I am happy to report things are going very well. My new nutrition plan is shaping my life. I am able to have smaller meals more often without any hunger. I realize now that I was hungary all the time. Basically my body crying out for CHO. I dont have near the cravings and my brain feels slow and clear. I have never had that before. I am down 9 pounds (the 5 I gained and 4 pounds less) in the last 3 weeks. I am not any where near as hungary, I am in control of my body. I have not over eaten and I have consumed very little "cheap" carbs. I am performing a lot better too. I had a 14 miler last week (my longest run ever) without any problems. Had there not been a huge hill in there I wouldnt have walked. I averaged under 10 min/mile too. Very slow but consistent. I am enjoying that. Last week:
Monday-ran 3 miles
Tuesday-spin
Wednesday-shop
Thursday-5 miles
Saturday-14 miles
Monday-4 miles
Tuesday-spin + core
Wednesday (today)- 5 miles, with sore legs from spin and new kicks. The new Gel Kayano's in effect.
Thursday-shooting for 4 miler
Rest New years day
Saturday-16 miler....I am looking forward to it.
Happy New Year to all. I hope we race faster and healthier this year. QUOTE:
“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
T.S. Eliot quotes
My first season as a triathlete down. 2010 is going to be a fitter, faster, building block year. I cant wait.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A good week...
This week has been a productive one. I have put my new nutrition plan in place and I am feeling very well. When I look around at ALL the complex carbs I used to eat I am mortified. As "healthy" as each one of them were, straight sugar all the time. SO crazy. I am noticing a few things. My blood sugar is not on a roller coaster, my taste is not super syrupy and seems more accurate, and when I exercise I feel more in control. Now the exercise more in control could be because I am going very slow. I am slowing my run down pace wise. I am shooting for 9:45 or 10:00. I am guessing that is slow enough to elicit more fat utilization than carbohydrate. Here is how my week went:
Monday-Recovery run of 3 miles followed by my "triathlete" weight lifting circuit and abs.
Tuesday-Rest
Wednesday-Training run of 3 miles
Thursday-Training run of 4 miles followed by abs and push-ups
Friday-Rest
Saturday-Long run of 12 miles. I am proud that my longest training run ever is not hard enough to make me sore. No fatigue, no pain, slow but I felt great minus the dehydration. I have run 7 halves and today was the longest I have run without a medal or race. Funny story: You know you are a runner in las vegas when.....a guy stops you in your tracks while you are running for directions to the GRAND CANYON. THE GRAND EFFING CANYON is 100 miles away. I also ran by Wayne Newton and Mike tysons house and for good measure a man riding a unicyle in the bike lane like it was a regular old bike ride. Whew running in Las Vegas is interesting.
The nutrition will require discipline. The weights and running require persistence. I feel my new goal of running a marathon becoming more and more doable. IF that is the case then so is IM. Today I watched yesterdays showing of IM Hawaii. Kona is such an amazing event. My life bucket list includes this race. Some day will I race on that stage? An age grouper for sure. Years away, I know...but possible?
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens
This phoenix will continue to rise and how far will it go?
Monday-Recovery run of 3 miles followed by my "triathlete" weight lifting circuit and abs.
Tuesday-Rest
Wednesday-Training run of 3 miles
Thursday-Training run of 4 miles followed by abs and push-ups
Friday-Rest
Saturday-Long run of 12 miles. I am proud that my longest training run ever is not hard enough to make me sore. No fatigue, no pain, slow but I felt great minus the dehydration. I have run 7 halves and today was the longest I have run without a medal or race. Funny story: You know you are a runner in las vegas when.....a guy stops you in your tracks while you are running for directions to the GRAND CANYON. THE GRAND EFFING CANYON is 100 miles away. I also ran by Wayne Newton and Mike tysons house and for good measure a man riding a unicyle in the bike lane like it was a regular old bike ride. Whew running in Las Vegas is interesting.
The nutrition will require discipline. The weights and running require persistence. I feel my new goal of running a marathon becoming more and more doable. IF that is the case then so is IM. Today I watched yesterdays showing of IM Hawaii. Kona is such an amazing event. My life bucket list includes this race. Some day will I race on that stage? An age grouper for sure. Years away, I know...but possible?
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens
This phoenix will continue to rise and how far will it go?
Monday, December 14, 2009
BAITER and Nutritional Paradigm Shift
My brother has a pet peeve. BAITING. People who attempt to lure others into a conversation by using leading comments or statements. I apologize for my baiting....=). I did not intend to do that. Here is my book review. I must start by saying the following is MY OPINION. I am not a nutritionist so I should not give anyone else any advice, I am simply sharing my paradigm shift with regard to my fitness. Oh and its gonna be a long post.
Another bonus to starting this blog is getting to read the experiences of other endurance athletes. I am well schooled in anatomy and physiology, especially exercise physiology but not as experienced with fitness as some of the bloggers I read about. This may not be new information to someone who naturally does this but from a former OVER eater and over eating horrible foods this is new. I am hoping this spawns questions and conversation we can all learn and grow from. So please do not hesitate to comment even if think this is baloney.
The book is called "METABOLIC EFFICIENCY TRAINING: Teaching the body to burn fat" by Bob Seebohar. He is an exercise physiologist/nutritionist/triathlete/coach/lecturer. He works with the Olympic triathlon team and is quite the endurance athlete himself. He has a lecture series (I have attended) and this brand new book. Here is his website: www.fuel4mance.com . He is a very personable guy and has answered my emails with questions.
OK...here it goes. Basically we use 2 types of macro nutrients for energy. FAT and Carbohydrates (CHo) or sugar. The energy derived from fat is better than the energy derived from CHo. However, the body will use CHo energy because it is easier to break down. We are always using both nutrients at the same time but the percentage of each nutrient depends on the intensity of exercise. The lower the intensity of exercise the more fat you use compared to CHo. The harder the intensity the more CHo you use. The stage (heavy training=more CHo used) in your competition year depends on the intensity of training. He refers to this as "periodization of nutrition." Basically its the same as exercise periodization but with how you eat. I am in the "preparatory cycle." The others are in order: competition cycle, taper, and transition cycle.
Here is the nutrition aspect. If your goal is to lose weight or burn more fat then training at a high intensity is not the system of energy of choice. He says "train to eat not eat to train." No cheap sources of energy. No pasta, no rice even if its healthy CHo as whole grains. Its too readily available and your body will choose that first. If there is none available then your body will have to choose fat for energy. THIS IS NOT A LOW CARB DIET. This is utilizing the nutrients in fruits and vegetable as your source of CHo. It is enough to be just fine, its smarter carbs. Basically if you think of your dinner plate it should be 60% lean protein with healthy fat. The other 40% fruits or vegetables.
The name of the game is controlling blood sugar. If there is no sugar or CHo placed into the system and you train at a low intensity then your body will choose more fat then CHo. NO GELS, GUs etc. your body needs to utilize fat and you will have better performance if you do use fat. If you train at high intensities then you need more CHo to sustain that activity. If you are metabolically INefficient then you will require more CHo. So you can nourish yourself into the corner by using too much sugar while you train. This time of year is perfect for building a cardiovascular base. Long low intensity training while eating accordingly. No carbs before or during and utilize the cleaner more energy rich FAT. TIMING and consistency will result in your body letting go of fat. Nutrient timing is a very new concept to me. You ever get done with a long ride or run and have the shakes? Not enough CHo, if you replenish with CHo your brain will trigger you to over eat. Instead if you have a protein to control blood sugar you will curb the jitters and you wont overeat. Small protein shake, nuts, or yogurt will do the job. Snacking the same way will keep your blood sugar low and in control. WHY THE PARADIGM SHIFT FOR ME?
Because I didn't necessarily correlate them together. I thought I ate so healthy. I must be eating healthy if I don't eat anything "bad." I did not eat any fast food and If I did it was the healthiest (subway) you can find. But almost every meal contained too much CHo and not enough protein. When I sought out nutritionist help I was finally instructed to lessen the CHo and up the protein. Then I experienced major cramping issues. My intensity of training was too high to support not enough CHo. Then I went back to eating more CHo even though they were very healthy. The result was good performance (for me) and NO WEIGHT LOST. DUH...I wasn't using the right system for energy!!! When I made the decision to get faster and perform better is the last time I lost any weight. When I dropped the 50 or so pounds I lost I was working at much lower intensities....hmmm wish I would have seen that earlier.
Your next question is how high or how low is your training supposed to be? Well you need to get a metabolic efficiency test to be 100% sure. The test will generate a heart rate that will correspond to the most efficient fat burning intensity and you should work at that intensity for a long time. As your season progresses you change your eating style ever so slightly to match the intensity you need to train at. If I had to name flaws I see in this book is that it is mostly anecdotal information. He is working on studying this using double blind, good studies but it does not see to be available at this time. He does list references that I will pull and see what else I can gather. I highly recommend this book to the frustrated endurance athlete who is not getting the results he or she is looking for. There is obviously a lot more in the book and he is the EXPERT so order his book from his site! I hope this is easy to read and helpful. If it isn't let me know and lets learn together!!! QUOTE:
Another bonus to starting this blog is getting to read the experiences of other endurance athletes. I am well schooled in anatomy and physiology, especially exercise physiology but not as experienced with fitness as some of the bloggers I read about. This may not be new information to someone who naturally does this but from a former OVER eater and over eating horrible foods this is new. I am hoping this spawns questions and conversation we can all learn and grow from. So please do not hesitate to comment even if think this is baloney.
The book is called "METABOLIC EFFICIENCY TRAINING: Teaching the body to burn fat" by Bob Seebohar. He is an exercise physiologist/nutritionist/triathlete/coach/lecturer. He works with the Olympic triathlon team and is quite the endurance athlete himself. He has a lecture series (I have attended) and this brand new book. Here is his website: www.fuel4mance.com . He is a very personable guy and has answered my emails with questions.
OK...here it goes. Basically we use 2 types of macro nutrients for energy. FAT and Carbohydrates (CHo) or sugar. The energy derived from fat is better than the energy derived from CHo. However, the body will use CHo energy because it is easier to break down. We are always using both nutrients at the same time but the percentage of each nutrient depends on the intensity of exercise. The lower the intensity of exercise the more fat you use compared to CHo. The harder the intensity the more CHo you use. The stage (heavy training=more CHo used) in your competition year depends on the intensity of training. He refers to this as "periodization of nutrition." Basically its the same as exercise periodization but with how you eat. I am in the "preparatory cycle." The others are in order: competition cycle, taper, and transition cycle.
Here is the nutrition aspect. If your goal is to lose weight or burn more fat then training at a high intensity is not the system of energy of choice. He says "train to eat not eat to train." No cheap sources of energy. No pasta, no rice even if its healthy CHo as whole grains. Its too readily available and your body will choose that first. If there is none available then your body will have to choose fat for energy. THIS IS NOT A LOW CARB DIET. This is utilizing the nutrients in fruits and vegetable as your source of CHo. It is enough to be just fine, its smarter carbs. Basically if you think of your dinner plate it should be 60% lean protein with healthy fat. The other 40% fruits or vegetables.
The name of the game is controlling blood sugar. If there is no sugar or CHo placed into the system and you train at a low intensity then your body will choose more fat then CHo. NO GELS, GUs etc. your body needs to utilize fat and you will have better performance if you do use fat. If you train at high intensities then you need more CHo to sustain that activity. If you are metabolically INefficient then you will require more CHo. So you can nourish yourself into the corner by using too much sugar while you train. This time of year is perfect for building a cardiovascular base. Long low intensity training while eating accordingly. No carbs before or during and utilize the cleaner more energy rich FAT. TIMING and consistency will result in your body letting go of fat. Nutrient timing is a very new concept to me. You ever get done with a long ride or run and have the shakes? Not enough CHo, if you replenish with CHo your brain will trigger you to over eat. Instead if you have a protein to control blood sugar you will curb the jitters and you wont overeat. Small protein shake, nuts, or yogurt will do the job. Snacking the same way will keep your blood sugar low and in control. WHY THE PARADIGM SHIFT FOR ME?
Because I didn't necessarily correlate them together. I thought I ate so healthy. I must be eating healthy if I don't eat anything "bad." I did not eat any fast food and If I did it was the healthiest (subway) you can find. But almost every meal contained too much CHo and not enough protein. When I sought out nutritionist help I was finally instructed to lessen the CHo and up the protein. Then I experienced major cramping issues. My intensity of training was too high to support not enough CHo. Then I went back to eating more CHo even though they were very healthy. The result was good performance (for me) and NO WEIGHT LOST. DUH...I wasn't using the right system for energy!!! When I made the decision to get faster and perform better is the last time I lost any weight. When I dropped the 50 or so pounds I lost I was working at much lower intensities....hmmm wish I would have seen that earlier.
Your next question is how high or how low is your training supposed to be? Well you need to get a metabolic efficiency test to be 100% sure. The test will generate a heart rate that will correspond to the most efficient fat burning intensity and you should work at that intensity for a long time. As your season progresses you change your eating style ever so slightly to match the intensity you need to train at. If I had to name flaws I see in this book is that it is mostly anecdotal information. He is working on studying this using double blind, good studies but it does not see to be available at this time. He does list references that I will pull and see what else I can gather. I highly recommend this book to the frustrated endurance athlete who is not getting the results he or she is looking for. There is obviously a lot more in the book and he is the EXPERT so order his book from his site! I hope this is easy to read and helpful. If it isn't let me know and lets learn together!!! QUOTE:
“Sometimes I’m confused by what I think is really obvious. But what I think is really obvious obviously isn’t obvious…”
Micheal Stipe
Sunday, December 13, 2009
reflection....
As the "off-season" moves along so does my brain. Its actually what I am most famous for; an active brain. Todays run has produced some very interesting discoveries. Unfortunately I do not have all the information but my preliminary theory seem legit. I am in the midst of researching all of the weight loss literature. I have began reading a book called "Metabolic Efficiency Training." It is written by the nutritionist who trains the US Olympic triathletes. He is touring around giving a few lectures. When I finish the book I will review it and relate to my lack of weight loss. The early theory though seems very plausible. I will explain later. Here is how my week went:
Monday-Rest after Las Vegas half.
Tuesday-Pushed run to wed secondary to work and home responsibilities.
Wednesday-20 min run followed by new strength training program. I hope to build that up to twice a week. Holy crap I could hardly lift my arms. Funny how my muscle strength as been so poor.
Thursday-3 mile run. No watch, just run. Felt great.
Friday-Rest
Saturday-Pre christmas preparations or Rest.
Sunday-8 mile run in 1:20. Just a low intensity easy run and thats what I had planned. No fatigue no pain no nothing.
Physiological response to thinking and to pain is the same; and man is not given to hurting himself.
— Martin H. Fischer
Funny how physiologically speaking, you get what you pay for.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
OK...OK...Its Official...
I am going to sparingly triathlon train and put my run to the test. I signed up for the LA marathon. The march to IM continues. My first marathon. Since I live and breath Dodgers it will be perfect to start @ Dodger stadium. I am already 6 or so weeks into the training so bring it. Quote:
“The difference between Los Angeles and yogurt is that yogurt comes with less fruit.”
Rush Limbaugh
HA!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Las Vegas 1/2 marathon race report
The home race is a yearly ritual we run as a family. My wife and I decided to run this one neck and neck. My dad, my sister, and all my dear friends who affectionately refer to as "the run club" were all present this fine day. Here is how it went:
Pre-race:
The Inaugural Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon and 1/2 Marathon did not disappoint. The new race organizers ran a fine event. It was well organized even if there were twice the runners. The biggest race in terms of shear number I have been in and a lot of fun. The past has been a logistical nightmare as far as parking and such goes. So we decided to stay 1/2 a mile off the strip and definitely a locals prerogative to find great deal in a nice room. A great decision.
Race:
EFFING COLD for dry desert types. Cold wind. I stripped and ran just like everyone else. The race did a great job of controlling the slower runners and the corrals were well spaced out. There was a band every few miles and the new route allowed for out and back on the strip. Very cool. I would recommend this race to anyone. I didn't do any speed work or very many long runs since the 1/2 Iron but I got through just fine. I beat last years time by a few minutes. 2:13. Every body did well.
That will do It for races in 2009. What a year. 3 half marathons, 4 triathlons, and a few 5Ks thrown in there. The 2010 season is shaping up in my head. Not enough to formulate a plan yet. I do know that the focus in the last few weeks has been low. I am tweaking the weight lifting plan all the time and I miss riding my bike outside. I was thinking I would do all the same races as I did in 2009 but the LA marathon will interfere with that. Rage is about the same time. Right now my next A race is the LA marathon. I am officially on the clock with that. I will resume the weight lifting, running, weight loss plan to the best of my ability.
Quote:
"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it."
Douglas Macarthur
The will to fight is growing again.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
A post just to get one in....
Ok I have not been great about blogging but I am kinda bored with it. I am getting my weight training in and my running in but it is slow and honestly I am not that proud of it. Yeah its miles under me and thats great. I ran a 5K on thanksgiving. I chased that turkey. I didnt kill it and I finished in 27:51. Abs and legs 2 X week. "Functional/stability" day. Shoulders/back too. I am getting stronger. I am running in the Las Vegas Rockn Roll 1/2 marathon. Again not my A race so I just want to have some fun and enjoy a good run. This year the route changed. All out and back on the strip. Im excited for that. The group I run with will be doing the race and my Dad and sister will be coming out. Should be great.
I would like to send a shout out to my friends running the CIM. They have been training for a few months to PR. All will be very fast and several hoping for BQ. Karl....dude...your a machine. You will kill it and your leg will be fine. Give it hell.
“Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.”
Saint Augustine quotes
Rise and Rebirth have been swimming in my head lately. This resistance training is laying a good foundation for next tri season. Saint Augustine happens to be my patron saint. Just liked this quote by a guy I happen to like.
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