Good thing - Melva's problem has been diagnosed. Bad thing - she has 2 herniated lumbar discs. Good news - strengthening exercises should help. Bad news- this is an issue she'll have to deal with the rest of her life. Good thing - this could be very encouraging for her to stay fit - the rest of her life.
Back to the blog.
Funny thing how I seemed not to really care one bit, and today it dawned on me; I'll be peaking the hill in 7 days. Well, at least I can sat that I am as fit today as I was half my life ago - let's just keep the time in between, a secret.
My weight this morning: 181.5LB this is the lowest I've been in many years.
This week I took my triathlon training back to the level where it should have been last month, and it's already showing. I have easily survived my new lo-carb lifestyle and will continue living like this. I am looking to get a full physical within this month.
Father's Day is 10 days from today. I have already given myself a BD and FD present with my new bike, new body and new healthier lifestyle.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Another month, another race, another goal met
Wow, it’s been a month already since last wrote. Thank GOD, tha’s pretty much the only negative news.
Today, I’ll share that I am so happy to have exceeded my work expectations in my evaluation, especially in May I was 25% over budget. I just complete my second race of the year, and my 40th birthday is just around the corner. It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? Well, it does. I have a new triathlon bike, so my other two bikes will be going on e-bay soon. I also want to confirm that my weight has remained steady for yet another month, except for Friday this week when I ate some 3 slices of PHut’s meat lover’s – big mistake. I must have gained 2-3 lbs. just from that meal - carboloading turned fat loading. This month I also dropped my training by about 30% and can tell I’ve lost some toning, so June will be back to training goals and routine.
This AM was my second race, Publix’ Sprint Series in Sarasota. After my internal alarm went off at 3AM and no chance of falling asleep again, we ogt ready and took off at 4:30 – the whole gang, my support crew and I. It had been raining and lightning all night so I wasn’t sure what we’d find. The waves were very rough and there was a very strong side current, after an attempt by the organizers to modify the swim course, they ended up cancelling the swim. Instead of a swim/bike/run event we all did a duathlon, run/bike/run. I for one wasn’t very happy cuz I know the second run can be really really tough.
Immediately after the gun went off, it started to rain and lightning again. The rain was coming down so hard it felt like hail. This was a beach run, which makes it even more difficult – loose sand, holes, puddles, tide, etc. I was on the third group, 8 minutes after the elites. The first run went better than I anticipated, per my calculations, I ran 8:15 miles, meaning I should have finished it in just over 25 mins.
The bike leg was an awesome experience for me. I passed people from the go. Must have passed about 20+ riders, even whole packs. I also learned that the USAT regulations require all passes be made on the left side. Another dude caught up with me on the last 3-4 miles and we just used each other’s effort to pull each other to go faster.
When I arrived at the transition area, I had a brief technical issue which set me back about 3-4 sec but the actual transition was so fast that I came out ahead of the people who got in just before me. I have to admit that my legs were spent before I got to the second run; they were not responding with speed when I asked them to. I swear, most of the people I passed on the bike went right by me on the run.
At the end, I finished as I had hoped – SPENT. I left my heart out on the course, gave it my all, with an unofficial time of 1:28:10. I hope to find a picture of me and Isabel crossing the line together. Melva and OJ also sacrificed their morning to join me here and we all got soaked in the rain.
Now, it is back to serious training. I can now tell I have lost some muscle tissue and gained a little bit of fat from my reduced training in May but I am not going to settle for this, even though I am wearing size 32 pants (from 38 in Jan). Now that my new bike is ready, I will start doing more bricks and some swimming.
In restrospect, this month worked out not as I wanted but as it should have. I exceeded my work goals even on this weak economy. This has allowed me set a strong foundation for an even stronger year. God has truly blessed us at home with a steady job, income and so much more than we need. We have also done our part in sharing our blessings; the kids finished school very strongly with excellent grades. Although Melva has bene suffering of a brutal lower back pain we’re hoping last week’s MRI will help diagnose and treat it soon.
My next race is on July 12. Just 5 more weeks down the road, so I will go now. Gotta go work my butt, erase that, belly off. C ya next time.
Today, I’ll share that I am so happy to have exceeded my work expectations in my evaluation, especially in May I was 25% over budget. I just complete my second race of the year, and my 40th birthday is just around the corner. It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? Well, it does. I have a new triathlon bike, so my other two bikes will be going on e-bay soon. I also want to confirm that my weight has remained steady for yet another month, except for Friday this week when I ate some 3 slices of PHut’s meat lover’s – big mistake. I must have gained 2-3 lbs. just from that meal - carboloading turned fat loading. This month I also dropped my training by about 30% and can tell I’ve lost some toning, so June will be back to training goals and routine.
This AM was my second race, Publix’ Sprint Series in Sarasota. After my internal alarm went off at 3AM and no chance of falling asleep again, we ogt ready and took off at 4:30 – the whole gang, my support crew and I. It had been raining and lightning all night so I wasn’t sure what we’d find. The waves were very rough and there was a very strong side current, after an attempt by the organizers to modify the swim course, they ended up cancelling the swim. Instead of a swim/bike/run event we all did a duathlon, run/bike/run. I for one wasn’t very happy cuz I know the second run can be really really tough.
Immediately after the gun went off, it started to rain and lightning again. The rain was coming down so hard it felt like hail. This was a beach run, which makes it even more difficult – loose sand, holes, puddles, tide, etc. I was on the third group, 8 minutes after the elites. The first run went better than I anticipated, per my calculations, I ran 8:15 miles, meaning I should have finished it in just over 25 mins.
The bike leg was an awesome experience for me. I passed people from the go. Must have passed about 20+ riders, even whole packs. I also learned that the USAT regulations require all passes be made on the left side. Another dude caught up with me on the last 3-4 miles and we just used each other’s effort to pull each other to go faster.
When I arrived at the transition area, I had a brief technical issue which set me back about 3-4 sec but the actual transition was so fast that I came out ahead of the people who got in just before me. I have to admit that my legs were spent before I got to the second run; they were not responding with speed when I asked them to. I swear, most of the people I passed on the bike went right by me on the run.
At the end, I finished as I had hoped – SPENT. I left my heart out on the course, gave it my all, with an unofficial time of 1:28:10. I hope to find a picture of me and Isabel crossing the line together. Melva and OJ also sacrificed their morning to join me here and we all got soaked in the rain.
Now, it is back to serious training. I can now tell I have lost some muscle tissue and gained a little bit of fat from my reduced training in May but I am not going to settle for this, even though I am wearing size 32 pants (from 38 in Jan). Now that my new bike is ready, I will start doing more bricks and some swimming.
In restrospect, this month worked out not as I wanted but as it should have. I exceeded my work goals even on this weak economy. This has allowed me set a strong foundation for an even stronger year. God has truly blessed us at home with a steady job, income and so much more than we need. We have also done our part in sharing our blessings; the kids finished school very strongly with excellent grades. Although Melva has bene suffering of a brutal lower back pain we’re hoping last week’s MRI will help diagnose and treat it soon.
My next race is on July 12. Just 5 more weeks down the road, so I will go now. Gotta go work my butt, erase that, belly off. C ya next time.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day already? - Time flies when your having fun
Can't believe that it is already two weeks since my last posting. It’s also Mother’s Day today, so congratulations to all moms…
The last couple of weeks have been real calm (more like, the calm before the storm). My mom was visiting and we basically focused on making her comfortable and keeping her busy, it was real nice to leave the standard routine for a little bit; and mostly, I am real glad she came over and we all spent some time together.
Aside from one training session per week, last Saturday (7 days to race day) I ran 10 miles that felt like I might have done a job on my right knee. On the next run, a 4 miler was all I could do for the rest of the week without risking injury right before my first race. So, no more runs.
On Sunday, did a short swim. I wanted to do some speed work as I had a long day ahead planned with the family and mom. Once on the water I realized I did not bring my stopwatch so I focused my swim on form. It was slow and making sure I could control each part of my stroke. Because this is a slow swim, I was only able to go for 1000 yards, about half of what I usually swim, but training is training and more importantly I did not just swim length.
On Tuesday, since my riding has plateau and no matter how much more I push in one week, it wouldn’t do much for my performance in less than a week, so I just did one ride at about 20 mph. Go the distance and enjoy the ride, something I haven’t really done in awhile. Bike for fun!
My weight has been stable at 185LB. This is great because I was concerned that the lower level of activity would affect my weight, and so far it hasn’t.
Friday Night – one day before my race
Getting everything I needed checked and rechecked, and then packed while dealing with a lot of stress was not easy. I wanted to be in bed by 10 but didn’t get to it until 11. Good thing my iPod has some motivational audio files, I slept like a baby and didn’t wake up until the alarm went off.
RACE DAY - Saturday morning
The alarm went off and I was up by 4:30 AM. Typical pre-workout breakfast: protein shake with a double shot of espresso. Now I’m wired and on the run. Got to ground zero (the race) by 6:00 AM and immediately setup transition (the spot where I will change from swimming to riding my bike and into my running gear). Then, went to check out the swim and warm-up. I do not have my official lap times but my overall was 1:10:47
The SWIM
Why didn’t the organizers check the tide times ahead? Turns out it’s low tide and the water was knee/thigh high throughout the entire course. This was a problem because my arms were actually longer than that. Finally, the organizer pushed the course about 200 feet into the bay. It wasn’t perfect but it was the best thing that could be done.
My swim didn’t go as well as I had planned and hoped for. I kept trying to find the bottom and stand whenever I saw someone walking the swim course. This caused some problems as I kept freaking out when I could not stand. Finally I made it to the last straightaway of the swim, and ran the last 200 yards. This may turn out against me if my legs get too tired.
My first transition or change into biking gear went super fast.
The BIKE
I had a little difficulty while pushing my bike on foot to the mounting location and that cost me a few seconds. The ride went awesomely well though. I kept on catching and passing people from the start until I found a rhythm and kept pushing with a couple of guys and a girl from the Tri Psych team. In my last race I could not get my legs to fire, or even find a rhythm, but this was different, and good.
My second transition was a flash, but my run did not start as well as I had hoped for. This is nothing a few brick runs can’t cure.
The RUN
My legs did not fire enough to help me run fast enough during the first 2 miles. This was all over a dirt trail, but once I got on the asphalt, I started feeling it all come back. I even noticed a younger guy (ok, a kid) pass by me like a bay out of hell, but he was sidelined about 2 minutes later, this scenario repeated itself two more times, with the same guy. Finally, after the last turnaround I was joined by two gals, one of them the same Tri Psych that kept me pushing hard on the bike. At about 1/3 mile from the finish line they stopped at the water station while I kept going. I am glad this happened because I became the hunter again and just went chasing the next guy and realizing I was that close to the finish, I pushed with my all. I remember asking this guy to join me and come to the line with me but he did not respond. I honestly hope he doesn’t think I was being an a**,
At the finish line, the ticker said 1:14:47 for me, considering I went on the second wave four minutes after the first wave. Once I find the official numbers online, I will post the correct time.
The last couple of weeks have been real calm (more like, the calm before the storm). My mom was visiting and we basically focused on making her comfortable and keeping her busy, it was real nice to leave the standard routine for a little bit; and mostly, I am real glad she came over and we all spent some time together.
Aside from one training session per week, last Saturday (7 days to race day) I ran 10 miles that felt like I might have done a job on my right knee. On the next run, a 4 miler was all I could do for the rest of the week without risking injury right before my first race. So, no more runs.
On Sunday, did a short swim. I wanted to do some speed work as I had a long day ahead planned with the family and mom. Once on the water I realized I did not bring my stopwatch so I focused my swim on form. It was slow and making sure I could control each part of my stroke. Because this is a slow swim, I was only able to go for 1000 yards, about half of what I usually swim, but training is training and more importantly I did not just swim length.
On Tuesday, since my riding has plateau and no matter how much more I push in one week, it wouldn’t do much for my performance in less than a week, so I just did one ride at about 20 mph. Go the distance and enjoy the ride, something I haven’t really done in awhile. Bike for fun!
My weight has been stable at 185LB. This is great because I was concerned that the lower level of activity would affect my weight, and so far it hasn’t.
Friday Night – one day before my race
Getting everything I needed checked and rechecked, and then packed while dealing with a lot of stress was not easy. I wanted to be in bed by 10 but didn’t get to it until 11. Good thing my iPod has some motivational audio files, I slept like a baby and didn’t wake up until the alarm went off.
RACE DAY - Saturday morning
The alarm went off and I was up by 4:30 AM. Typical pre-workout breakfast: protein shake with a double shot of espresso. Now I’m wired and on the run. Got to ground zero (the race) by 6:00 AM and immediately setup transition (the spot where I will change from swimming to riding my bike and into my running gear). Then, went to check out the swim and warm-up. I do not have my official lap times but my overall was 1:10:47
The SWIM
Why didn’t the organizers check the tide times ahead? Turns out it’s low tide and the water was knee/thigh high throughout the entire course. This was a problem because my arms were actually longer than that. Finally, the organizer pushed the course about 200 feet into the bay. It wasn’t perfect but it was the best thing that could be done.
My swim didn’t go as well as I had planned and hoped for. I kept trying to find the bottom and stand whenever I saw someone walking the swim course. This caused some problems as I kept freaking out when I could not stand. Finally I made it to the last straightaway of the swim, and ran the last 200 yards. This may turn out against me if my legs get too tired.
My first transition or change into biking gear went super fast.
The BIKE
I had a little difficulty while pushing my bike on foot to the mounting location and that cost me a few seconds. The ride went awesomely well though. I kept on catching and passing people from the start until I found a rhythm and kept pushing with a couple of guys and a girl from the Tri Psych team. In my last race I could not get my legs to fire, or even find a rhythm, but this was different, and good.
My second transition was a flash, but my run did not start as well as I had hoped for. This is nothing a few brick runs can’t cure.
The RUN
My legs did not fire enough to help me run fast enough during the first 2 miles. This was all over a dirt trail, but once I got on the asphalt, I started feeling it all come back. I even noticed a younger guy (ok, a kid) pass by me like a bay out of hell, but he was sidelined about 2 minutes later, this scenario repeated itself two more times, with the same guy. Finally, after the last turnaround I was joined by two gals, one of them the same Tri Psych that kept me pushing hard on the bike. At about 1/3 mile from the finish line they stopped at the water station while I kept going. I am glad this happened because I became the hunter again and just went chasing the next guy and realizing I was that close to the finish, I pushed with my all. I remember asking this guy to join me and come to the line with me but he did not respond. I honestly hope he doesn’t think I was being an a**,
At the finish line, the ticker said 1:14:47 for me, considering I went on the second wave four minutes after the first wave. Once I find the official numbers online, I will post the correct time.
This finish time to me is short of something amazing, and it reinforces this blog to me. Last year I completed one single race, the distances were very similar yet, my time today was about 17 minutes faster. Heck that is 25% faster. Considering the swim took about 15 minutes and my run started real slow, I have to think the biggest improvement was the bike, which is also were I felt most dominant. I am so excited about the progress I have made and can’t wait to get my official times.
Regarding my weight
This week with even less physical activity and a few slips like ice cream and less salad and fiber, I gained about 3 LBs. Although I am well within my safety zone, this kind of behavior is dangerous and I must get back to healthier eating habits so that even with less activity, I keep off the weight. I can not get too controlling but I can not let it get out of control. Getting back on lo-carb mode is necessary. Just in case there's any doubt of how my body has evolved take a look at my most recent picture. If I can get here, you can too! and triathlons are a great motivator.
I am now back to focusing my training so that I can shed a few more minutes on my next race, scheduled for June 6, which is in four weeks.
To my readers and followers. Thanks for reading my blog. Leave me your honest but positive comments and check back every two weeks to see how I do in this journey. I’d love to hear from you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
