Thanksgiving and other stuff

Happy Thanksgiving fellow bloggers!

What am I thankful for? Easy! My wonderful wife Diane, my fantastic daughters Becca and Kelly, family, my friends, my improved health, my job, our Lab Annie, and my newfound passion- triathlon (and all it entails - the training, the improved health, and you bloggers!).

I am also thankful that I don't have to buy into the silly notion that I have to stuff myself today! I am going to eat one helping and that's it, no feeling of having eaten too much, no remorse for having pigged out. That will be very nice indeed!

I hope you all have a great holiday and don't get too stressed out.

As for my training, I took off from swiming Wednesday as my shoulder (actually under my scapula near the spine) was very sore. I dn't know if it is from swimming but I am going to take off from Saturday's swimming too. It's not in the area where it would be a rotator cuff injury, it is the rhomboids near the spine. I think it is time to start my yoga classes and take my flexibility serioulsy (I hate getting old!).

As for my foot, I have inflammed tendons on the outside of my foot (the peroneus tetius tendon and the peroneus brevis tendon), so I am not doing any training today. It's hard to take off, as I have a schedule, a plan, goals, but I know I don't want to end up having to take weeks or months off because I couldn't be patient. I have gone to a podiatrist and he thinks we may need to adjust the orthotics I have. I have not heard back on the x-ray results yet so I am hoping it is not a stress fracture. It doesn't hurt a lot to walk, it's just uncomfortable. But if I touch the side of my foot with my finger, ouch!

Christmas is coming up and of course, I'm like a little kid! I love to give and I love to receive! So this year will be fun putting together my X-mas list, tri this, tri that, tri, tri tri! :-) So fellow bloggers, please share what is on your list that is tri-related and help me build my list!

Have a great one,
Duane

Am I eating too few calories? To many?

Here is my scenerio. I started into this crazy tri world in early February of this year at 471 lbs. I went down to 389 by my race on Sept 10th. I took a month to recover but still trained about 4-5 times a week on the treamill and 3 hours a week of weight training. I have been back on training 9-10 times a week for about a month. I have put back on about 5-6 pounds in the last 4 weeks even though I eat pretty well, about 2000-2500 calories per day on average.

So today I had my RMR measured and my number is 2890 (the second highest number she had seen). My trainer Jess has wanted me to eat more but it seems like I cannot embrace that emotionally, but after today's reading, maybe I should? (I understand the results from the device are pretty accurate, according to studies). My goal weight is around 240 pounds give or take 10 pounds (I'm 6' tall and could be a linebacker). I'm frustrated that I am not even losing 1 pound a week!

Here is my current training schedule:
Mon am - swim 20-25 mins drills; Mon pm - 20 mins treadmill wu & 1 hr weight training;
Tuesday - off;
Wed am -Swim 20-25 mins drills; Wed pm - 20 mins treadmill wu & 1 hr weight training;
Thursday am - 40-45 minutes treadmill;
Friday am - bike 40-45 minutes on stationary bike (intervals), Fri pm -20 mins treadmill & 1 hour weight training;
Saturday am - swim 35 minutes drills and form, walk 1 hr-1.5 hours;
Sun am - bike one hour outside on bike.

So the question is, is my body refusing to burn fat because of too few calories? Or, do I need to eat even fewer calories?

TV Interview

Well, Jess and I were on the 10:00 news tonight on ABC. Jess had the TV station come to the gym and interview us. They have advertised it pretty heavily yesterday and today with radio and TV spots (sweeps week). I do hope it will motivate someone who needs some inspiration to get in shape. The newscaster, Mike Landess, was a really nice guy. They really did a pretty good job on the story.


The video is here: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/10326314/index.html

The article is here - http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/10312967/detail.html

I do hope to meet some people through this and hopefully there will be a few clydedales and athenas in the making! Hopefully Jess will pick up a client or two, he is a great trainer! Please see Jess at www.shapeplus.com And STAC fitness center is a great place to work out (as is 24 Hour Fitness where I swim) (yes, shameless plugs) :-)

Tommorrow is 30 minutes of swim drills in the a.m., then 20 minutes of treadmill and one hour of legs and shoulders with Jess in the p.m. Ten months ago I would have laughed if someone had said that would be a typical day in my life! I could barely walk to my car at that point. I was almost an invalid, now I'm hooked on triathlon and working out! Go figure!

As Mikey might say -"Tri it!, You'll Like it"!

Back in training

I'm in week two of my 3-month off-season training plan laid out by my coach, Kylie. I'm having fun being back into the groove of working out. Weight traiing with Jess is still such fun.

I've been reading Roman Mica's My Training Starts Tommorrow, and it has been an enjoyable read. One thing I really like is where he talks about being Ironfit in addition to being an Ironman. I do totally desire to be an Ironman, to finish several of them actually. But the real bonus in my life is that I will be Ironfit! How fun will life be then! As Roman says . . .

"For me, being an Ironman isn't really all that important. Sure it may be the icing on the cake, but the real treat is being Ironfit.

I walk around all day with this sweet secret that only I know. It's not something I tell people because the telling isn't important, it's the knowing that's really important. I keep it to myself and treasure it.

For instance, I know I can run 14 miles at a drop of a hat fairly easily. I know this because I just did it the other day . . . "

This is so true! Right after I did my first tri I was bursting with a sense of accomplishment and pride, and I'm sure I talked too much about it, but my excitement level was through the roof! Now that I've come back down to earth (well, most of the way), I now know I can do a triathlon, a short one, but I can do one. It is a great feeling to have, and as I progress further in this sport and eventually become Ironfit, what a "sweet secret" that will be to have inside me!

The Courage to Succeed . . .

I have an art print on my office wall which I think is pretty cool - it has a ship sailing in a storm on the sea.

Here is the quote:

"The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible, but these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore . . . unlike the mediocre, the intrepid spirits seek victory over those things that seem impossible . . . it is with iron will that they embark on the most daring of all endeavors . . to meet the shadowy future without fear and conquer the unknown". Ferdinand Magellan, Explorer (C. 1520)

Now I've gone and done it!

Yes, I signed up this morning for the Soma 1/2 ironman race next October! I guess I better get serious about this tri training. I'm back in the gym, back feels great! I'm on a 3-month plan from my Tri coach and am looking forward to a lot of progress and hopefully a lot of fat burned off in the process.

Last night at they gym, a young lady who is large like I am and trains with another trainer, had seen my blog and she has decided to do a tri next year, how cool is that!

I must state again how great it is to be associated with such a fine group of people . . the Triathlon community. I am really looking forward to actually meeting some of you people at races the next 20 years :-) Have a great week!