April 23, 2006 at 10:53 am · Filed under Cycling, General, Run, Nutrition
Ya, now I remember why I have a hard time eating healthy. It’s so darn expensive. I’ve spent probably $150 bucks on groceries this week alone. Fruits are expensive. No more blueberries at $8, I think I need to stick to Apples and Bananas. Lean meat and Salmon is ridiculously priced, almost as bad as gas these days. The upside is I have dropped a couple pounds focusing on the fruits and vegies, but my bank account is slimming down as well 
On the diet/nutrition plan, I think I’m getting it more dialed in (at least for my purposes). My energy levels during training are back up, I think I had a couple bad days early last week because I tried to cut out carbs from gains all together. Now I take in plenty in that training session window and recovery seems to be better. I still need to focus on getting a little more protein outside the window to help build muscle. I’ve always had a very difficult time putting on muscle, one of those body types with super skinny limbs but put on extra weight in the torso area. So I’m realizing to step up to the Ironman distance I absolutely must put on muscle mass, specifically in the legs to carry me through the event. Current chicken legs aren’t going to do it. Unfortunately more protein means more food/supplements and more expense. Man it’s cheaper being unhealthy, what’s up with that. The government should give healthy people a tax break to incent them to eat good foods and reverse the health issues we have.
Yesterday’s ride was brutal. Strongest winds I riden in since being here. Weather says 16 with gust of 30. It totally drained me and I didn’t get as far as I would have liked. Ended up doing about 3 1/2 hours.
Todays run was better, longest run yet of the year. 95 minutes and felt pretty good through 80 of them, then my legs got a little heavy and I could feel my form slipping a bit. I think it was mostly due to running into a friend at about 60 minutes and ran the next 15 a little too hard to keep up with him, then settled down again for the last 15 as he went his way and I mine.
April 19, 2006 at 9:04 am · Filed under General, Run, Nutrition
Last night run sucked. I think primarily due to this new nutrition plan. I don’t think I’m getting enough carbs so bonked and was fried very early into a 45 minute run. I re-read portions of the Paleo book last night so will be making more adjustments and see if I can get this nutrition stuff dialed in. I need to reread a couple chapters tonight. Basically the carbs from grains are taken in pre and post workouts, and post workout broken into a 30 minute window immediately after workout and then a secondary window which is the duration of the session. So, my understanding, take in the 4/1 carb/protein ratio within 30 after to workout to get that immediate replenishment. Eating foods or supplements that are more quickly digestible. Then the second window would extend to the duration of the workout. So a 3 hour ride means a 2 1/2 window beyond the initial critical 30 minutes. In this window you can continue taking in grains as carbs for recovery but focus on the slower burning stuff, as well take in proteins, etc. But I believe this should be more meal based foods, not supplements/shakes/etc.
Anyway I’ll re-read the pre/during/post sections again tonight and clarify/fine tune some of this. At any rate, going through this process has definitely help me recognize the importance of nutrition and some of the no-brainer mistakes I’ve been making. Increases my awareness of what I’m putting in my body and what it does or doesn’t do for me.
April 18, 2006 at 9:37 am · Filed under General, Nutrition
Man, time flies. Haven’t blogged in a while, so another catch up post.
Let’s see, sick a few days last week so missed a couple training days. Decided to take my bike in to get the crank creak fixed. Missed a couple ride days during the week as it took a while to get it back. Then rained on Saturday and snowed (yes, dumped on Sunday night) so rode the trainer yesterday. Bike sounds good. Breaking in some new shoes, I like them but I’m making some minor adjustments to my position (feet angles mostly) so a little tight in the IT Band on one leg. Think maybe I turned my foot too much. Weird how the slightest adjustment can really tweak your ride. So a little more adjusting to do I think.
Did my taxes last week, so no new bike anytime soon 
. Decided couldn’t afford it and also ended up making some business purchases so need to hold off on any more purchases. Joined the new pool this weekend. Awesome facilities, or Olympic size pool. The rest of the facilities are lacking but they are renovating the whole thing so should be really sweet this summer. In the meantime, the new pool just opened and it is pretty stellar. Currently at the 25 setup but they’ll open up the full Olympic distance this summer I’m told.
Busy with work, did some things to help Chris get his charity stuff up and put together a portfolio for his trip to Japan.
BigMatt had some bad news last week. Stress fracture in his ankle so he’s on a crutch and not supposed to run for a couple months. He’ll be doing more of that water running he loves . He takes it in stride so his attitude is good. He’s focusing on his riding and doing a stage race this weekend and a time trial race next week.
Let’s see what else…
Starting a new nutrition plan, not diet I don’t like to use the word diet as people assume it’s some lose weight fast plan or calorie deficient plan. For me it’s trying to change my eating habits to support my training and healthier living. No question I put on extra pounds this winter so I do need to shed some, but I’m trying to learn how to eat better in general for long term, not just to lose weight. So I picked up a couple books, one is more vegetarian centric and the other is the Paleo Diet for Athletes. For the most part they both suggest the same thing. Primarily eat more fruits and vegetables, lots of them. The vegetarian suggests more beans, no animal products. And the Paleo suggests lean meats and fish to get the protein. Both seem against Dairy and Grains (pasta, rice, bread, etc). Though the Paleo for Athletes discusses the need for grains to get the carb replenishment and stores needed for training. Still reading through it, but I believe it tries to limit those starchy grains to pre and post workout and then focus on fruits, vegies, and lean meats the rest of the time.
About half way through Paleo nutrition plan book, so more to come on that. I think I’m basically going to combine the two diets. So trying to eat tons of fruits, vegetables, beans, some raw nuts, based on the vegetarian plan, but then take in proteins from eggs, lean meats, possibly some supplements. For carbs, getting much of it from the fruits and vegies but then will supplement with brown rice and maybe some wheat pasta - still need to do some more research on that end. Primarily though I’m cutting out dairy, white rice, bread, pasta, and fatty meats. So no more sandwiches and fat burritos.
Only being focused on it for a few days now so we’ll see how it goes and how my energy and recovery is during some of the longer training sessions. Will most likely continue to make adjustments as training volume increases, I get leaner, and general experience with what works and doesn’t work.
I think that pretty much sums up the last week. I keep you posted on my training and meals and progress/adjustments.
The endurance life and blog of Tribro. My journey to a more endurance lifestyle and Ironman WI ‘07.