Project Exercise

Being in a tropical location our average daily temp here is in the mid-80's all year round (yes, we are practically seasonless).  Tthe heat index is tied to our tradewinds.  When our trades are calm, it feels very hot and voggy.  That was the case today.

I had to meet with a client this morning at 9am (I am freelancing my software engineering skills), so I could not go on my bike/run brick until noon.  The sun was high in the sky and it was hotter than a tin roof in Houston (my good friend Jeff knows how hot that is).  The heat really affects me.

Anyway, enough whining.  During my bike ride, I did some intervals and some hill training.  Although it was hot, moving on the bike creates a littel breeze.  On the hills, though, there was no breeze.  I could feel the heat as I crawled up the hills around Diamond Head crater.   I could also feel my HR climbing.  Suffice it to say I beat myself up pretty good on the bike ride.

I pulled into my driveway, sucked down some PowerAde and headed out for my run. I did not get my running legs until a mile into the run.  Did I mention that it was hot!.  About halfway through the run I almost talked myself into walking, however, I knew that I would just be disappointed with myself.  So, instead, I consumed some Hammer Gel and some water that I was carrying on my hydration belt.  My 5k run felt long today.  Did I mention that it was hot today!  I was so happy when my Garmin reported 5k.  Normally I would try to get at least 4 miles, but I stopped at 3.11 miles.  I hit 5k about half a mile from my house so I decided to do a cool down walk to prevent blood pooling in my legs.  When I got home I stretched and had a nice cool shower.

Today is actually supposed to be a rest day.  As usual, I go bonkers on rest day.  I always feel I have to do something.  Of course, rest day is to recoup and repair.  Ok, so I snuck in an ab workout.  I crushed ARX.  After I did ARX I did some good old fashion weighted crunches and some hanging leg raises.  Anyway, just doing abs on rest day isn't big deal so my guilt factor is low.

My wife is getting concerned about losing so much body fat.  Personally, I am a little concerned too.  It seems that I am losing body fat without even trying.  I am at 8% as of today.  I don't want to go any lower.  I have up'd my calories and fat calories a bit.  In fact, I had pancakes today.  I have a bodybugg so I can track my daily calorie burn.  I am now trying to eat right up to the amount I burn.

I am going on vacation in 9 days so I will relax my eating a bit to enjoy myself.  I just don't want to fall off the band wagon. 

It was super humid today.  Plus we had a serious case of VOG (volcano smog).  We get these conditions when the trade winds die.  I postponed my run due to VOG yesterday, however, I really needed to get the run in so I toughed it out today.  As I ran down the road that fronts the beach I noticed a lot of people in the water trying to cool down.  I was a sweaty mess by the end of my run.

Todays run was not at all pleasant.  During the whole run, I kept thinking about walking.  I just could not get into it.  However, I pushed on because next week I have to taper a bit. I did some research about tapering on forums and other internet sources.  I even have asked about tapering for a sprint triathlon on Beginning Triathlete… click here to see the thread.  Of course, I got a wide range of opinions.

Basically, I plan to begin cutting back on my distances that I run, swim and bike during the beginning of the week.  I won't be doing any strength training since I will be on P90X recovery week.  I plan to eat well on Friday and Saturday with some complex carbs and get a lot of sleep.  I have to get up around 3 am on Sunday to drive to the other side of the island to get to my event with enough time to setup my transition area.  If I wasn't so new to triathlons, I could probably get up later, but since I don't know what the heck I'm doing I better leave early.

Ok, now for my P90X training today.  All I had today was ARX. 

A while back, someone asked me how to do push-ups without using weights or a weighted vest.  Here I show you how to do it with resistance bands.

I wanted to run during my lunch break, but we had some serious VOG this morning.  So I decided to go to the gym and do my P90X workout.  I practically have the workout memorized.  So instead of watching it on my iPod Nano, I just used it to give me audio cues.  That helps to keep me on pace.  My shoulders were screaming at the end of the workout.  The workout went great!

When I left the gym, the breeze picked up and it began to rain pretty hard.  That helped to clear the vog.  So later in the afternoon I went for a 6k run.  It was uncomfortably hot.  It made the run pretty tough today.  

I have to admit that my body is pretty worn out.  I could use a rest.  I have a recovery week next week so I won't be doing any strength training.  I will also do a little tapering off from triathlon training in preparation for my upcoming race.  The day after my triathlon I will leaving on a 2 week vacation.  I can't wait!

I think the hardest part about doing a triathlon is all the training! 

It was a hot day today so it was nice to get in the water for a swim.  There were couple regulars at the pool today.  They know how to do those flip turns and all.  I have no idea how to do those.  Anyway, I noticed that I can move through the water pretty quickly against them.  Their big advantage is doing flip turns.  If we hit the wall at the same time, they gain ground on me after the turn.  However, it doesn't take long for me to catch and pass them.  I am not really trying to swim fast, but the TI strokes get me gliding passed them.   Prior to Total Immersion swimming, it would take me around 25 strokes to make 25 yards.  Now I have gotten that down between 15 and 17 strokes.  On Thursday I will be doing another OWS (open water swim).

When I got home, I knocked out back and biceps and ARX.  The workout went well.  It is amazing how much more conditioned I am now since I added triathlon training.  It seems much easier to get through the P90X workouts now.  

Next week is recovery week and also my last week leading up to my very first triathlon.  I can really use the rest.  As a newbie, though, I am not sure how to taper for my triathlon.  I posed the question on a triathlon forum a couple days ago, but I haven't gotten any replies.

With a week and a half to my triathlon, I must admit that I am getting nervous!  

There a couple of days a year that have personal meaning for me.  One is Veteran's Day and the other is Memorial Day.  As a veteran I reflect on some of the folks with which I served who were not as fortunate as myself.  

I hope you folks enjoyed this Memorial Day and also remembered those who made the ultimate sacrifice. 

Ok, so I ran 6K today.  I ran around 9:30am today and it was already pretty hot.  I can really feel the difference the heat makes in relation to my 5am runs.  I used my hydration belt and filled my 2 small bottles with PowerAde.  Drinking the PowerAde a couple times during my run helps quite a bit.  I would really like to wear the hydration belt during my triathlon even at the risk of looking like a dork.  Hopefully they will hand out H20 or Gatorade on the course and I won't have to be dorky.  I guess, though, that I wouldn't mind being a dork as long as I can be a triathlete dork!

God Bless America!!!

I was going to do chest, shoulders and triceps as scheduled, but I felt like a little change so I did Upper Plus from the P90X+ series.  It was a nice change.  I had a good workout.  Tomorrow I have to get some running done.  I will keep this short today.  

Take care! 

Today was my scheduled bike/run brick.  The ride went well today.  I averaged 21 mph.  I came across a couple of riders who kept a good pace so I stayed with them.  When I transitioned from the bike to run, it took about 1.25 miles for me to get control of my legs.  My legs really have a hard time transitioning from the pedaling to running.  I am wondering if I will ever get used to it.

It was hot today and the run was tough.  I drank a bunch of PowerAde during my T2.  While I was running I was wondering how the swim will affect me.  Just doing the bike/run brick is challenging enough.  Adding the swimming can only make it tougher.  Well, I am committed so I will have all the answers to my questions in 2 weeks.

Since I need more work on my chest, I added a chest and back workout in addition to my scheduled chest, shoulders, triceps workout that I did earlier in the week.  I decided to do the workout in the gym where I could use heavier dumbells.  As many of you know, I often substitute the push-ups with dumbell bench presses.  Since I have max'd out my Bowflex SelectTechs as far as dumbell bench is concerned, I like to use the heavier weights at the gym for my chest workout.  I need to get heavier sets for my home gym.

Anyway, the workout went great.  I got a pretty good pump.   After chest and back I did ARX.  I also add weighted crunches to my ab workouts.  I hold a 10 to 25 pound plate behind my head and perform crunches.  I try very hard not to bend at the neck and just raise my upper body skyward.

After work I went to the beach and did an ocean swim.  I have been training in a pool, so I had to do some training in the ocean.  You would think that I would train in the ocean a lot more since I live in Hawaii.  I have been using the pool because it is easy to get a swim in during my lunch break at a near by gym.  

I felt very comfortable in the ocean.  In fact, I felt more relaxed in the ocean than I do in the pool.  I guess it is because of all the years I spent surfing..  There was a lot of people freestyling out there.  I tried to stick to my TI stroke as best I could.  After about 500 yards, I found that I wasn't "making myself long" and "reaching for the wall" (those familiar with TI know what I mean).  So I mentally re-grouped and slowed my stroke and "got long".  Once I did that I began slipping through the water much better.  I looked up to do a sighting and I noticed a guy freestyling about 40 yards ahead of me.  I resumed my long, reaching TI stroke.  Used my core to propel myself and the next thing you know, I passed the guy.  To be honest though, he wasn't trying to race with me, but then again, I wasn't trying to race with him either.  I was just practicing my stroke.