Fat Loss Update

I met with my nutritionist again on Friday and was prepared for the "speech" and I got it. I realize that I have no will power when sweets are in front of me. With all the gift baskets arriving in the office everyday, I find it necessary to sample it all to make sure it tastes okay.

I started out by telling Charlie that I'm having problems with my will power and being tempted by this food. He went to tell me that I don't have my mind and spirit conquered yet. He then proceeded to take out his bible and read a verse to me and explain what it meant. Honestly, it went in one ear and out the other. I don't even remember the message. It didn't help.

I actually lost a few more pounds but I lost more lean weight but I lost some fat too. I attribute this mostly to my intense workouts and not my disciplined eating. I really feel like I will be much better in January when many of those temptations will be gone.

Overall, I'm still feeling very optimistic and I'm going in the right direction. Its a long year so I am content on taking my time to get where I want to.

On a separate note, I lost a client to cancer yesterday. I was scheduled to see her in the hospital yesterday on her death bed but she didn't make it that long. She asked for me. She suffered a very long time and she is in a much better place now. This woman was a true "IRONMAN" who suffered and fought this horrible disease for 15 years.

I worked out with my coach yesterday who is helping me with my swim stroke. My catch phase really sucks so that is my focus now for a while. Even though I know it, I can't seem to do it right which makes me wonder if I don't have enough flexibility in my shoulders or I'm not rolling enough.....off to the pool :-)

This week was an 11 hour training week with 5 swims (13,000 yds.), 3 bikes, 3 runs, and 2 core workouts. All my swimming is pale in comparison to my coach's wife who swam 14,000 yds. yesterday (that's right, I said yesterday). She is training to swim across the English Channel.....a 21 mile route in cold water, against currents, without a wetsuit......that may or may not happen depending on the conditions.

Swimming and Snow

Well, the snow has hit us here in CT. This presents some challenges to training but I have set myself up to have alternate methods of training indoors. My temperature limit for cycling outside is about 40 degrees F. I have a pretty good setup at home to cycle indoors with my computrainer. I put my road bike onto a trainer which is hooked up to my computer. I am able to train with a power meter and track key performance indicators with this. It is such a valuable training tool that I use it all year round but obviously more now since I'm not riding outdoors.

My swimming block is continuing. I missed a day last week because of a snow storm that closed the YMCA. I "only" swam 12,000 yds. last week but I got in some good run and bike workouts along with a bunch of core workouts.

I managed to train 12 hours last week and I'm on pace for a similar week this week. I suspect I'll have a recovery week next week.

My biggest challenge isn't the cold weather or the snow or the treadmill or all the swimming......its the darn Christmas cookies that are floating around everywhere this time of the year. I have no will power to say no to cookies. I really can't wait until the holidays are over for this reason only. I'm still maintaining my weight but not making much progress....but its okay.....its a long year and its time to enjoy the last few weeks of the year :-)

A good week!!

I started my swim block of training this week. I knew it was coming sooner or later and my coach didn't disappoint me :-) I finished the week with 12 hours of training and 7 hours in the pool. I swam over 15,000 yds. for the week. This is equivalent to 8.75 miles or 616 lengths of the pool.

I think it was less than 3 years ago that I couldn't swim more than 25 yds. without resting at each end of the pool. I'm working a lot on technique right now because my endurance is really feeling pretty good right now. I'm still not moving through the water with the grace of a fish that I'm hoping for.

I have a feeling that I'll be having more weeks like this for the next few months.

I had some solids bikes and runs this week too.

I also lost 2 pounds for the week which was my goal.

Looking at potentially going to spain for a week to cycle, possibly mallorca or malaga. This is where many of the top professional cycling teams train during the winter because these areas have over 300 days of sunshine with temps in the 50's and 60's......sure would be fun if I can swing it.

Bike Update

I finished designing the paint scheme for my new bike....I'm really excited to see how it will turn out but also nervous that it won't look the way I am envisioning it......Oh well, its just a bike, right?

I wanted to incorporate the colors of this bike but it won't quite work because I am planning on a fade. If I fade from blue to yellow, then it will appear green (not a good thing) so I decided to fade from blue to white back to blue with yellow letters/logos.















Update on my back....its fine. Healed quickly and just a little tender now to the touch. It hasn't restricted me at all.

Big training block of swimming this week.....6 days of swimming/15,000 yds. or 8.5 miles. Also a little running and biking in there too. I had 4,000 yds. today and could only get through 3500 yds. b/c my legs were cramping so bad I couldn't get through another lap. If anyone reads this and has a tip to stop the cramps, please let me know.

Also did a power test on the bike this week. 8 min. all out on my computrainer to test my power and HR. Results were 321 watts and 165HR. I am very happy with this and my coach was too. My best last year was 299 watts for a 20 min. test. I do these periodically to help design my bike workouts. I can use these numbers as my max efforts and work backwards to determine my training efforts. I would never train at those max efforts because its not sustainable over the period of an entire race, especially an ironman. I might race at 60% of this effort for ironman.

I got scolded today!!!

I went to see my nutritionist today for my 3 week check up and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I find it really hard to stay perfect on this plan when I am away from home. When I'm home, I'm good because I have no junk at my house. I was away two weekends in a row which didn't help plus I had a couple of splurge type meals which really set me back. I am also confessing that I have been sneaking in some sweets back into my diet slowly. It just goes to show you that it doesn't work when you sabotage yourself like that. I am confessing here and determined to get back on the wagon to have a good 3 weeks to show him and myself that I am serious.

Bottom line is that I lost 1 pound and .5% body fat in 3 weeks.....at least I didn't gain :-) My goal for 3 weeks from today is to lose 6 pounds and 2% body fat. I have some challenges ahead of me with some xmas parties and other events. My goal is to eat before the parties so that I don't have anything at the party. My first challenge is tomorrow night...wish me luck!

Here is a picture of the type of calipers he uses to test my body fat. He takes measurements from my back, my stomach, and my arm.

We also adjusted my caloric intake slightly because I haven't been working out as much as we planned so I need to adjust more for off days or light days. I really think that was part of the problem.

Thanksgiving

I decided to run the Southport turkey trot which has become a little tradition of mine for the last 3 years or so. I get to see a lot of friends and burn some calories before having some thanksgiving dinner later in the day.

This race only comes four days after my half marathon in philly so I wasn't sure what I was capable of but I felt good so I decided that my goal would be to try to run sub 7:00 min./mile pace. I finished in 34:xx which is 6:5x pace....very happy with the result.

I ate way too much later in the day but had a great visit with family.

Spent Friday with friends and Sue and got a swim workout in with a friend who is also training for IMFL after a long hiatus from triathlon. Went for a bit of a hike afterwards then ate way too much again.....bad trend continuing here.

Saturday morning started out with a bang....literally. I was going down my parents wood stairs in my bare socks and went ass backwards hard on mid back and tailbone. I landed so hard, it took the wind out of me. I heard a loud crack and thought I broke my back. I managed to get my breath back and get up. Then I did a stupid thing and decided to play soccer in my annual high school alumni soccer game. I had been looking forward to this because it is the one time a year that I play soccer and get to see some old friends. It wasn't the best thing to do after my fall in the morning.

Today, I am really feeling every ache and pain in my body like I got run over by a bus. I got a nice case of whiplash too. I rested and iced all day and Sue worked on my back which really helped. The pain shifts from my tailbone to my mid back to my neck.

I will probably get an xray tomorrow to make sure I didn't fracture a vertebrae.

Those darn stairs :-)

A few days off will do me good and back home to get back into my food routine. I see my nutritionist on Friday and he is not going to be too happy as I took a few steps backwards this weekend.

Inspiration

One of my regular clients asked if I wanted to work on her Aunt but she warned me and said that she would not be offended if I didn't want to work on her. Aunt P. has terminal cancer and has days to weeks to months to live. She has had it for 15 years.....diagnosed within a year after her husband died from cancer. She has had 22 surgeries. This type of cancer grows tumor within your visceral region and attaches to smooth tissue (ie. the tumors attach to your organs). They don't immediately invade the organs so the reason why she has lived for so long. But the doctors now have said to her they can't do anymore......now its just a waiting game.

She is a fragile woman who has a basketball in her stomach where the tumors have invaded her body. She is only 66 years old. She has a great wit, attitude, and is tough as nails.

Of course I said I would work with her as she was having some discomfort with a sciatic nerve probably from the tumors or laying for long periods of time.

I was expecting the worse but what I got was inspiration. She was timid and nervous when she first met me because she hasn't had a massage in many years. In fact, the last massage she received was a negative experience for her. She needed help on and off my table and needed to take frequent bathroom breaks so this was not my typical massage.

As I started with the massage and touching her skin, she became energized as it was obvious that she doesn't get this kind of touch. Her ooohs and ahhhs were great sounds as opposed to hearing ouchs. We had nice conversation for the hour and when were done, she said she felt like she went to the ice cream parlor and had all of her favorite ice cream flavors.......that is a compliment I'll take anyday.

I was elated that she loved the massage and that I could help someone like this in her condition.

She called a few days later to schedule another appointment so I guess she liked it :-)

You never know where you can find inspiration......keep your mind open!

ITP Foundation

I race for the ITP Foundation which is a non-profit foundation created by a friend. ITP stands for Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura which is a rare bleeding disorder disease that effects one's platelet count. It is most commonly found in children and many grow out of it. Very little research is found on the disease or cures. Michael's daughter has/had the disease so he remains passionate about this cause.

The main fundraising efforts are developed around triathlon. I became the race director of a local sprint triathlon that michael started three years ago. We have an itpteam that races and raises money for itp. In the past we have been able to get IRONMAN slots which are hard to come by so our athletes have to raise money in order to get a slot. And to become an itpteam member, a triathlete has to commit to raising a small amount for itp.

As a tribute to supporting this cause, I will be custom painting my new bike with ITP colors and logos.

I was also asked to be on the Board of Directors so I happily accepted so now I am officially on a "board" :-)

More info. can be found at www.itpfoundation.org

Elite Bicycles

I need to start out by saying this was the most amazing bike shop experience I have ever had. I was recommended to go down to Elite for a bike fitting and new bike by a lot of people. Dave Greenfield from Elite is a very interesting guy.....he has an immense amount of knowledge in the field of bikes and triathlon, and kinesiology. He spent 5+ hours with me fitting me on my old bike, then crunched his numbers to determine which bike he would put me on.

His mechanics are also amazing. They spent hours on my bike (even though I'm selling it) cleaning it and overhauling it. They trued my wheels, recabled, and put new brake levers on it.

It was simply amazing. My new bike is in stock. I didn't need custom which I'm shocked but I trust Dave immensely. I will fit on his XL stock frame which should have been my size on my planet x.....oh well....hard lesson learned. I need to determine my componentry, upgrades, and paint job.

I will go down there again in a month or two to get refitted on the new bike. Dave discovered that I am extremely inflexible in the hip flexor region which was causing imbalances in my body. So, I will commit to getting some chiropractic and massage work done, and lots of stretching and yoga.

Pictures to come soon.

Philadelphia Half Marathon

Just got back from the Philly half marathon which I ran this morning. Sue and I drove down yesterday morning early to get to Elite bicycles by 11am.....more about this in the next post.

After a long day at Elite, we rushed through town to pick up our bib numbers with a few minutes to spare. Then it was off to find dinner somewhere. After driving around trying to find a restaurant but more importantly parking, we decided to check into our hotel and meet our friends and find something on the whim. Ali was hobbled by a stress fracture, it was getting late, and it was cold out so we got stuck at a Ruby Tuesdays. My friend Mark was running the full marathon the next day. The dinner was awful. We had problem after problem with the food and I felt sorry for the waitress but alas we ate, then headed back to our hotels for some rest.

I fell asleep pretty easily but awoke at 12:30am feeling like it was 5am and felt fully rested....not so good. Unfortunately, I lied awake in bed for the next hour or so trying to fall back asleep but to no avail. Sue and I were in Embassy Suites so I proceeded to the other room to watch tv on the sofa until 4:30am....our wake up call. It was very frustrating. I usually sleep pretty well before races and this wasn't a big race for me. I may have been excited about my experience during the day at Elite.

So I proceeded with getting in some calories with 1 bottle of Ensure Plus, a banana, and english muffin. I walked outside to determine my race outfit....tights or shorts??? As the weather has been getting cold her in CT, I found a pair of compression tights made by Under Armour that feel great. I opted for the tights and it was a great choice, even though I probably would have been fine with shorts too. The weather was in the mid 40's with a light wind but I felt comfortable the whole race.

My goal for the race was to go out at a 7:30/min pace and see if I could hold it to the finish. I tend to go out a little too hard so I wanted to make sure I didn't take it too hard in the beginning. My first few miles were in the 7:15 range so I was getting concerned that I might not be able to hold that for another 11 miles. I hadn't really done a run over 1 hour for about 8 weeks prior to this race.

I continued to hold my pace pretty well, then a huge crowd running in the 3:10 marathon pace group passed me and put some time on me around mile 4 or 5 so I thought I was slowing but my trusty watch splits told me I was right on target holding 7:20's consistently. My goal was to break 1:40 and figured that if I could get to mile 10 feeling good, I would have a good shot at this. There was one mile around 8 or 9 that was mostly uphill so my split was about 7:44 but I knew I had a lot of seconds in the bank so I was not worried. I finally got to mile 11 and realized I might have a shot at breaking 1:35 if I could kick it in a bit. I gave it my all. Mile 11 was 7:05 and I tried to go fast but my calves really started cramping so I kept telling my body to relax and hold it together for one more mile. I finished 1:35:57. 218th overall for the half marathon out of 3,000+. My pace was 7:19. And I finished 15th/200+ in my age group. This is by far my best running result and I'm quite surprised by it. I've lost about 10 pounds since working with my nutritionist which I attribute a lot of this success to. My previous PR for a half marathon was done about 8 weeks ago at the nutmeg triathlon with a 1:46. My coach thinks I can go under 1:30.....and I believe I can especially with another 10 pounds lighter.

Beachfront Bushwack

This is a fun ~5 mile race that happens at Tod's Point in Greenwich which runs on sand, through trails, over logs, hay bales, and a little roadway. When you're running through the trails, it can be hard to pass people so it was actually a nice way to recover while not slowing down too much. I suspect it was shorter than 5 miles unless my running has gotten a lot faster because I finished in 35:xx. I'll know for sure on Sunday when I run Philly.

I did a 12 min. run before and after to get an hour run in. If that wasn't enough, I rode outside with a friend for 1:45. It got a little cold at the end and my legs felt heavy going up hills or maybe that is because Mark is such a smooth climber.

Nutritionist Plan

I met with Charlie Friday for my 3 week checkup. I lost 6 lbs. and 2% body fat. Of that 4 lbs. was fat and 2 lbs was muscle. The trick is to lose mostly fat but since I have 170+ lbs. of lean muscle, it will be okay if I lose some of this. Because performance in triathlon favors those who are lighter versus leanest, my goal is to get as light as possible. He said if I stay the course, it will take me 22 weeks to get down to 9% body fat and my weight will be about 185 lbs. I am very skeptical of this result but I will stay the course. I'll just be happy to see a "1" in front of my weight. It has probably been 20-25 years since I have seen a "1" in front of my weight.

I am still having lots of cravings but I am trying to do my best to be very strict but it is really hard.

Running the Beachfront Bushwack this morning....a 5 mile race done through trails, roads, beach....jumping over hay bales and other obstacles. You can't really gage your fitness based on your finish time. If I run sub 8:00 pace, I'll be happy but I'm not going to kill myself since I'm going to ride 2+ hours outside today after the race.

Signed up for the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island yesterday. It is a point to point course from Narragansett to Providence. It will be very interesting to see how they figure that all out but since its home for me, I hope my friends and family can come out and watch. It is the week before Ironman Lake Placid, which I usually go up there to train during ironman week, volunteer and watch friends. So, hopefully I can recover quickly, then do a big block of training up in LP. As a result, I may not race as hard as I could.....we'll see.

The Fass Loss Coach

I started working with Charlie Remington 3 weeks ago to get my diet under control. He calls himself the Fat Loss Coach. His background is in bodybuilding and he came highly recommended.

I usually spend this time of the year not paying attention to my diet and getting tempted by holiday treats and lots and lots of SUGAR. Subsequently, I gain lots of weight. I somehow convince myself that it is okay to gorge myself because I know that my training and diet gets back on track in January. BIG MISTAKE!!!

This year I implemented a new strategy to start eating right before the holidays and continue right through the holidays. So far, so good. I'm down about 7 or 8 pounds and I'll find out on Friday how much body fat I've lost. My goal by Ironman is to get down to single digit body fat and below 200 pounds which would be the first time since junior high school. The numbers don't lie....its possible.

I'm anxious to test out this new body when I run the Philly Half Marathon in 1 1/2 weeks. My goal is to be under 215 pounds.....preferably 210 but I'm not worried about it. My goal is to run under 1:40 which is a 7:30 min/mile pace.

New Bike

I have had many issues with my bikes over the years. I crashed this past summer going downhill at 35mph. My bike developed a high speed wobble which became uncontrollable and down I went. Fortunately, I came away from that with just lots of road rash. Miraculously I didn't break anything. Being big has its advantages at times :-)

What I realized after that is that my new bike just doesn't fit right and may lead to this again. So, the rest of the year, I rode it very cautiously. I am very inflexible and these new tri bikes are so aggressive. I decided to bite the bullet and get a custom fit bike from Elite bicycles. I have heard so many good things from them despite them not being one of the more popular brands in the triathlon world. They are a small manufacturer who makes their bikes in the USA, which is rare today.

I'm getting fitted on Nov. 17 when I travel down to Philadelphia for the Philly half marathon that I will be running on Nov. 18. More on that later.

The Journey Begins Today!

I figured I would experiment with this blog thing that seems to be the trendy thing to do. This will also help me remember the year and the preparation for this event.

My journey towards completing an ironman triathlon began today (sort of)....I've actually been working towards it for the past 2 years. I registered today for Ironman Florida which will take place on Nov. 1, 2008......yes, that is right, 1 year in advance. The race sold out online within minutes so I had to be ready and a good thing I had a hunch it would open early because it did and I got in.

It was only 3 years ago when I began to run. I was eating my way to 260 pounds and not feeling like an athlete anymore. I still remember when I jumped in to run a few miles with a friend in the NYC marathon in 2004. I didn't train at all so I didn't know what to expect. I thought I might be able to run 5-10 miles......15 miles later, I was in pain but it was at that moment that I realized I could indeed run a marathon if I trained. And the exhilaration of running in the NYC marathon was unbelievable. I signed up for my first marathon in January of 2005 to run in the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon in June 2005. I lost about 20 pounds and finished it under 5 hours which was my goal.....I finished a marathon....wow, that was a huge accomplishment for me because I never expected that I could do it.

Running that first marathon and overcoming the feeling of self-doubt was a big step in the new me......no problem.....what else can I do that I didn't think I could?

I was getting a little bored with just running so a triathlon was my next goal. I know I can run and I know I can ride a bike, but swim in the open water....oh boy....not so sure about that.

After some swimming lessons and my ultimate savior (my wetsuit) I completed my first triathlon in the summer of 2005. I became addicted. I raced in another 4 triathlons and the NYC marathon later that fall.

I was tempted by a few friends later in the year to enter an ironman the following April in New Zealand. I didn't feel like I was ready. I didn't have a coach and my swimming wasn't ready yet. I even had a sponsor that was going to pay for my trip. I passed. It was a good thing that I didn't race because that was the year they canceled the swim leg because the conditions were too rough and they cut the bike and run in half. That would have been a piece of cake to do but I wouldn't have been able to say that I completed an Ironman.

2006 was another year of getting more experience. I attempted my first half ironman and was humbled by the experience. It kicked my butt but I finished. I didn't prepare enough. I entered another half ironman later in the year and experienced a similar result (but I did crash too).

I really believed that I had a lot more potential so I hired a coach for 2007. I improved my half ironman times by an hour and had 2 great races. My plan was to spend a week in Lake Placid training, volunteering, and watching friends race. I would then sign up for the Lake Placid Ironman in 2008. After training on the course, it kicked my butt and I didn't enjoy the course at all. Don't get my wrong....the course is beautiful and amazing but I don't think the course suits my racing style very well. I have a disadvantage on a hilly course because I am a larger racers. Flatter courses suit me better. I called my coach the day before registration and told him I wasn't sure about racing Lake Placid......he was very supportive and said he didn't like it either. He encouraged me to sign up for Florida so here it is. I have thought about this race from that moment in July and now I'm registered. Let the preparation begin.