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Archive for October, 2009
The truth…
I have been a serious competitive athlete all my life. I have been in fantastic shape and horrible shape. I know with great certainty what it takes to go from fat, forty and fading to fit, forty and fantastic. I watch those ads on tv; the pills, potions, diet plans and have only one comment. Bullshit. They all leave out the key driving component. Serious work. If you have more than 20lbs of fat to lose. Or even 10lbs of fat to lose. I got news for ya. Its gonna take WORK. Some serious committed effort. As I say to all those that I have helped over the years, “once you commit, the rest is easy.” The hardest part for almost everyone is actually committing to what it really takes. Everyone wants a shortcut. I have a secret for you. THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS! I have noticed that almost everyone that begins a program fails in the first couple of weeks. Why? Because they simply fail to understand, have the wrong expectations, what it takes to succeed in ridding their body of fat. I go to the club and watch in amazement, the number of people that simply waste their time. For a little perspective. I am a serious Ironman Triathlete. I was a former Champion Bodybuilder. I have spent the last 7 months preparing for Ironman Florida. I lost 20lbs by training 15 hours a week, eating, oatmeal, chicken, turkey, rice, fruit, veggies and low to moderate glycemic carbs. I have a achieved a very high level of fitness. My point here is that losing more than 20lbs of fat and getting into great cardivacular condition takes serious work and isn’t going to happen by taking some supplements, going to the club in the evening a couple of days a week. And yet that is what most people think. Its no wonder we have an empidemic in this country. Most simply do not totally commit. What’s the old saying? The pig was committed, the chicken participated. Refering to breakfast. Unless you get up early in the morning, eat only high quality foods (I’ll be happy to list the 5 best), put out a moderate to moderately high, sustained hour thirty effort, 6 days a week for a minimum of 6 months, plan on being fat and out of shape. It really is that simple.
Good deed?
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Never thought a scheduled day off would be so tough.
Not only am I race ready, I am antsy. Absolutely ready to let it rip. So what’s up for today? A day off. Totally off. Coach has a great line, “you gotta let your body absorb the fitness”. Scheduled days off are very important to your overall fitness. Even though I only have a few mild workout sessions left, I very much look forward to them. Its funny, I actually get afraid of loosing some level of conditioning. Which of course is silly. I will rest today.
Click HQ, go full screen and turn it up!
13 days out…
I am happy to report, I am race ready! I am officially the lightest, fastest and fittest I have ever been. I have 13 days to go. My taper is underway and I feel 100%. Will this translate into my best Ironman race ever? We will find out November 7th. There is something very rewarding about organizing all your commitments around achieving a certain level physical being and achieving it. Now, one last goal. Race Ironman Florida @ 10:30 or faster.
Think about the one close to you…
Lyrics to All I Want Is You :
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want
Your story to remain untold
But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You say you’ll give me
A highway with no one on it
Treasure just to look upon it
All the riches in the night
You say you’ll give me
Eyes in a moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbour in the tempest
But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You say you want
Your love to work out right
To last with me through the night
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold
All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You…all I want is…
You…all I want is…
You…all I want is…
You…
Ready to race…
I have been preparing to race Ironman Florida for over 7 months. I have made dramatic changes to my body, by dropping 30lbs. I have gone from running 11 minute miles to 8 minute miles. When I started I couldn’t ride for more than 2 hours without difficulty. Now I ride 6 hours then run off the bike. I was swimming 2 minute pace for 100 meters, now I swim 1:35 pace. It all about training, more training and training. To complicate matters, I had to drop some serious weight in order to achieve my goals. I have been operating on about 1200 calories a day, while putting out over 1800 a day. A sure formula for losing weight. Now that I am down to my best race weight, I can actually pick up my calories. In fact for the past week I should have been increasing my calories. I have been running at a deficit for too long. I have eaten close to 2,000 calories the last two days and feel very good. Tomorrow will be a good test.
Going somewhere?
For those of you that have ridden longer than 2hrs on a trainer, which do you prefer? 5 hour ride on the road or a 2.5 hour ride on a trainer? The “beautiful” Michigan weather has made riding outdoors tough. So I now must either ride a trainer or fly to Arizona to get a long ride. Personally, I will take the 5 hour ride outdoors on the road over a trainer ride any day. The sense of accomplishment completing a loop or out and back course simply can’t be matched sitting still on a trainer, literally spinning your wheels, going nowhere.
I’m back…
So after 10 days of battling a serious chest/head cold, I have just completed my third day of solid training. I am not 100% yet. Maybe 90. Just swam 12×200 on 3:50, then 1500 straight, felt very good. Rode and ran the past two days. I must say the rest may have done me really well. I feel like I have a lot of horsepower if I were to hammered it. Which I didn’t. Once again Coach Mike (www.d3multisport.com) has me dialed in. I have 20 days of solid training efforts remaining. I am once again stoked.
