Rain Rain Go Away

     Alright, I am ok with the rain, it's the ice and hail and freezing cold I dislike. I only have 25 days of training left until my very 1st Tri and it looks like it's going to be freezing. A lot of people have dropped out due to the fact that ice is still covering the lake and regardless of how hot it gets the water is going to be freezing cold.

Yes this is a picture of Hail/Sleet on my way to work today....late April

I have a feeling that it's going to be a very long time for my 1st Tri since I will be swimming in freezing water for my 1st ever open water swim, then jumping on my bike which has only been on the road 3 times (I'm wearing out my indoor trainer) then try a 6  mile run most likely still frozen but why not I only had to pay $120.00 bucks for what looks to be a very rough day. Welcome to the world of Triathlon...

On to some cool news if any one checks out my sponsor on Twitter @SLSTRI they switched their profile picture to a picture of me, the one from my last post where I was ripping my shirt off superman style. Did I mention I love being a part of Team SLS3.... 

Suit Up

     1st off I'll start with a short little mention of my Great Great Grandma-Momma 8 (Don't ask me how I came up with that number because I don't have a group of moms so I assume I added my other grandma's, aunts, etc and since I'm not a mathematician I came up with the magic number of 8/besides I was 3 years old)
She taught me more then a handful of life lessons, which help me become me. She would let me wear my superman cape under my clothes regardless of where we were going. She taught me that spinach worked just like explained by Popeye (which I still love 30 years later raw,cooked however)... All of that leads to this when you have on a super hero suit you feel ready for action and hope to get the opportunity to rip your shirt off and Bam show the world your ready. It is an awesome feeling...

     I opened up a little non discript package from my sponsor and a very thin outfit was inside. It was amazing, a team outfit custom made for me. I instantly pulled my clothes off and put it on, Lets just say it is tight. It is a size small and lets just say it leaves no room for the imagination. I felt cool being part of a small team of triathletes getting to support  team SLS3. I then took the suit off folded it up to test later and moved on. I put it on and went for a bike ride about a week later, and about 20 minutes into the ride I started thinking about the suit since I try and review any and everything I use. That's when I noticed it. It feels like I'm naked it doesn't seem to be squeezing or pulling or rubbing anywhere. It's CRAZY !!! I love it and it reminds me of the superman cape, I am just looking for reasons to put it on. I have tested it 2 more times a long run, and another bike ride and it just feels like part of me not a suit. The public won't see it until May 19th Kansas City Tri but lets just say sometimes I wear it around the house (Purely test purposes) and I can't get over how it feels... I am rating it a perfect 5 out of 5 and am more then looking forward to suiting up for this seasons tri's. 

Horrible Idea

     Bad News, I let myself down on Race Day...

It started when I felt tired going in to Friday night so I decided to get my race gear ready but also to add some extra carbs in just in case I needed them (Bad Idea #1) Then after putting about 90 carbs I started getting my gear ready

After everything was all set out I watched a little TV then tried to go to bed but all the carbs decided I wasn't doing that and my brain wouldn't shut down. I slept from 2am to 4am (Bad Idea #2) got up rechecked all my gear watched some more TV then took a shower got ready. Arrived at the race not ready due to the cold. It was in the 30's and I don't deal well with the cold, I feel like I never fully warm up. I was wearing running shorts a T-Shirt so I wasn't in cold weather gear but I hoped it would warm up (Bad Idea #3). The race started and I was OK I felt out of rhythm but OK. As we took the 1st curve it seemed like everyone was on top of each other and as the road opened up I saw the 1:30 Pace Group and felt like it was just a short sprint away so I took off (WORST Idea #4) I ran the 1st 3 miles with this group so my 1st 3 miles went 5:43,5:22,5:28 which is insane. I train for a pace of 7:30-8:30 per mile and so I'm used to drinking at this pace I can pull a gel out of my pocket and rip it open and down it no problem. but at the pace I was running I couldn't take a gel out, trying to grab a cup out of someones hand is more like just slapping a cup out of there hand so lets just say I skipped the 1st drink station and did nothing other then yell at myself to keep up with these guys. It was brutal and I should have never had done it but I did. After that the wheels fell off for the rest of the race. Here was my plan. Run with the 1:50 pace group have a nice and smooth 1st race and with a mile to go push it to the limit and hopefully PR by a lot. Once the race started I changed my plan to run with the big dogs for a few miles then drop my pace to the 1:40 group and since it was 10 minutes slower it should feel good and I would still sprint the last mile and set a crazy PR. This is how it really went. I took off as fast as I could run, caught the group with out any problems, then realized my full out was there pace so a lot of crazy talk went on in my head alot of just keep pushing it. Did I just miss the drink station, my legs are on fire, this is crazy. then I started to slow down and people just kept passing me. I was done. I train in a warm gym, I take a drink every 2 miles and rarely miss a much need gel and at this point I was cold, couldn't get enough air, missed a drink station and hadn't taken a gel and now it felt like most of the runners had passed me. So I walked the next drink station took a gel and started a very slow pace which I kept for the rest of the race. I ended up around a 9 minute pace and PR the race by a little more then 1 minute which to me isn't a PR so I will use this as a life lesson and train on...

Some things I learned

- Some people train to race 13.1 miles (I don't)

- Don't run someone elses pace (Run your own)

- Race the way you train (My body is used to swim, bike, run) so my pace is a little slower on the run but it's what my body knows so just quit being stupid and let my body do what it's trained for.

- if your worried about the cold train more in the cold.

I did OK, but I didn't do my best and that does nothing but eat at me so I will train smarter and harder and be ready next time. I make no excuses for my poor performance because it's my own fault but next time I will be ready.

Quick lifestyle Update

Since going Paleo and juicing for breakfast/snack a day. I feel amazing better then I have ever felt and have decided I'll never go back to just throwing what ever chemical created fast food is around into my body. I only get one body and I should treat it like that. If anyone is in my area (Kansas City, MO) there is a awesome Meat Market not to far for Grass fed Beef, farm fresh eggs, Bison, etc and it's not priced to crazy http://stevesmeatmarketks.com/ , It is crazy weird, I haven't had a Mountain Dew this month (April) and to be honest once I made it passed the 1st 10 days I don't even crave it anymore.

33 days til my very 1st Tri.... 

The Fountain of Youth

     It's been a awesome week, I finally got my bike out of the gym and on to the street. It was however a very rough ride filled with crazy up hills which before today I  thought my bike cardio was strong but I now know I need a lot of work and by a lot I mean A LOT so I finished the rough ride then the next day pushed through a 8 mile run. Enough about my workouts and the beating on the bike, lets talk about my next evolution. I have always said I need to change my diet to take myself to the next level so that sparked a change to Paleo, now 3 weeks in and not hating living a low grain life I'm going to start juicing (The Fountain of Youth) so for the next week it's a juice for breakfast and a juice for lunch just as a kind of reset for my system so that I'll be ready to push my limits. My wife came up with all the recipes and we got to work..

Yes all this went into my very 1st juice

looks great.... Don't be jealous

None went to waste, what was left in the pitcher (above) I used to fill up one of my fuelbelt bottles and then I was off for a 8 miler

     I had a pretty good week of training, my energy level is almost at a 100% and I've been experimenting with different fuels so that hopefully by Ironman Lawrence (June) I'll have it dialed in. As for my 1st race it's only 11 days away (Rock the Parkway) and I am going to try and push it really hard this week and then taper next week so that hopefully I can PR. I also have a review of my Tri suit but I'm waiting on some pictures....

Never Been on the Road II

     Yes,  a part 2 why you ask because IT IS STILL SNOWING AND LOW 30's so riding a bike or even running outside in the snow and ice is not the best way to avoid injury with only 17 days until race day so I'm stuck in the gym and by the way I go to the gym around 11pm so I don't have to deal with people so I might be a little cranky when I see some people on 1 of only 2 StairMasters at the gym with it set to barely move reading a magazine or talking on there phone... If its you I'm sorry but after I ride a hard fast 15 miles on the bike switch shoes run a 23 minute 5k and want to finish by grinding out a quick 10 minute mile on the stairs I would like to not have to wait 20 minutes while you figure out with your BFF what type of tanning bed you like better.  OK sorry had to let that out because when I show up at the gym I'm sacrificing sleep time and I love to sleep, But when you have a 1 and a 3 year old sleep hours are few so next time talk while you stretch for a half hour since your not sweating anyway.... Besides you'll never see me waiting to stretch.

SORRY NOW BACK TO NORMAL BLOGGING

     My diet is going good, I'm really trying to up my calories and drink more coffee and teas to at least have my daily caffeine fix. After 7 days I dropped 5 pounds (I assume all Dew weight) so I emailed a contact at Marks Daily Apple and they responded quick...

"After reading your blog, and reviewing your workout and nutrition log, I would suggest not worrying about calories and following paleo rules so much on high intensity workout days (Wed, Sat) due in part that your body is burning a massive amount of calories and should not be storing much excess."

" It seems that Mountain Dew is a big amount of energy and we would not suggest using that as a form of fuel, but you should always take in to account how you have been living/training and take small steps as to not freak out your body. Remember to reach for 80/20 not always 100%."

     I have been trying to live within my 80/20 and it seems to help my energy level along with a few cheat meals as to not go crazy...

Also want to give a shout out to my wife for introducing me to the world of Paleo...Without her I would be washing down A lot of Gluten with liters of Mountain Dew right now...

As for now Back to the Gym....

 

Never been on the Road

     A few things have happened since my last Blog. My car (Jeep) didn't make it through the weekend. The computer that controls the transmission started glitching and it ended up destroying the transmission and on board computer system so I got a loaner car for the weekend and ended up buying a new car (Chevy  Equinox )

I also received shipping conformation that my new team SLS3 Tri suit is on its way so my next blog will have Pics. Last but not least I started the DIET and so far I have 4 days of headaches and low energy but I'm not sure if it's from the lack of carbs or the lack of Calories (My fault) didn't realize how many daily calories came from Dew,  I am always around 2000-2500 a day but since the diet I have yet to make it past 1400 but I'm still fine tuning it to see what works best. I also am doing a Brick workout tonight (swim, bike, run in a row in the same training set and distance) so I'll really be watching my calories and how my body /energy is feeling.  Down to about 3 weeks of hard training then a few days of tapering then race day...  As for my bike it has NEVER BEEN ON THE ROAD every mile I have logged has been inside on a trainer, I was planning on doing some road miles this week but another new storm is scheduled so it looks like back on the trainer for me.For all those who are reading this Thanks for all the support and helping push me towards my Goals

Next Level

      Sorry, for no post last week, but I have really been trying to settle into the big part of my preseason work out phase or as I like to call it Sweatfest. I am almost at the 2 a day workout phase which will be about 35 days away and my 1st race (rock the parkway) is 30 days away... A couple of updates is I will be using Nike+ to track my race and it will be linked to my twitter account (@Chrisc13) so there will be live pace and position updates with also the ability of any of my followers to cheer me on live by posting a tweet during the race. Also it will be my 1st race in my new SLS3 compression gear so we will see how it does.
     As for the Next Level of my training.... I'm taking the plunge and going Primal (Paleo) which is a type of diet or life style change where I will be eating the same foods a caveman would have been able to find such as meat, veggies,fruits etc and staying away from any type of grain or processed food. Better explained by Mark Sisson on his blog http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz2NLYVFmy9. Yes to answer the question for anyone who knows me, it means giving up Mountain Dew which I know is crazy for anyone who knows me and knows it has been a stable in my training/life but I am going to give it up in the name of Winning. It also means I will be for the most part gluten free (except for cheat meals) so as always my goal will be 100% clean eating but as most of my research has found the happy zone is 80% clean and 20% other so it should make for some interesting tests. So next weeks blog may be angry and bitter. Just realize I will be coming down off a 6 year non-stop at least 700mg of carbs and 1000mg of caffeine a day coma and most likely my body is going to hit very heavy withdraws. But as the world knows I'm not getting any younger but hopefully I'm getting wiser. Wish me luck, I will need it...

     As for my training I feel good about how ready I am for my 1st race and am looking forward to as soon as the half marathon is over doing a month of 2 a day workouts to be ready for my 1st Tri which is 66 days away until then I will just be swimming, biking, running then repeating...