Posted in logs on 18. May, 2010
Monday
Breakfast
Lunch
- Whole foods sonoma chicken salad
- Mixed berries and pineapple
- Kombucha
- Snack: rest of chicken salad, more fruit
Dinner
- Zucchini noodles tossed with bell peppers and onions, ground bison marinara sauce, 2 teriyaki sweet potato spears
- Water
- Dessert: paleo banana bread
Supplements
- Nuun Kona Cola
- Progenix recovery, growth, SRG (after CrossFit)
- 25 caps of fish oil (per Whole9 calculator)
- ZMA
Tuesday
Breakfast
- Snap kitchen blue corn migas, no cheese, no potatoes
- Black coffee
- Snack: Paleo banana bread
Lunch
- Zucchini noodles tossed with bell peppers and onions, ground bison marinara sauce, 2 teriyaki sweet potato spears
- Kombucha
- Snack: paleo banana bread
Dinner
- Cast iron skillet bison NY strip, roasted asparagus
Supplements
- Nuun Kona Cola
- Progenix recovery, growth, SRG (after CrossFit)
- 25 caps of fish oil (per Whole9 calculator)
- ZMA
- 5000 IU vitamin D3
Wednesday
Breakfast
- 2 eggs scrambled with spinach and organic chorizo
- Black coffee
- Snack: paleo banana bread.
- Later on, bad snack: 2 Round Rock donuts.
Lunch
- Cast iron skillet bison NY strip, roasted asparagus
- Snack: paleo banana bread
Dinner
- Cacao nib pork chops, spinach, butternut squash with honey and cinnamon
- Water
Supplements
- Nuun Kona Cola
- Progenix recovery, growth, SRG (after CrossFit)
- 25 caps of fish oil (per Whole9 calculator)
- ZMA
- 5000 IU vitamin D3
Thursday
Breakfast
- Omelet with double spinach and some bacon
- 2-shot Americano
Supplements
- Nuun Kona Cola
- Progenix recovery, growth
- 25 caps of fish oil (per Whole9 calculator)
- ZMA
- 5000 IU vitamin D3
(and a race report…)
People use the expression “work hard, play harder” all the time. And I think they mean it, but I think most people use the phrase for that one bender of a weekend or that show they saw Wednesday night and had to work early the next day. I think I’ve found a group of friends who epitomize “work hard, play harder.”
Imagine the movie “Every Second Counts” — a movie about some elite CrossFitters experience leading up to and including the Crossfit Games. Then imagine the movie Groove — a movie about the San Francisco party underground that juxtaposes “real life” with “club life.” That’s “work hard, play harder.” And while our lives are quite a bit different in both camps, the intersection of the two is the best way I can characterize 2010 so far.
Somehow we balance jobs, training, racing, and nightlife in a way that seems perfectly ok, but I wonder when it all comes crashing down around me. This was last week:
Sunday: spend the day with friends at an Alzheimer’s benefit. Drink copious amounts of champagne mixed with tequila shots (ironic? perhaps.). Go to bed late.
Monday: work all day, CrossFit.
Tuesday: work all day, CrossFit, teach spin class.
Wednesday: coach a morning track workout, work all day, tuneup bike ride, coach evening track workout, host a party, drink all night (it was Cinco De Mayo, after all).
Thursday: coach a morning spin class, work all day, tuneup swim, dinner with friends, drinks in celebration of other friends’ wedding.
Friday: took the day off of work. Easy workout, errands, go to friends’ wedding, go to bars after said wedding, stay up almost all night.
Saturday: coach a morning CrossFit class, try to pick up the drunken pieces (imagine the scene in Groove at the End Up), go to a party barge and try not to drink (I do have a race on Sunday, after all). Go home, eat dinner, pack race bag, sleep.
Sunday: wake up at 4:50, arrive at race around 6:30, race at 8, home by 12. Brunch at 1, long ass nap, get groceries, cook. Sleep!
That’s a normal week for me… just move around the training days and the drinking days and somehow it works.
I have to say that when I race, I’m jealous of the people who can dedicate their time to training and being “clean.” There’s a certain guilt associated with this lifestyle (at least for me). I think that’s because there’s the elephant in the room — if I wasn’t out drinking all week, I’d do so much better at these athletic feats. But at what cost?
My strict CrossFit friends only hang out with other CrossFitters who eat paleo and drink Makers or NorCal margaritas. My triathlon friends only hang out with other triathletes who rarely drink, eat tons of carbs, and go out on long rides and runs every weekend. My non-athletic friends do whatever the hell they want. I’m tired of having to “pick a side.” I want it all, and I want it all to work.
Perhaps that’s the downfall of Gen X — we want our (paleo) cakes, and we want to eat the whole damn thing with (paleo) ice cream, on a unicorn. Why? Because we can. At what cost? Who cares… just as long as I’m happy. (aside: I know that’s a long leap from the previous paragraph to this one. I’m not in the business of writing a thesis, this is just the way I feel at the moment… hell, I don’t even know how I got to this point)
It sounds self-centered, and perhaps it is.
(another aside: I read this back before I clicked “Publish,” and I realize it may come off as a) pretentious, b) whiny, or c) narcissistic. or any combination of the above. Again, realize that I’m attempting to write down how I feel and what’s been going on… not to tell you about my training log, but instead of tell how what the rest of my life looks like. It’s a vent at the moment. Deal.)
So I had a race on Sunday… The Rookie Tri. And once again, I did… ok. Actually I did worse than I thought. I was all amped on Sunday because I thought I PR’d, when I actually got 10 seconds slower. I know exactly where it was. This is the magic of repeating races, which coincidentally is one of the reasons CrossFit works — comparisons and benchmarks.
| Event |
2010 |
2009 |
| Swim 300m |
9:26 |
9:36 |
| T1 |
2:55 |
2:19 |
| Bike 11.2mi |
32:40 |
32:19 |
| T2 |
1:21 |
1:52 |
| Run 2mi |
14:53 |
14:58 |
So… this is a wake up call for me that perhaps things have gotten a little out of balance, and it’s time to bring things back in line. We’ll see how I do on my next few rides and races, and hopefully I can maintain my existing relationships and get back to those PRs and achievements.
Tonight I got drinks with a friend who mentioned a conversation she had with some trainers from a traditional gym. One of them asked her if she planned on CrossFitting while training for a triathlon, and she said yes. Another trainer immediately chimed in with “you shouldn’t do that.” Luckily she’s going to ignore them and continue CrossFitting while tri training.
This year, I’m going to publish my training plan on this blog, just to show them how they’re wrong.
You can mix CrossFit and triathlon training, so long as you do it with some intelligence. I’m not going to go out and kill Fran then bike 56 miles. CrossFit is a general physical preparedness training method. It’s the foundation of my training. You start from there, and add in your sport.
The premise
The general idea behind my training plan is that strength and power = speed. So I’m going to focus my time on getting stronger, measuring that progress, and then applying it out on the road or in the water.
Contrary to CrossFit methodology, however, I am going to employ a periodized training plan. There needs to be some method to the madness; some periods of building and some periods of rest.
Period 1: Get stronger
In the last couple years of races, I’ve found that getting stronger through CrossFit makes me faster and allows my muscles to work more efficiently. So, I’m working on a 9-week Max Effort Black Box plan to increase my strength by practicing various lifts.
During this time, I’m focused almost exclusively on strength building. I mix in shorter CrossFit workouts (in the less than 15 minute time domain). Run a little, nothing big. Toward the end of the 9 weeks, I’m going to get back in the pool and start swimming again.
Period 2: CrossFit Endurance
Period 2 marks the kickoff of my season. This period will be repeated for each race I want to do, with a 6- to 8-week lead up to the race itself. During this time I’m going to follow CrossFit Endurance workouts for swim, bike, and run. Shorter metcon focus here as well. Longer distance work will be mixed in from time to time, although it will be infrequent.
Period 3: There is no period 3
Basically, I’ll just repeat period 2 when I need to. That’s the beauty of staying with a good level of GPP — you can map out a 6 or 8 week training plan for shorter distance races and do well on it. For longer distance races, I’ll need a little more time, maybe 10 or 12 weeks, but the basic premise goes unchanged.
I’ll keep my Dailymile profile updated with my progress.
Today, I completed the 3M Half Marathon in 1:42:25. That’s roughly 1 minute faster than last year’s 3M, and my previous 13.1 PR of 1:43:16. Total turnaround from the catastrophe of San Antonio.
With San Antonio, I knew that I had the physical ability to run the 13.1, but I was completely unprepared both in training, diet, and just simple logistics. How was this race different?
- Training: I hit the track 3 times, over about 4 weeks to work on my pacing and form. I did 2 “long runs,” of 4 and 7.25 miles. I continued to CrossFit, cycle, and stretch regularly.
- Diet: I ate very well for most of January; paleo with some cheat meals. Not as much drinking, maybe one weekend out the whole of January. My transition back to paleo was complete, and I think I’m doing a better job of topping off my glycogen stores.
- Logistics: I set out everything I needed the night before, went on a tune-up run the day before (p.s. thanks to Derrick Williamson at Durata Training for some nutrition tips… turns out I don’t need that gel after all!). I performed my race rituals of solid steak, veggies, some starchy carbs the night before, solid breakfast morning of, and some coffee.
All things said, we were hitting decent paces, feeling good for most of the race. Save for about a minute at the bathroom around mile 9, the race went very well. I think that if I keep up the track workouts and get some quality miles on my feet, I can finally get my 13.1 time down into the 1:30s.
The kettlebell swing
Tomorrow, I am running my first Pure Intense Training session (answers to some frequently asked questions below). We’re going to focus on a benchmark workout to see where everyone’s at (check the picture to see one of the movements involved). These benchmarks can be done over time to gauge improvement; if your diet and training are on track, you should see monthly improvement, given the same benchmark.
12:30 at Pure Austin Town Lake. See you in the PIT!
I’ve posted some questions I’ve gotten about PIT below. If you’ve got more questions, please post them to comments on this entry and I will answer them.
(more…)
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