Taking it easy

I spent about an hour tinkering with the gears on my bike, and I think I finally have the front derailleur adjusted so that it shifts on the largest two gears without grinding. I'm anxious to test it out on my long ride on Saturday, along with my new bike shorts and jersey that came in the mail!

It was tough to stay off the bike yesterday, but I can already tell that taking a rest day was a good idea. I feel like my batteries are recharged, and am ready for my lifts tonight and then biking/swimming on Saturday and running on Sunday.

Food from yesterday:


Lunch
-1 lb ground beef mixed with soy sauce, honey, garlic powder and pepper
-2 cups of milk

Dinner
-Hashbrowns mixed with scrambled eggs
-6 pieces of buttered toast
-1 piece of toast with peanut butter
-2 glasses of milk

Other
-Protein shake with creatine before bed

6/27 Workout

Yesterday after work:

Bike: 9.48 miles
Bench Press: 3x5x195
Pull-ups: 8, 8, 8

Biking felt good, and the weather was comfortable. Weight training was difficult, and I did 3, 2, and 3 reps in my working sets. I felt fatigued all day, and realized that I have exercised in 17 of the last 18 days, and 23 of the last 25. In that time:

9 days with more than one cardio activity (running, biking or swimming)
7 days weight-lifting
4 days with both weight-lifting and cardio
3 days with one cardio activity

A lot of this has to do with the two new activities, biking and swimming, which my body still needs to get used to. For example, I've biked in 6 of the last 11 days. With all of this in mind I'm taking a rest day today to let myself catch up. It's taking a little bit of willpower since I want to get out there on the bike, but I know it's for the best with a long ride coming up on Saturday in 100 degree weather. My planned long run for Sunday might also get cut back a bit since it will also be 100+ with humidity.

I'm going to be posting my dietary information on here as well, more for myself to keep track of how my workouts are in relation to what I've eaten recently. With that in mind, my meals for yesterday:

Lunch
-Leftover whole grain pasta
-2 slices of whole grain bread
-4 cups of milk

Dinner
-Chicken fried rice with scrambled eggs mixed in
-4 cups of chocolate milk
-Protein shake with creatine

Other
-Protein shake (pre-lifts)
-Cupcake (snack at work)

Bike Adjustments

My intention Monday was to bike after work and then lift weights, in that order. But as soon as I got home a pretty strong thunderstorm hit, with about 20 minutes of hail. So I scrapped the bike and lifted weights instead:

Overhead Press: 3x5x135 (failed on the last two sets)

Incline Press: 3x5x160 (failed on the last set)

I was going to do some T-bar rows too, but the weather had cleared up and the roads didn't look wet so I jumped on the opportunity and headed out on the bike. I had made an attempt at trimming the front derailleur at lunch so the chain wouldn't grind, but apparently I moved it too much because the chain wouldn't shift to the largest gear. The middle gear is doable though, and I hammered out a quick 7.05 miles and got home just in time for dinner. I adjusted it some more when I got home, and will test it on Wednesday. If I still have problems I'll just take it to the shop.

Riding along the Oyster Point Road section of the loop is mostly safe since it's one big turn lane that's rarely used, but it's still not perfect. Yesterday one person on a cell phone driving a huge Suburban came pretty close to me instead of changing lanes, which scared me a little bit. It really reiterates how reluctant I am to ride on major roads, and will stick to the Kiln Creek loop, the Battlefield trail, and eventually the Colonial Parkway.

The temperature was in the 70s on Tuesday so I decided to skip the bike and go running, since the rest of the week is in the 90s. Bre and I went up to the Noland Trail to run a 5K, and the trail has loads of up-and-down hills and is very challenging. My calf has still been sore so I was slightly worried, but it felt great during the run and I kept a sub-10:00 pace, which is very good for the Noland.

Went swimming afterwards, and didn't get my total distance in: I was planning on doing 2200m, but only swam 1600m, alternating 50/50 free/breast. My arms and shoulders were just too tired from Monday's weight-lifting, and I could tell the run left my tank half-empty too. On freestyle I switched from breathing every 4 strokes to every 3, and practiced the timing of that. Breathing to my right is harder than the left for some reason, so I need to really focus on that next time. The pool is closed on Thursday for a swim meet, and I can't swim on days that I lift weights, so I'll have to go on Saturday after my long bike.

Weekend Activities

Weight lifting on Friday:

Squat: 3x5x260
Bench: 3x5x195
Pull-ups: 10, 8

Failed on the third set of squats for the third straight workout, so time for a deload. Got all 5 reps on the first bench set, then 3 on the 2nd and 3rd sets. Very pleased with my overall progress since going on creatine, it has made a noticeable difference. I wanted to do more pull-ups but ran out of time.

Biked 11 miles at the battlefield trail on Saturday morning, just over 15mph average. There are some nice hills where I topped out at 27+ too. Hands were really sore the whole ride, and noticed afterwards that the handlebars are too far forward and need adjusting. I also need to sit down and trim the front derailleur so it doesn't grind in high gear. Only slightly saddle-sore, which is a good sign.

Ran a half-marathon on Sunday in horrible heat/humidity. Had a large blister on my big toe afterwards, probably from the extra cycling I've been doing lately. Then I took a look at my left shoe:

Three new holes: on the heel, on the middle-right, and on the second toe. I'll repair it with some shoe glue, but I might need to rotate my other Vibrams back in. Hopefully that will get me through until next month, and I'll buy some new ones. My first pair of Vibrams lasted 8 months before I replaced them, and these have lasted about 6, which makes sense since the overall mileage is about the same. We went to a wine festival on Saturday afternoon, and during Sunday's run I could tell that I was dehydrated. Made it through the run just fine, but was crazy thirsty afterwards, to the point where I didn't feel like I could quench it. 

After an hour for breakfast we went to the pool, and I jumped in for a 950m swim, alternating between 50-free and 50-breast with no rest. It's 950m instead of my planned 1000m because at the end I kicked a little too hard (overextending my toes) and got a horrible cramp in my calf, which stopped me dead in the water. I've heard that leg cramps can be dangerous when it happens in open water, but experiencing it really drove the point home: if I hadn't been in the shallow end I probably wouldn't have been able to keep myself above water just treading water. My calf is still sore a day later, but it's only sore when I sit for a while: when I get up and walk around the pain goes away after about 30 seconds. I'm wondering if it had to do with my dehydration yesterday, or if it's more of a calf strain. 

I'll be cutting back squats/deadlifts on my lifting days, probably only doing them once a week. With my cycling mileage ramping up, and me already struggling to get past my squatting plateau at 260 lbs, it's probably a good idea to do this now instead of waiting to get overloaded. The pool is closed Thursday for a swim meet, so I'm really hoping my calf doesn't keep me from swimming tomorrow.

More biking

On the schedule for yesterday was 1600m swimming followed by 7 miles biking, but I got home late from work and only had time for one, so I hopped on the bike. Turns out I made the right decision, as the pool was closed for a swim meet. The bike was good, it was very hot but that's hardly noticeable when you're biking fast. I need to start checking my tires before every ride; they felt a tad low, and when I got home I saw that they were down 5-10 PSI from when I filled them on Tuesday.

I'm a bit concerned about my gears; there's too much grinding on the high gears, so I've been sticking to some of the lower ones for now. I also probably need to get my seat adjusted, because my hands are hurting while I ride, even with gloves on. Someone recommended raising my saddle, which would put more weight on that instead of on my hands.

Skipped the morning run since I'm not feeling 100%. Riding 10 miles tomorrow, and then running 13+ on Sunday, I could probably use the extra rest. 

Mid-week workouts

Lifted weights Monday night:

Squats: 3x5x260 (failed on the last set)
Bench: 3x5x190
Pull-ups: 5 sets of 10

Tuesday I was excited to go biking right after work. I checked the tires, which I had filled the day before, and saw that the front one was flat! I unscrewed the nozzle and found that part of that was broken off on the inside, probably from being a little rough with the hand-pump. Pulled the wheel off the bike and took it to Bike Beat up the road, and they replaced it for $17 ($6.99 for the tire, $10 for labor). Only took 2 minutes, and I went ahead and bought a foot pump (with a PSI guage on it) while I was there. Great staff, extremely friendly and helpful.

Got home, put the wheel back on, used the foot pump to check both tires (the back one was still woefully under pressure), and hit the road. I did one mile in my sub-division to get a feel for the bike before taking it out on the main road. I felt fantastic and completely safe; most cars changed lanes to pass me, rather than edging me closely. Halfway through my ride a fellow cyclist pulled up next to me and commented on my skeletoes shoes. I laughed and told him that I'm a complete noob and haven't even bought real cycling gear yet, and that it was my first time cycling. He welcomed me to the sport, and gave me a few pointers: he said that my seat looked a little low for my height, and recommended I wear gloves while cycling to keep from damaging the nerves in my hands. After this he pulled ahead and told me that I was welcome to draft behind him, but his pace was a little faster than I wanted to keep for my first ride so I didn't try to keep up. After one neighborhood lap I went back to my house, ending at 5 miles total. Here's the runkeeper for the ride... the pace/speed is a bit watered down because of the slow first lap in my sub-division (and waiting 60 seconds for traffic while trying to turn onto the main road), but while on the main road I was going between 17-22mph consistently.

After that I went to the pool. I alternated between 50m free and 50m breast with no rest in between, and felt so good after my planned distance that I legged out another 200m to make it an even 2000m, the half-ironman distance for the pool. Some kids kept playing in the lane at the beginning of the swim, but swimming past them while doing the frog kick scared them away. Arms/shoulders were pretty sore by the end, but it was a great swim, even at a slow 2:24/100m pace. I was concerned that my knees would really hurt, but they feel fine so far this morning. Doing 50/50 freestyle/breaststroke really helps, compared to mostly breaststroke.

I woke up early and ran this morning, and broke the #1 rule of running: always go to the bathroom before your run. Half a mile out I realized I had to go, so I turned around and ran very fast back home. After that I finished things off with another 2 miles in my sub-division to end up at 5K. Weights tonight, we'll see how much energy I have after running this morning.

Exercise ALL THE THINGS!

Yesterday I ran a 10K at a moderate pace, and then hopped on my new bike in the afternoon for a short test run. Unfortunately I made the mistake of not filling the tires all the way, so it wasn't a very smooth ride and took more effort than it should have. I don't know if it was because my legs were tired from that morning's run, or because I'm not conditioned enough for cycling, but my quads were burning by the end of the 5 miles. We'll see how things go when the tires are fully inflated, but I might have a long way to go to build up my cycling endurance.

My biggest problem is that I want to do everything. I've been doing the Starting Strength lifting routine for almost a year, and throwing marathon training into that last fall was doable. But adding cycling/swimming to the calendar is making things a bit tougher. Previously I was lifting on Mon-Wed-Fri, and doing cardio on Tue-Thur-Sun (with a rest day on Sat). Here's my plan for this week:

Monday: lifting (pm)
Tuesday: bike (pm), swim (pm)
Wednesday: run (am), lifting (pm)
Thursday: bike (pm), swim (pm)
Friday: run (am), lifting (pm)
Saturday: long bike (am)
Sunday: long run (am), swim (pm)


3 runs, 3 bikes, 3 swims, and 3 lifts. Most days I split the lifting up so that I do half at lunch and half after work. I'm also tempted to cancel one lifting day altogether, or skip the squats/deadlifts that day so that it's upper-body only. I'm concerned about not having a rest day, but we'll see.

The long run and long bike will be done at the Battlefield trail in Yorktown, where there's almost no road traffic. The week-day biking will be done in the neighborhood, where there's a bit more traffic. We'll see how that goes. I also may occasionally do a brick on Sundays, where I bike and then run immediately afterwards. Right now it's all sort of up in the air. 

Road Bike

Road bike arrived yesterday! After an hour of assembly (and adding some reflectors and a mileage computer) it's ready to go. The tragic part? I'm out of town this weekend so I won't get to ride it until Sunday at the earliest.

I know it's a faux pax in the biking community to buy a road bike online, but I just needed something dirt cheap to get me started in the sport. I'll be happy to support my local bike shop if/when I eventually upgrade to something nicer. But for now, I'm really excited with this.

The Bee's Knees

Since I started swimming again two weeks ago, I've noticed a few things. First of all, breast stroke is still incredibly easy, and I can do it pretty much all day. Second, freestyle is a bit harder than I remember. I feel like I've gotten my form down after watching some youtube videos, but my arms/shoulders are getting tired after 100m. Third, apparently breast stroke is tough on your knees. On Tuesday I noticed that there was a little bit of discomfort in my left MCL. I assumed this had to do with the running/biking I had done the day before, since I did some interval training in the middle of my normal workouts. Because of this I decided to skip my Thursday run and just go swimming. My freestyle endurance still isn't great, so I did 1600m, alternating between 50m free and 150m breast with no rest in between. There was only a little bit of knee discomfort at the beginning of the swim, and it quickly went away, so I didn't think anything of it. However, today the MCL on both knees are more sore, probably a 2 on the pain scale.

Some quick internet browsing shows that knee issues are common from using the frog kick, which forces the knee to twist in an unnatural motion. The recommendation is to do strength exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee... which I already do! I guess I'll have to cut back on the breaststroke and force myself to do more freestyle. I'm hoping my knees feel good by Sunday, and if so I'll try to do 50m-50m alternations instead. 

The Start

I was never very good at long-distance running growing up. I played tennis and was great for short sprints, but couldn't do much more than a mile; my high-school mile times were usually around 9:00, and that was with maximum effort. In March 2011, at the age of 25, I started running again to try to stay in shape. My wife bought me some Vibrams for my birthday, and I was determined to put them to use. I was thinking of possibly running in a 5K in the future, and probably not much more than that. My first few runs were pretty bad; I couldn't keep a steady pace for a full mile, so I would alternate running for a few minutes and walking for 30 seconds. After a few weeks I could do this for 3-4 miles.

Then one day my wife came running with me. Her pace was significantly slower than mine, so I slowed down to stay with her for a while. She eventually stopped to walk, and I kept going, and before I knew it I had run an entire mile at the easy pace. One mile turned into two, which turned into three, and by the end of the day I had completed the full loop at the park without stopping. I had found my sustainable pace and had broken through the wall.

Running was relatively easy for me after that, it was just a matter of keeping an easy pace and increasing my distance. My wife Briana and I started running with some work friends during the summer. We ran a work-sponsored 5K, and my distance endurance began to stretch out. By the end of summer my longest run was 9 miles at a modest 11:19/mile pace, and I realized that a half-marathon was within my reach. The Shamrock half-marathon in Virginia Beach seemed like a good place to start; my family and friends were very supportive and thought it was a great idea. However, when I went online to sign up for the race the full marathon was only $20 more expensive. This was in October, which meant 5 months to train in colder weather (which I prefer). After staring at the screen for several minutes I selected the Full Marathon race and paid the extra money, thinking that I could always switch over to the shorter race if my training faltered.

Five months later I finished the Shamrock Marathon in 4:58:21. The final 6 miles were brutal, but I was happy. Immediately after the race I told my wife "I'm never doing that shit again," but the next day at work I was already looking up other marathons in Virginia.

It was extremely satisfying to set a goal for something "impossible", and then to accomplish it. So what comes after a marathon? I plan on running more of them, but simply going for a better time is a boring thing to train for. This is when the idea of running a triathlon crept into my head. I used to swim when I was younger, so when our neighborhood pool opened last month I started swimming laps. After swimming 1600m straight last Sunday, and realizing that's slightly more than olympic triathlon distance, I had to see if my body could handle the other two events in the same day. I took an hour break and wolfed down a slurpee and some hotdogs, biked 25 miles, rested for another hour and then trudged through the 6.22 mile run. None of it was very fast, and the gaps in between certainly made it easier, but it was a proof of concept that my body could handle the cumulative distance.

The next day I bought a road bike and gear. Ironman 2013, here I come.