Well we made it back from our trip, I made it through 5 days of the cabbage soup cleanse like I had planned, and life has been great! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful wife and children! The cleanse felt great, I really could tell and difference and just needed something to help me get my nutrition tightened up again after our hospital stay having the baby. We were there 4 days, and well 4 days of eating out of the hospital canteen can really make you feel disqusting! It did me anyway :)
Our trip to Onancock, VA (which is the Eastern Shore area of the Chesapeake) was amazing! I felt like I got some really nice training n. I logged about 100 miles on the bike and 10 miles of running. I know that isn't astronomical in mileage, yet it felt great and just what I needed coming off a very strict cleanse. I also did a coupe of hour long kayak excursions with my wife out into the bay. We beached for a bit and I swam minimally, yet it was great and felt nice to at least get some open water strokes in! That is after 6 months of 3-4 days in the pool at the gym!!!!! There were a lot of walks around town and just great hang out time with the baby and my wife's family. I loved the trip and feel so rejuvenated.
I have been hitting it pretty hard since we got back. At least my body feels like I have. We got back to Asheville Tuesday morning about 4:30.....yikes! Since then I have gotten in two 1/2 mile swims at the pool, a 12 mile and 9 mile bike ride, a couple 4 mile runs, and a weight training session hitting chest and arms really hard. Totally sore and beat today, yet I will amange to muster up the motivation to log a bike ride in before sun down....that is if it stops thundering outside!!!! Been slack on my yoga, only stretching here and there to loosen my back and hamstrings since getting back into town. I have to get more committed so I am thinking about doing Baron Baptiste's 40 Day Journey to Power program again to get back to a solid 30 minute a day yoga practice. My wife is totally rocking it exercise wise now, so I think soon we'll be able to practice together which makes it so much easier to get my yoga in. It's amazing what a toll that a C-Section can have on a person! My wife is certainly my hero!!!!!!
So now that the baby is here and is doing great, I am planning my races for the rest of this season. So far this year I have ran two 5k and two 10k races. I did one duathlon and one biathlon....all of which were great and I was happy with my results. Having the baby on the way, I couldn't realistically fit in anymore up to this point, but hope to finish out the year strong. I am signing up for the City of Lenoir Tri (Sprint) in September, a half marathon in October in beautiful Cherokee, NC. Those are the two I am doing for sure. There is a cool Pump and Run race in August that I am considering where you do as many bench presses as you can then run a 5k.....sounds awesome to me :) Not sure of what's out there in Novemeber, but being cool weather, I would love to find another half marathon to do that month and then I want to finish the year out with the Jingle Bell 5k in Lincolnton, NC that I did last year. I got to dress up in my elf hat and socks and just had a blast! Big plans to place in the top 3 of my age group in the Tri and the 5k's!!!!!
Well that's about it! I am working on getting my thoughts together to make the Shoe-String Budget Bike post...... There is so much I want to fit in because I seriously went on this in-depth 6 month journey learning about, researching and finally purchasing a bike. Trust me you have to do that when you are working on a $400 dollar road bike budget and want to get soemthing you can be competitive on! I made a great choice and love my bike.....the Forge CTS 1000. There is a pic up of the bike in the left-hand corner of the blog page. Anyway hope anyone that reads this is well and happy training! Just remember we can do anything that we put our minds to! Hardwork never killed anybody, at least not that I am aware of!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Being Competitive on a Shoe-String Budget
Anyone living the Tri Life can attest to the fact that this sport can be one of the most expensive endeavors a person can engage in. Those fancy Tri/TT bikes can cost you as much as a new car, all the latest swim gear and training aids can add up to two week's salary, then throw in things like gym memberships, coaching, all the cycling accessories the folks in the club have, body work, nutritional supplements, and ahhhhhh................ you feel like the only way to compete is to take a 2nd mortgage out on the house or withdrawl half of your 401K savings. Is there anyway that a person can be seriously competitive without breaking the bank? Well, to a degree there is. You have to be willing to be resourceful, be opportunistic, and be willing to research the heck out of things before making purchases. I don't have a lot of extra money to spend on equipment, yet I want to do as well as I can when I race. That being said, I read everything that I can about equipment and then try to find the best deals out there or make the best possible substitutions for the really expensive stuff!
Let's start with the most basic area of multisport, in terms of equipment.....swimming. Technically speaking, a person can get by with only a pair of swimming goggles and a swimsuit. Yeah, trust me you have to have the swimsuit! There are some pretty inexpensive training tools you might consider such as kick boards, fins, and hand paddles, yet some of these are typically avaliable for use at most gym pools. If you feel like you need some of these training aides, search for used items. Ebay is a great resource. Become familiar with how to bid and be willing to wait a week or so to get your items. You'll also have to consider paying for a pool membership, or joining up with a master's swim class in order to have a place to practice and train for your swim unless you have a pool or live near an open water source you can train for free in. If so, I am jealous!
Running is also relatively light in terms of equipment needs. One thing that most folks that are runners, triathletes, or serious walkers will agree on is you can't skimp on shoes. You got to be willing to fork over a bit of money to get good shoes. Be aware that not all shoes are going to work for all people. Everyone has a slightly different running style and foot strike, so its important to figure out which shoe will best accommidate your running style. For example, I suppinate, meaning that the ouside of my foot actually makes contact with the ground first. Learning to read the wear pattern on your running shoes is a helpful way to establish your foot strike. When I first started putting in a higher number of miles, I experienced a great deal of pain in my knees. I decided to research this and when I saw that the outside heel of my shoes was wearing down, I was able to deduce that I am a suppinator......sounds like a super-hero......and then I was able to research shoes that can compensate for this. After having a list of brands and models of shoes to look for, I searched for the best price. By doing so, I found the shoes I use (K-Swiss Tubes) for 30 bucks cheaper than the going rate at shoe stores. The difference these shoes made in terms of knee pain has been incredible. So, if it hurts less, we typically don't mind training more! At least I don't :) Also with running, you'll need some running shorts and shirt. When I first started running more seriously, I didn't think it mattered what my shirt and shorts were made of, but once you get chaffed nipples or inner thighs, you'll do like I did and go out and buy some running clothes. The fabric technology out there these days is nothing short of miraculous. Well, that might be a lil' dramatic, but seriously the moisture wicking fabrics that running clothes are made of these days can make the whole running experience much more pleasant. You can get decent running shorts at major department stores, as well as shirts. Trust me they are much cheaper than the name brand ones at the sporting goods shop. I also use a head band when running in the summer because nothing sucks as bad as getting sweat in your eyes over and over while running. I also got a cheap watch that has a stop watch function so I can track my pace. Trust me you don't have to have the $500 dollar Nasa issued space watch to keep up with what you're doing in terms of pace. One last thing, sunglasses are a must have. Mine that I wear training and racing, running and cycling, were $7.00 at K-Mart. I love 'em and they work as good as any.
I will address the bike in the next blog. Obviously the bike is going to be an investiment. I researched bikes for 6 months before I made a purchase. I had a $400 budget and when it comes to road bikes, that ain't much! So I had to learn what I needed and what I didn't need. I had to evaluate new verses used and all that. Ummm........the fun of it all!
Let's start with the most basic area of multisport, in terms of equipment.....swimming. Technically speaking, a person can get by with only a pair of swimming goggles and a swimsuit. Yeah, trust me you have to have the swimsuit! There are some pretty inexpensive training tools you might consider such as kick boards, fins, and hand paddles, yet some of these are typically avaliable for use at most gym pools. If you feel like you need some of these training aides, search for used items. Ebay is a great resource. Become familiar with how to bid and be willing to wait a week or so to get your items. You'll also have to consider paying for a pool membership, or joining up with a master's swim class in order to have a place to practice and train for your swim unless you have a pool or live near an open water source you can train for free in. If so, I am jealous!
Running is also relatively light in terms of equipment needs. One thing that most folks that are runners, triathletes, or serious walkers will agree on is you can't skimp on shoes. You got to be willing to fork over a bit of money to get good shoes. Be aware that not all shoes are going to work for all people. Everyone has a slightly different running style and foot strike, so its important to figure out which shoe will best accommidate your running style. For example, I suppinate, meaning that the ouside of my foot actually makes contact with the ground first. Learning to read the wear pattern on your running shoes is a helpful way to establish your foot strike. When I first started putting in a higher number of miles, I experienced a great deal of pain in my knees. I decided to research this and when I saw that the outside heel of my shoes was wearing down, I was able to deduce that I am a suppinator......sounds like a super-hero......and then I was able to research shoes that can compensate for this. After having a list of brands and models of shoes to look for, I searched for the best price. By doing so, I found the shoes I use (K-Swiss Tubes) for 30 bucks cheaper than the going rate at shoe stores. The difference these shoes made in terms of knee pain has been incredible. So, if it hurts less, we typically don't mind training more! At least I don't :) Also with running, you'll need some running shorts and shirt. When I first started running more seriously, I didn't think it mattered what my shirt and shorts were made of, but once you get chaffed nipples or inner thighs, you'll do like I did and go out and buy some running clothes. The fabric technology out there these days is nothing short of miraculous. Well, that might be a lil' dramatic, but seriously the moisture wicking fabrics that running clothes are made of these days can make the whole running experience much more pleasant. You can get decent running shorts at major department stores, as well as shirts. Trust me they are much cheaper than the name brand ones at the sporting goods shop. I also use a head band when running in the summer because nothing sucks as bad as getting sweat in your eyes over and over while running. I also got a cheap watch that has a stop watch function so I can track my pace. Trust me you don't have to have the $500 dollar Nasa issued space watch to keep up with what you're doing in terms of pace. One last thing, sunglasses are a must have. Mine that I wear training and racing, running and cycling, were $7.00 at K-Mart. I love 'em and they work as good as any.
I will address the bike in the next blog. Obviously the bike is going to be an investiment. I researched bikes for 6 months before I made a purchase. I had a $400 budget and when it comes to road bikes, that ain't much! So I had to learn what I needed and what I didn't need. I had to evaluate new verses used and all that. Ummm........the fun of it all!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Nutrition Nut :)
I briefly hit on my training in the last blog, so just wanted to do the same in terms of my diet and nutrition practices. I am up this late because I am finishing up my cabbage soup......seriously, as I am beginning a week long veggie soup based cleanse in the morning. My wife and I adhere to a pretty strict diet, but even still, there are times that we need to cleanse our bodies of toxins and excess garbage that we consume. Our typical diet goes soemthing like this....
The only animal products we consume are fresh eggs and fish (seafood more specifically), we eat primarily gluten-free foods (niether of us are allergic, its just a much healthier way of eating), no corn (insanely hard to digest), and we strictly limit the sugars in our diet. We use only coconut oil to cook, and olive oil to season foods. Other cooking oils actually become toxic when heated! That's no joke, research it if you don't believe me.........We consume fresh fruits and veggies, quinoa, rice, and rice products (noodles, breads, cereals, and milk), have tuna or salmon a couple times a week, oatmeal, almond cheese (it's incredible) and tempeh/tofu. We occasionally throw in some nuts and beans to increase proteins. I also use protein powder about one to two times per week, since I weight train 3 days a week.
Might seem a little strict to some, and not strict enough to others.....my yoga trainer was Doug Swenson who maintains an all raw food/ vegan diet! Seriously one of the strongest and healthiest guys pound-for-pound that I have ever encountered, yet there is no way I have that kind of discipline....or money :) Eating healthy is expensive. My family resides in Asheville, NC and luckily we have several natural food stores to shop at, yet the prices can drive you mad....but can you really put a price tag on your health???? Honestly???
So wish me well on my 7 day cleanse. I have did 3 fruit only, 6 day cleanses in the past 2 years and I have to tell you, you feel amazing afterward!!!! So light and well......cleansed! Have a bathroom close by although! You'll certainly be needing one. It has been my experience with cleanses that you really don't get all that weak like some folks claim. I have been able to maintain my training through them and don't expect this one to be any different.
The only animal products we consume are fresh eggs and fish (seafood more specifically), we eat primarily gluten-free foods (niether of us are allergic, its just a much healthier way of eating), no corn (insanely hard to digest), and we strictly limit the sugars in our diet. We use only coconut oil to cook, and olive oil to season foods. Other cooking oils actually become toxic when heated! That's no joke, research it if you don't believe me.........We consume fresh fruits and veggies, quinoa, rice, and rice products (noodles, breads, cereals, and milk), have tuna or salmon a couple times a week, oatmeal, almond cheese (it's incredible) and tempeh/tofu. We occasionally throw in some nuts and beans to increase proteins. I also use protein powder about one to two times per week, since I weight train 3 days a week.
Might seem a little strict to some, and not strict enough to others.....my yoga trainer was Doug Swenson who maintains an all raw food/ vegan diet! Seriously one of the strongest and healthiest guys pound-for-pound that I have ever encountered, yet there is no way I have that kind of discipline....or money :) Eating healthy is expensive. My family resides in Asheville, NC and luckily we have several natural food stores to shop at, yet the prices can drive you mad....but can you really put a price tag on your health???? Honestly???
So wish me well on my 7 day cleanse. I have did 3 fruit only, 6 day cleanses in the past 2 years and I have to tell you, you feel amazing afterward!!!! So light and well......cleansed! Have a bathroom close by although! You'll certainly be needing one. It has been my experience with cleanses that you really don't get all that weak like some folks claim. I have been able to maintain my training through them and don't expect this one to be any different.
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