Race Week: Monday - 3.26.2007 - Taper Update #3

Taper update #3.

Well it's Monday night. Today was a rest day and I'm tired. It's weird how "off" days affect me. It's like if I don't get up and get a workout in or have plans for one my body knows it and just shuts off. I slept pretty well but I did wake up around 430am and start thinking about the race. I am kind of anxious. I was able to ge back to sleep and ended up getting up at 6:45 for work. Just a shade under 8 hours.

As always I jumped on the scale first thing in the AM. I know it's probably not the most accurate time to weight yourself, but I do it everyday at the same time so atleast there is a constant. 129.5lbs. Yep, under 130lbs and I had shorter workouts over the weekend and ate really well. Whatever. Hopefully I will see that number slowly increase over the week as I get closer to race day. My diet is just super clean and I have been eating a ton of fruits and veggies. Here's a breakdown of the fruits and vegetables I ate today (along with a lot of other stuff but this is just about the fruits and vegs):

breakfast:
1 x kiwi
2 x tomato slices (on egg sandwich)

Lunch:
1 x tangerine
1 x small blood orange
In large chicken salad:
mixed greens
grape tomatoes
mushrooms
brocoli
carrots

Dinner: Veggie Stir Fry w/Quinoa pasta

Ingredients:
portabella mushrooms
brocoloi
carrots
sugar snap peas
red onion
garlic
Quorn "Tenders" (veggie imitaion chicken tendors)
La Choy Ginger & Garlic Stir Fry Sauce
Quinoa Pasta

100% Vegetarian dinner and damn good.

I have been trying to have a couple vegetarian meals a week. I still love steak, hamburgers, fish, and any kind of poultry, but there are a lot of interesting, healthy vegetarian options that I want to give a shot.

Here's some more randomness...

When not training I typically wear old school vans 100% of the time and as most people know they really provide no support or cushioning. My chiropractor gets on my all the time about it. So I just got a new pair of Mizuno Nirvanas and have decided to wear them all week to give my feet a break. It was like walking on pillows all day at work today.... I may be on to something.



another good find:




I ordered some new coffee and it's good. These guys really support cycling and put on camps in AZ... and they had a really good deal on 3 bags on their site. 53x11 Coffee.



Time for bed.

Weekly Recap (Recover/Taper- 3.19.2007 - 3.25.2007)

Taper Update #2

I have a lot to cover.

I am going to cover the past week and the coming week day by day. I really want to accurately get down how I am feeling, what I am eating, and the workouts I am doing so after the race is over I will have an accurate log of how my taper worked.

In my last post I wrote about how I am the kind of athlete that needs to be told to hold back. Well Jim busted me. I added a swim on Wednesday morning and was also going to hit a quick Masters session on Thursday. I got a call and an email from him Wednesday night telling me to "BACK OFF!" He ordered me to take Thursday completely off (like he already had on my plan) and the trust the taper. So I did. I slept in and then headed to work. I am glad he made the call. I was wasted. Seriously. I was exhausted all day and just really tired. Probably the most fatigued I have felt so far. Perfect timing for a day off. I really wasn't taking into account that, based on my 2 week build & 1 week recover plan, I was in the middle of a recovery week, and after two back to back 18 hour weeks I really needed it.

Here's how the finished up day by day:

thursday: Rest & a lot of stretching

Friday:

Swim AM - 3200 yards - 60 min @ work pool. Water was cold but I felt good.

Run PM - 50 minute run and I felt really good. Way better then I felt on my 30 min run on Tuesday afternoon

Saturday:

Brick:

Bike - 2 hrs/37.5 miles/2247 ft of climbing (3 x 6 min intervals, hills simulating course)

run - 23min/3.25 miles/442 ft of climbing

I felt awesome on both the bike and run. It's amazing what a little bit of rest and reduced volume will do. It's pretty much how easy a 2 hr ride/20 min run brick feels right now.

Sunday:

Open Water Swim AM - 40min/1.5 miles

Run (after swim) - 75 mim/11 miles

The water is warming up. The swim felt great. By far the best open water swim I have had so far this year. I am really looking forward to getting in the ocean more. I wanted to get in the some hard efforts so here's what I did throughout the entire swim:

10 stroke cycles ( 2 strokes, R,L) 10 easy

15h - 15e

20h - 20e

25h - 25e

30h - 30e

Once I got up to 30 stroke cycles (60 stokes) I would work my way back down and then start again. This is the first time I have done this workout and really liked it. I read about it on Blake Becker's blog.

The following run was solid and I easily negative split with some fartleks during the second half. I actually ran a harder router than I wanted through San Elijo lagoon and RSF with 1320ft of climbing. I really can't avoid running hills around here and I am really hoping that translates into a fast run split on the pancake flat course on Sunday. I also experimented with some flat coke. I carried 6oz in a gel flask and have to say it was a success. I was tired going in and that's how I wanted it. I took 3oz at 20min and another 3oz at 40min. It defintely did the trick and I will definitely be using it on Saturday.

Weekly totals:

Total Training Time: 10:43

swim: 12,540 yards (1 Masters, 2 Work pool, 1 open water)

Bike: 55.3 Miles (1 trainer, 1 road/tt)

Run: 23.95 Miles (4 runs - 1 off the bike)

Core: 2 sessions

I am feeling pretty good right now. I am used to having weekends totally crush and right now I am feeling really good. Monday is an off day and then I have some short stuff the rest of the week.

Starting on Saturday I started logging all my food intake in training peaks. I want to make sure I am getting sufficient calories through out the next week. I am not tweaking my diet too much. A little extra carbs in the final 3 days, but as long as I continue with my normal diet with the decrease work load I should be all set.

The weather for the race is looking really good.

My biggest concern about this race weather the potential cold temps so this is good, good news.

I'll post another update tomorrow. It's probably be just a quick to see how I am feeling.

Tapering... Update #1

Tuesday at work during a lunch meeting I got a pretty sweet fortune in a fortune cookie:

Maybe it's a good sign? and no... I didn't eat the crappy chinese food that they had brought in. I bring my lunch everyday.

Well the tapering is officially underway. I always find tapering/resting tough. I just like working out and and working out hard. Don't get me wrong it is nice to have a physical and mental break from the harder, longer workouts but I am always wondering if I should do more. That's where the coaching comes in. I have to trust my coach, my training plan, and just stay on track.

Yesterday morning I got in a Masters session and felt great. Then in the afternoon I had an easy (Z1-Z2 w/ strides) 30 minute run and was honestly contemplating going longer. I didn't but and just took it easy but the thought was there. I am either the type of athlete a coach likes or hates. I am the one that always, and I mean always, has to be told to not do too much. If Jim didn't stay on top of my progress and plan I would probably nuke myself.

I jumped in the pool again this morning for a super easy swim. Easy swimming really helps my body recover. I think it's because I have been surfing for 15+ years and feel so comfortable in the water. I might not be a great, or even a good swimmer, but I really like swimming. I used to hate the pool when I first started and would really have to motivate myself to swim even 3 times a week. Now I could swim everyday and often add short easy swims just because they are relaxing, refreshing, and I feel great and loose afterwards. I can't wait until summer when I'll start getting in more open water swims. I work about 3 miles from the beach so I am planning on heading down a couple of days a week at lunch for some short ocean swims.

After work it was time for a 60 min ride. I contemplated all day wheter or not to do this on the road or trainer. Suprisingly enough I chose the trainer. I am just really liking the focused workouts and feel I get a lot more out of an hour on the trainer than an hour on the road, but anything longer than an hour it's always going to be the road. I can actually feel my pedal stroke getting better and more smooth.

Time to kick back and and relax. Here are some quotes that I have read recently that I am pounding in my head to try and stave the desire to workout harder and longer right now.

"form = fitness + freshness"

"work + rest = Success"

Weekly Recap (Build- 3.12.2007 - 3.18.2007)

I made it.

I have now officially entered my taper for the California Ironman 70.3. I think the timing is perfect. I was really feeling the accumulation of all the hard workouts from the past couple of weeks and months yesterday. I am ready to start scaling it back and dialing in my race speed. I still will be working out quite a bit but the workouts are considerably shorter and to the the point. Get in, hit some intervals, cool down, and call it a day.

On Saturday morning I ran the St. Patrick's Day 10k and from the minute I started warming up I knew it was going to be a tough one. I had already put in a lot of training during the week and was just flat out tired. The race ended up going ok. The course was long and I was able to run a 34:10 (5:24/mile pace). I wasn't able to hang with Jim and he ended up getting me by ~20 seconds but I finished 5th overall and 2nd in my age group. Not too bad considering how I felt going it. I wore my Garmin during the race. Check these numbers:

Time: 34:10

Pace: 5:24/mile (slow!.... I want to be able to avg 5:15's)

Avg HR: 193 bpm

Max HR: 197 bpm

Splits per mile with AVG HR per mile:

mile 1: 5:17 - 183
mile 2: 5:22 - 195
mile 3: 5:17 - 195
mile 4 5:27 - 194
mile 5: 5:27 - 194
mile 6: 5:34 - 194
last .32(1:44): 5:21 - 193

I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty trashed but pushed through a 3 hour ride with 3000+ ft of climbing. I tried to get my intervals in on hills the simulated the 70.3 course. Riding on dead legs is a lot harder for me than running on dead legs. It's just hard to keep my motivation when my legs feel that heavy.


After the ride I was beat down and very tired. I was supposed to meet Jim and some of the other athletes he coaches for an open water swim but I wasn't feeling it. I sent Jim a text message telling him I wasn't coming and he called me about 10 seconds later. He basically told me to get my ass down there and swim and that I needed to get in the cold water and I would feel better afterwards. He was right. I headed down there got in a short swim in the cold water but felt great during and afterwards. It definitely pays to have a good, honest coach that will call you out when you are being a wimp.

Ok. Here's the stats for my last build week:

Total Training Time: 18:26
swim: 16,500 yards (3 Masters, 1 Work pool, 1 open water)
Bike: 136.65 Miles (1 trainer, 4 road/tt)
Run: 32 Miles (4 runs - 1 off the bike)
Core: 2 sessions

This morning I am going to get some fitness testing done on the bike. I should have my power tap sometime in the next week or so I need some numbers to base my workouts on and gauge my progress as I start training with power.

That's it.

Coming to a close...

First things first. Jim suggested I run the St. Patrick's Day 10k tomorrow and he's calling me out. Here's what he had to say in his latest blog:

"I'm looking forward to seeing how my boy Jameson is going to do this weekend. He better not let me beat him! (That's right, I'm calling you out here! Unless I just run really well, hahaha)."

It's on. I am up for the challenge. Neither of use are really in 10k shape so it should be a good battle. I've on only raced one stand alone 10k and that was last summer. It was the Scripps Ranch Old Pros and I ran it in 34 flat coming off a big weekend of training. I am in a similar situation here. I have been going hard 2.5 months now and I am ready to taper. The last couple of weeks have been especially tough and I have been really pushing it. The incentive to race Jim will give me an extra push. He told me the course is actually a little longer than 10k so I don't what I can run. We'll see.

The 70.3 is two weeks from tomorrow and I am pretty stoked. As much as I am stoked about racing and giving a new distance a shot I am more exctied that my parents are coming out from Virgina. They were planning a vacation to come visit my brother, sister, and me this spring and decided to plan it around my race. They are super supportive of my racing. So at this race I will have more family watching and cheering me on than ever before. My mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, and nephew will all be there. It should be pretty cool. My family is kind of crazy and likes to have a good time and knock back some ice cold beers so post race should be a good time. They also got some shirts made which I think is absolutely hilarious... you gotta love family.

back:


Front:


From a training standpoint things are going really well this week. I put in my last 5000+ yard workout in the pool and Tuesday and the last two days I have just done the standard 4000+ yard workouts. It's time to dial in the speed. It's amazing how easy swimming only 4000 yards seems now, which is just what I wanted. Eventhough I am getting race to the 70.3 in two weeks I have bigger goals for later in the season and building a good base of early season swimming I think will be key. At this time last year I had never swam more than 2500 yards in a single workout. Fridays are typically speed days and here was our main set from this morning... I really like this and felt strong.

10 x 50 (base, build)
2 x 100 (1 base, 1 base -5)
2 x 25 (all out)

8 x 50 (base, build)
4 x 100 (2 base, 2 base -5)
4 x 25 (all out)

6 x 50 (base, build)
6 x 100 (3 base, 3 base -5)
6 x 25 (all out)

Other than that baseball season is getting closer and I bought tickets to the Padres opening weekend. I will be going to my first game of the season Saturday night, April 7th. That's the week after the race so I will still be in recovery mode. So it's on... Ice cold beers and baseball. Can't wait.

A photo of me and my brother from a game last year.



One last thing. I am reading this book. A lot of good info and things I have never thought about. I plan on generally following this program once my traning picks back up after the race.

a bunch of random things..

Well I kind of had an improptu day off of work today... well kind of. I was waiting this morning on a plumber and he never showed up. Then when I called the company they told me they would have some out at about 4. The guy called me at 4 and said he couldn't come until tomorrow. No worries. I got a ton of work done at home and was also able to get in my workouts. It was a pretty solid day.

On the schedule for this morning I had a 2 hour easy/recovery ride to get in. Due to dalylight savings time and sunrise being at 7am I started out with 20 minutes on the trainer with some drills and then hit the road. Just a good solid 2:10 keeping the the rpm's up (~90) and the heartrate low.

The best part about recovery rides and no intervals is being able to make a coffee pitstop.

Around 1:30pm I headed out to San Elijo Lagoon to get in my run. It was an interval/tempo run building up to running all out. It was solid. Here's how it went down.

16min warm-up: 7:25/mile

15min Z3: 6:36/mile

5min Z4:6:13/mile

5min HARD: 5:52

19min cool down: 7:37 mile
My goal was to run sub 6 on last interval. Done

Random:

Time for a coffee break. Almost done.


triple americano = crack


it was time to get serious... so I shaved my head and grew a beard.


This probably on my favorite bars out there. Very good and 70% Organic.

new sponsor: Recover-Ease & Ener-Ease. I got some of this stuff last year and really liked it. When I found out Wicked Fast Sprots Nutrition were putting together a triathlon team I applied and was picked up. I got some product last week and I'm stoked!

About a month ago I sent a letter to Inside Triathlon regarding their "all-american" selections. I thought they kind of snubbed Xterra as there were no one who raced Xterra selected. I got a really response from Jimmy Archer and they selected my email for letter of the month. For being selected they sent me the "Swimmer Toolkit" from Finis. I'm going to give some of this stuff a try this weekend.

That'

Weekly Recap (Build- 3.5.2007 - 3.11.2007)

Holy crap. This past was huge. I was defintely feeling this morning before I headed out the door. This was second to last build week and I really went into wanting to go hard. Mission accomplished.

I set another goal this week of getting in 20,000 yards in the pool and nailed that too, but I was really feeling it on Friday.






















I picked up something this week that is really going to help my push my running. I got a Garmin Forerunner 305. I am sure everybody knows what it is (GPS/heartrate monitor) but I can't believe I didn't get one sooner. It's ability to show you your real-time pace is killer and defintely won't let me slack off. All the graphs and stuff you can do post workout are pretty rad too and the fact that I can upload it straigh to Training peaks saves some time.

Here's the stats for the week.

Total Training Time: 19:47
swim: 20,000 yards (3 Masters, 2 Work pool)
Bike: 124.5 Miles (1 trainer, 2 road/tt, 1 mtb)
Run: 41.4 Miles (5 runs - 2 off the bike)
Core: 3 sessions

I have now stopped lifting weights. With the really high volume I want to make sure my body is recovering and don't think I need to tear it up any more. The strength training has done it's job. I am strong and injury free. I will still be hitting core sessions up until the week of the race.

I had really good trainer session on Thursday evening and am really starting to notcie some significant difference in my pedal stroke. It will be interesting to see how much more I can improve when I get my power tap. Having instant feedback (just like the FR 305) will keep me honest.

On Saturday I had a big brick. I came in at 61 miles riding with one hard 60 min interval, which I did on the 70.3 course. I followed it up with an hour transition run. Jim had me running hard off the bike this week and after the ride I wasn't sure that was going to happen. I was tired, but as soon as I started going and picked up my pace things turned around quickly. During the intervals I was running 6 minute miles and averaged 6:54 for the entire 8.3 miles.

Today I had a swim and run on tap. I headed out early to meet the Tri club in Del Mar for an open water swim but no one showed up. So I headed up to Cardiff and got in my long run. I ran from the Seaside parking lot up to Torrey Pines, did a couple loops of the Guy Flemming trail, and then headed back. I got in 16.3 miles in 1:56 with the last 30 minutes at tempo. After a solid 90 minutes I was able to average 6:24 miles for the last 30 minutes on very tired legs. I am happy with that. Later on I swam at the work pool and then hit a core/stretching session. Week over!

Some photos from the week.

Pre-run breakfast ingredients.


















And here it is. Whole Wheat english muffin. Side 1: Power butter & Honey. Side 2: Soy nut butter & Strawberry Preserve (low sugar)


Post-run shake ingredients: Chocolate milk, power butter, chocolate whey protein, green defense, glutamine, a banana, and a bunch of ice.



Done.

I get some weird looks sometimes when I am the grocery store picking up these two items. Myoplex Lite and Slim-Fast High protein ready to drink shakes. Along with a banana this is what I have been eating after my swim workouts. I want to make sure I get in some good carbs and protein right after I swim and with these it's easy. I just down them in my truck during my commute to work. Breakfast is taken care of and they both taste really good.

And one last photo. Post-run. Feet elevated, icing my knees, watching some collge basketball. Preventative maintenance. Right after I make my protein shake I go sit in the ice cold jacuzzi for 20 minutes and them come in and ice my knees for 15 minutes (per knee). Just taking care of the joints. Two hours of running is a lot of pounding.

Well that was my week. I have another hard week coming up but tomorrow's and off day. Time to get some work done and get a massage.

a quick plug for jim...

Jim, my coach, is in Panama right now getting ready to race in the Portobelo International Triathlon.

I had the chance to go with him but time and money-wise it didn't make much sense for me, but after reading his blogs and entries at Inside Triathlon I will defintely try to plan getting down there next year.

The reason for this post is just to plug his blog and Racer Diary at Inside Triathlon. Follow the links before for some killer stories.

Jim's blog.

Inside Triathlon Racer Diaries:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

That's it. Training is kicking my ass but I'll get to that tomorrow.

eating good and staying flexible... more photos.

First things first. I am so happy that the Baseball season is underway. I know it's only spring training, but I am stoked for the 2007 Padres season. They made a lot of moves which I think has made the team better. I watched the first televised game of the year Tuesday night and it was great. During the season 150 of the 162 games are televised. No more crappy TV!

I am having more fun posting on my blog now that I started adding photos. It defintely makes it more interesting to go back and read older posts. So I have some more photos in this one.

This week has been busy so far and I think it's going to stay that way. I am in my second to last build week and from a training perspective things are great. I had a ride on Tuesday afternoon and felt incredible. It was 80 degress and sunny. No arm warmers, no knee warmers, and coming of the a recovery week I felt really strong and just wanted to hammer.

I had to go into work Tuesday night and didn't end getting home until just after midnight. Needless to say I decided it was probably a bad idea to get up at 4:45am for a Masters swim. I decied to sleep in a bit and then head out on my MTB for 1:15 spin on the trails. It felt good but my rear derailler started giving me some problems. I need to work on that tonight. After the ride I worked from home for a bit before heading into the office. It's awesome to have that flexibility.

working from home is killer.


Ok. Now for some more photos of food. A lot of people ask me questions about my diet, especially all the guys at work. They see me eating breakfast and lunch at my desk and always denying their invitations to go grab some lunch at various fast food places around work. Even with my busy schedule I cook myself dinner everynight. I am not really a fan of eating out. It's just too dificult to get what I want and eat healthy, and I like cooking. So here's my dinner from Tuesday night after my ride.

I always start with a huge salad. I go through two of these containers a week.


The finished product: Mixed greens, red onion, mushrooms, red/yellow peppers, sundried tomatoes, raw almonds & sunflower seeds, multi-grain croutons, brocoli, carrots, and light mozarella cheese.

A lot of the time I make my own dressing. It's simple. Honey Dijon mustard, basalmic vinegar, salt & pepper. Super simple and healthy.

The main course: Mahi Mahi burgers!

They only take about 6 minutes to cook. cooked up some onions too.

Done. Whole wheat toast, swiss cheese, mahi mahi burger, tomato, onions, mayo, mustard, greens.

That's it. It's a pretty typical dinner for me. It only takes about 10 minutes to make and it's healthy. Good fats, proteins, and carbs. This just made me hungry.

some stuff to look at... bored.

It's a pretty slow day at work for me right now, but it's going to be a long day. I have been up since 4:45am so I could head to Masters early and get in a 1000 yards before the workout started. When all was said and done I got in 5000 yards. I have to come back to work tonight at 10pm for some work that can only take place "after hours." It's pretty typical for me, but it's going to make it tough to get up at 4:45am tomorrow morning for another 5000 yard swim.

I had a good talk with Jim yesterday before he started getting his gear ready for his trip to Panama. We talked a good amount about how we are going to approach my Xterra training. To summarize, it's going to be tough and I am really looking forward to it. Back to the intensity.

I also talked to him about my current weight situation. I am currently weighing between 132-135lbs daily. Last year I trained and raced between 142-145lbs. I have lost about 10lbs since the first of the year. Personally I am not worried about it but everybody I see says something about how skinny I look. I feel great though. I feel fast and light on the bike and run. As long as I keep recovering as well as I am (better than I ever have) and continue to get stronger I am not going to worry about it. I am just going to keep eating they way I am and training hard.

The weather here has been killer. I hope it stays this way unitl 3/31. I would be so stoked to have a nice sunny, 70* day for the race. The weather for the rest of the week is looking awesome! The bottom temps are right along the coast and bottom are inland. My condo and where I train is somewhere in between.


I have been messing around with training peaks and pulled together some graphs of my training so far this year. It's kind of interesting (at least to me).

Training distance per week 1.1.2007 - 3.4.2007

Training time per week 1.1.2007 - 3.4.2007

Swim yards per week 1.1.2007 - 3.4.2007

Bike miles per week 1.1.2007 - 3.4.2007

run miles per week 1.1.2007 - 3.4.2007

Weekly Recap (Recover- 2.26.2007 - 3.4.2007)

For a recovery week things were pretty typical last week. I have found that just getting on the trainer and spinning is great for my legs. I did this on Monday, the day after the race, and felt great. I followed that up with a massage and adjustment. By Tuesday I felt great and didn't feel like I had just hammered on Sunday.

Speaking of the trainer. I used to hate it and would avoid it at all costs. That's not really the case anymore. I am now looking forward to sessions on the trainer and living in Southern California you could probably get away with never having to use one. Jim has always preached a lot about pedal stroke, and the fact that I should be constantly working on it. Well I have been, especially on the trainer. Last weekend in the race when I hit some of the tougher climbs I just blocked everything out and thought solely about my pedal stroke and it worked. I was able to keep my gap on the bike. I also like the specific intervals I can get in on the trainer without having to worry about stoplights and traffic.

Here's the stats from the week:

Total Training Time: 15:30
swim: 16,300 yards (2 Masters, 2 Work pool, 1 Open Water)
Bike: 100.5 Miles (2 trainer, 2 road)
Run: 24 Miles (3 runs)
Strength: 1 Sessions (1 upperbody)
Core: 4 sessions (w/ strength session)

I felt really good on the bigger weekend workouts. Just putting in the time. The specific intstructions were "do not dig deep." So I didn't. Yesterday I met Jim and a handful of other athletes he coaches for a an openwater swim workout. It was killer out. Sunny and 70 degrees and it kind made the 58 degree water tolerable. We worked on starts, turning, and drafting.

Now it's time to get serious. I have two more hard weeks and then it's taper time. I have never put so much time or specific training for a single race. I am going to be really focuesd over these next two weeks and make sure I get the most out of everywork out and then it will be time to taper.

Yesterday after the swim I stopped by B&L and put in an order for a Powertap SL. I want to become a strong cyclist but I know it's going to take time and patience. I have wanted a power meter for a while now and after talking with Jim about it I deciede to go for it. I think having a PowerTap will give me the data I need to see if I am really improving on the bike or just wasting my time. We'll see. I should have the wheel all built up and ready to do in a couple of weeks.

For some reason I really like taking pictures of my food. Here's some more of my healthy food to look at:

Ok, so it's just a huge bowl of mixed nuts, but I make this up myself. I don't like all the pre-packaged mixed nuts that you buy in the store and are roasted in oil. I go to Henry's and by raw nuts and dried organic fruit and mix it all together with some sea salt. It's good. I could eat the whole thing.

In this mix (all nuts are raw, all fruit is dried): Almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts, soy nuts, macadamian nuts, raisins, cranberries, pineapple, apricot, banana, and some organic yogurt chips.

a hard 2 months...

The first two months of 2007 are in the bag. January 1st started my specific training for the California Ironman 70.3 on 3.31.2007. There has been a lot of volume, at least more than I have ever done and my body has responded positively. I already feel much stronger than I did all of last season. I attribute that to my training hard, good coaching, super healthy diet, and just taking care of my body. Last year I remember feeling worn down from big weeks and they were no where near the hours I am putting in now.

At the beginning of the year I made the commitment to cut back on drinking alcohol, caffeine, and soda. In the first 2 months of the year I defintely have. I have still been enjoying a couple of beers on Sunday afternoons after big training weeks but that's pretty much it. Cutting back the caffeine has been huge for me. I am down to about 2 cups a day have only had caffeinated coffee a handful of times after 2pm, and those were on days when I was up at 4:45am to swim and need a boost to get through some afternoon meetings. I have also only had 2 diet cokes in the past two months and one of those was on my way back from Arizona last Sunday. I am pretty stoked about sticking to these things.

It's now March 1st, 30 days until race day, and I am taking the commitment a step further. I am not going to have a single drop of alcohol in the next month leading up the race. I want to see if it makes any difference and it will make the post race beer that much better.

So with all that being said... Last night was my last night for a drink. My sister was down from LA and My brother and I grilled up some steaks and knocked back a couple jack and cokes. It was a good time and now I am ready to really focus on the next couple of weeks and then it's time to taper and race.


might as well go for the best

view from my office on Tuesday... more rain.

view from my office on Today... more sun.

No this is not from McDonalds. It's on my favorite healthy breakfasts made at home.

1 egg

1 egg white

toasted whole grain enlish muffin

fat free cheddar slice

slice of ham

slice of tomato

mustard

relish