Wednesday May 26,2011 - "To Push or Not to Push"

Monday and Tuesday I took off, due to residual soreness.

I ran this morning as soon as I woke up. I really did not think about it, I just got up and got outside. It was good to start my day off with a workout, but my left ankle/lower calf was sore from the race Saturday. It was not a bad workout, just not a far one. I know i should push through some pain, but i am afraid to hurt/injure myself and then be down for longer. So, how do you know when to push trough pain/discomfort or back off so you want injure yourself?

On a side note, as I read my new Men's Health today, I came across an article about rules you should follow when it come to the foods you eat. I am posting the rules below, because I am going to do my best to follow the rules. I am going to make it a kinda of food contract with myself. I will follow the rules as closely as possible. I know I am not perfect, but I will do my best to follow the below rules to the best of my ability. I will actually start cooking more and eating out less. When I do dine out I will make a conscious effort to make healthy choices. Who would like to join me in following these rules?


Rule 1
"I Will Eat Protein with Every Meal and Every Snack"

Your Plan: Eat protein at all three meals, which can include meats and eggs or other options such as cheese and milk. You need to boost your protein intake to between 0.8 and 1.0 gram per pound of body weight in order to preserve your calorie-burning muscle mass. (That's a total of between 83 and 126 grams daily for a 185-pound guy.) That means aiming for approximately 30 grams of protein at your main meals, and two snacks of at least 10 to 15 grams of protein.

Rule 2
"I Will Never Eat the World's Worst Breakfast"

Your Plan: Eat a considerable portion of your daily calories—30 to 35 percent of your total intake—in the morning. The very best breakfast will match proteins and whole grains with produce and healthy fats. For example: fried eggs on whole-grain toast and a protein and fruit smoothie. If you have neither the time nor the stomach for a big breakfast, eat two small ones—have cereal with your coffee, then grab a yogurt and fruit to eat at your desk. But the bottom line is this: Get some protein for breakfast, and the rest of the day will take care of itself.

Rule 3
"I Will Eat Before and After Exercise"

Your Plan: Eat a snack composed of carbohydrates and protein 30 minutes or so before your workout, and eat one of your protein-rich meals immediately after exercise. One of the mantras we use The Men's Health Diet is "Lost time is lost muscle." Your body breaks down muscle during and after exercise to use as fuel and rebuilds muscle using calories that you've consumed. The longer you wait after exercising to eat, the more time your body will spend breaking down its own muscle and the less time you'll have to build new muscle.

Rule 4
"I Will Eat It If It Grows on a Tree"

Your Plan: Eat at least one serving of fruits or vegetables at every meal. You can and should eat as much of them as you want to help satisfy cravings.

Rule 5
"I Will Eat the Salad Even If It Makes Me Feel Girly"

Your Plan: At every meal, try to include a folate-rich food. The best way to up your folate intake is to eat leafy greens with as many meals as you can, and eat them first.

Rule 6
"I Will Not Drink Sugar Water"

Your Plan: Replace sodas, iced teas, and "performance beverages" with water, seltzer, or other low-calorie or calorie-free beverages. If you don't like the taste of your water, buy a home filter (like Brita), which will help take out any chemical tastes, and keep a container of it cold in your fridge. Researchers from the University of Utah found that the people who drink the most water have the highest metabolisms. In a study, subjects drank 4, 8, or 12 cups of water each day. Those who drank at least 8 cups reported better concentration and higher energy levels, and tests showed that they were burning calories at much higher rates than the 4-cups-a-day group.

Rule 7
"I Will Follow the Rules of the Ripped 80 Percent of the Time"

Your Plan: Don't let that be you. Don't try to be perfect. Be 80 percent. That'll still put you well ahead of most of the adult male population. And more important, it will send you on your way to the body you've always wanted. In The Men's Health Diet, you'll find a list of the 250 Best Foods for Men. If you want a chocolate bar, go ahead—but make sure it's the best one. (That would be Dagoba's Beaucoup

Saturday May 21 - - Muddy Buddy Recap

Oh what a race! Have you ever tried something, then looked back and ask yourself. “Why did I let my friend talk me into this?” Well this is one of those times. Don’t get me wrong I was very glad I was able to finish. Just not so thrilled about the “during” section.  

The pre-race activities were the same, you check-in; get your bib number and all that good stuff. Then your swag bag, but the swag bag is kind of crappy. I think the only good thing was the $1000 off the purchase of a land rover. Not to sure how many people from the race will be going out and purchasing a land rover in the coming weeks. I was not as nervous as I usually am before races, so I felt that was a plus. Oops guess I spoke to soon! Once we started to line up in our wave, the butterflies started in the stomach region. It took all I could not to start shaken. Usually with a 5K you know what you are getting into, but with this race you had no clue. Yeah, I am going to be biking and running, but you don’t know what types of elevations you will encounter or the obstacles you will face at the exchanges. So, I was pretty damn nervous. The first three waves are off and its time for my wave to hit the trail. Mike decided that it would be best if I rode the bike first, due to the nasty hill after the 2^nd exchange. The starter pistol/horn went off, can’t remember which, because my brain did not let me hear. I saw the person in front of me go, so I started peddling, the first leg of the race was awesome. I did not try to go all out, because there were a few more miles to run. Arrived at the first exchange, but the bike up and jogged over to the first obstacle. It was a 7” climbing wall. I pretty much realized I don’t have the upper/lower body strength to help hoist myself over a wall. As the volunteer who was manning this station looked away, I casually walked around this obstacle.      

Starting the run portion was not too bad. I just kept it to a jog/walk. In my head I had to tell myself “slow and steady; slow and steady”. Since, Mike was in the 5^th wave it was inevitable that he would catch up to me. He stopped running and chatted for a minute (words of encouragement). Then he was off, I kept with my slow and steady pace thinking Shannon and Courtney were going to pass me on the bike. I came up on the 2^nd exchange and Mike was standing with the rest of the runners waiting on the bikes. I hit the exchange, crawl through the maze obstacle and then stand with Mike and wait for the girls. I was pretty freakin excited that the girls did not pass me on my run. Hell, Mike was pretty excited.

The third leg of the race was pretty hilly. I jumped on the bike and started to head down the hill determined to make it down with out getting a flat or bending the rim of the tire. As I start my descent I am cutting a good line down, missing rocks and runners. Then, the hill starts getting steeper. I notice people with bikes walking, but I keep going until I see the reason people are getting off and walking. The hill grade gets a little crazy, so I jump off and walk my back down with the rest of the inexperienced people. The wives catch up to me towards the bottom of the hill, but as soon as I get to the bottom I am back on the bike. We cross a field and I peddle over a creek as past I could, then we start going up hill. I figure “what goes down, must come up!”, but I was not expecting the up part to be so horrible. We pretty much descended into a valley, now we have to climb back out. I jumped off the bike, because my legs would not push my 300 pound body up any further. So, the hill is pretty steep, but I figured it would not take that long to ascend this beasts. Well, I was extremely wrong!!! I just want this thing to end, because quieting was not an option. The wives caught up to me and my wife stayed with me while Mike’s wife blow past us and kept pushing. I had to stop at the flat spots to take a breather. This hill had many flat spots and every time you look ahead you thing “I am almost done!” it would trick you and turn a corner to go up some more. I thought this part would never end. I could not fathom what kind of shape you need to be into ride your bike up this whole thing. Finally we get to the top of the hill and I just want to stop, but I tell myself “If I stop there is no way out of here. I will have to be injured or passed out!”. I pass the Cargo net/Inflatable slide obstacle. I believe the volunteer told me to keep going, but after the race Mike and his wife told me that I was suppose to do that obstacle. I think I will stick to my think that I was told to bypass the obstacle.

I walk the bike over to the aid station to grab some water. I keep taking and the volunteer kept giving. So, I drank my water bottle of water and then had 3 more cups. I hop back on the bike for the last leg and I push myself hard, because this is the last leg of this monster of a race. As, I power up the hills, I feel a strange feeling in my stomach. I slam on my brakes as the water in my stomach decides it does not want to be there anymore. I should have known drinking that much water was not going to be a good thing. I figured I needed the water because of the cramping in my calves and my left hamstring, but my body/stomach had other plans. After I finish with the departing of the water, I start riding again. I notice another competitor hanging over there bike up-chucking, so I stop and ask if she was o.k. She said yeah, I hope of my bike and walk with her for a few and then I spot someone else in the grass off to the side of the trail. I stopped walking to make sure they were o.k, she says she was just taking a break. I walk some more, then I decided to ride the rest of the race. I hope bike on the bike and I spot people walking back up the trail and ask “how much further to the mud pit?”; The say ”Not mush further, you are almost there”. After this exchange, I see Mike walking back up the rode. He starts shouting words of encouragement as I ride towards him, then he jogs beside me pushing me (literally, he actually pushed me a few times). I finally get to the last bike drop before I meet up with my wife to climb the rope wall and run trough the mud pit. I skipped climbing the rope wall, but my wife did and I was pretty dame impressed.  

The mud pit was pretty interesting. There was a little hump with a cargo net over the hump. You pretty much had to crawl under the net into the pit. Which, I decided to slide down into the mud. My shorts decided to stay at the top of the hill, but I thought I was smart and did a roll on to my back to pull up my shorts. Well, I am now covered from head to toe in mud. I figured since I was already muddy, I might as well military crawl the rest of the way. I get to the end and stand up and try to walk out of the pit. I slip and face plant into the mud. I’ve almost lost my shorts and now I have mud in my eyes. I think next time I will wear goggles. My wife sis already out of the pit, she gives me her hand and pulls me out of the pit as I do a penguin slide down the final hump. I felt I should try to get even muddier. As we cross the finish line my both legs start cramping. I am extremely glad I was able to finish this race. Also, I am glad I did as well as I did the first two legs of the race. Going up the monstrous hill took all my energy, but I was able to push myself and finish. I felt it was a good day.

Chip Time: 2:15:42.9

Pictures will be posted later.

Mother's Day: May 08, 2011

It's Mothers Day, so there was no workout or tracking of any kind today. I had a sonic burger for lunch. Then we went to The Farmhouse Restaurant at Fontanel. They have amazing food. Everything is locally grown and raised. I believe I had another hamburger with fried egg on top. I really do not remember my side, but I can guess it was fries. I did not eat all the fries because I was saving a little room for the desert. Which was a peanut butter pie. I really wish I had pics to post on here of this thing. It was pretty darn delicious. Oh well, It was good food and good company. Anytime I get to spend with the family/families is a good time. Wishing every mom a happy mothers day, especially my wonderful Mom.

Recap: Cinco In the Gulch 10K/5K May 07, 2011

This was one of the funniest 5ks I've had the pleasure to participate. Well, the after party was fun, but that could have been because of the great people who came out to run and cheer for us/me at the finish line. The atmosphere from start to finish was awesome. Then after the race you didn't just get in the car and leave. You actually wanted to stay and enjoy the festivities. The beer was a little watered down and the two tacos you got for free were pretty tasty (wish there was more food), but it was just a fun atmosphere for a post race. Well, enough about the party on the the good part. The "RACE":

Well, I would never really call it a race, unless you count trying to beat your old times. Which, I totally did not. I don't know if I have blogged much about my pesky knee issues, but it's been going on for about a week now. I really did not do much for it except stretch and try to work through the pain. On this day there was no running through the pain. The back of my knee started hurting as we walked to the street where the race started. So, I decided to walk with my preggo co-worker Leigh Anne and her husband. Thank the running gods that they were there, because if they were not I would have been walking this lovely race by my lonesome. We started off at a good pace, until we realized we are pretty much dead last. Not last, but pretty close. There are volunteers on bikes and a cop to kinda signal the end of the race group. Those guys were pretty much right behind us, but we kept moving. The race was not to bad except for the massive hill going up Charlotte Avenue by the Avon Williams Campus and the Capitol. It was awful, I wish I had a picture of what we saw as we came around the corner on to Charlotte. From the elevation chart it did not look to bad, but from the bottom of the hill it was not a pleasant view. We kept on chugging along inch by inch. One foot in front of the other was my mantra for the day. As we get half way up my left hamstring starts to cramp, but I figure we are almost to the top and it will stop once we crest this hill. I figured we might have stopped for preggers, but she kept moving. I was pretty darn impressed! It was pretty uneventful until we got around to the NES building and Mike comes up behind us during his second lap (10K). Mike harasses me about walking, but I know he's just joking. It still makes me want to trip him, but it's all in fun. LOL!! More uneventful walking and talking. Then we see the finish line in the distance. At this moment I really wish I was able to jog the rest of this race out, but the faster I walk the more my knee hurts. As we get closer to the finish line I can taste that ice cold beer, then there is this guy pointing everyone away from the finish line and my hopes are dashed. Carp, there is more of this course. Oh well, keep pushing. Good thing about this little detour is that I had no clue there was a barbecue joint ( Rooster's Texas Style BBQ I believe) back here. I am going to have to check this place out. Who's coming with me? Oh back to the race, after the detour we head down to the finish line and I finally cross it 1hr 4mins. I was just glad this one was in the books. I really need to have this knee checked out.

Just want to send a thanks to Leigh Anne and her husband, Mike, Court, Desiree, Sara and my awesome wife for running this race with me. Also, thanks to My brother, his wife, my sister, Desiree's Mike, and Molly for coming out and supporting all of us.

Awesome Race - There will be pictures coming soon I hope.

Unofficial Time: 1:23:28
Pace: 25'46''/mi (i think i started crawling before I shut N+ off)
Distance: 3.24 miles (Turned Nike+ off a little late)

Offical Time: 1:04:22
Pace: 20'46''/mi
Distance 3.1 miles

Good Start to the Week!!!

Saturday or Sunday, Mike gave me a challenge. It was not a how far or how many times I can run or bike. I just had to show up and I've shown up. Monday, I went over to Mike's house and we did a garage workout. It was pretty damn rough. It was a cardio/strength training session. We did some bench press, jumping jacks, curls, boxing, push ups, and other stuff that I can not remember. It was awesome and I sweated like crazy.

Monday down, then comes Tuesday. I woke up sore in the shoulders, chest and abs. Did not want to get out of bed, but I had to go to work. After my work day was done, I headed to Mike's house with the wife. We were suppose to run, but I decided to bike, while my wife and Mike ran around his neighborhood. It was pretty easy, until they informed me that I had to do 2 more miles then they ran. So, I picked it up and started pushing myself pretty hard to get those extra miles. At the end of the ride I was exhausted and my legs were burning like crazy. Day 2 is done and over. Day 3 will be stretching/yoga and I might possibly go for a run during lunch.

Since I did not get to post this yesterday, I will continue today's blog below.

Wednesday I did 30 minutes of stretching, but no run during lunch. I felt somewhat bad about it, but it was not actually part of the plan yesterday. It was going to be extra work for day 3, but I let a few things at work get in the way. Day 4's run is part of the plan, so I can not make excuses for that run. Since, Mike is not feeling well. I am going to attempt to go on my lunch break. I am bound and determined to hit the road today.

Thursday, I actually got out of my house during lunch and got moving. I started my run and felt horrible, but I kept moving. I got to mile 1.2 and decided to head back to the house, but I asked myself WWMD? (what would Mike do?), so I turned back around and completed another loop. The rest of the run was great, I hit a good stride and a series of songs and felt great. Finished the run and things felt well

Distance: 2.32 miles
Pace: 17'50''/mi
Time: 41:23

The next three days I did absolutely nothing.   

I have not kept up with my food journal the last three days, so I have nothing to report there. I need to keep better track of what goes into my body. I will start back tracking my food Monday May 02.