Triathlon Training: 5K and ARX

Alright everyone the Carrot is back up and running!

After my Pamplona excursion and wisdom teeth extractions I am back on track and ready to blog.

First off, the removal of my wisdom teeth wasn't all that bad. I went in the Doctor (who is a good buddy of mine) gave me a few shots and he yanked those suckers out. The crackling sound they made was sort of cool - yes I am demented! The problems occurred after when my sockets would not stop bleeding. Two-and -a-half days of bleeding and it sucked. The first day was awful because I had to change the gauze like every 20 minutes and I had that shitty iron taste in my mouth. I was actually nauseous for the entire time - a very rare occurrence for me.

Anyways, I am back on solid foods and have my sights set square on the Triathlon. I wanted to ease back into training today and just do a light 1.5 mile run followed by 1.5 miles of jogging. Well, I got to the gym and hit the treadmill and just ended up running 5K. I did do it at a little slower pace - finished in 27:10 - just to be safe. My HR was up a little higher than I would have liked but I guess that is to be expected considering the amount of time I was inactive.

After the run I went to the back of the gym and did a pretty aggressive Ab Ripper X workout. Even used the 10lb medicine ball for the mason twists. I was feeling beat up when I left - awesome feeling!

Since I have been home my diet has been clean. I had some fried rice tonight at dinner (Benihanas) with coworkers and I wasn't pleased but that was the only choice and I was starving. Scallops and Chicken Breast for the main meal. And the last few days have been tons of protein shakes since it was hard to eat anything solid. I found myself craving carbs.

I basically have 2 weeks to go until the Triathlon. Tomorrow night I am going go swimming and get in at least 1500 Yards and do ARX again. Saturday morning is going to be an early AM cycle on the 26.2 Mile Road Course. Sunday will start a hole new Run-Swim-Bike repeat, until race day.

Good to be back!

Jeff

Triathlon Training Days 77-86: Running of the Bulls

I am finally back in good old Texas! What a great time we had in Pamplona at the Festival of San Fermin and the Running of the Bulls. This video above was taken from a balcony on the first day of the running. If you watch closely a runners gets jacked up pretty good!

I ran on the the second day and the only word I can use to describe the experience is: SURREAL!

We started towards the end of the course and made it into the arena where 20,000 spectators were cheering us on. When the bulls began to approach I could actually feel a rumble on the cobblestone road and started to run like hell! One bull passed me on the left side and I made it to the entrance of the stadium with the remaining bulls right next to me. At that point my heart was beating like never before and I made an immediate right into the stadium, avoiding the bulls, and celebrated like a madman!

Here is a picture of my friends Chris, me, and Jeremy in the stadium shortly after the run:

I am not sure what was more dangerous: the actual bulls or the crazy runners coming at you like a swarm of bees. I ended up getting a little dazed by an elbow that caught me solidly on the jaw but adrenaline took over and I didn't even feel that until the next day. I also woke up with a huge bruise on my ribs. All worth it for this once in a lifetime experience.

Now, my training has gone to hell. I did not get a single day of exercise in while on the trip, ate like garbage, and was sleep deprived. The funny thing is the place we stayed was like 4 miles away from the Festival and we probably walked 30-40 miles over the four days and I actually came back weighing a pound less! Actually the eating wasn't horrible the problem was the mass quantities of beer!

And tomorrow morning is not going to get any better. I am having all four of my wisdom teeth removed. In a perfect world I would wait until after the Triathlon to have this procedure done but I am experiencing a great deal of discomfort and they need to come out. I have no idea how I am going to react. Usually I am a pretty quick healer and am able to tolerate minor pain but from what others have told me the wisdom teeth can be pretty bad. I am hopeful that I can resume training on Wednesday or Thursday.

So wish me luck for tomorrow and I will be back soon with an update.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 76: Pack and Travel

Well, I was unable to find the time to get in a workout today. Ended up having too many loose ends to tie up at work before I went! Getting ready to leave in a couple of minutes and I will be away from the blog until Saturday, July 11th.

Check back in then because I should have plenty of pictures and maybe a video or two from The Running of the Bulls!


Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 75: 4 Mile Run

I was looking back over my last month of posts and realized that I haven't spoke about nutrition too much lately. Probably because it has become habitual to me and I know longer think of what I am eating as different. When I started P90X last year it was so new and weird for me to measure my food, count calories, and read labels. Now it is weird not to!

Anyways, my days are pretty similar nutrition-wise. Today for breakfast I had a vanilla whey protein shake. It is comprised of of 2 heaping scoops of EAS Vanilla Whey Protein, 0% Fat Organic Milk, Ice, and a banana. Also for breakfast I had a whole wheat bagel with a teaspoon of peanut butter. Around 10:30 I had a Pure Protein bar for a snack. For lunch I usually try and have a turkey or chicken sandwich on whole wheat, but today I stopped at a Smoothie King and had the 45G Protein filled, "Gladiator". They are awesome! They also account for about 550 calories depending on the fruit you add -- I like strawberry and banana! Around 3:30 I had a chocolate chip cookie dough Balance bar. This bar is 210 calories, 21 carbs, and 15 G of Protein. I love the taste of these bars! For dinner I baked a 8 oz of chicken breast and cut up and had fajitas on whole wheat shells and mixed veggies in the side. I had 3 of them and the calories were about 800, protein 60Gs, Carbs 75Gs.

If you add up the numbers my carbs and protein are about 50/50 and I am averaging around 2400-2700 calories per day. I am not as strict as I was during P90X with Protein, Carbs, and fat but instead I now focus on eating as clean as possible. By eating clean I try to avoid saturated fats, high fructose corn syrup, simple carbs, enriched white flour, sugar, alcohol (not completely(-:), all sweets, anything processed, high sodium, and all soda! These things no longer make it to my kitchen. I easily drink 12-15 cups of water a day, usually as much as 20 a day. My favorite thing to do is mix in the Crystal Light Green Tea with my water because I love the taste and the antioxidants are good at flushing my system daily.

So that has been the way I have been eating. My energy level is just wonderful and I feel great. Each time I go into a workout my body is prepared because of my eating habits. I used to have acid reflux all the time and I can't even remember the last time that has happened to me! I used to write that when I was doing P90X that the diet was very important. That was a complete understatement because the diet is so much more than important, it is essential!

Today's workout was 4 miles running on the treadmill. I made it the gym at 9pm tonight and watched, "The Office" on my ipod as I ran - helped with the mundaneness of the treadmill! My 5k split was 23:49 and I finished the 4 miles in 31:50. I backed off a little at the end as my left knee started to feel a little stiff. Stretched it out afterwards and it feel fine! I also did an abbreviated ARX after my run. I was the last person at the gym, they close at 10pm, and I could see the staff looking at me because I am sure they wanted to go home! After the Fifer Scissors I jumped right to the Mason Twists with an 8lb medicine ball and finished up.

I have a ton of loose ends to tie up tomorrow before I leave for Newark. I was thinking I would love to get up around 5am and drive down to my bike trail, but being that is is midnight already and I have a few things to do before bed that ain't gonna happen! I will probably go to the gym and get a swim and a stationary bike ride in!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Days 73 & 74: Swimming, Stationary Bike, ARX, and Pamplona!

Good to back in the pool. Was able to go to the gym this evening and get in 750 yards (30 laps). I was a little rusty in the beginning but the good news was that my conditioning is as good as ever. I would have done more then 30 laps but the local swim group had the pool reserved so I had to leave. Instead of going home I went and rode 10 miles on the stationary spinning bike and did Ab Ripper X. Very solid cardio day.

Yesterday ended up being a missed workout day because it was the end of the month. As an outside sales rep I have a monthly quota that I am responsible for. And the company also has a monthly goal as well. We all had to push hard and it resulted in me getting up at 5am and getting home a 10pm. I was actually going to try and get a P90X workout in but by the time I changed out of my suit and tie the adrenaline of the day had passed and I couldn't even muster enough energy to check my email!

Well, I have two more days left to get my workouts in before I leave for Spain! When I return on July 10th I plan on doubling up my cardio workouts. Morning and Night until a few days before the race when I will taper. July 11th and 12th will be butt kickers and then on Monday the 13th I am having all four wisdom teeth removed. That should be a blast! I will probably be down for a day or two (hopefully not more) after that fun procedure.

My schedule in Spain is probably not going to allow any workouts. On Friday night we are flying to Newark, NJ. On Saturday morning we are going to the Nathan's Hotdog eating contest. I know it is gross but it should be a fun time nonetheless!

On Saturday night our plane leaves (10 and 1/2 hours) and we arrive in Madrid on Sunday morning. From there we need to find our way to the train station and make the 3-4 hour ride to Pamplona. On Monday morning the festival for San Fermin kicks off followed by an entire day of partying. Tuesday morning we have a balcony reserved to watch the opening day of the Running of the Bulls and hopefully get some good photos and video. That night will be another big party night. On Wednesday we have a guided tour of the street on which we will be running. We will determine our starting and jump off points. Followed by another night of partying! Thursday morning we will be running. After that we are taking a train back to Madrid, spending the night in a yet-to-be-determined location, and catching the flight back to the States on Friday morning. I think we arrive back in Houston around 10:30 on Friday night.

It should be a fun man-cation with my buddies and I will miss working out but how often do you get to go run with the bulls in Pamplona?

Tomorrow is a hard 4 mile run and another ARX session.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Days 69 - 72: Run and Run

First, it is nice to be home. I always enjoy going on vacation and it was great to have my sister for a workout partner but being at home has a feeling that is just very comforting! Annie and I made it back on Saturday evening around 8:30pm after 2 days and 25 hours in the car. It wasn't that bad because we had two books on CD and they were pretty good. From start to finish I put 2997 miles on my company car. Why did we drive you ask? Well, I needed to get to 72,000 miles by July 1st to start the clock on getting a new company car - Mission Accomplished - odometer was at 72,221 when I pulled in the driveway!

Anyways, the weather is trying to do everything to make me not enjoy being home! The temperature here in Houston has been just ridiculously hot. We are in the 100's with make-you-sweat-as-soon-as-you-walk-outside humidity. I sooo want to go ride my bike but it is dangerous hot so that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

To recap my workouts: On Friday morning before we began the drive I woke up early and ran 4.0 miles with my sister. We ran at a 9 minute mile pace so it was a nice aerobic workout. Saturday was spent napping in a Fairfield Inn and then more driving. No workout happened. On Sunday I got caught up with work and the DVR and planned to go swim at the gym. I got to the gym at 6:45PM and saw the "Hours of Operation" sign said 7 AM to 7 PM on Sundays. Dammit. I could have swore it closed at 8 PM. I saved all the hours in my BlackBerry so this will not happen to me again. My gyms hours are pretty crappy. If it wasn't the only gym with a pool in the area I'd be elsewhere. It was too hot to run or bike so I missed a day. I did do ARX at home so not a complete loss!

So, with a little anger brewing today I decided to run my ass off on the treadmill for 3 hard miles. I ran between 7.6 and 9 mph the entire time and ended up doing the 3 miles in 22:31 seconds. A personal record by over 2 minutes - I was pretty pumped by this time. A little over two months ago I was having trouble breaking 30 minutes. It is very rewarding to see the hard work pay off in my times. I might even push it a little harder next time on the treadmill. Hopefully, all these gains will not be lost while in Spain next week!

Tomorrow is going to be a swim day. I want to do at least 1000 yards!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Days 66-68: Vacation Recap

Sorry I have been away from the blog the last couple of days. I have been enjoying my vacation and spending time with my family! We are beginning our trek from the Outer Banks, NC back to Houston tomorrow morning. We are going to drive the first 13hours to a hotel right outside of Aurburn in AL tomorrow and get a good nights sleep. Then we will log the last 11 or so hours of windshield time and arrive back to Houston on Saturday evening!

Even though I was on vacation I was still able to get in some great cardio workouts. As I mentioned in my last post my younger sister Liz just finished off her first round of P90X and was ready to Bring It over vacation. We ran on Monday (5 Mi), Wednesday (4.3 Mi), Thursday (4.3 Mi), and we will again early tomorrow before my departure. Also, we rented bikes and the community we were staying in had really nice trails. My mother and wife are spinning mavens so we went out on some pretty good rides to get in some extra cardio. I rode on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. All the rides were only between 5-6 miles, but they still burned some calories!

The biggest calorie burners though were the time spent in the ocean fighting the waves - killer workouts! We went to the beach on Monday and Wednesday and the water was extremely rough, but also extremely fun! We didn't intend to "workout" in the waves but my entire family cannot sit still so we all ended up on boogie boards playing in the ocean. A great time but I was exhausted afterwards!

Now the negative part about vacation was my diet. My mother brought homemade cookies - my all-time favorites, chocolate chips and peanut butter - and I tried to resist. I made it two days and just couldn't resist anymore. And it was worth it because the cookies were freaking awesome. I also had two slices of greasy pepperoni pizza today, my father had some on Sunday (and it looked sooo good) and when he said he was going again today I was all in! I also had a few beers the last two nights. But other than a few slip-ups we all ate relatively clean: Whey Smoothies, whole wheat bagels, pasta, and tortillas, chicken and fish. So, overall not the worst but I could have done better. Darn cookies.

Tomorrow is a long ass drive and so is Saturday. Sunday I am going to reset and plan out a strong week of training, but then I am leaving next Friday night for Pamplona Spain for the Running of the Bulls and yes, I promise to posts tons of pictures of my trying not to be gourd.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 64 & 65: 5 Mile Run

Well, yesterday we finally reached our vacation destination. The house was are staying in is beautiful and it should be a nice relaxing vacation!

On Sunday I couldn't find time to get in a workout. Catching up with the family, driving and unpacking just tired me out. The good news was that when we got to the house my younger sister was already there and she was looking rather buff! She didn't tell because she wanted it to be a surprise but she did an entire round of P90X! And she looks great. She was 131lbs before she started an after the 90 days she is down to 119 lbs and extremely lean. I was very proud of her!

This morning my sister, Annie and I decided to get up early and go for a run. The community we are in is very quite and hardly any traffic was present! My sister and I ended up running for a total of 5 miles. The plan was to run for 4 miles but we got lost. We passed the same house 3 times before we realized it! It was just like in "European Vacation" when Chevy Chase and family were stuck in the circle and Chevy kept saying, "Look kids, Big Ben - Parliament" .... the good news was that we eventually found our way home and got an extra mile in! Also I almost stepped on a dead snake. At the time I didn't realize it was dead and damn near jumped on my sisters back. It was a big sucker! By HR went from 164bpm to 185bpm in a matter of one second! This is now the second time I have encountered a snake while running. The first time was much more scary because it was a water moccasin and it was alive and pissed off! My 5K split was 25:18. A very nice pace for me.

My plans of open water swimming in the Atlantic Ocean came to a crashing halt today. We went down to the beach and the waves were huge. Biggest waves I have ever seen on the east coast! So instead I took a boggy board out and tried to ride the waves. Didn't do too well but got in a heck of a workout trying!

Not really sure what tomorrow's workout is going to be. We rented some bikes so it might be that but I really enjoyed running with a temperate of 68 degrees!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 61, 62, & 63: Vacation Travel

Hello everyone!

Annie and I are sitting in a Marriott Courtyard Hotel in eastern North Carolina. We will get up early tomorrow and end up at our final vacation destination of the Outer Banks after a short 4 hour drive. Many of you might be thinking 4 hours is not a short drive --- Well, after we just completed a 20 hour drive, 4 hours is nuttin!

We left Houston on Friday night at 8pm and drove straight through the night and day. It really wasn't all that bad. We are listening to a John Grisham book on CD and we packed a cooler.

As for my training: Thursday and Friday were completely wasted days. I spent Thursday and Friday tying up loose ends at work. Also, my tooth pain was still hurting even after I had the filling replaced. I went and saw another Doctor buddy of mine and he did a pano on me and we discovered the pain is coming from my lower right wisdom tooth. It has a nasty cavity in it and is resting right against the nerve, thus causing all the pain in my lower jaw. My problem was that I was leaving on Friday and couldn't get it removed. He gave me some penicillin and Vicodin and told me to use when needed. He is going to remove all 4 of my wisdom teeth on July 13th and I am hopeful I can recover in time for my August 2nd Triathlon.

Anyways, after my 20 hours car ride Annie and I found two treadmills at the hotel and got in a run. My legs were feeling pretty tight from sitting so long so I just did 2 miles. The first mile was done in 8:13 and the second mile was completed in 7:23.

This week on vacation I am planning on training everyday. Swimming in the ocean, running along the beach, and biking on the trails is going to be my relaxation and i cannot wait. And Nutrition-wise we are planning on eating clean. I brought my whey protein and protein bars for the entire week.

We are off to get some dinner and then to bed.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 59 & 60: Rest + ARX and Strength Training

The last couple of days have been very frustrating. I had a filling that cracked (tooth #3) and I have been in some pretty bad pain. My mouth has swelled up and any liquid that touches it is really painful. Yesterday I was not able to go to the gym. I was taking pain killers and was tired and groggy from the pills. Also, I weighed myself today because I haven't been able to eat solid food and was down to 155 lbs! Today I was able to get to a dentist and he fixed my filling. My mouth is still pretty tender and I might still need a root canal but we are going to see how this works out before I go that route!

Today I decided I wanted to go get a swim in and work on my Total Immersion form. When I got to the pool lessons were still going on so I did an Ab Ripper X set and then did a bunch of lat pull downs and dumbbell presses on the bench. Real nice chest and back workout! Also, during ARX I used a 10 lb medicine ball for the Mason's twists -- awesome!

After the strength workout I went to the pool and began to realize something almost immediately -- Do not go swimming after receiving dental work! I did one lap and the upper right side of my mouth was killing me. I don't know if it was the pressure from the water or just the water hitting my teeth but it was painful. I am talking made me woozy type of pain. So, I had to stop swimming. I took my time getting dressed and am now at home. I feel better now but have decided to let this sucker heal up until I swim again!

I'd really like to try and get a bike ride in tomorrow evening. The temperature has been close to 100 degrees here the last few days and it looks like tomorrow is supposed to be the same. I have rode the spinning bike at the gym but it just isn't even close to actually riding. If it is still unbearably hot again tomorrow evening then I will probably just run on the treadmill. We have rented a few bikes for our upcoming vacation so I'll at least be able ride a little next week!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff