Run with Eric [Search results for workout] 

Tonight, I made it to my first "track" workout in about 6 weeks. The word "track" is in quotations because our local group doesn't do our speed workouts on a track at the moment, we run on a paved bike path since the local high school track is being renovated. With some luck, it will be done by the fall and we will have a nice new oval to run around.

The workouts are on Tuesday nights, and the last several Tuesdays I've been hung up elsewhere. Either working late, or in Phoenix for work, or in Tucson... or in Orange County... seems like something keeps coming up.

Tonight's workout was 6 x 800 w/1:30 rest. I had to go back all the way to October to find out the last time I did some repeat 800's, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the two workouts and see what improvement I've made after a long winter of hard training.

October 21 - 6 x 800 w/2 min rest

2:48
2:45
2:44
2:43
2:44
2:46

average time 2:45

March 17 - 6 x 800 w/1:30 rest

2:38.5
2:37.3
2:36.5
2:39.5
2:41.2
2:36.7

average time 2:38.3

I started tonight's workout with a little fatigue in the legs as I did a hard trainer 60 min workout earlier in the day. It's hard to predict what effect that might have had, but I think it's reasonable to assume I probably would have run a second or two faster if it was the only workout of the day. Also, the rest interval was a bit shorter. My HR only came down to the low 120's between reps.

All in all, the times show a 6.7 second improvement, which is equates to 4%. It doesn't sound like much, but a 4% improvement in a half marathon is roughly 3 minutes... in other words, huge.

I'm encouraged by this. Hopefully, I can put the pieces together come April 4th.

I was in Tuscon last week for the Gorilla Multisport Winter Training Camp. My original intention was to blog every day while at camp to give the daily update on the experience. But, frankly, I was too tired to manage it. So, now I am typing this from home in San Diego after a few days of recovery and decompression.

I had been looking forward to this for a while... five days of nothing but training, learning and hanging out with some other like-minded triathletes.

We arrived on Tuesday, I'll call it Day 0. After the long drive I was pretty wired, so I went for a quick run before some grub and bed. Our hotel was about 2 miles from the Kino Sports Complex, which is where the Arizona Diamondbacks do their spring training... made for a nice turnaround for the out and back route. Workout #1 in the books.

Day 1 - Wednesday
The other campers were not due to arrive until mid-day, but since we were in town and had some free time, my friend and Gorilla Multisport Coach DeeAnn and I went to a Masters workout at the University of Arizona. They run a nice program over there and the pool is amazing. With the week of heavy training ahead, I was glad to find out that the workout was an easy one. Lots of fast 100's and 50's with lots of rest, along with some technique work. I ended up with just over 3000 yards for the workout. After some coffee, breakfast and a short rest, I headed out for a run out to the Kino Sports Complex again. One of the campers from Florida, Joseph, had arrived, so he joined me. We ended up with just over 4.5 miles of easy jogging. After lunch and "registration", the entire crew convened for the first ride of the camp, Gates Pass. The ride began with a flat stretch through urban Tucson, which was not great due to all the stoplights. But once we were out of town, the scenery was amazing... spectacular views of the desert and endless miles of cactus and beautiful landscapes. The highlight of the ride was the climb up and over Gates Pass, which has a section at the top that rivals some of the steepest roads I've ever climbed on a bike. Out of the saddle in the 39x26, just trying to keep the pedals turning over. After a photo opp at the top, we bombed down the backside and back into town. Total ride was 38 miles. After getting back to the hotel and cleaning up, we were treated to a nutrition presentation from Bob Seebohar (www.fuel4mance.com), elite coach and sports nutritionist for the 2008 US Olympic Triathlon Team. I learned a lot about metabolic efficiency and picked up some tips that I will definitely incorporate into my own training.

Day 2 - Thursday
AM - 50 mile ride out to Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Coach Bob and Seton Claggett from TriSports.com joined us for the ride. Both are great guys and strong athletes. Overall, an moderate ride with lots of false flats and gentle inclines. The best part was that all the climbing was in the first 30 miles and the entire 20 mile return trip was a gentle descent. Immediately upon returning, our group headed out for a quick 20 minute transition run. Coach Bob rode and ran with us and gave us some great tips on run cadence. After a quick bite to eat, I put my legs up for an hour to rest up for the afternoon ride.
PM - 38 mile ride, the bottom half of the El Tour de Tucson route. By this time, the day had turned hot and windy... so we were treated to a pretty tough ride, starting out in urban Tucson, than out to some less-traveled roads in the north part of town. As soon as we could get our bikes in the hotel rooms and showered up, we headed over to a strength workout with Coach Bob. We focused on a concept he calls neuromuscular activation... essentially a series of pre and post-workout movements that activate the key muscle groups. Again, I learned a lot... great stuff.

Day 3 - Friday
AM - The Shootout is a regular Saturday hammerfeest that has been taking place in Tucson for over 30 years... its a fairly challenging route famous for attracting the most competitive cyclists and is typically full of attacks and counterattacks. We choose to do The Shootout ride on Friday on our own to get a sample of the route without the blistering pace and a big peleton. Seton Claggett from TriSports.com rode with us again. It started out with an easy 15 miles in town than a long 15 miles of false flat... nearly dead straight... before it finally kicks up with a final short steep climb. I was feeling pretty strong so I kept the pace high on the false flat, but once the hill came Seton dropped me like a rock as he disappeared up the steep incline. The local knowledge proved to be pretty handy! After regrouping, we headed back into town at a pretty good clip (22-24 mph) thanks to the mostly flat and gently descending route.
PM - Late Friday afternoon, I had a swim analysis and video scheduled... but beforehand, for the first time in three days, I had a couple hours to relax. So I napped by the pool. After my nap and a shower, I headed over to TriSports for my swim video. They have a sweet two-lane Endless Pool set-up with underwater and above water cameras. The instructor told me that my stroke was pretty solid (I hope so!), but gave me a few suggestions that I think will be helpful. In particular, one thing that I discovered is that I tend to pull up short with my right arm on the pull. So I need to concentrate on finishing my stroke on that side. Good feedback and something I probably would have never figured out on my own without the video feedback.

Saturday - Day 4
AM - This was the big day. Mt. Lemmon. A 26 mile climb rising from 2500 ft to a peak over 8200 ft. I've ridden San Diego's big climb, Palomar Mountain... which is tough. But the top of Palomar is at just over 5000 ft. When climbing Mt. Lemmon, the 5000 ft mark is not even halfway up the climb. Palomar is steeper, but it is the length of Mt. Lemmon that is killer... over 2 hrs of consistent work going up the mountain. We started the ride with an easy 15 miles of riding through Tucson and regrouped at a coffee shop about 2 miles from the Mile 0 marker at the base of the climb. After some pics and a double shot of espresso, we started up. There were 5 of us (myself, Norm, Manny, Joseph, and Greg) in the group that agreed to ride the whole mountain... the rest of the campers would climb for 90 minutes as far as they could go and then turn around. The summit team (sounds cool, eh?) all exchanged numbers and arranged to text or call each other if for some reason we needed to turn around. Otherwise, we would all meet up at the top. We got going and could see the road twisting up the mountain ahead of us... it was pretty intimidating. About 50 yards past the Mile 0 sign, Norm informed me that my rear tire was flat. Crap. He stayed back to help me get it changed while the rest of the group proceeded ahead. Once I fixed the tire, we proceeded again. The first 5 miles of the climb were tough, there were some killer headwinds that made it tough just to stay upright on the bike. I thought to myself that if the entire climb was this windy, it was going to be a very, very difficult day. Fortunately, as the road twisted and turned up the mountain there was some shelter from the wind and it got easier. I made a concerted effort to keep my HR in high Zone 2 (130-140) and just stayed on my 39x26 gear keeping the cadence high. This netted me a blistering pace of about 10-11 mph. Ha. Every few minutes, I shifted up to my 25 or 23 and climbed out of the saddle to give my hamstrings and lower back a rest. At Mile 7, I caught Manny and Joseph and we all took some pictures from the Seven Cataracts viewpoint. Spectacular. After the short break, I continued up the climb and quickly separated from the other guys. The views up the mountain were simply unbelievable, incredible rock formations and of course, the view of the valley falling further and further away... the closest thing I can relate them to is the Grand Canyon. It's hard to do them justice with words or even pictures. The rest of the climb went pretty well. Every time my legs were screaming for a break, the slope softened a bit and I was able to recover just enough for the next tough stretch ahead. Finally, I got to the first peak at Mile 21 and was treated to a descent. A descent? Wait, I'm not at the top yet! The final few miles of the "climb" were a bowl that drops about 400 ft before re-ascending to 8200 ft at the village of Mt. Lemmon. At the base of the final climb, I caught Greg whom I hadn't seen since I flatted two hours before. We laughed about how tough the climb was, and rolled into town together. A great sense of accomplishment that we indulged by getting some hot chocolate (it was cold!) and huge pieces of banana cream pie. About 10 minutes later, Norm rolled in and about 30 minutes later, Manny arrived. Shortly thereafter, we got a text that Joseph had turned around. So we finished up our good, got some pics and then headed back down the mountain. It was about 30 degrees cooler at the top, so I put on my arm warmers and shoved some loose paper (the cafe to-go menus!) in my jersey front to block the wind. It took about 25 minutes of work to get back out to the first peak, which after the long break and food was tough. But once back to Mile 21, it was literally all downhill from there. The descent is somewhat technical and super-fast. By the time I got to the bottom, my hands were cramping from constantly being the brakes trying to moderate my speed. On several occasions I was touching 40 mph and that was trying to be conservative. Finally, after regrouping again at the bottom, we headed back for the final 15 miles toward home. The full day was 85 miles, about 8000 ft of climbing. A great day on the bike and one that I will remember forever.
PM - Once we rolled back into the hotel at about 3pm, we slammed our (late) lunches and got ready to head over to the University of Arizona pool for a swim workout. I was tempted to bail and just relax, but the idea of splashing around the pool for a drill workout sounded good. Finally at 5pm the tough day was over and we all gathered around the hotel pool for pizza and beer. Good times.

Sunday - Day 5
Final day of camp... no cycling. After four tough days of riding, it was nice not to be getting on the bike first thing in the morning. Besides I was running out of clean cycling clothes. Actually, I ran out of clean stuff on Friday... but was able to make do with some Woolite and the hotel room sink. Anyway, I digress. After a quick breakfast, we piled into the cars and headed out to Saguero National Park for an amazing trail run. There is a 8 mile loop that is simply spectacular. Everyone was on their own to decide how far they wanted to run, we simply had a two hour time limit. Most choose to do one loop. My legs were pretty toasted from the riding, but I wanted a little more than 8 miles. My lower threshold for a "long" run is 12 miles, so I ran one loop and did a 2 mile out and back to bring it up to the requisite dozen. The quads were not happy with me as I climbed back into the van for the 20 minute drive home. After some more breakfast and a shower, we packed up the gear, said our goodbyes and got on the road back to San Diego.

Overall, it was a tremendous few days. Training wise, it was my biggest week ever... with over 270 miles on the bike, 30 miles of running and about 7k of swimming. To think that pros do that every week!! Aside from the training, the other campers were awesome... good people all of them. It was great to spend some time hanging out, we had a blast.

Here are some pics from the rides.

Entrance to Colossal Cave Mountain Park

Joseph, Manny and Me - The Shootout Loop

Heading toward Colossal Cave Mountain Park

The Mt. Lemmon Summit Crew - Manny, Norm, Me, Greg, Joseph... before the climb

At the base of Mt. Lemmon, right before I flatted.

Somewhere near Mile 10 of the Mt. Lemmon climb

Mt. Lemmon - Looking down, around Mile 14.

Banana Cream Pie and Hot Chocolate at the top of Mt. Lemmon - delicious.

Taken while descending at 35+mph. Not recommended.

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.

I should be getting my gear on for lunchtime Masters swim as I type this, but it's raining sideways outside. Atypical San Diego weather, you might say. I wouldn't typically mind swimming in a bit of rain. What's the big deal with rain when you're already wet? But when it's coming down this hard, the pool gets closed. It's hard to complain though, elsewhere around the country people are without power due to ice storms... so all things considered, missing an outdoor swim workout is a incredibly minor inconvenience

Can't say I mind too much, I'm bundled up in my home office with a hot cup of coffee, catching up on my blog and about 50 other things on my to-do list today. So, I'll keep this fairly short.

Training is coming along. I'm ramping up the run frequency and staying consistent on the bike.

The best workout of the last couple weeks was my long run on Saturday. I did 15 miles on the coast, Carlsbad south to Leucadia and back, my longest run since the Long Beach Marathon last fall. There was a weather system moving in and the wind was howling... sand was pelting me in the face the entire way back. A gut check, I suppose. Not typically the makings of a great run, but I was able to keep a nice even pace (7:45's) at a low HR (145-150) despite the weather. A good confidence builder.

That's it for now, more to come later this week.

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.

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

Someone started a thread on Slowtwitch asking for a triathlon haiku. Here's my contribution:

must get off the couch
go ride my bike, run or swim
you know, this is fun

I’m no poet.

My training has been coming along. My goal right now is to build base for next year and compared to last year, I’m way ahead of the game.

To compare:

• Nov ‘07 - swim 29k, bike 170.4 miles, run 128 miles = 34.5 hours.
• Nov ‘08 - swim 9k, bike 427.2 miles, run 121.6 miles = 43 hours

December is starting off pretty well also and I managed a decent week of training. Wasn’t without some juggling though. The wife and I decided at the last minute to go visit my mom for her birthday and ended up staying the weekend, so my original plan of riding on Saturday and running Sunday were out the window. I ended up running Saturday morning and doing my long ride Sunday night on the trainer after we got back.

Map and HR chart from long run:

Some people hate riding on their trainer... but for some perverse reason, I kinda enjoy it. One thing that I like is the fact that the time is precise. I can plan a 3 hour ride and I’m done in 3 hours. If I go for a 3-hr ride outdoors, three hours of ride time ends up being 3:30 door to door with stops, etc. And if I go with a group, I’m usually gone for 4 hrs or more to manage the same three hour effort.

So when we got home on Sunday evening and we got the girls down to bed, I filled up my bottle and I hopped on the trainer for a 3 hour session. Thanks to Coach Troy Jacobson, his Spinervals Tough Love DVD and a good iTunes playlist, the time went by pretty quickly and I had a very solid workout.

HR chart below:

Fun stuff.

Getting late, that's it for now.

Sometimes there is nothing better than a hot plate of starchy carbohydrates to start your morning. Particularly in the form of a tall stack of pancakes. I'm a bit of a tinkerer in the kitchen and I came up with the following recipe for multi-grain pancakes after some trial and error. I think they are pretty good and my wife and kids like them, so my bet is that you will too.

While I realize that it's not always the healthiest thing to eat (in fact, it's usually not), I'll assume that if you're reading this blog (all two of you) that you've either preceded or will follow your big breakfast with a hard workout to burn off all this excess glycogen. For the sake of balance and a more complete breakfast, I'd also recommend some protein. You can never go wrong with some thick sliced good quality bacon. If you're trying to avoid animal fat, or don't eat meat, the Morningstar brand veggie sausage patties are also excellent. And of course, some fresh fruit... strawberries, blueberries, peaches or what you can get your hands on or is in season.

Here's the recipe.

Get two large bowls out and pre-heat a griddle or skillet to 350 degrees.

In the first bowl, whisk together the following dry ingredients:

• 1/3 cup corn meal
• 1/4 cup quick cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup white, all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of ground nutmeg

In the second bowl, whisk the following wet ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup milk (I use 1%... whatever type you normally keep on hand will work. As for almond, rice or soy, I haven't tried those in this recipe, so you're on your own)
• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Pour wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk together until combined. Don't overmix or your pancakes will come out dense and chewy.

Using a ladle, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto hot griddle. If you like nuts, sprinkle chopped pecans, almonds or walnuts on each pancake while it cooks, before flipping.

They will be ready to flip when large bubbles appear on the top and start to pop. Serve right away or keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Serve with pure maple syrup.

Enjoy!

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.

In the blink of an eye it seems, the month of January has nearly passed and the resolutions set for 2011 are either works in progress or becoming a distant memory. Time flies when you're having fun, as the saying goes. And, despite the cold and seemingly never ending winter, I am having fun... workouts are coming together. I've started running again. I am getting stronger, fitter and even a little leaner. The last part has been pretty easy actually, after being a complete and utter glutton during the month of December, losing a few pounds has simply been a matter of all the pie being gone.
You might be wondering why I chose the title for the post and it's pretty simple actually. I've been struggling with the why. I enjoy my daily workouts, that's not the issue. And I've chosen a few events to focus on later in the year to provide some additional motivation and allow for some structure to my training. But the big why is lacking. Yes, daily exercise is healthy of the body and soul. But, come on, that's kind of boring. I need something more.

Over a decade ago, I signed up for an Ironman on a whim... and I trained my ass off, primarily driven by fear. Fear that I couldn't complete the distance and that I would fail. And that fear pushed me out of my comfort zone on a daily basis, doing things that, at the time, seemed impossible, even stupid. For example, ride 100 miles in the northern Virginia summer and then run 10 miles afterward. Now I know the game of triathlon to know that such a workout is not unusual at all for Ironman prep, but at the time (before the Internet), it seemed a little crazy... but fear is a powerful motivator and it got me out the door.

Of course, there was a happy ending, I finished in a respectable time, I lived happily ever after, even doing another Ironman and a bunch of other marathons, half ironmans (click on the 'racing' tag to the right to read some of the race reports). But the sense of accomplishment and pride at Ironman finish line #1 has yet to be equaled.

So what next? I don't know the answer right now, but I'm thinking a lot about it.

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.

Endurance athletes have a twisted sense of what it means to have fun.

Mike Plumb, coach of TriPower Multisports is no exception, and his latest brainchild is the Palomar Ultimate Challenge. If you caught the 2009 Tour of California, Palomar Mountain was the featured climb of Stage 8. Rated HC ('hors categorie' or 'beyond category') by the UCI, Palomar is an 11.6 mile climb with over 4200 ft of vertical gain. The average gradient is just under 7%. It has drawn many comparisons to the Tour de France's famed Alpe d'Huez climb which is similar in length and also has 21 switchbacks.

Simply put, it's a bitch of a climb for any cyclist.

As if climbing the mountain on a bike wasn't hard enough on it's own, the Palomar Ultimate Challenge adds an out and back 9.5 mile run from the famous Mother's restaurant at the top of the climb along a 4.75 mile route to the Palomar Observatory at a elevation of 5618 ft.

Since I had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning, I drug my ass out of bed early, got on the road for the 1 hr drive and showed up atop the mountain at 8:30am. Why meet at the top of the mountain, you ask? So I could have my running stuff ready to go after finishing the climb of course! A few other folks had already arrived. Despite the sunny skies, it was cold, mid-40's, so I bundled up for the descent down the hill. After 24 bone-chilling minutes, I arrived at the official start of the climb, Jilberto's Taco Shop, just east of the intersection of Valley Center Road and Route 76. I dumped my windjacket in one of the trucks that was driving up, but left on my arm and knee warmers. By 9:30, about 15 people had arrived and once we shared some encouraging words, we began our ascent.

After the descent (that's me in yellow), blowing on my hand trying to warm it up.

A few words of wisdom from Coach Mike
I've climbed Palomar 3 times previous to this attempt. Every time, it was a struggle. But this year, I've trained a lot more on the bike and after climbing Mt. Lemmon last weekend, I was optimistic that I would do pretty well. The first mile or two is not steep, but has enough pitch to it that climbing it with cold legs is tough. It took about 15 minutes of solid effort before the legs were really warm and I settled into the effort. I set a HR ceiling of 150, and on several occassions I had to drop into my smallest gear (39x26) to keep the HR below that threshold. I was toward the front of the group, two guys were way off the front... Mike passed me at about two miles in and Ray (another TCSD athlete) left me at around the 3 mile mark. Once Ray put about 100 yards on me, I matched his pace and that distance stayed pretty consistant up the rest of the climb.

As we got further up the climb, I passed a few other cyclists that were not in our group. A few short words of encouragement were uttered... but that was it, but there was not much breath to spare due to the effort.

At the 4 mile mark, after a short flat section and a very short descent (maybe 200 yards), there is a split in the road and the climb continues up the left fork (South Grade Road). This is my favorite part of the climb. The 21 switchbacks wind tightly up the mountainside and the views of the valley below are amazing. My intial HR ceiling was getting hard to manage and I revised my plan. Keep it under 160. There are markers every.2 miles up the climb and I concentrated on keeping a steady effort to each one (43.2, 43.4, 43.6... etc.).

It wasn't long before I reached the 5000 ft marker and then the final 47.8 mile marker just before the official finish of the climb (the stop sign at the intersection of South Grade and East Grade). I stopped the clock at 1:19:04. A far cry from the sub-1 hr times of pro cyclists, but certainly my best effort up the mountain.

HR/elevation chart from the ride
After a quick change into my running stuff and a stop at the bathroom, I began the run. The route follows Canfield Road to the Palomar Observatory. And it's HILLY! I knew I was in for some pain when the road descended for the first 2 miles. Which I normally wouldn't mind, except for the fact that I would have to run UP the same road at the end of the run. Then, after reaching the bottom of the descent, the road tilted up. Which is how it stayed until I reached the Observatory. After climbing the flight of stairs to the entrance and giving the building a high-five, I started back down. Oh, nearly forgot to mention, my legs were so tired from the long climb that I tripped twice on the stairs... much to the amusement of the sightseers who were wondering what the crazy runners were doing up there in the first place.

The run back was pretty much the same routine... a long descent, followed by a ridiculous 400+ ft climb the final 1.5 miles. Here's the chart, check it out.

HR/elevation chart from the run

Wow, what a workout. As close as I've come to race-level intensity during a workout. As you can see from the run chart, my HR was right at lactate threshold (165-170) for long sections of the climbs. I can't wait to do this one again.

Like I said, we endurance athletes are a little twisted.

Things seem to be rolling once again.

I had a bit of a scare last week with some hip/groin muscle 'tweak' thing going on, the result of a inadvertant misstep on the track. But it seems to be better and this week turned out great with some excellent training and even better, an unexpectedly good race result. All of this is an indication to me that I'm doing something right. Whether that 'something' is on purpose or merely accidental, I honestly don't know... but I'll accept it gladly.

Before I get on to the race report, let me take a moment to touch on last week's training.

• 6 runs. 50.3 miles. 5 hrs, 55 minutes including a race on Saturday. New volume high for the year.

On to the race report.

If you aren't familiar with this event, the Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon is a race put on by the Camp Pendleton Marines. San Diego has a lot of options for great half-marathon races, including La Jolla, Carlsbad, AFC, and San Dieguito. Heartbreak Ridge stands out as both the hilliest course and the only one that is 90% off-road. It's also the smallest with only about 800 competitors. If you like the half-marathon distance, this is a great race to put on the calendar as it provides a challenge that is a nice change of pace from the 'typical' road course. The out and back route meanders through the foothills. No buildings, no cars... just a nice trail run through the wilderness. With aid stations every mile! The only downside is that there is no spectator access on most of the course... but there are plentiful words of encouragement coming from the Marines working the aid stations.
On Saturday, my day began with typical race morning stuff to get ready for the 8:00 am start. This is a 'training' race, my primary focus is Long Beach in a month. So, the plan is to simply run a conservative race... I've heard that this is not a PR course. Here's the mile-by-mile report.

• mile 1 - 5:58. Typical quick start... settle into a spot somewhere in the top 20.
  
• mile 2 - 6:45. Move from the pavement onto the dirt path... and head up. And up.
  
• mile 3 - 6:50. Very steep climb, but its short... appropriately there is a aid station and an ambulance waiting at the top. I briefly consider climbing inside. My HR must have been 250 at this point... ouch.
  
• mile 4 - 6:08. Short downhill, then flat. Catch a few people on this stretch.
  
• mile 5 - 6:16. Rolling terrain. Feeling pretty good.
  
• mile 6 - 6:14. Very slight descent. I count runners ahead of me coming back from the turn-around. I'm in 10th. Time to the turn-around is 41:56.
  
• mile 7 - 6:22. False flat stings a bit... but still feeling ok.
  
• mile 8 - 6:29. Finally a little descent to catch a bit of breath!
  
• mile 9 - 6:56. More climbing. I see 2 guys in the distance that I seem to be gaining ground on.
  
• mile 10 - 6:42. Flat than another climb. Move past one guy on the climb.
  
• mile 11 - 6:41. Final climb than downhill.
  
• mile 12 - 6:08. All downhill, do my best to let gravity do the work. Catch another runner just before the #13 mile marker.
  
• mile 13.1 - 6:59. Back on pavement again... just try to hold it together for the final stretch.

My first AG win... and the time is a PR for me.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the result. The increased mileage combined with the speedwork seems to be working out. My recovery seems to be fine... I was a little stiff after the race, but had a comfortable 1 hour run on Sunday with very little residual soreness. That, to me, is an indication that I ran within my ability and didn't negatively impact my ability to continue with my current training cycle.