Adjusted Reality

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” – Mark Twain

Tag: Food Page 13 of 27

This month, this week, right now.

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On January 9, 2017

In Uncategorized

There’s really no getting around it, January is a great time to reset your goals and figure out who you want to be.  It’s not that other times of the year are BAD, but look at it this way:

jan9-1

This is January kind of summed up in one picture.

  • We’ve come off a few days/weeks/months of debauchery.  We have had our proverbial mardi gras, and we’re actually physically and mentally ready for lent.
  • Everyone is doing it.  It’s fun to be surrounded with a bunch of positive people who are actually motivated and working towards bettering themselves – even if it’s just for the 2-3 weeks that the average resolution lasts.
  • It’s no secret that I think January is the worst month, but come on, you have to agree.  There are no super fun holidays, the outdoors are out to kill us in one way or another (cold or allergies), it’s dark all the time, and it’s just lame.  You have to bring your OWN positivity to January if you want to be happy.

Even though I don’t think it’s the only time for a fresh start, it’s a perfect time for one.  So, here’s my month, my week, and my right nows.  Let’s start broad and work our way down.

This month:

jan9-5

A new word that’s in my vocabulary this month: swim pajamas (ie, clothes to change into after swimming at night so I don’t have to put real ones on)

  • Make progress in my triathlon coaching class.  I’d like to finish this and pass the test by my birthday (or at least my birthday month), so get through enough class to adhere to that timeline.
  • Create a training plan for this month and follow it.  Whatever, whenever sessions time is over, it’s time to be more specific and more precise.
  • No wine, champagne, or alcohol.  Beer is allowed in reasonable quantities that fit within my calorie range.  Even though I’m mostly on the 0 level of nicotine e-cig – so it’s mostly hand-to-mouth habit and a little flavor at this point – don’t do that as stress relief or appetite relief at night.
  • 30 minutes of cycling per day.  Instead of run streaking, I’m bike streaking this year.  The benefits I can see so far are: more bike volume, more time on my TT bike even if it’s just in 30 minute increments, 30 mins is doable in the AM without a crazy alarm but also establishes a habit, and it’s easy to do inside because the air is trying to kill me.
  • Eat good food, mostly, and track it.  I haven’t gone off the deep end this year and threw out all the sweets and chips or said 0 sugar for the month or anything.  I just want to go back to what I know works for me and feels good.
    • Track all the food.  Weigh every day starting January 9th (giving myself one week of eating like a human before I have to face the scale).  I WANT METRICS.
    • 5 servings MINIMUM of fruits and veggies per day.
    • Aim for -500 to -1000 calories according to fitbit as hunger dictates (some days, I had zero problems with -1000, some days,  -500 was a stretch).
    • 20-30g protein per meal, smaller amounts in snacks to equal about 100g per day.  40-60g fat, incorporating plant sources like nuts.  25g fiber.  Carbs vary per activity level.
  • Racing  – apparently we have the itch to go do all the things, because we’re committed to three in the next month or so.  All of it is totally great and kosher to compliment IM training, so I’m all for it!

This week:

jan8-4

This week I reminded myself that you get beans and rice and chicken and tortillas after 11 miles on the treadmill.

Enough of that.  A little overwhelming, right?  Let’s break it up into just the weeklies…

Last week I hit about 90% of the training I planned:

  • 30 mins of cycling per day – 100% done!
  • 1 longer swim (40+ mins) – 100% done! (2050m in 41:30)
  • 1 longer run (10+ miles) – 100% done (11 miles in 1:59:40)
  • cycle class and a long trainer ride (3-4 hours) 100% done!  3:45 for 80 miles on the trainer
  • Lifetime Indoor Triathlon (10 min swim, 30 min bike, 20 min run) – 100% done! (still waiting on results)
  • 2 weights sessions – 50% – missed one day because my body was worn out
  • Stretching, rolling, or massage legs every night – 85% – missed one day

This week, I plan to do (this should look fairly similar):

  • 30 mins of cycling per day
  • 1 lunch swim and 1 longer swim (50 mins)
  • 1 gentle speedwork session 3-6 miles and  1 longer run (12+ miles)
  • cycle class and a long TT trainer
  • 2 weights sessions
  • stretching, rolling, or massage legs every night

Last week I did Chapter 10 for my triathlon class.  This week I will do Chapter 11.

Last week I tracked my calories for 2200 average each day with -750 deficit.  My ratios were 115g protein, 55g fat, 32g fiber, and 278g carbs per day.  This week I will continue to do the same thing.  While I’d *like* to adhere to that -1000 more strictly, it’s training suicide to not eat when I’m hungry.

Last week I did not weigh myself.  This week, I started the week at 189.4, and I need to lose 9 lbs to get to where I was last season (the good news is EVERYTHING is working against me today, so that number should come down organically this week).  This is goal post #1 for weight loss, I’ll reset again once I get there.

Last week I drank 11 beers.  This week I’ll aim to do the same or less.

Last week, I got decent sleep, but my schedule is still off from vacation so it was later than I’d like and not a full 8 hours every night.  The goal this week is to be asleep by 11pm every weeknight and get 8 hours every night (baby steps).

Last week’s to do was get an appointment for the eye doctor and take down outside lights.  We did both and the appointments are on 1/27.  This week’s to do is to clean out the cars and take down our tree (I know, I know, I just *couldn’t* this weekend, it was entirely too sad).

Right now:

jan9-3

I’ll treasure any of these #goplayoutside days I get in January and be happy instead of pissed off so many of them are inside.

Still a little too big picture?  Well, this is what I’m doing right now to accomplish those goals:

  • Stay the #^$@ off facebook.  I made the conscious choice to log on and dork for a bit at home while watching TV last week, and I found myself unrelaxed, unproductive, and not having moved from the couch an hour and a half later.  Bad juju.
  • #goplayinside – Rather than being depressed about it, I’m accepting that pretty much all workouts will be indoors for January and any sessions I get outdoors are a total bonus. This is where I’m suffering right now, and this is ok.  I’ll appreciate playing outside more once I can.
  • I’m going to count down the days until recovery week just like I count down the seconds on a difficult bike interval.  Since I’m pushing the volume on the weeks leading up to it, I’m making sure they are pretty dang mellow.  I am currently 14 days from recovery week.  Tomorrow I’ll be 13.  And once that’s done, I’ll have block #1 of 3.5 under my belt.
  • Focus on consistency.  Aristotle is so right – we are what we repeatedly do.  Patience, persistence, and good habits.

And with that, I’m off to kick Monday’s ass!  Have a great week everyone!

What I did on my winter vacation

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On January 4, 2017

In Uncategorized

Between December 7th at 6pm and January 3rd at 9am, I was on a (saving my PTO pennies, company funded) sabbatical of sorts.  Obviously, the first week was a little more exciting than the rest, but I was still left with 18 days when I stepped off the plane back to little ol’ Austin.

jan3-4

I would like to say I figured out how to be bored, but I’m not sure if that’s possible for me.  At no point did I crave work or routine for the sake of having something to do, because I have this MASSIVE backlog of one-off things I’d like to accomplish.  And then there’s the things I like to do repeatedly (run, bike, swim, read, play games, etc).  However, I will say that I’m pretty excited to be eating healthier food and tracking, because I’m fairly sure there’s a subcutaneous water balloon in my stomach.  That’s the ONLY explanation.

What I did learn:

dec29-1

25 miles and 6 hours of errands around town. 

There’s just almost nowhere I can’t go on my cruiser bike, and not having company is no excuse.  I biked to some kinda sketchtastic areas in rush hour and never felt unsafe or unable to handle myself.  Cheating and using sidewalks in places where traffic is stupid is just sometimes how I’ll have to roll.  And that makes all the difference between me riding bikes and not riding bikes in some cases.

I figured out a completely productive way to procrastinate.  I do really well alternating between passive and active things.  For example, I was able to alternate sets of the Oiselle dozen and studying for my triathlon coaching class (and I’m more than halfway done, wheeee!).  Really, doing anything on my computer and then alternating with doing a quick chore worked out well.  However, I need to come to a stopping place with the brain work before I do the other thing.  When I get interrupted in the middle of it, my productivity gets worse.

jan3-1

Running into the sunset happened at least twice though…

I put together a lot less running miles than expected (just a little over 20 in the 2 weeks).  The weather was just so much warmer than normal and I was much more motivated to go on bike adventures than running ones.  Am I going to pay for that going into IM training?  Possibly.  But we’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

jan3-5

Hello beautifuls…

Food, glorious food!  We thought about going out to dinner Monday night, because it was the last day of vacation, but couldn’t think of anything we wanted besides a nice home cooked meal of mahi, rice, and veggies.  I made some oatmeal muffins (above) for no-fuss breakfasts over break.  I think we hit up pizza like 3 times and I perfected my spaghetti sauce recipe (needs FRESH garlic and olive oil).  I hit my favorite Vietnamese place twice, I found my new favorite Italian sandwich, tried out a new salad place, and a new kebap place (both, sadly, I like my old places better, but you have to try new things).  And, December means grilling weather in Texas, so that happened!

jan3-3

75 degrees on Christmas eve?  Um, yeah, we’re going on a holiday light ride.

We got Christmas as fuck up in here.  While the weather outside was delightful (I spent it in a tank top), we got in the mood with Christmas light rides with friends, all the silly little presents for each other (and some not so silly, hello new watch buddy), and our traditional Din Ho dinner with the neighbors on the Eve and lasagna with the family on the day of.  I still can’t quite bring myself to take the decorations down.  Soon.

I spent at least one day doing absolutely nothing productive and it was totally wonderful.  And yes, I had to schedule it.

And now we’re to January, which is the worst month ever, but we’ll get through it together, right?  I’m hoping to manage my vacation time a little better next year, but if not, I can’t deny that another December fun month doesn’t sound appealing…

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The obvious response.

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On November 15, 2016

In Uncategorized

Last week was one that just felt so OFF.  Different.  Weird.  I mean, there was this election thing that kind of rocked our world, but on a more localized (aka – me) scale, it was still a weird week.

nov15-1

This is how weird it is y’all, I wore makeup.  And used a straightener.  Gasp!

The weirdest thing (locally) that happened?  I was out playing bikes yesterday afternoon on my cruiser, and I passed a dude with a bunch of stuff on a bike.  I’m in this GREAT mood because sun + endorphins + bike = happiness, so I say “isn’t it a beautiful day to be biking?” as I passed him.

Your normal response might be “hello” or “sure is!” or maybe a “meh” or just ignore them if you’re in a bad mood, right?  This gentleman’s normal response was to throw the contents of his drink (beer, I think) at me.  He missed, which I’m sure made him angry, so he started cussing at the world.  Realizing my presence angered a drunk guy and I was solo, I figured I should probably hightail it out of there in case he started throwing other stuff since he had a lot of ammo.  Normally it’s cars chucking things at cyclists, not other cyclists, heh.  Nevertheless, I’ll add this to my list of cycling achievements.

nov15-2

How adorable is this collage our club captain put together? <3

One of last week’s goals was to start tracking my food and making healthier choices and start considering maintaining a deficit again, and I did pretty good on Monday.  However, Tuesday through Sunday?  Not so great.  We celebrated all the triathlon things with our club and then our series finishers, and triathletes are a group of people that generally like to indulge. So there were fried foods and beer and tacos and chips and cake and brownies and wine and it was wonderful.

I also found my appetite is STILL not back to normal when Zliten and I ate the entire giant fajita-for-two plate and a whole bowl of chips on Friday night without feeling overly full.  My stomach has moments of feeling normal, and then I’ll go and have two full servings of dinner.  It’s frustrating, because I am OBVIOUSLY not maintaining enough activity for it, but the last thing I want to do is stunt my recovery by starving myself.  Baby steps.

The good news is that activity is coming back into my life fairly effortlessly.  The weather last week was amazing and I felt and continue to feel that good kind of antsy where I just want to get out and do stuff.  No surprise, my activity is skewing towards running as it tends to do in the fall.

I ran 3 times last week, because I wanted to – 4, 6,  and 7 miles.  No mileage or pace plan, just ran until I felt like I was done or I had to be somewhere.  My average easy pace seems to have come down to about 10:50-ish now that it’s not a million degrees outside and I imagine that will just get better with even lower temps and more running.  Maybe this week I’ll put something spicy in there to test out my legs, but if I’m not ready, I’ll just run.

nov15-3

Fall running makes me feel like dis.

Everything else was less than expected and that’s totally fine.  I rode my cruiser bike for about an hour but neither of my other serious business bikes.  We planned to do the 25 mile Tour De Donut, but the 6am Sunday wakeup call made us roll over in bed, look at each other, say “NOPE” and then go back to sleep. I did a weights session at the gym on Monday that had me sore until Friday, so I skipped the second session of the week.  I intended to swim at some point, but Zliten’s evil rib has earned him a no-swim mandate for another week, and it’s really hard to motivate to get to the gym myself.

Does that sounds like a lot of excuses and wankery?  Absolutely.  And that’s TOOOOOTALLY fine at this stage.  Pushing a rigid schedule year round is a recipe for burnout for me and while sometimes I want to be there, I am not yet.  I’ve got that little voice in the back of my head telling me my bike and swim endurance is going to shit on my break, but I’m successfully telling it to shut the hell up.  I’ve got plenty of time and I also have a few big rides and swims planned in the next two months, plus I can’t imagine I’ll lose my run base when it’s all I’m really motivated to do.  So there, stupid voices!

This week’s goal is to continue the baby steps.

Workouts:

Two weights session, stressing bodyweight/lighter weights.  Oddly enough, when you take a month off lifting, you can just go resume what you were doing.  I did one Oiselle Dozen last night, and I’m much more reasonably sore than last week, so I’ll follow up with another strength session of some sort later in the week.  Once I’m not a member of the walking dead after doing that regularly, I’ll resume throwing around heavier things.

Running, obviously.  I plan to run Saturday morning and I’d like to see double digits but only if my body wants to go there.  I’ll go out for some other jaunts as I can, probably in the mornings because we’re a little warmer this week (in the 80s).  It was nice to have fall for a few days!

Jul5-2

Don’t worry, there won’t be a shortage of bike commuting selfies ’round here.  I’ll just probably be wearing a little more. 🙂

I bike commuted yesterday and it’s the best.  I think I’d like to do that at least one more time this week.  I’d also like to get out and ride Evilbike, but that might be beyond the babysteps for this week.

Swimming…. eh… if I can make it there.  Once Zliten is off rib-rest, we’ll get back to it.  It sounds nice on my body and maybe one of those lunches where it’s 80 degrees I’ll get motivated.  But maybe not.

Food/Drink

I had really been indulging the last two weeks, and I can see the effects.  Last week, I barely slept through the night – I would wake up around 4am and have to read for somewhere between 30 mins and a few hours before I could fall asleep.  My weight is up from about 180-182 to 183-185.  I can’t see any way that I legit took in over 10k calories more than I burned in 2 weeks, especially with an enhanced metabolism for some of that, but my jiggly water retaining belly says regardless, my system is out of whack.

nov15-4

Steeeeeeamy.  Get in my belly (and make it jiggle, apparently).

This week, I’m taking a pass on alcohol, mostly.  I’m giving myself the option to have a few Saturday, but I’d like to have a good majority-of-the-week of detox before that.  My liver has been a trooper, and it needs a rest.  My tolerance is pretty wicked right now, so it takes a lot (and a lot of calories) to catch a buzz.  I took a mental recovery break for the last two weeks and indulged.  Now it’s actually time to let my body recover and treat it nicer so it doesn’t break down.

While I’m not going to go nuclear on my diet (eliminating alcohol for a week is enough of a shock to the system, heh), I am trying to push for more fruits and veggies and less junk, and for fucks sake, track my food.  I got through half of lunch yesterday and failed at the rest.  It’s all about making things a habit and this one has fallen off.

Life Stuff:

The motivation to start cranking on the to do list is still not there.  That’s alright.  I’m kind of enjoying being social, I’m kind of enjoying my lazy weekend mornings and early evenings curled in bed voraciously devouring this new book series, Metal Boxes. Besides work, I don’t have a lot of the have-tos right now, and I’m trying to calm my shit about the “shoulds”.

nov7-2

I *should* relax in my hammock is appropriate though.  Maybe chill on the beer though and drink some tart cherry juice to CALM the inflammation instead of encourage it.

Eventually I need to start being a responsible adult.  I need to find another doctor for a check up since mine left my network.  I need to make an appointment with a financial planner.  I need to clean my car.  I need to get going on my social media strategies and triathlon coaching.  But, I need to be READY to do that shit and I’m not mentally there yet.

This week, I’d simply like to get my new passport photo.  It’s expired, and I need to get it dealt with soon because I’ll be out of the country in May.  It will be really refreshing to get a new picture, as my old one was at my highest weight of 265 lbs and doesn’t even look like me.

Otherwise, I have plans to see two movies, we gamed with friends last night, and we have plans to introduce some of the family to virtual reality.

And that’s plenty.  Off to one of those movies (Arrival), I’ll let you know how it is!

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Three days and taper crazies done right.

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On October 27, 2016

In Uncategorized

Taper crazies:

oct27-1

#yesmyfacefrozelikethis

I think I’m doing taper right because I am super anxious this week.  I’ve been giving myself plenty of rest time (frankly, I’ve been trying to convert all the time I would normally be training to either be in bed reading or sleeping) and I am just kind of… full on sleep.  I’m at the point where I feel like I’m losing. precious. fitness. every. single. day… so let’s fire up this party already and get this race going before I can barely do a sprint tri, yeah?

… considering I know that I raced VERY WELL on almost no training, my rational brain knows this is crazy.  I think I probably feel like normal humans – I have free time because I’m not spending 11 hours a week running, biking, swimming, or lifting, and I’m not completely fatigued from training.  But I feel this weird combination of excited! terrified! ready! tired! relaxed! anxious! weird! not normal! at the same time.  I haven’t really felt this way for a race in a while.

Quick wrap up of what I’ve done since peak because if I do well at this race, I’ll probably look back at this post and go… HOW DO I MAKE THIS HAPPEN AGAIN?

oct4-7

One of these things helps physical recovery, the other helps MENTAL recovery.

3 weeks out: 6.5 hours (not intentionally)

  • All the sleep and food.  Cut some sessions to get extra rest.  This made it an exponential taper but I think that worked out better for me.  The other option would have been to take a rest week in peak somewhere (I needed it) and peak a week later.  If I feel stale at the race, I’ll probably go with that next time but I don’t regret it at all right now.
  • Mostly medium length sessions with speed intervals.
  • Long workout: a really solid 30 mile TT interval brick followed by a 10k at race pace

2 weeks out: 6 hours training

  • Mid-week I started to come around and felt pretty rested (FINALLY).  I resisted the temptation to bolster the schedule and instead just did the weekday scheduled stuff to the letter.
  • Endurance cycle hills, race pace OWS in the wetsuit, another swim and easy bike with the BSS crew, and a nice speedy 3 mile race pace run after 2 mile warm up.  Felt like I NAILED IT.
  • Weekend bike went to crap with a flat tire (though I got changing practice!) but rocked a 4 mile race pace run after rolling home.
  • Ate to my appetite, trying to keep the food mostly healthy (fruit veggies proteins whole grains, yadda yadda), but there were treats in there for sure.  I know I’ll wish I tracked through this taper cycle but I just can’t even right now.  Weight is holding steady at 180-182 so there’s that.

Race week:  … I might be at 3 hours by race day?

  • Continuing to eat to my appetite, pushing a balanced healthy diet at the beginning of the week, skewing towards (low fat) carb-tastic things later in the week.
  • Spending as much time in bed as possible reading.
  • Doing things to keep the legs loose.  30 min runs and swims with pickups, quickie brick, one day I didn’t really feel like doing my trainer ride so we walked instead probably at the same intensity I was planning.
  • Trying to keep work from killing me.  I’m not dead yet.

If this prep gets me to the start line feeling all springy and awesome like the feelings I’ve been flirting with this week, I may be ready to actually attack this race in a way I haven’t done in years.  Here are my goals.

Apr4-2

Back in April, we started the swim distance challenge, which lead to my longest open water swim in September of 4500m (or just under 3 miles).  I almost didn’t participate because of offseason and all other manner of bullshit, but I’m really glad I did. 

Swim:

I would say I felt like my swim this cycle was STURDY, but not particularly speedy.  And then, as I sat down to write this, I got back from one of my fastest (if not THE fastest) pool swim in my life (1:44/100m AVERAGE – with warmup and cooldown).  Well then, maybe there’s something in the tank after all!

Either way, sturdy or speedy, it’s the first 40-ish minutes of a 6 hour day.  No matter what happens, I’m not going to let it wreck my day.  I don’t even really have any secret goals here, really.  Would I like to get under 40?  Sure, but ONLY if that pace matches the level of effort I’m willing to put out.  As long as I get out of the water with all my parts in the right place (I have three male waves coming up right after mine), I’ll be fine with the day.

Specifically during the swim, I want to keep my brain focused on the task and not daydream.  I swim better when I keep my brain engaged.  Also, as odd as it sounds, I need to make sure I don’t sight TOO well, so the men after me won’t be as tempted to swim over my head.  I’m willing to do some combat during swimming but lead pack guys are really freaking mean and punchy.

Aug30-15

It was really hard to find a picture of me and a bike this cycle (sarcasm) but I think riding up the Colorado National Monument was one of the best, worst, and most humbling rides this training cycle. Every ride after that has been “well, this is easier than riding up a mountain”.

Bike:

This is another place where I’m not trying to put weird pressure on myself and ruin my day because I’m a little behind some arbitrary number.  My best pace in a half is 17.2 mph.  Last year I was holding about 18.5 mph, I think, before my crash at mile 50.  I did Kerrville at 17.5 mph this year (for one loop, not two), and that was being cautious as fuck in the rain with so much left in the tank for the run.  This course has more climbing.  I haven’t done a whole lot of training that would help me accurately predict what I’ll do on the new bike on Sunday, and I’m ok with that.  Surprises are fun.

So, I’m going to ride bikes.  With the new bike, the new course, and my new directive to maybe save a little freaking energy so I don’t die on the run, I have no clue.  If I had to throw a dart at the wall, I’d aim for somewhere in the 17 mph range.  But rather than chase a number on the bike computer (watts, HR, speed, etc), I feel like I have pretty well honed what a long ride feels like that I can run off of well (though I do have numbers in mind for those to judge if things are SUPER off, they won’t rule the day).

I want to stay in aero as much as possible though I will cut myself slack if I don’t feel 100% comfortable.  Whatever happens, it should be an improvement on Kerrville’s 25% of the time shitshow.  I want to push up the hills like I know how and try not to burn a billion matches but know I can burn some.  Most importantly, rubber side down and keeping that rubber in tact!

Apr18-2

I don’t have a lot of running pictures, but this one is pretty symbolic.  It was April, I was just getting over my hip injury and mental fuckery, I was 15 lbs up, and running a few miles at 11:30/mile was hard.  I’m glad April me stuck with it even if it took quite a few months for the fitness to come around.

Run:

There’s no getting around it, it’s going to be a hot day.  Why didn’t I do the half at Kerrville this year?  Oh right, the only way we got great temps was the pouring rain… and my fitness wasn’t there yet.  I digress.  88 degrees and sunny is NOT my ideal half marathon conditions, but that’s what the day is handing me.  I will be handing it salt pills, hydration, calories, and my both my middle fingers.

The good thing is I have trained in this.  I’ve done race pace in hotter weather and hillier conditions off bikes, it’s just about pushing that race pace into the second hour and draining the tank and not giving up when it gets hard.  This is my race to spend the dollars and not ask for change.  It will be fun to see how much cash I actually have on hand right now.

This is the only place I’m really targeting a pace and finish time – I’d like to hit a 2:15 (10:18/mile).  This is a pretty sizeable ask right now off a 56 mile bike in the hot sun.  But I think I can get in the zip code if I don’t let my head get in the way.  I just need to stay in the moment.  There have been plenty of runs where at mile 1 or 3 I had NO idea how I was going to make it through and then, guess what, I did, usually speeding up at the end.  I need to focus on getting to the water station and the end of the path and the end of the loop and finish this part of the road and then all those little segments will add up to 13.1 (hopefully) respectable miles of running.

kerrville

Kerrville had it’s challenges, but it was the first triathlon run in quite a while I feel like I just nailed.  Runs since have been showing similar promise.  I’m hoping to feel this happy when I cross the finish line Sunday.

Overall:

I keep adding up what the day might look like for me, and I think a super great day will be around 6:15-6:20, and a good day will be right around a PR (6:30-ish).  I think my two biggest obstacles for getting in that range are any potential flat tires/mechanicals/etc on the bike (the road is pretty rugged) and issues dealing with the heat on the run.  The first one I can’t really control, the best I can do is just bike smart, but the second I can fight.  Barring any of that noise, I think I can turn in a solid time.

No matter what happens, if I keep my head in it the whole time, I’ll be proud of completing a successful, if very different, 70.3 cycle, and conquering this course for the first time.

sept26-4

Hi my name is Zliten and I always have to make race week interesting! (from recent memory: one kidney stone procedure, one ankle roll at warmup, and now a dislocated rib).

Zliten update:

The rib seems to be just out (dislocated and put back into place), rather than cracked.  I’m sure there are great doctors out there but all we’ve run into is “here’s the painkillers, just take those and zone out for a couple weeks” when we get injured.  Sigh.  Not what was needed here at all.

The chiropractor has worked her magic and while he’s still in a decent amount of pain, he’s feeling a lot better and pretty sure he’ll at least start the race.  His wave is absolutely last in the water, he’s planning on swimming very slowly and very carefully, the bike shouldn’t be that different but he’ll not be uber fast charging up or down hills, but the ratio of run to walk is the big question mark.  We’ll see!

The fun thing is… I could finish upwards of 3 hours before him, if I have a really good day and he just makes the cutoff.  I’m hoping it won’t be such disparity, but I’m going to be prepared like I’m taking my toddler self for an outing – snacks, drinks, a place to sit or blanket to lay on, a change of clothes, etc.  I just have no idea at that point whether I’ll want to go cheer everyone on and be a part of the rest of the race, or not.  As long as the race goes well, I’m perfectly ok being the completely spent weirdo sprawled out on a blanket in the grass reading, napping, and maybe whimpering a little while stuffing fritos in my mouth.

And if I am, I’m sure I’ll be instagramming the fuck out of it.  Wish me luck!

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Austin 70.3 – The Nutrition Plan

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On October 20, 2016

In Uncategorized

It’s all crazy busy around here, but what’s new?  Thankfully, taper week 2’s lighter workout schedule is coinciding well with some work deadlines so it feels only slightly insane.  Someday, I’ll figure out how to stagger my big races with work obligations, but that is not what’s happening in this particular October 2016, my friends!

oct21-1

However, runs and swims and bikes are keeping me sane and smiling and taking selfies.  So, there is that.

Anyhoo, it’s 10 days to Austin 70.3.  I’ve done the long rides, runs, swims, and brick.  I’ve practiced race pace.  I’ve lifted weights to build muscle to support all the abuse.  I’ve indulged in my recovery boots A LOT.  I’ve eaten all the fruits and veggies and carbs and lean protein that stokes the fire (and let’s be honest, the pizza and cake and beer that ALSO fuels the workouts).

We can easily spend time badgering ourselves for things we’ve lacked in training (hello, all those missing swims where I just couldn’t drag my ass to the pool or lake), but one thing I think I’ve done right is practicing nutrition for the big day.  It’s been one of my downfalls in the past, so I wanted to make sure I came into this cycle really trying to nail down what has caused me issues.

  1. I get soooooo sick of gels and blocks.  During a long hot race, my stomach is always gross by the end and sometimes I’d rather chew razorblades at hour 5 of 6 instead of put another gel anywhere near my body.
  2. I die in the heat way more than the average bear.   I’m pretty sure this is all electrolyte balance (at least, the component I can actually do anything about with fuel).
  3. I’ll convince myself that I don’t need the last gel to save money.  This is total race brain.  Who wouldn’t spend a buck fifty TO LITERALLY SAVE YOUR RACE YOU SPENT HUNDREDS TO ENTER?
  4. Sometimes I make this detailed race nutrition plan and just throw it out the window because, again, race brain.  It’s almost easier for me to run than eat in the final minutes of these things.

So, we practice running, biking, and swimming.  If we’re smart, we practice transitions (free speed!).  This cycle, I’ve done my best to also practice nutrition and try new things.  I’ve eaten something close to my pre-race meal before all my shorter races and long workouts.  I’ve nailed down how to get myself up in the morning for early workouts (caff gel on my bedside, works every time).  I’ve experimented with different types of fuel besides just Cyborg Boob Milk and cubes o sugar jelly (blocks).  I’ve tried different types of sports drink.  I’ve also experimented with how I fuel after.

Aug2-3

I have yet to try something like this as mid-ride bike fuel with a run after, but can we all agree that this is SO much better than a gel?

So, what did this little guinea pig find out?

Don’t fuck with what works: the day before the race

  • Whatever for breakfast, within reason.  The normal yogurt/cereal.  Sometimes a bean and cheese taco.  Sometimes just a bigger and early lunch.
  • Swimming in the morning the day before a race is the best.  Fuck shakeout runs, they always make me feel weird.  Swimming feels amazing during and makes you feel good all day.  I know it’s not nutrition but hooray for swimming!
  • Lunch: turkey sandwich on white (less fiber – good)
  • Snacks: as I find yourself even MILDLY hungry – low fat high carb snacks like pita/hummus, pretzels, fruit (especially watermelon), maybe some jerky or nuts but mostly caaaaarbs.
  • Dinner: chicken or steak, mashed potatoes or rice, and a salad.  As all day, skip anything fried (save it for after the race) or spicy.

Fuck with what doesn’t work: race day

I’ve tweaked this a lot this year, but here’s what I’ve arrived at as the race day plan.

Upon waking: a caff chew or 2 and a cliff nut butter bar (~250 calories).  Since I’ll probably be waking up 3+ hours before my wave goes off at 8:15 am, I don’t want to burn my energy jittering too early, but this will help me get up and not drag ass.  Also, I’ve found that a little protein + fat help me stomach carbs better first thing in the morning.  Regular cliff bars?  Queasy.  Fill it with nut butter?  Happy tummy.

From waking to wave start (~150 calories): bring a disposable water bottle so I can sip sports drink and water until the race start.  I’ve started so many triathlons dehydrated until I remembered this stupid simple trick.  Caff gel about 30 mins before, enough time to go poop if my stomach gets wonky, and making sure it doesn’t *really* kick in until the back half of the swim.  Also, electrolyte tabs.  With a high of 82, it’s not AS critical as a hotter race, but I’m not taking any chances.

Jan27-2

I’m always really ambitious with my gel packing but never follow through.  I’m sure I ate one, maybe two of those tops for a 2 hour race.

Bike nutrition: English muffin with cream cheese and bacon, coconut date rolls, and a pb filled cliff bar (~500 calories solids, ~200? calories liquids).  It’s a departure from the carb only existance I’ve done in other races, but I’ve trained with it and it makes my tummy and brain happy.  I’ll have a few traditional gels as well in case the fit hits the shan, but I don’t plan on using them.  I’ve felt so much better coming off the bike after real food.

As for liquid, it doesn’t really seem to matter what it is as long as it’s got electrolytes in it and it’s not too concentrated.  I’ll start with two tanks of iced gatorade and then switch to the gatorade endurance that’s on the course, just keeping an eye on how it hits my stomach to see if I need to dilute it.  I’ll also have some electrolyte tabs if it’s feeling hot.

Run nutrition: 3 gels + whatever gatorade I can shove in my face. (~300 solids, ~200? liquids). On all my bricks lately, I’ve been putting a gel in my mouth during miles .5-2.  I won’t deviate from that.  If I feel awful, I’ll open it and take it super slow, knowing sometimes it settles my stomach if I force it down.  I haven’t had that issue in training in quite a while, so I’m hoping all goes well.

I’ve ended all my longer bricks thinking I’d need fuel soon to keep it up.  So, I think the plan will be mile 1, 5, and 9 for gels.  I’ve never gotten 3 gels down during the run leg, but I did during a 14 mile run this cycle.  I’ve never regretted taking a gel near the end of a race, but I have regretted NOT taking one.  I’ll pack two non-caff and one caff, and I’ll either take the caff at (preferably – since I’ll get the most benefit out of it) mile 1 or 5.  I need to remember that I have the next day off, so if I am up late jittering, the PR will be worth it!

I will probably drop my run bag the day before (it’s optional, but will save a lot of hassle), so I’ll probably start with either an empty handheld (to fill at an aid station), or bring a warm bottle of gatorade to dump in it.  One will make my run slower, one will make my transition slower.  If we get great luck with the weather, I may just leave it, but it would have to be a pretty cool day for me to do that.  I’ll have electrolyte tabs in my handheld and I’ll probably take some at the beginning of the run as insurance (unless I just took them on the bike).

sept19-1

The cravings vary, but this is a pretty frequent post race one.

Post race:

I have been REALLY REALLY good about getting stuff in my face pretty quickly and not getting to the point of fading. In the past, I’ve slacked on this, either in the name of saving calories for later or just being lazy/unprepared.  I feel so much better when I eat something right away, no matter what it is (though I feel the BEST when I end with the recovery shake).

When I end at home, I mix up said shake and get on acquiring or making food within the hour.  When I’m not home, I’ve made it a point to end at a gas station or in proximity to somewhere I can at least get some cold coconut water and make sure I eat something quickly.  At races, I’ve just been eating whatever food is available.  At kerrville, the tacos were kind of yucky, but down the hatch they went anyway.  The same will happen here – whatever’s available, I’ll eat it.

This will kick off a little mid-season break, so it’s not as vital as during peak, but there’s no reason for me to intentionally make myself feel shitty.

If I can stick to the plan, I’m looking at ~1600 calories down that hatch before and during the race, and I’m certain that’s the best I will have ever done.  If I can follow the plan (barring major extinction level gastrointestinal events), I think I may just find myself at the finish quicker (and happier) than ever before.

oct17-3

Then, I can get on with the business of sipping some of this and not moving much from my couch for a week if I so choose!

What’s your most decadent post race or post workout craving?  Trying to dream up what I get to put in my face for late lunch on the 30th. 🙂

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About Me

I'm a video game producer and a lover of anything game related by trade.  I'm a triathlete by hobby.  I live for being on or in the water as much as I can - scuba diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, water slides... you name it.  The dichotomy between my outdoor and indoor realities are interesting, but they're all mine!  Longer version here...

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