside about meat. It is pretty well-documented that there is wide variation in quality when it somes to the meat available at the grocery store. Most "factory" cows and chickens are fed a non-optimal diet of grains and soy. When possible, we purchase pasture-raised, organic or wild meat. In the case of beef, we acquired a 1/2 steer from a local supplier, so all our beef at home is grass-fed. We buy the best chicken available at the local groceries, but due to cost and availability this isn't always pastured or organic. Same goes with the fish; wild when possible, but sometimes we eat farm-raised.
• Eggs: Organic or pasture-raised when possible... but again, sometimes we are limited by what is on hand at the local Wal-mart or Kroger.
• Vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, various squashes, onions, mixed greens, leafy greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard), bell peppers... the list goes on. You get the idea, lots of veggies.
• Fruit: berries, mandarin oranges, apples, bananas.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds (and almond butter, milk), pecans, macadamia.

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs and fruit (apples, bananas) and on the weekend, bacon.
• Lunch: Big salad with greens, colorful veggies and chicken, tuna, beef and turkey. Basic oil and vinegar dressing or homemade vinaigrette.
• Dinner: Steak, chicken, fish, some cooked veggies and a green salad.
• Snacks: a handful of nuts, some trail mix, celery or apples with almond butter, baby carrots, sliced red bell peppers with some hummus. Will have a protein shake (with almond milk and some fruit) after a big workout.

• Daily calories: 1876
• I was somewhat surprised by how low this was. For reference, my Basal Metabolic Rate (daily calories burned at rest) is 1986.
• Carbs (g): 139 29.64% of total
• Here, Mark Sisson of MarksDailyApple.com talks about an ideal range of 50-100g per day for weight loss and 100-150g for maintenance, plus roughly 100g for each hour of training.
• Fat (g): 94.5 45.3% of total
• Nothing remarkable here... certainly more than the 44-78g range recommended by the Mayo Clinic, but not surprising considering all the nuts, avocado, healthy oils, and of course, a good amount of animal fat.
• Protein (g): 117.3 25.01% of total
• Way more than the FDA's 56g Recommended Daily Allowance (RDI), but quite close to the.7-1.0g per lb of lean body weight guideline recommended by many fitness trainers for those looking to increase lean muscle mass.
• Fiber (g): 24.69
• Depending on where you look, most experts recommend a fiber intake between 20-35g per day. I ended up well within this range... despite no grains. Amazing to think vegetables have fiber. Whooda thunk?

On April 1st, I upped the intensity of my training somewhat added in some longer cycling sessions, while continuing my strength training as well. Total volume came in just under 65 minutes avg per day (72% cycling/rowing/running, 28% strength training)

Weight change.
March 1: 209.6.
April 1: 193.6
May 1: 189.0

Very dramatic weight loss the first two weeks (about 12 lbs), since then it has slowed to about 1 lb per week.

Performance and strength gains are evident. A few data points:

One set standard pushup max:
March 1: 43, May 2: 78
TRX Low Row/Atomic Pushups (aka 40/40 challenge):
March 1: 18 pushups/26 low rows; April 29: 40 pushups/41 low rows

There was some initial impact on my endurance the first two weeks... my energy level crashed after about 20 minutes into any extended cardio workout. But this subsided and my energy levels and endurance improved and exceeded previous levels after this transition period. In fact, I set a new indoor rowing half marathon personal best on March 27 and my strength on my bike is improving every day.

Overall impressions on changing to this way of eating:

I'm not going to lie. The first couple of weeks, I was craving bread, rice and pasta... it was such a cornerstone of my meals that it seemed strange to have a meal without some starchy carb in it. But, now I am used to it and am perfectly satisfied with a plate full of veggies with some protein, whether its in the form of a big salad, or some cooked veggies and a nice portion of roasted chicken or steak.

Benefits:

• Improved body composition: I am losing body fat consistently, and thanks to a consistent exercise routine, building lean body mass and improving strength. What else can I ask for?
• Energy levels: More consistent throughout the day. No post-meal "food comas". No energy crash in the afternoon.
• Sleep: Generally improved, once I'm out, I am out until about 8-9 hours later.
• More consistant hunger patterns: I am rarely "starving". I eat three times per day... moderately sized meals, but I rarely find myself super hungry like before.

• Eating while out or traveling: paleo/low carb options can be hard to come by while eating out or on the road, particularly for breakfast. I am getting used to special ordering.
• Food preparation time: So many of the quick foods available are grain based, so it can be inconvenient to cook every meal. Grabbing a pizza on the way home from the kid's softball practice is no longer in the cards. Or if we do, I have to make my own meal while they eat pizza. Which begs the question, are my kids eating paleo? Yes and no, but that's the subject of another post.
• Cost: Protein is expensive. Carbs are cheap. Enough said.

This is the 3rd year I've done the Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K. It is always a good time. There are two 5K races, an 'open' race at 7:15 am and a 'locals-only' event at 8:15am. In addition, there is a 1 mile kid's race, which I was thrilled to be participating in with my eldest, Caty, who is now 4 years old.

Last year, I did the open 5K and ran a 17:45. Late summer and early fall of last year, I was running a lot in preparation for the Long Beach Marathon in late October and a lot of that fitness carried over. This year, I am still in a build phase and have only been averaging roughly 30 miles a week of running. My speed workouts have been similar to last year at this time, so I was hopeful for a similar performance - with some luck maybe a few seconds faster.

I took advantage of an extra hours sleep this year and decided to do the 'locals' race. My warmup was uneventful, 2 miles easy, some striders and ready to go about 10 minutes before the race start. Mile 1 too fast. 5:29. At about the 1.8 mile mark, the elastic broke on the group I was with and I fell off their pace. Mile 2 - 5:44. My legs just didn't have any snap and by the third mile, I was simply hanging on. Mile 3 - 5:53. Final time, 17:50. Good for 12th overall and 2nd in my age-group.

After the race, I did a quick warm-down and met up with my family to get ready for Caty's race.

While the sun was shining through the clouds most of the morning, by 9am the sky was getting dark and at about 9:30 the rain started. Despite the rain, Caty was upbeat and ready to go. So we made our way to the race start. Then the rain really started coming down. We were soaked... and Caty was having a ball. The air horn blasted and we were on our way.

Such a trooper... Caty said she was a 'little bit' tired a couple times, but when I offered to stop, she said, "No daddy, we have to run to the finish line." We had a great time jumping in every puddle and saying hello to everyone that we passed by. And she even finished with a sprint to the line. All in all, we had a blast... and I am certain that we'll do it again next year. Hopefully, it won't rain. And next year, Chloe will be old enough to do it as well.

I know Fabio Capello is a clever, clever man, but I'm not sure this is the mark of a strong leader.

And by that I mean Capello, not Terry. We all know about the Chelsea cheater's indiscretions, and the debate over whether he should be stripped as captain. It's not an unreasonable argument: dressing room harmony is so important in the build-up to a World Cup, and acting like you're on Hollyoaks doesn't help things.

Personally, I'm amused that Terry's target was the partner of Wayne Bridge, of all people - one Vanessa Perroncel. In terms of fame, she's not exactly Victoria Beckham or Cheryl Cole, is she? It smacks of bullying to me, as if Terry is the loudmouth jock in an American teen film, boasting he can lay the geek's girlfriend at the drop of a thong.

Also, the concerns over a void at left-back if Cole is injured and Bridge resigns shouldn't be too hyped. It'll give the talented Stephen Warnock a chance.

But back to the Telegraph article: should it be left up to Wayne Bridge, the man so wronged in this affair, to decide whether Terry should be dropped as captain? Bridge, a man whose own place in the starting XI is totally reliant on Ashley Cole's fitness? Bridge, a man who is easily one of the least integral members of the squad? Asking the ex-team mate to decide his captain's fate is arguably fairest, but it doesn't seem the most professional of moves by Capello. You need to take charge and be firm.

The Telegraph suggests that for better or worse, the final word will rest with Bridge. If Terry wants to keep that armband, he'd better hope his team mate decides it's water under the Bridge.

Ugh, sorry.

As you can see from the image to the left (taken in my front yard), winter has hit like a hammer here in West Virginia. The first week of December has been marked with near-record lows, single digit windchill and copious amounts of the fluffy white stuff falling from the sky.

My kids aren't complaining, we had the first two snow days of the year already. More to come I am certain.
What that means from a fitness perspective is lots of time will be spent on my indoor rower, my bike trainer and working out on the TRX and in the gym. The only difference is the addition of a space heater in my garage... the low temps mean that it's only getting into the 30's in my workout space. It is kind of strange putting on layers to workout indoors.
Progress on Project 640 has hit a speed bump. I slipped on the ice on the steps of our patio a couple weeks ago, managing to land squarely on the rear part of my ribs, right where my ribs meet my spine on the left side. The resulting bruise and muscle strain has kept me off my Concept2, but I've been trying to compensate by adding in some tough workouts on the bike trainer. I am optimistic that I will back to where I was within a week or so. A while back on Twitter, I broadcast my intention to get over the million meter threshold for the season my year-end. As of this morning, I am at 853K, so that is still within reach, if I can manage just shy of 10K a day. Not easy, but doable. More on that to come.
Aside from my rowing goals, things are starting to percolate for next year... a couple events have caught my eye, the Cheat Mountain Challenge in August, a 105-mile ride with 10,000 feet of climbing including a climb up to Snowshoe Resort. The route has numerous 11-15% pitches. Tough to say the least. Another is a 100-mile mountain bike ride, the Mountain State 100 in May. As for running or triathlons, I'm holding off until the first of the year to see how my Achilles is doing. But the competitive itch is starting... I need to find a way to scratch it.