Week 13

Week of April 17th - April 23th

Practically I have 3 more weeks of training before I back off for the race. This is the first week of ramping up. At least that's the plan for now.

New stuff:
Bought a bike jersey from J&G from Oregon (http://www.bicycleclothing.com/Mens-Bike-Jerseys.html). Good stuff, nice solid color, don't look like a bilboard on wheels. Fits well, although their sizing chart is a bit messed up. My chest is about 40" and according to the chart I should order size S. I don't think so. Got medium, fits well, nice pockets, comfortable, doesn't scratch the shit out of my nipples.

Stopped at Fleet Feet in Boulder and tried on a couple of wetsuits. Signed up for a rental of Zoot and Ironman, Tuesday and Wednesday. Will be trying those in Westminster pool. The Ironman suit was somewhat easier to take off and seems to have a better range of arm motion as well as a bit higher neck seal. They're both pain in the ass to put on. I will have to buy one since I'd have to rent one otherwise. Not very economical at $14 / day. It will run me about $240 for a last year's model. I am very curious to see whether I'll be able to do my laps a bit quicker.

I am beginning to think a lot about the logistics of the race. I study the bike as well as running course. The bike has a 50 meter elevation (about 150 feet) hill on it, I'll have to get over it 4 times, running elevation isn't too bad, about 10 meters (30 feet), we'll hit it twice.

Started calculating my food, how much do I need to have on the bike, how much do I need to take with me running, what kind. I do like the Cliff Shot cubes, but they only have 100 calories per 3 cubes. I got to have a shitload of them for a 5 - 6 hour bike ride in order to keep up with about 300 calories per hour intake. Well, part of the intake will be (about 90% sure now) Gu2O electrolyte drink, 24 ounce bottle should also feed me 150 calories. This stuff is kind of like Gatorade but it doesn't have any junk in it and it doesn't taste pukey sweet like Gatorade. I like the Mango flavor the best. I got to make sure I have enough of it with me on the bike as well as for the marathon.

I need to get a hold of Carl - I used to work at a company next to his. He did Ironman France last year and is partly responsible for my madness. I need to ask him about some logistics of the race, how do you transition, how much food do you take with you, what to put in your transition bag, should I wear swimsuit under the wetsuit (I think not but I don't know). I see people in pictures and videos doing the whole thing in a pair of Speedos. I don't think I want to ride 112 miles on a bike wearing Speedo with no padding - yes, my ass is spoiled now. A bunch of tiny details that will probably make all the difference in the world.

As I mentioned last week, I don't trust the HR. Either the air is too dry or it's too windy and it's drying up the HR belt. I caught it several times showing 240 bpm and I am pretty sure I'd be dead if that was my real heart beat. Need to change the battery.

Anyway, here we go with the first week of ramp-up:

Monday - bike to work - Timex: 1:16:06 @ 18.7 mph, 23.77 miles @ 170 bpm
CatEye: 1:12:39 @ 19.6 mph, 23.72 miles
- bike home - Timex: 1:30.41 @ 15.7 mph, 23.84 miles @ 175 bpm
CatEye: 1:27:00 @ 16.3 mph, 23.79 miles

Tuesday - bike to work - Timex: 1:32:43 @ 148 bpm (no GPS)
CatEye: 1:24:53, 16.7 mph, 23.99 miles
- run at noon - just about perfect run. 46:45.58 @ 6.2 mph (9'39" mile), 4.839 miles @ 160 bpm
- Nancy picked me up at work since we needed to go to a Super Foods seminar at Wild Oats. It was kind of cold anyway.

Wednesday - Pool - swimming in Ironman full sleeve wetsuit. The results:

5 laps - 4:23.34 @ 146 bpm
5 laps - 4:35.71 @ ??? bpm
10 laps, no wetsuit - 10:23.41


So, it shaves about 1.5 minutes off 10 laps. However, it's not really comfortable. I don't have the same feel for the water.

Thursday - Pool - swimming in Zoot Z2 Full Sleeve


4 laps @ 3:36.16 @ 135 bpm
5 laps @ 4:38.40 @ 144 bpm
10 laps @ 9:17.48 @ 153 bpm


The feel is about the same, the Zoot fits a bit better. Well, this is about it for renting a suit. I had a nice talk with a couple of people at work who have done Ironman before, several times. Florianopolis will probably be around 75F and the sleeveless is supposed to be more comfortable, I think I'll buy one of those.

Friday - Bike to work, 23.77 miles in 1:16:13 (CatEye)

1:18:38 @ 144 bpm (Timex)
Run at noon, 4.167 miles in 40:43.56 @ 153 bpm
Bike home, took a shortcut through Boulder. 31.65 miles @ 17.5 mph in 1:49:57 (CatEye)
31.83 miles @ 16.2 mph in 1:57:16 @ 151 bpm

Saturday - day off, went to Boulder, bought Zoot Sleeveless, size ML. Also bought Sugoi Tri shorts and tanktop. This stuff is made specifically for triathlon, so you can put it on in the morning, do the swim, get out of the wetsuit, do the bike and keep on running. It dries up really quick and it 's supposedly pretty comfy to run in it, too. The shorts don't have as much padding as regular bike shorts, but it does seem adequate.

Sunday - the plan was to do a Tinman today, however, my stomach really didn't like the jalapenos I ate last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt that pepper just drilling a hole in my stomach. Got up and drank some milk to get rid of it. Anyway, I got up in the morning, had breakfast and started working on the bike. Managed to make a gizmo that lets me attach my watch to the bike so I have the HR display in front of me all the time. Much better for monitoring the heart rate. So I took the bike for spin, stopped in Boulder at Fleet Feet, exchanged my shirt I bought yesterday, then went to Longmont, back home and then went for a run - good transition training. Results:
Bike:
CatEye - 57.30 mile in 3:05:22 @ 18.4 mph
Timex - 57.36 miles in 3:16:46 @ 17.4 mph @ 158 bpm
Can't trust bpm, most of the time it was around 150, many times below 140. The screwy thing is that before I really start swetting and when the wind blows, my skin is too dry and the HR shows me 240. Kind of sucks. And I do use the conductive gel. Maybe my belt is going south. Anyway, there was a race on HWY 128, they let me through, but the guy said: "Be careful, these are professionals, they come up on you pretty quickly". Well, I took off about 5 seconds behing a group of women and was able to keep up with them without too many problems. When we got to the turn around point, I looked back and saw the men coming. Oh well, I didn't do the turnaround, went to Boulder instead.
Came home, got off the bike and went running. Now I was sweaty enough so the HR was working, but the GPS battery died right after I took off. Today was technologically challenged day. Returned home, replaced battery, ran to local high school and did bunch of laps on a flat track. I was in no mood to climb hills. Then I went to a gas station, got a bottle of water and took about 4 miles to come home. Good run.
Running: 1:33:56 @ 6.2 mph (9'38" mile), 9.737 miles @ 157 bpm

Things I learned today:
Biking - I am becoming relatively efficient, most of the bike ride is below 150 bpm, although I do push it to a little over 170 on steep hills. Not for long. Food on the bike was 2 Gu gels, about 7-8 gummi bears, about 6 carob nut energy cubes from Whole Foods. Top it with 2, 24 oz bottles of Gu2O at 150 calories each. I think I did close to about 250 calories per hour. I will try salt tablets next time.
Running - I ate pretty well on the bike, drank about 12 oz of Gu2O before the run and I took 4 Gu gels with me for the run. The bike shorts are very comfortable to run in and so is my new tank top. No nipple scraping like I experienced in several of my other shirts. Started the run at about 8'30 mile, running right around 155 bpm. After the first couple of miles I started to slow down since my heart rate hit 165. I kept slowing down and the heart rate kept creeping up. So I took the first gel in about 35 minutes, now I am at almost 10' mile but the HR is still around 165. I took another Gu, this is about 5.5 miles into the run, HR is still going up. I got off the track, ran to nearby gas station, got a bottle of water and drank it. Amazing. I proceeded with the remaining 4+ miles home at around 155 again, got back to sub 9'30" pace and overall felt pretty good even running uphill a bit. When I had about 2 miles left, the HR started creeping back up. I didn't have any more water, no gas starion, so I just pushed ahead. When I got home I was over 165 again. I think I'll try the salt tablets especially for running.

In conclusion
- I lived mostly on sugar, but mixed in some proteins. It was not horribly uncomfortable but I could feel my stomach a bit.
- Next time I'll try salt tablets in conjunction with Gu and Gu2O
- Water matters - I really got to watch my HR while running. It looks like having something like a cup of water about every 15-20 minutes may prove to be extremely beneficial. Especially after the Gu gel. People (who have done this before) tell me that just eating Gu will dehydrate me since the sugar just sucks the water into my stomach. Next time I'll start hydrating a day before.
- Got sunburned a bit today. Got to remember not to do this in Brazil, bad things happen when your skin is burned. Got to pay attention.
- I am not severely hurt, my knees are doing relatively well. There are 3 things I changed lately. I started using the biggest chainring up front, which means more leg power needed and more speed developed, provided I can sustain it. I started using 'Happy Hempsters' natural Hemp rub on my knees - this is like Sombra on steroids. I also started consuming a table spoon of olive oil before I go to bed. At least one of these things is helping.

Weight at the end of the week: 172 lbs - it really doesn't count since it's in the evening after heavy exercise. However, I did notice my weight going a bit down lately. I am eating well but I think I do more proteins now. I do carbs before and during workouts. Also, it seems like since I started swimming again, the body is being challenged in new ways again and it's dropping some weight due to different muscle group usage. Hmmm, or it's them blueberries :)

Week 12

March 10 - March 16th 2006
Pretty much the week off after Saturday ski gymnastics. It was time to take a break anyway, maybe try to do a bit of swimming.

Monday - day off, 45 minutes of stretching
Tuesday - pool, first 10 laps in 10:27.54, second 10 laps in 9:54.75 for a total of 20:22.29. Yup, kind of sucks
Wednesday - pool, first 10 laps in 9:58.81, second 10 laps in 9:58.41, total of 19:57.22. Much better, sustained < 1 minute lap for 20 laps. Much happier. 30 minutes stretching in the gym.
Thursday - just schmoozing in the pool, trying different things, stretching in the water, did a few laps breast stroke, then tried the best I could. 3 laps in 2:58.18, followed by 5 laps in 4:50.11. This is about where I'd like to get - be able to do 10 laps in 9:40 and not be exhausted. That may take a while.
Friday - day off - 30 minutes of stretching in the gym
Saturday - day off
Sunday - went for leasure bike ride with Nancy, 2:09:23 @ 9.5 mph, 20.75 miles. Were showing Nancy how to run up on a curb, fell off the bike, severely bruised my right hand - kind of stuck a sharp gravel right through my glove and into my hand. Ouch. Came back from the ride, transitioned to a fast run: 35:18.50 at 7 mph (8'28" mile) for 4.167 miles at 174 bpm. Hmmm, pushed myself pretty hard on this one. I am not sure about the bpm, looks like my HR monitor is running out of battery. Need to check it.


Pretty good resting week. My right knee is bugging me a bit on the bike. Got to pay attention. Weight at the end of week: 178 lbs. I think I'd like to drop 6 more and I'll be at an ideal weight for the triathlon.

Week 11

This is the week of Monday March 3 - Sunday March 9, 2006

• Monday
  
  • Bike to work, 1:29:29, 23.8 miles @ 15.9 mph, @ 148 bpm
  
  
  • Run, 38:12.45, 4.332 miles @ 6,8 mph (8'49" mile) @ 167 bpm
  
  
  • Bike home, 1:27:14, 23.84 miles, 16.44 mph @ 150 bpm
  
  
  
  


• Tuesday
  
  • Bike to work, 1:32:52, 22.89 miles, 14.7 mph @ 139 bpm
  
  
  • Bike home, 1:26:09, 23.88 miles, 16.6 mph @142 bpm
  
  


• Wednesday
  
  • Bike to work, 1:13:54, 23.69 miles, 19.1 mph @ 148 bpm. New GPS battery, GPS died, this is Cateye time and distance. Timex time was 1:15:48 - my best time ever, got lucky with the lights - only lost about 2 minutes stopping at stoplights and signs
  
  
  • Run 38:25.00, 4.269 miles, 6.6 mph (8'59" mile) @ 161 bpm
  
  
  • Bike home, 1:55:58, 23.92 miles, 12.3 mph @132 bpm. Worst time ever. Had a headwind so strong I thought I was moving backwards a few times. There were times that I had no more gears I could shift and I was moving at 6 mph on a flat road (my bike has 27 gears). Certainly a good workout.
  
  


• Thursday
  
  • Run, 42:02.9, 4.085 miles, 5.8 mph (10'17" mile) @ 140 bpm. Dan did really good, this is the first time he broke 4 miles
  
  


• Friday
  
  • Run, 38:21.52, 4.243 miles, 6.6 mph (9'02" mile) @ 156 bpm
  
  


• Saturday
  
  • Went skiing in Winter Park. Met this kid, Gustavo (Gus), from Miami. Amazing kid, this was the second time he was on skis, he saw snow for the first time in his life on Friday. He never even took a lesson but was doing really well. He started asking questions, so I shown him a couple of things, how to turn properly, distribute the weight, etc. In a couple of hours I took him to a steep (smooth) blue/black run and he made it without a fall. Next run I took him to the edge of moguls and had him go in for a few. He didn't do stellar, but good enough to be able to make it down a mogul field. Cool kid.
    
  
  
  • I also did (not my first choice) a somersault on skies. Landed kind of funny on my left leg and hip. Laughed it off, but it started hurting a bit with time. We packed up at about 2:30 and went home. Getting out of the car really hurt, I could hardly walk. I did some stretches, took some ibuprophen, had Nancy stand on my lower back and soaked in the hottub for a while. I am concerned about getting hurt bad enough so it interrups my training and I can't afford that now. I think I am going to take some time off next week. I am a dumb ass.
  
  


• Sunday
  
  • Laying low, licking my wounds, left hip still hurts but it's not too bad.
    
  
  
  • I should probably call Duffy and schedule a "rolfing fixme" session.
  
  
  
  

Great training week and I wasn't hurt until I did my ski acrobatics. I biked almost 150 miles, ran about 17 miles, did something every day.

But I got hurt. Lets just hope it's not too severe, preferrably it's just bumps and bruises. I'd like to buy our airplane tickets tomorrow.
My hardest week of training is coming up pretty quickly, it should be probably be the week of May 1st. I think I'll lay off a bit next week. It maybe a good week to get back into swimming, I have been neglecting it lately.

Week 10

• 
  Monday March 27th: Day off
  


• 
  Tuesday March 28th:
  
  
  
  • 
    Bike to work: 23.85 miles in 1:19:09 (18.1 mph) @ 153 bpm. GPS battery ran out, needed to replace before running.
    
  
  
  • 
    Run at lunch: 5.876 miles in 50:12.33 (7.0 mph - 8'32" mile) @ 168 bpm
    
  
  
  • 
    Bike home: 24.41 miles in 1:32:58 (15.7 mph) @ 146 bpm. Took a shortcut through Broomfield and got lost there. Bummer.
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  Wednesday March 29th: easy run 2.531 miles in 26:10.45 (5.8 mph - 10'20" mile), @ 141 bpm
  


• 
  Thursday March 30th: 4.372 miles in 42:56.36 @ 6.1 mph (9'49" mile) @ 156 bpm
  


• 
  Friday March 31st: Day off
  


• 
  Saturday April 1st: Day off - building a desk at home
  


• 
  Sunday April 2nd: Was going to go skiing, didn't do it. We did go to Winter Park, it was just too windy and cold and I didn't have enough layers on me. We went to have a nice breakfast and then schmoozed around the local minimall instead of being miserable on the slope. Nice day off.
  

Notes: It's becoming pretty clear to me that I need to setup a spreadsheet with all this data and try to make some kind of sence out of it. It's becoming increasingly difficult to read back this blog and try to figure out whether I am somehow improving somewhere. I do feel very good about being able to run a 1/2 marathon or bike to work, run and bike back while not being in too much pain, but still, I don't have the hard numbers. I need numbers, I am an engineer. I am probably going skiing tomorrow (was going to, see above).
My weight is still around 178 - 183. Need to be 175 solid before end of May. I have been slacking with my food, I even had icecream last night while watching a movie.

Week 9

Monday March 20th: Day off
Tuesday March 21st: Day off
Wednesday March 22nd: 5.315 miles @ 6.7 mph (8'51") in 47:07.56 @ 169 bpm
Thursday March 23rd: 3.86 miles at 5.9 mph (10'03" mile) in 38:51.88 @ 143 bpm
Friday March 24th: Day off (forgot my socks).
Saturday March 25th: ran 13.31 miles (1/2 marathon) at 6.0 mph (9'57" mile) in 2:12:34 at 163 bpm. Walked another 2.2 miles in 0:25:17 to cool down. For a total of 15 miles in about 2:37. Lessons learned:

• Hydration is important. I have to learn to manage it while I run. That seems to be a dilemma. I really don't want to carry water with me but I might as well learn to do so.
  


• I can do 15 miles on 3 Cliff Shot carbo cubes and no water. Dumb ass.
  


• I should wear sunscreen and comfortable clothing. Scraped my right side with my poly shirt I wore.
  


• 
  Drinking wine the night before running half marathon is not a good idea.
  


• 
  This run was a bit different from our Longmont flatlands trails. I just started running from our house in Westminster and made it past Lafayette bikeshop about a mile north of Arapahoe on US 287. Up and down them hills. Then walked/ran back to the bikeshop on Baseline and US287, drank like a fish, consumed a pack of Enervit R2/recovery and called Nancy to come over and pick me up. Didn't really feel that bad but felt that I should not really push it any further. Not yet. I wonder if I could average the same speed and bpm on the way back. If so, then I could run a full marathon in about 4.5 hours. Hmmm ....
  

Sunday March 26th: Day off.


Pretty cool week. Didn't do any bike nor swimming. The weather really sucks, Saturday was the only reasonable, relatively warm day with no wind. The rest of the week it's either cold or windy or both. Today is Monday March 27th and I seem to be fully recovered from the Saturday madness. Still taking today off, we'll see what the weather will be like tomorrow.


Short term goal: run a full marathon sometime in next 2 weeks? Hmmm, I'll keep it on my mind. Definitely do not drink wine the night before. The hangover lasts about first 5 miles.

Week 8

Monday March 13th: ran 5.299 miles @ 7.0 mph (8'29" mile) in 44:59.37, @ 173 bpm. Cold run. Sucks.
Tuesday March 14th: ran 4.633 miles @ 6.2 mph (9'37" mile) in 44:37.14 @ 159 bpm
Wednesday: off
Thursday March 16th: ran 2.67 miles @ 5.9 mph (10'05" mile) in 26:58.17 @ 147 bpm
Friday March 17th: ran 4.83 miles @ 6.3 mph (9'22" mile) in 45:00.9 @ 162 bpm
Saturday March 18th: bike.
Timex GPS includes food and other stops: 55.23 miles @ 15.7 mph in 3:30:57 @ 155 bpm.
Cat eye bike comp is pure riding time: 54.96 miles @ 17 mph in 3:12:33
Sunday March 19th: Skiing in Winter Park. Did about 4 hours, easy going, hit the moguls once in a while. At about 2 o'clock my right knee started telling me it's got enough, it got a bit gloomy and snowing a bit, lowering visibility. We were supposed to get a big snowstorm here in Denver area so it was a good time to head back home and nit the hot tub.

Overall: pretty good week although the weather sucks. Glad I could sneak in the Saturday ride. Cat eye is only 1/4 mile off on a 55 mile ride, not too bad, the riding time is accurate since the cat eye stops as I stop at lights and for food and water. I think I should be able to ride my circuit in under 3 hours one day.

This was my first ride with Speedplay X2's. I like them as well as I like the Sidi triathlon bike shoes. Although I have not been on the bike for week and half, I felt pretty good after the ride.

Looking for Czech national bike team jersey. Can't find one. Bummer.

I have been eating more carbos lately - pasta, bread, dumplings. My weight is between 178 - 184. I think it would be good to keep steady 175, I need to get a bit more disciplined with my chocolate consumption.

Weeks 6 & 7

It's been a while, the weather sucks for the most part, it's freaking cold, snowing, windy. This is what I did in the past few weeks:

Wed Feb 22nd: ran 5.231 miles @ 6.9 mph (8'37' mile) in 45:05.89, @ 176 bpm

Friday Feb 24th: ran slow for about 40 minutes

Monday Feb 27th: biked to work 23.9 miles in 1:25 @ 16.8 mph, @ 161 bpm
biked back 23.62 miles in 1:28 @ 16 mph, @ 153 bpm

Tuesday Feb 28th: ran 6.03 miles in 1:04 @ 5.6 mph, @ 157 bpm

Wednesday March 1st: biked to work, 23.80 miles @ 17 mph, 1:23 @ ??? bpm
biked back 23.69 miles @ 16.6 mph, 1:25:29 @ 143 bpm

Thursday March 2nd: Slow run, 2.6 miles @5 mph in 32:07, @143 bpm

Saturday March 4th: Drove to the bike shop in Lafayette, bought Speedplay X2 pedals and Adidas bike shoes. Drove home, then took the shoes for a spin - biked 13 miles back to the bike shop, exchanged Adidas for Sidi triathlon shoes. The Adidas shoes fit OK except a little nagging spot right on my big toe. And it started blistering. The Sidi feel like heaven (have a nice arch) and they are so easy to get into. Rode 13 miles back, this time in much more comfort.

Sunday March 5th: Snowboarding. Took lesson in the morning, practiced in the afternoon. My ass really hurts.

Wednesday March 8th: ran 6.79 miles @ 6.5 mph (9'11" mile) in 1:02.21, @ 169 bpm

Friday March 10th: cold outside, ran on treadmill, 25 minutes, 3 miles

Signed up for Florianopolis 2006 - it's official now, I better not get hurt

I signed up as a Czech athlete. So far I am the only Czech there. Number 709.

It was cold again over the weekend. I don't like winter anymore.

Don't get hurt, I got money riding on this now

Week five

Slow week.


Took Monday 2/13 off - I really needed it after the grueling run on Sunday.

Biked to work on Tuesday Feb 14th: 23.8 miles in 1:25:53 at average speed of 16.3. Not too bad, this kind of biking is pretty much becoming a routine, no big deal.

Went running on Wednesday Feb 15th. Ran really fast (in my world, anyway): 4.582 miles in 40:03 (6.8 mph == 8"44' per mile) at 169 bpm average. A bit too high heartbeat, definitely above of what I could sustain for any longer period of time.

The rest of the week was crappy, freezing cold and I was moving again. I hate moving. Today is Tuesday, Feb 21st (really a week 6 already), things are settling down a bit and it's getting a bit warmer outside.

At least I took a nice break to recover.


Don't get hurt

Week four totals

Biking: none

Swimming: 3.6 miles

Running: about 23 miles various speeds, various distances. Need to get the heart beat down on the long run. Used Enervitene on my last run - it does have serious pickme up in it. I like Gu better.

Other: none

Weight at the end of the week: 178 lbs

Week four

1. Monday Feb 6th: slow run about 1/2 hour at 5.1 mph. Ran with a couple of slower buddies, about 2.5 miles at 5.1 mph, about 145 bpm
2. Tuesday Feb 7th: swim 42 laps in about 46 minutes
3. Wed Feb 8th: run 5.586 miles in 49:02 @ 6.8 mph (8'46" mile) @ 167 bpm
   
4. Thu Feb 9th: slow run, 2.52 miles in 28:16 @ 5.3 mph (11'14" mile) @ 140 bpm
   
5. Fri Feb 10th: nothing, lunch at chinese buffet - 1 plate :)
   
6. Sat Feb 11th: nothing, drove to Granby to return the rental car
   
7. Sun Feb 12th: 2.4 mile swim - 2 x 42 laps. 1st 42 laps (1.2 mi) in 45:12, 2nd 42 laps in 45:41. Total of 1:30:53. Pretty pleased with this. Ran 12.4 miles in 2:09:27, at about 5.8 mph average, at 167 bpm - too high. This is the furthest I have ever ran.
   

Week three of training

Well, it really started on Monday the 30th. Just want to keep a quick and dirty stats on what did I do. This is the week of taking it easy, laying low. So, to recap, including Monday.

1. Monday, Jan 30th: run about 45 minutes @ 6.1 mph @ 155 bpm
   
2. Tuesday Jan 31st: run, 48.28 @ 6.1 mph (9'46" mile), 4.962 miles. Forgot my heart monitor belt, but it felt very manageable, kind of like on Monday.
   
3. Wednesday Feb 1st: did nothing, ate, drank, rested
4. Thursday Feb 2nd: did nothing, ate, drank, got rolfed, rested
   
5. Friday Feb 3rd: no workout, rode to Hot Sulphur Springs, totaled our pickup truck at 9:15 PM
   
6. Saturday Feb 4th: soaking in hot water
   
7. Sunday Feb 5th: more soaking, rented a car in Granby, went home
   

Not too bad. I recovered from the IronBaby rather well. I'll try it again in a couple of weeks. Don't get hurt!

Well, I was pretty close to severely hurting or killing Nancy and I. The rear end broke loose on icy road, we started spinning, hit a snowbank while moving backwards, went up in the air a bit and rolled over, landing on the roof and got stopped by a tree. The cab was filled with snow when we stopped, the only way out was to kick out the windshield. While kicking my way through the windshield I realized that my legs are working and I can still run.

Long story short - we walked away with just a few bruises, Nancy hit her tennis elbow (of course), I broke the dome light with my head and have a bruise on my left knee. Very lucky. The truck is quite likely totaled. That really sucks, she was really good truck, no scratches, 50k miles, in perfect shape. Until the last two seconds. Damn.

The IronBaby

Yes, I am insane

I got up on Saturday morning with the intentions of punishing myself more than ever before in my life.

Went to the pool at about 7:30, did 42 laps in 46 minutes and felt pretty good about it. Paid attention to style and breathing.

Then I went home, got on the bike and started pushing pedals from Westminster towards Boulder. It was cold and windy, I dressed up warm, winter gloves, skull cap (yes, I do learn from past), 2 layers of clothing with a windbreaker jump suit on top. After my nutrition research I decided to switch my food supply to energy gel packs instead of energy bars. The bars have protein and I do remember after my 90 mile bike ride of two weeks ago that those bars were sitting in my stomach like bunch of bricks.

I bought a few Gu and a few Beestinger (made with honey) gel packs. The cashier at Whole Foods suggested Enervitene, and I also found Carb-BOOM on the web. I got something to experiment with. I took it easy on the bike ride, stopped to eat every 45 minutes - the Gu and honey gels are pretty good, stopped at gas stations a couple of times to warm up and have a cup of hot tea with honey. I did 56 miles in reasonable time without being exhausted, changed into dry clothing and proceeded with the run.

I was told that the bike/run changeover is the hardest part of triathlon. No kidding. It took a while to get moving but after a couple of miles I was OK. I was well dressed (1 layer with a windbreaker) I got some reasonable rhytm and started making plans for maybe running 12 miles. How far can I make it? My legs felt a bit tired but didn't hurt, I was really paying attention to my step and to my knees, I was running from my hips (as told by my rolfer Duffy). Things were good for an hour (about the first 6 miles) until I recalled someone stating on the web that you can function out of your reserves for about 45 minutes.

Holy crap, it hit me hard. I could hardly move my legs and the last 3 miles took about 45 minutes. I should have had some Gu with me. I made it home totally exhausted, drank a large cup of hot water with honey and cinnamon, then followed up with a full dose of Hemp organic protein. Went to see a movie with Nancy, periodically feeding myself with oranges, Lara bars and ample supply of water. I cooked chicken with spinach after we came home and consumed quite a bit of it. I stayed away from carbos for the most part.

When I woke up on Sunday morning my legs hurt pretty bad, but I felt them healing. I took the whole day off and consumed mostly protein foods, some vegetarian (tofu, hemp), others animal based (eggs, meat). Treated myself to several hot tub sessions, too.

Lessons learned

1. Carbos before and during workouts. This is not a weight loss exercise anymore. This is about endurance. When I was going for weight loss in the spring, systematically starving my body was a good way to drop some weight (well, not starving but maintaining an energy deficit). This does not apply anymore.
   
2. Proteins immediately after. Apparently my body can do some magical things with proteins. Today is Monday and I was able to run 4+ miles with guys at work. No problems, with only one day of rest after a grueling IronBaby. I am beginning to believe in plant based proteins such as hemp. I also started consuming hemp and olive oils. Other than protein, hemp also provides omega-3 oils, amino acids and all that good stuff. I have never recovered this quick (I am 46 years of age) so I have no choice but to attribute my quick recovery to the hemp protein. Of course all this stuff is organic, natural, etc.
   
3. I can do this. I know I can. The idea right now is to complete, not to compete
   
4. Take a few gel packs with me on the run that takes more than an hour.
   
5. Don't get hurt.

I wanted to see how far I can make it and how bad really is the change from bike to running. It is pretty bad but it's doable. I was taking my sweet time between the discipline changeovers but still managed to finish this in about 8 hours. Which is encouraging. And I ran further than ever before in my life. After 4+ hours on the bike. Not very fast but further!

Training goals

1. Sustain swimming a lap in under a minute. Currently it's about 1:05 - 1:10
2. Sustain 112 miles biking at 18mph @ 155 abpm.
   
3. Sustain 26 miles running at 6.5 mph @ 155 abpm.
4. Do it all in one day.
   

I think all of the above are quite challenging from where I am now. I may need to back off, but I would prefer not to.

Things that will work for me in Florianopolis:

1. Altitude. I am training at 1600 meters above the sea level. Let's see. More oxygen concentration at sea level translates to more oxygen in my blood (my red cells are quite used to living in thin air, therefore binding as much oxygen as they can), which translates to slower heart beat at the same energy output. I think anyway, the reality may be different. One thing I am pretty sure about is that it is not going to work against me.
   
2. Wet suit. Apparently any amateur can wear one. I should probably learn how to swim in it first.
3. Humidity. Two-edged sword. If it's too hot, it may just kill my stamina. Overheating must be one of my concerns. On the other hand, training in the arid Denver area is kind of hard, too. Hmmm, definitely something to keep on my mind.
   

I should probably aim at doing a full test triathlon sometime towards the end of March. That would give me almost two months to recover and improve my endurance. Other than that, I still don't have a training plan. It seems to be kind of materializing. Probably not an ideal situation, but to put it in the words of the wise (rolfer Duffy): "Listen to your body, grasshopper".


What's next?
Take it easy this week, focus on running. Running is my weak spot. I did manage to run for some 45 minutes at 6.1 mph at 155 abpm today. That is very encouraging. I may go swimming once or twice. The plan is to go skiing on Saturday, and to take time off on Sunday.

My weight fluctuated from high of 188 (bad boy) of about 10 days ago to low of 174 on Saturday night.

First two weeks

Today is Monday, January 30th. I still don't have a very good idea about a training schedule. The initial feeling in my gut is to ramp up for two weeks to some monumental task and then take a week to recover. Well, this is what I did in past 2 weeks.

1. Saturday, Jan 14th: bike 90 miles
2. Sunday, Jan 15th: run/walk about 4.5 miles
3. Monday, Jan 16th: left work early, fever of 102 F
4. Tuesday, Jan 17th: feel a bit better, sweated through the night, woke up in cold sweat a few times.
5. Wednesday, Jan 18th: drank beer heavily to kill my sinus headache
6. Thursday, Jan 19th: no workout - got rolfed, session #4
7. Friday, Jan 20th: swimming, 20 laps in 30 minutes. I suck.
8. Saturday, Jan 21th: walk with Nancy, 8 miles total. My right Achilles hurts when I walk. Great. Hmmm, it doesn't hurt when I run. Interesting.
9. Sunday, Jan 22nd: try to go for a walk again, turned back in 1/2 mile, the right foot does hurt. Took a day off.
10. Monday, Jan 23rd: swam in the pool, did 35 laps in 45 minutes. I still suck.
11. Tuesday, Jan 24th: went to see my doctor, got my physical. See below.
12. Wednesday, Jan 25th: day off
13. Thursday, Jan 26th: swimming, 35 laps a little better than 45 minutes.
14. Friday, Jan 27th: ran 49:35 @ 6.3 mph, 5.125 miles, 165 abpm (average heart beats per minute)
15. Saturday, Jan 28th: did an IronBaby. Swam 42 laps (1/2 ironman) in 45:59, biked 56 miles in 3:36 and than ran 8.9 miles in 1:41:18 at 160 abpm. Woohoo.
16. Sunday, Jan 29th: I can hardly walk
17. Monday, Jan 30th: run 45:16 @ 6.1 mph, 4.669 miles @ 155 abpm

The details
I was sick as a dog the first week of my training, so to make it even worse I go drinking. Really smart. The beer did taste good. Fat Tire is a good beer. I had six 25 oz beers but I was not hung over next morning. I also was in no shape to even walk that evening so friends took me home. I do seem to have a couple of memory frames missing. Not a good first week of training of aspiring ironman. At least I didn't smoke.

I felt a bit better the next week but having problems to walk for 8 miles does concern me. It looks like my legs prefer running. The problem with it that if I can't finish the run, I have no walking backup plan. That would suck.

I went to see my doctor on Tuesday and got my physical that was 3 months overdue. My cholesterol stats compared to November of 2004:

		11/03/2004	01/20/2006
Total		244	192
LDL		164	112
HDL		57	63
Triglycerides		116	83

I am really winning this game. I am pumped, this is phenomenal. I am very motivated.

The bad news is that I also have a urinary tract infection (the damn cold bike ride 2 weeks ago) and I am on antibiotics. Well, it's getting better now.

I did a lot of reading on how to train and how to eat. It confused the living hell out of me at first since everyone has a different story. However, this is what my body tells me:

1. Carbos before and during exercise, no proteins
2. Heavy proteins (plant based preferred) immediately after the workout, no carbos.
3. Stay hydrated.
4. Stay warm.
5. Did I mention Don't get hurt?

Ironman in training

I will train for Ironman Brazil to be taken place on May 28th 2006. As of today there are 450 athletes registered, I think I have a good chance to at least get registered.

I think I just enlisted my wife Nancy to be my partner in crime.

Yup, there are a few strings attached.

1. I will remain healthy - I am going to see my doctor in next couple of weeks, it's time for my annual physical. I am curious about my cholesterol. Don't get hurt training, stupid.
2. I can get time off work - I better talk to my manager since I don't have enough vacation to take 2 weeks off.
3. I will train for next 20 weeks - I should probably come up with some schedule first. Oh, this will be fun since I have no freaking idea.
   

So, off to the web I went and came up roughly with the following.

1. The young guns train hard for 3 weeks, then take a week off. The rest of us should probably do it on 2 weeks on, 1 week off schedule.
2. What the hell does it mean to have a week off? I can't just stop, can I?
3. I think I'd like to apply the above philosophy to the weekly schedule. Let's see, I'll probably do most of the 'proving the concept' - long bike ride and running - over the weekend. So, I should take Monday off (light activity), ride and run on Tuesday and Wednesday, take Thursday off (I am getting rolfed again), then ramp up on Friday to get ready for gruesome Saturday and Sunday.
4. I am dropping table tennis for next 20 weeks - I need more of a workout on Sunday and table tennis twists my upper back in funny ways.
5. I think I'd like to come up with some kind of a curve that will lead me to the final race.
6. I don't care about competing in the race, I want to be able to finish it.
7. I may enlist Boulder Center for Sports medicine to figure out what makes me tick. My oxygen consumption, my ideal heart rate, my lactic acid disposal rate. Those would probably be pretty good things to know.
8. This is going to be fun, maybe I'll write a book about it. "From Fat Man to Ironman - how to satisfy your male ego while severely punishing your body", Bantam Books, $9.95.

Hmm, maybe I should take an inventory of my equipment while I am at it.


The bike
Pretty decent, Specialized Allez, 27 speed, had it for 5 years, just got a new set of tires (Conti 4 season). I got re-fitted for the bike last week. I am considering to purchase a new set of pedals (Speedplay X2) since my left knee is trying to go in, forcing the heal out and I am about at the end of my lateral movement freedom in my clips. Bummer. I'll try to adjust it first.


Running shoes
I got setup by Fleet Feet with Saucony 3D Hurricane V about a year and half ago. They did really good, but I think they are responsible for my foot pain I acquired last week. Damn, these things are not cheap, but I think they need to be retired now.
I have relatively new pair of Saucony Trigon Ride (less than 20 miles on them). I ran in these today and my feet feel fine. I am pretty comfortable in them. I think I'll stick with them. And I saw a pair at Dick's sporting goods today for 'only' $79.95 today (on sale, regular $89.95). A bit cheaper than Hurricanes and they are a bit softer while still supportive.


Other - I use Timex GPS/HR monitor - pretty reasonable, started using conductive gel for the HR belt - works much better, especially on cold, dry days. Just put a new battery into the GPS unit today - it's annoying when it goes out in the middle of a bike ride.
I used to ride in running shorts, no padding. Just got a pair of shorts with pads. My butt is in heaven. Yes, it does make a difference.




Lessons learned so far

1. Wear something warm on your head while biking
2. Eat well - I discovered what I think are very good nutrition bars (well, my wife discovered these and passed on the knowledge) - Lara bar - all clean, unprocessed, uncooked. And they're made right here, in Denver. They are also chewy, so I can eat one while riding the bike, I don't even need my hands - they will not break or fall off. I ate six of them on yesterday ride, plus a banana.
3. Comfort is important - no point if you can sprint like hell if you don't finish the race because you can't sit on the bike for more than 30 minutes at a time.
4. I think I'd like to have my average heartbeat at around 155 on both the bike ride and the run. I'd like to be able to average 18 mph on a 112 miles course, 7 mph running and 5 mph walking if it comes to that. These are just guesses, I will need to experiment or go and get measured.
5. I need to create a training schedule and somewhat stick to it. There will be bad weather days when I need to stay in the gym - probably a good day to work on strength.
6. I should not neglect swimming - I should swim 2.4 miles at least once a week. In addition to other, shorter training swims - practice stroke, endurance.
7. Did I mention Don't get hurt?

Well, that's it for tonight

Where am I today?

Hmmm, good question.
My stats as of today: 183 lbs (as of yesterday), quit smoking January 2nd. I am still eating well, although I did consume ample quantities of chocolate lately.

I tested the waters of my physical condition with a couple of bike rides and runs, this is roughly where I am at now:

1. Bike ride, January 2nd - 3:15:32, 14.3 mph, 158 bpm avg. 46.92 miles
2. Run, January 7th - 1:02:37, 5.8 mph, 163 bpm, 6.1 miles
3. Rollerblading a couple of times last week since my left foot hurt from running. Doh, go figure, didn't really run for quite a while and then do 6 miles.
4. Bike ride, January 14th - 6 hours on and off the bike (I stopped for food and get my seat adjusted), total ride was 5:18:41, 16.9 mph, 164 bpm, 89.85 miles
5. Run, January 15th - 24:29, 5.8 mph, 163 bpm, 2.38 miles, then walk 11:10 @ 3.8 mph, 128 bpm, .7 mile then ran again 6:05 minutes, 5.9 mph @164, 0.6 mile.

OK, to summarize the above, I suck. I think I can do the bike ride, I have already established that I can do the swim, running will be the pain in the ass (and other parts). The good news is that I am not hurt today, even after riding more miles in one day than I have ever done before. And then run/walk 3.7 miles the next day. I came home from the run and while I was very well dressed (long sleeve T, jump suit, hat, and I was pretty warm running), all of a sudden I just got these shivers and I was just so cold, it was really irritating. My head started hurting (I kind of had a tiny headache all day long) and I had to fill a tub with hot water (and sandalwood salt, um, smells sooo good) in order to shake the shakes. I think I caught a bit of a cold yesterday on the bike. I never wore a helmet before, yesterday was my first day with a helmet. Well, the damn thing is supposed to channel the air and cool you down and I think it did an exceedingly good job at it. And I didn't really feel it and didn't pay attention.

My average heartbeat sucks. Way too high. I thought that five months of smoking wouldn't hurt me. Hmmm, guess again. On the bright side, it never went over 179 even climbing the damn hill on Hwy 93 south of Boulder. I am shifting diligently.

I am baaaack!

It has been a while. We're in the mid January and my last post was from the end of July. Hmmm. Well, lets do the short and sweet so we catch up.
I started smoking on August 1st of last year.
I quit my job on August 14th (I think). Well, they gave me 3 months leave of absence instead. So, off to the West Coast I went on my big bike, spent 3 weeks riding up Hwy 1 and Hwy 101 along the coast, made it to Vancouver Island B.C, came back through Washingto, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming. What a trip. I camped all the time, ate relatively healthy (had a restaurant meal 2x in six weeks), basically I just lived on cereal, granola bars, fruits, veggies, bread, cheese and coffee. Occasional wine (when I parked Pebbles for the night, of course. Pebbles is my bike - '96 BMW R1100RT), sausage over camp fire, etc. Came back from the West Coast trip weighing all of 166 pounds. That's early September. Spent a week at home (interviewing for another job among other activities) and left for the
East Coast Trip. The idea was for 3 weeks, too. I made it as far as Quebec (the city), then turned down south, saw New England area, Pennsylvania, down to Asheville NC via the fabulous Blue Ridge Parkway. Ran out of rubber in Kansas City, put on new set and came home on October 7th. Summary: 12500 miles in 6 weeks on a big bike. Awesome. Was about 175 pounds when I came back (I ate a bit more in restaurants and slept in motels quite a bit due to weather - it's cold in Vermont in mid September when it rains).

Started new job on the 17th and it was about time, since the company I used to work for closed their Colorado office on December 16th. Just in time.

Ironman bike ride

I keep thinking about it and it just feels too unreal to even dream about it. Is it? It's not that I would really want to compete in one of these things, I am just really curious if I can train myself to actually finish it within the time limits.

So this weekend I did the Tin Man. I rode half the bike ride on Saturday and the other half today. It turns out that my Westminster-Boulder-Longmont-Westminster circuit is about 56 miles.

The bike still didn't feel right on Saturday and I was really watching my right knee, dropping a gear anytime I felt I had to pedal too hard. Still, about half way through Boulder my knee started talking to me. Eventually I stopped and dropped my seat by about 3/4 inch (that's about how much I raised it the other day) and I also moved it a little forward - probably about an inch. And all of a sudden I realized that I had more power and the muscle didn't complain too much. Interesting.

Saturday ride stats:
Lap 1

1. Westminster -> Boulder -> Jay Rd and Hwy 119
2. 1:39:58
   
3. 14.5 mph average
4. 147 bpm average (heart)
5. 24.27 miles

Lap 2

1. Jay Rd & Hwy 119 -> Longmont, Hwy 119 & Hwy 287
2. 0:29:05
3. 20.9 mph
4. 146 bpm
5. 10.14 miles

Lap 3

1. Hwy 119 & Hwy 287 -> Westminster, 112 & Federal
2. 1:31:23
3. 14.3 mph
4. 145 bpm
5. 21.86 miles

According to my Cat Eye bike o'meter:
56.31 miles @ 17.2 mph average in 3:16:51

The Cat Eye stops when the bike stops, so this time doesn't include my food and hydration breaks (or stoplights for that matter).

According to my Timex GPS o'meter:
56.27 miles @ 15.3 mph average in 3:40:27 with average bpm of 146


Sunday ride:
I programmed my Timex triathlon o'meter to split every 5 miles, so here are the stats for the 12 laps, 5 miles each:

Lap 1:

1. 23:41.63
2. 12.6 mph
3. 150 bpm

Lap 2:

1. 24:13.03
2. 12.4 mph
3. 142 bpm

Lap 3:

1. 23:37.32
2. 12.6 mph
3. 137 bpm
   

Miles 15-20:

1. 21:07.38
2. 14.2 mph
3. 123 bpm
   

Miles 20-25:

1. 16:14.63
2. 18.4 mph
3. 137 bpm
   

Miles 25-30:

1. 15:54.30
2. 18.8 mph
3. 139 bpm
   

Miles 30-35:

1. 16:33.23
2. 18.1 mph
3. 136 bpm
   

Miles 35-40:

1. 15:53.21
2. 18.8 mph
3. 150 bpm
   

Miles 40-45:

1. 17:29.60
2. 17.2 mph
3. 154 bpm
   

Miles 45-50:

1. 19:09.56
2. 15.6 mph
3. 147 bpm
   

Miles 50-55:

1. 18:23.16
2. 16.3 mph
3. 143 bpm
   

Miles 55-56:

1. 5:13.18
2. 16.1 mph
3. 154 bpm

Total:

1. 56.42 miles
2. 15.6 mph average speed
3. 142 bpm average
4. Time in zone (140-165): 1:59:50
5. Total time: 3:37:30
6. Overall time: 4:03:21 (I had to fix a flat in addition to food and water breaks)
7. Maximum speed: 38.6 mph (coming down Hwy 93 and also one hill on Hwy 287)

So, overall impression is that I am slacking off. I should be able to pull off average heartbeat of about 150. Considering I am still worried a bit about my knee, this not too bad. I was able to ride 112 miles in 2 days and not get hurt. Actually I had doubts even today in the morning - I thought of just finishing it, at any time. But my seat adjustments seem to make a huge difference - I think I was extending my quad too much.

Things learned:

1. Proper bike adjustment matters
2. I am more resilient than I thought

With those thoughts I went to play table tennis for 3 hours in the afternoon.

Only if I was this strong mentally. Working on it.

Bloody Tuesday

I gave blood yesterday. It has been 5 years - I suck, how could I have been so negligent?. I used to be pretty regular at Bonfils. The good thing is that my red cell count is at 47% and my blood pressure is 98/70 - last time I had it measured by the cholesterol dude it was 114/71. Likely a pretty minor deviation.

It felt rather enlightening to do something meaningful again. I am eligible to donate again on 9/20/05, I better be there.

Heavy weekend

I went swimming on Saturday afternoon and tried to practice what Jenny taught me. Almost drowned a couple of times. This is not going to be an easy transition. Although I did five practice laps trying to move right, breathe, kick, pull and roll. I averaged just below minute per lap. And I think I can sustain that pace. I'll need some practice.

I woke up Sunday morning and went for a bike ride. Westminster->Boulder->Longmont and back. I started feeling my right knee in about a 1/2 mile and had thoughts about turning back. Then I remembered what this is all about. It's about endurance, not power. Not yet, anyway. So I started shifting easy, as soon as a minor hill came up I would just drop and started spinning. Much better. It takes a bit longer to put the hill away but I am pretty fresh when I get on top of it and the knee does not hurt. Imagine.

Finished the ride in about 3:30 riding time, 4 hours total including food and water and other breaks. Averaged about 16.5 mph, my heartbeat in the 140-165 range most of the time. My position is still not ideal, I had to stop in Longmont and raise my seat by at least 3/4 inch, I think I need to raise my handlebars too. I'll experiment.

Obviously I didn't have enough so I went to play table tennis in the afternoon. I played for little over 3 hours straight. I have never sweated this much in my life. I normally start my day with a 24 ounce glass of water, I remember going to the bathroom after that. But then I drank 7 of these during the day (that's 164 ounces - 1.3 gallons) and didn't take a bathroom break once. It all went out through my skin. No wonder they call it the 3rd kidney.

Historical moment - I scaled 179.8 that evening. Well, it kind of doesn't count since it was at the end of a very heavy workout day, but it sure gives me an attitude boost and fuels my desire to continue. Other historical moment is that I noticed I have stretch marks on my ass. Hmmm, I think I am pretty close to where I need to be and then I need to iron out those marks.

Yesterday I went to work and just had to vent my frustrations somehow. Although I felt like giving my body a bit of rest, it started bugging me for some action, so I went for a 2.3 miles run. Just easy, a lot of stretching before and after and it felt very satisfying. Also went to Longmont to play table tennis for about 3 hours. Again, a nice day, relatively easy. I thought I need to go and give blood. I have not done it for past few years and I should, I used to be pretty regular.

I just got out of hot tub and scaled at 179.6 - cool beans.

Body fat

I had my body composition analysis done today. This is the hydrostatic body fat test - the very accurate stuff. Not too bad.

The stats of 2 years ago (7/29/2003):

1. Weight: 206.25 lbs
2. Lean: 165.3 lbs
   
3. Fat: 40.9 lbs
4. Body fat: 19.9%

Today stats:

1. Weight: 188 lbs
2. Lean: 160.8 lbs
   
3. Fat: 27.2 lbs
   
4. Body fat: 14.4%

Not too bad, the numbers speak for themselves. I am definitely not the fat boy anymore, this puts me in the 85th percentile of the population (85% of the population is fatter than I am).

A couple of thoughts:

1. I have not lost much weight for a past month. Well, somewhere around 4-5 lbs (188 on a good scale is about 185 on ours, I was about 189 - 191 (our scale) on July 4th). This may actually be a good sign. I thought I lost it a bit too fast, giving my body time to adjust is probably a good thing.
   
2. I have not been working out on regular basis, I do more of a burst workouts now
3. My eating is still pretty good, although I am aware I do eat more or worse foods than the time I kept my daily blog. Maybe I need to start the blog again? I'll give it another week.
   
4. Going down to 175 lbs would put me in about 8% body fat. I am beginning to have seconds thoughts about this. Somewhere around 180 would probably be more reasonable with around 11% of body fat.
5. I do like the fact that I start seeing the muscles under my skin.
6. I am 3 cm taller than I have ever been before. One word. Rolfing.
7. I went running yesterday. This was the first time since I screwed up the right ankle about a month ago. I really noticed the lack of weight.
   

Rolfing

I got rolfed again this Thursday, session #5.

I'll start with my usual warning: If you ever want to get rolfed and get an impartial, genuine experience, do not read this (read my first 2 rolfing sessions writeups instead). It's not because it would be scary, but I am talking about my experiences here so if you do keep reading, you may condition yourself to expect something similar and your mind may build a response before you have a chance to try it yourself and experience the genuine thing. In any case I love rolfing and I highly recommend it due to my experiences.

Still here, uh? OK, we took the pictures as usual, Ashlane made me walk back and forth again, did her usual "walk, stop, hmmm, turn this way, aha, walk, oh, yes, stop, ..." type of stuff, then up on the table and we did a second in the series of core sessions.

1. This time it was the muscle groups attached to the inside of my hips - of course she told me its name (it's something sounding very Latin) but I forgot it in about 3 seconds - and the upper core (my definition, not hers). Basically, around the hips, obliques, ribs and abs.
   
2. She also took a short trip down my right leg for some reason, like if she felt that there is something wrong there (I didn't tell her, but this is the right knee that I hurt a little when biking last weekend. And although she is aware of my blog, I don't think she really reads it. Maybe the rolfing writeups only. Hey Ashlane, are you reading this?).
   
3. Maybe she saw me walking somewhat funny and decided the leg needed a minor adjustment or something. Deep into the muscles she went and it was definitely worth it - well, I am going to put it through a test tomorrow on the bike, I promise I'll make a proper use of a derailleur this time :).
4. Then she went up to my right hip, the torso, under my ribs and around to the other side. Ashlane spends some quality time on me. She seems to prefer to do things right instead of fast and is very patient. I think that's really the essence of rolfing - the rolfer goes slow, goes deep goes in with a purpose. The rolfee job is to cooperate, relax, not resist and let go. The harmony is created when both are patient enough and take time. I really like that and I am grateful for it.
   
5. At one time she had her fingers buried deep next to my hip and I felt like they extended a few inches and reached through the core of my body and touched me next to my spine. That was really warm and interesting.
6. Another time her hands felt like they are sculpting me from inside out. That was while she was kind of next to my obliques, on the inside.
7. My legs were in 90 degree angle and she made me lift the knee just a little bit while she applied pressure to this Latin sounding muscle and voila - her fingers were instantly 1/2 inch deeper. At least it felt that way. Magic.
   
8. After every other session I felt somewhat rearranged, something was strange and different. We had sessions after which I could not find my equilibrium, we had others during and after which I was shaking and yet others after which my muscles were very tender. I felt perfectly OK after this one, so in its own right, this was strange. Other than my emotional high, of course. I think I am getting used to this stuff, I don't think she is backing off by any means. I felt like things are where they are supposed to be. Maybe she started putting me back together. Way cool.
9. I am really beginning to like the morning sessions. I have time to think about stuff and practice it during the day. The evening session is fine but then I go to bed, roll over and there is just too much time of follow up inactivity. And I am a morning person.
10. I went running yesterday for the first time since I messed up my right ankle. I felt like I was gliding. It was really cool. I was using my legs from my hips and they felt longer. Not as long as your average Kenyan runner, but much longer than what I am used to.
    
11. Speaking of longer. I had my body fat test done today and I took the opportunity to get my height measured. I am 3 cm taller than I have ever been before. I used to be 180 cm, I measured at 183 cm today. I wonder if that has anything to do with rolfing. Maybe? :).
    
12. In conclusion - yet one more very cool rolfing session, none of my muscles are tender or sore, I don't even have to mention that "No, there are no bruises", do I? I am beginning to see a problem with the fact that there are only 5 sessions left and I question what am I going to do after we're done. I think you're supposed to lay off for a while, like a year or so. After experiencing rolfing, going back to a regular massage just seems pretty lame (sorry Nicole, Jeff, Leah, Safra, John, ..., whom did I forget?). Well, OK, I should put it about this way. Massage is great for relaxing and feeling good but it wears off pretty quickly. Rolfing is a body altering experience that, with any luck, lasts a lifetime or at least a significant portion of it. Body altering in a sence that the we allow my body to adjust itself.
    
13. At the end Ashlane taught me how to walk from the hips again. I really want to focus on this, it seems to be good for me, my legs and my back. This time I am not going to try it on a 7 mile walk again. Maybe only a couple of miles this time. I feel I my body is getting to the point we want it to be, so I probably should not screw it up should I?
14. Very interesting week. Jenny taught me how to swim, Ashlane taught me how to walk. Only if I had a running and bicycling coach, I'd be complete :). Oh yes, a brain coach,too. Santa? I've been good this year. Santa??
    

Swimming

I went swimming on Tuesday morning. During the swim I started thinking whether the rec center has a swim coach available for hire or at least somebody who would look at me and tell me how badly I suck. When I was about 5, my brother threw me in the local pond one day and said: "Swim". He would pull me out when I started sinking, waited for a while and then threw me back. So I really never had anybody teaching me the proper technique. I can hold my own, but I know I suck.

This lady came to my lane and asked if I mind to share (normally there are only 3 lap lanes opened at the rec center). "By all means", I said, but in the back of my mind I was horrified that I have a walker here. For some reason some people think that swim lanes are there for them to walk in the water and to irritate the rest of us who want to swim. Well, this lady took a couple of warm up laps and then she proceeded with just blowing right by me, freestyle. I could not keep up and she just looked like a dolphin. Just gliding through the water.

I did about 10 more laps and stopped to clear my goggles. She was just taking a break, she looked at me and said: "Do you mind if I comment on your breathing?". "Please do", I replied since by then I knew very well that she is by far a much better swimmer than I am.

Well, she spent about next 20 minutes teaching me how to swim, explaining things and I learned that she was swimming competition since she was 24. Her name is Jenny and she just made my day. That was just so awesome. She gave me homework, so I got to practice:

1. The pull - elbow up and bent a little, use my arm power
   
2. The triceps extension - that's where the power comes from
   
3. Kick - my kicking sucks, she explained that kick is really there to keep balance
   
4. Drawing on the bottom of the pool with my fingers/pencils - keeping my hand perpendicular to the force vector of the push.

Thanks Jenny, you're awesome, you don't know what you did for me. A truly random act of kindness to a stranger. I practiced today. I still suck but I am beginning to realize what am I doing wrong. I already noticed that I can do a lap in under a minute - and I can sustain this. Last time I swam, my average was somewhere around 1:05 and if I tried to do better, I could not sustain it. Cool beans.

The weekend warrior, part 3

I wondered if my knee will bother me while playing table tennis today and it did not. This is cool. So far I managed to hurt myself in pretty reasonable ways.

1. Got hurt while walking - I can still swim and ride a bike
2. Got hurt while biking - I can still play table tennis and probably swim and walk
3. Got hurt while playing table tennis pretty badly, twice in the past. Five years ago I screwed up my lower back and that put me out of doing any sport for a few months, a year ago I pulled my triceps - I could still run, walk, etc.

So it kind of looks like the only activity I have not hurt myself with is swimming. How long before I manage to do so?

Anyway, played for almost four hours straight, my knee didn't hurt, I don't get tired doing this anymore. This is cool. Well, yeah, I did not run today, I am really not that stupid.

The weekend warrior, part 2

Went for a bike ride yesterday. This time it was Westminster->Longmont->Boulder->Westminster.

Water and food management make a huge difference.

• Got up at 5:15 am, went to hot tub for 20 minutes, drank 16 ounces of water with lemon
  
• Had a good breakfast: 2 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, 1/2 of tofu block, 1/2 onion, coffee, 2 toasts with butter
• Drank another 16 ounces of water before I left at about 6:45 (about 1/2 hour after breakfast)
• I figured it would take about 2 hours for my body to process the breakfast, so I stopped after 1 hour and 45 minutes (Jay Road and Hwy 119), took a 5 minute break and consumed a power bar (protein, carbo)
• Kept hydrated during the ride - I have a 24 ounces bottle now, finished it when leaving Boulder (about 35 miles into the ride), took another 5 minutes, refilled the water bottle at a gas station at Table Mesa and Broadway, ate another power bar.
• Next fillup was at 120th and Main Street in Broomfield at Golden Bear bike shop. I am beginning to like these guys, they tuned my bike last week and did a good job. Finished off my bottle there, refilled with another 24 ounces.
• Got home about 20 minutes later, finished the water, ate second breakfast, scaled at 182 pounds, felt tired but didn't feel exhausted like I did last week.
• Took it easy for rest of the day, ate well (ate chocolate, too), spent some time in the hot tub, massaged my knee quite a bit, also used ice and hot wraps.
  

Problems

1. My right knee started bugging me shortly before I entered Boulder, it got to the point of feeling a sharp pain in it twice on the right leg push down. The dilemma was to finish the ride or call Nancy. I decided to finish the ride but I took it really easy on the knee.
   
2. So I was really using just 3/4 of my power stroke, I would push with my left while pulling up with my right, then pull up with my left and let the right leg glide down. I figured if I overload my left leg, I need to stop and call for a ride.
   
3. Well, it kind of went OK, even I had 3 ugly hills ahead of me, one of Hwy 93 coming out of Boulder and two more on Hwy 128.
   
4. It turned out this was a good experience since I also learned something about why do I have derailleurs and why I should use them climbing hills. I used to just push up the hill no matter what - and I think this has something to do with my knee pain. I would make the hill in reasonable time, but I would just be so freaking exhausted on top of it that it would take 1/2 hour to recover (I clocked my ticker in excess of 190 heart beats on more than one such occasion and I almost puked my guts out couple of times, too).
   
5. This time I would just take my time, realizing that this is not a time race anymore, this is about endurance and well, in this case, just finishing it without having to call for a ride. I would drop the gears to a comfortable level, keep my eye on the heartbeat and not let it go over 160. Well, before I knew it, the hill was over with and I wasn't exhausted, I would just glide over to the next one and tackle it, too.
   
6. Hmmm, I don't hate hills that much anymore.

The stats of the ride

1. Lap one - Westminster->Longmont->Boulder (Diagonal & Foothills), 33.11 miles, 1:45:47 at average speed 18.7 mph and 151 bpm (heart beats per minute). Just the way I like it.
2. Lap two - Boulder->Westminster, 24.9 miles, 2:05:52, 11.8 mph, 134 bpm - yeah, a bit slower. Well, you can't really zip through Boulder at 25 mph, then I had 3 ugly hills to climb with a crippled knee. However, now I think that next time I will not try to go any faster up the hills anyway.
3. Total: 58.02 miles, 3:51:53, avg speed of 15.0 mph, average bpm 142. I set my target heart beat zone to 140 - 185, time spent in it was 2:19:38. Not too bad. I think I need to set my zone to about 135 - 165 for optimal sustained burn. This will take some experimenting.

Things learned

1. Food and water matter
2. Derailleur is a good thing
3. I need endurance before I can aim for speed
4. I don't think I'll go running today.

The weekend warrior, part 1

Another week, another experiment. Or a few of ...

My normal jeans size has been 34 for a long time. At one time in 1993, I even had to buy a couple of pairs of 36's. I think last time I wore size 32 pants was in 1987. Well, I waltzed into Kohl's today and walked away with Levi's 550 comfort fit 32/32. And they do feel comfortable. Way cool.

I swam the full length (and then some) of the ironman swim today. Westminster pool is 25 yards, so 2.4 miles is somewhere around 167 pool lengths (83.5 laps). Well, somehow I got it mixed up in my head and thought it's 89 laps, rounded up to 90. First 45 laps took 00:48:01, the second 45 took 00:48:24, then I added another 10 for good measure at 00:10:55, for the total of 100 laps (2.84 miles) at 01:47:20 - I am pretty excited about this. Looks like I am averaging somewhere around a minute and five seconds per lap. All crawl, no more breast strokes. Way cool. A year ago I could swim 10 laps max in about 20 minutes and had to switch between breast and crawl every 2.5 laps otherwise I would not finish. And I would finish exhausted. Much more fun now.

My weight went up a bit, I now scale somewhere between 187 - 192. I think I am growing some muscle. I have not worked out too much this week. Rode to work 2 days, 2 nights of yogalates class (I love this stuff), full day off on Wednesday, swimming today. My body is shaping up.

My leg muscles were hanging loose - very nicely loose after last week's rolfing session. Now they seem to be bulging up again. Hmmm. However, I am still walking straight and better than ever before.

On the road to 175 lbs ...

So, I know I can sustain 185 (my scale) now. How do I offload the next 10 pounds?

Food intake
I think I am doing well on the food front. I eat before I workout, I eat after I workout, I supply my body with enough water - well, I can certainly improve on my water intake timing. I need to do some minor adjustments, like eating about a couple hundred calories per hour during 3 hour bike ride. I rode 58 miles yesterday (in 3:22) and I was pretty exhausted at the end.

Body harmony
Rolfing has a tremendos impact on my body, my mind and the relationship between those two. We're friends now, not enemies anymore. We reward each other with treats. I feed it, it feels good, I work it and it wants to give more. My body posture is changing because of rolfing, I feel straight and tall now. We have done 4 rolfing sessions up to date, we have 6 more to go.
Starting the yogalates class improves my flexibility and also has a great effect on my mental state. My right side is less flexible than my left. I need to correct it.

Exercise
I normally do something about six days a week, I go little heavier over the weekends. I hurt my ankle while walking, I have to be really careful. I didn't run or walk for at least two weeks now, all the exercise was on the bike, in the pool and yogalates. I feel my ankle to be back to normal, so I'll test it tomorrow. I am having the bike tuned up, so I'll walk home from the bike shop - it's about 3 miles. That should give me a good indication.
I think it would be desirable to do something different every day. The idea of doing ironman is still lurking in the back of my mind but it's one of those I am afraid to state out loud. However, I figured that biking to work a couple times a week and alternating between swimming and running/walking for the rest of the week should be a reasonable training. Good start would probably be if I could do 1/2 ironman in 3 consecutive days. Last weekend I biked 44 miles on Saturday, swam 50 laps Sunday morning. This weekend I biked 60 miles on Saturday and swam 60 laps on Sunday. It's the 13 miles run that I am pretty afraid of. I think I'll start with my small dose of 2.3 miles at work a couple times a week again. We'll see.

The basic plan

1. Eat well, no changes
2. Alternate biking, running, swimming, walking
3. Tone abs and obliques training on a ball
4. Take advantage of rolfing
   
5. Gain flexibility in yogalates class
6. Do not get hurt
   

Reality check

I set my goals on June 18th. It's 3 weeks later, how am I doing?

1. Weight - I frequently scale in the 185 range. Not too bad. I even scaled at 182 yesterday right after the bike ride but that doesn't count since I was pretty dehydrated.
   
2. Food - I did notice I slack off a bit here and there, but overall not too bad. I need to learn how to eat while exercising. I eat well, focusing on quality instead of quantity now. I don't really crave junk foods or sugars. Treat myself with chocolate (organic, of course) or glass of wine once in a while. NOT right after I excersize - I did learn something.
   
3. My body is gaining a definition, I move with a purpose now. I think rolfing is a major player here.
4. I have to be very careful not to get hurt - the ankle episode was rather discouraging.
5. Overall I am doing very well on the physical side. I think I am on track for my short and long term goals.
   

Rolfing

Session #4. I got rolfed again yesterday.

1. I'll start with my usual warning: If you ever want to get rolfed and get an impartial, genuine experience, do not read this (read my first 2 rolfing sessions writeups instead). It's not because it would be scary, but I am talking about my experiences here so if you do keep reading, you will condition yourself to expect something similar and your mind will build a response to before you have a chance to try it yourself. In any case I love rolfing and I do recommend it after my experiences.
   
2. Ashlane made me walk first and did her usual 'hmmm, hm, oh, hmmm, ...' type of a stuff (although not necessarily loud).
3. She worked my feet a little and then went deep into my inner legs. In the past I wondered how could she possible go any deeper (I think that was after the second session). She seems to be pretty good at finding a way.
4. The trick is to relax, as usual. A couple of times I just stopped and focused on enjoying the feeling. It's kind of cool when you can relax because someone is jamming their elbow ('the blade' seems to be the official rolfer's term) into your legs. Notice I said 'because' and I meant it. Good mental exercise.
   
5. I am also beginning to notice a trend here. We work on the torso in one session, legs in the next one, then upper body again, then legs ...
6. She wanted me to walk back and forth in the halftime when she was done with my left leg. It felt really heavy and I was a bit off balance.
7. Then she did the other leg and I regained my balance, although both legs felt pretty heavy.
8. Didn't have any jitters or shakes this time.
9. Although she went deeper than ever before - yet one more time, no bruises.
10. I rode my big bike (motorcycle) this time and I started questioning my choice of vehicles. I thought it's probably not a good idea to be a bit unstable and ride a bike. To my surprise, my legs just wrapped around the bike and I had a very good feeling of being in touch with the bike on my way back. Interesting. If I didn't know any better I'd have said that I have became one with the bike. I could feel the machine responses through my legs. Cool. BTW, if you don't know much about bikeriding, this is the bikers nirvana - you feel it talking to you through your body.
    
11. For the remainder of the day my legs felt burning. Like the burn you get after a good workout.
12. I noticed my kidneys filtered a bunch of crud out of my body. There seems to have been a lot of stuff flushed out of my legs.
13. I went to my yogalates class last night and noticed that my left side is more flexible than the right side. I can stretch further to the left.
14. I also noticed that I could see the definition of my muscles on my left leg. This was really cool - I could clearly see the dividing line between my muscles. Obviously there is some kind of a long triangular muscle there that I have not seen before. Cool.
    
15. During the yoga stretches, sitting on the mat with my feet resting, my knees at 90 degrees, I noticed that my leg muscles (both upper and lower leg) felt like they were suspended in a bag, just hanging down. This was really cool.
16. I woke up in the morning and went to the hottub as I have been doing lately. My legs felt quite tender and tired like after a heavy workout. The idea was to go swimming but then I decided to just stay in the hottub (for almost 1 1/2 hours, I started at about 5:15 am) and screw the swimming. I think it was a good call. Took a day off from exercise today.
    
17. Ashlane did some movement around my hurt ankle and I think it helped it quite a bit, too. I didn't feel any pain at the yoga class while stretching it (it did feel sore on Tuesday).
18. Ashlane corrected my walking and posture. I practiced it today, it makes me and my legs feel better. I started thinking of my legs as starting at my hips and I started to use my hips more while I walk. It feels like I can stretch them better when I walk and it seems like I can utilize all their strength. I promised I will not practice by walking 7 miles to work like this. An easy and slow transition is probably more desirable and longer lasting.
    

So I have to say one more time - thanks, this is really cool, I love going through this. It seems to be really helping my understanding and appreciation of my body. Excellent experience.

Yet another entry

Well, it's been a while. So far so good, well, almost. Major events and observations during the last 10 days or so:

1. I occasionally scale at about 186, normally I am around 189 - 191. Not too bad, pretty happy about it.
2. I have slept without a pillow for at least past 2 weeks. I think it forces me to sleep on my back and sides instead of my stomach. I am happy about that too.
3. My right ankle still bothers me. I am not happy about that. The bad news is that it hurts when I walk or run. The good news is that it doesn't hurt when I ride a bike or swim. So I ride a bike and swim. I rode the bike to Longmont on Saturday and back (44 miles), and I swam a mile Sunday morning. Still feel just fine. Took a day off today.
4. The other good news is that my infrared massager seems to help quite a bit. Need to totally lay off of it for at least a week. Which is hard to do, I do have to walk once in a while.
   
5. I had a few food slips but overall not too bad. There was the episode at a Chinese place in Louisville on Thursday, when my coworker ordered way too much food (family style lunch). Well, I know it doesn't make it much better, but I didn't have dinner that day.
6. Yeah, trip to Harry and David's and buying a bag of chocolate truffels didn't help much either.
7. On the other hand, my veggie intake has been pretty steady, likely increasing a bit. I make an effort to eat either meat and vegetables, or pasta (breads, rice, potatoes) with vegetables, but not pasta or bread with meats. Basically, either eat protein with veggies or carbos with veggies but avoid having both protein and carbos in the same meal. Slight change in my diet, I do think it makes sense. My wacky guy's guide to a healthier body claims that the typical American way of eating is about as bad as it gets. You're not supposed to eat meat and potatoes, hamburger is the pinnacle of atrocious foods. If you do have to have rice and meat, just eat a couple of tablespoons of it, for crying out loud, not a freaking casserol.
   
8. I feel taller. Got to measure myself.
9. I am getting addicted to the scale. This starts to feel like a race between me and me. Can I really do it? I have friends I have not seen for a couple of months looking at me and saying: "What the hell did you do - you look great". Yes they do say it and I am not afraid to write it here. Makes me feel accomplished about what I did in past 6 weeks.
10. My shorts are falling off of me. Literally, I am losing my shorts. What a freaking wonderful feeling. A few more weeks like this and I'll be seriously looking at purchasing a size 32 jeans. I think last time I was able to fit into 32's was probably in 1987. I know there was a time I had to buy me 36's in about 1994. Serious blow to the ego, but obviously didn't learn at that time.
11. The other cool thing is that I don't think I have bulked up any. I do a lot more exercise than I did 2 months ago, I feel more energetic, but I don't think I have gained a whole lot of muscle. Maybe on my legs a little.
12. I am starting a Yogalates class tomorrow. I test drove it last Tuesday, signed up for the class. I want to gain flexibility.
13. I did some thinking about the cholesterol question. I think I have been doing reasonably well with my food (even before I started this blog), but the cholesterol doesn't seem to be moving. Hmmm, is it possible that my body knows something that our fabulous medical researchers don't? It seems like since I am depriving it of cholesterol, my body just makes some more. What if my body just wants to have it at that level and doesn't really give a crap about what I (or the medical professionals) think about it? How big of a surprise would that be? I decided I will keep going the way I am going and we'll see at the end of October/November when I go for my regular checkup. I am still very determined not to take any !@#$% cholesterol pill. While hate is not a family value, I do hate our drug industry (should I say drug pushers) with a passion.
14. My body and I are best friends now. We get along very well - other than my stupidity with the right ankle. I normally give it what it asks for and it talks to me in return. It's a two way street and it's so easy to listen to it. How could I have been so deaf for the past 44 years? Such an amazing machinery and I just totally ignored it. Well, those times are over. Only if I could straighten my mind now - well, I am working on it.
15. Working out is not a chore now, not something I have to do, it's something I kind of look forward to. How cool would it be if I could run a marathon one day? How about the Ironman? Wow. Setting my sights too high? I don't think so, it's never too late.
    

What's new on Saturday

Went to Wild Oats today to have my cholesterol, blood pressure and couple of other things checked at a portable lab they had setup there. They use a blood sample from pricking my finger, which may not be as representative as the flask they normally suck out of my arm at my regular doctor. The portable lab is probably not as accurate as the lab my doctor uses but I figured it's probably good enough to get some baseline numbers.

Overall the ticker (heart) seem to be running pretty good, they actually clocked me at 57 bpm resting rate, which is better than I ever clocked myself. I scored well on the blood pressure, but the total cholesterol is still kind of high. LDL is higher than I'd like (borderline), HDL is also high (better than average) so the ratio is actually pretty good. Tryglycerides level is excellent. I also got 'Framingham risk analysis' with the result of having 4% risk of coronary problems in next 10 years. That sounds pretty good, we'll see what happens when I visit my regular doctor in October.

Learned the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber:

1. Soluble fiber (oat bran) forms a gel when mixed with liquids and binds to bile acids, therefore prompting liver to produce some more. The major ingredient in the bile acid recipe seems to be cholesterol, therefore soluble fiber helps with removing cholesterol from your body.
2. Insoluble fiber (wheat bran) forms a sponge when mixed with liquids and acts largely as a scrubbing brush, seems to be beneficial in prevention of colon cancer, hemorrhoids and basically keeps your digestive track in balance.
3. Both fibers pass through the body largely undigested.

My right ankle didn't feel like a rusty hinge anymore, so I went to Boulder to Fleet Feet and got a pair of good running/walking shoes. Went for a 2.5 mile run/walk. Not too bad but as soon as I came back, I iced it and then soaked myself in the hottub. Hmmm, it starts feeling like the rusty hinge again. The shoes feel really good. Will I ever learn?

Rolfing

Session #3

1. I'll start with a warning: If you ever want to get rolfed and get the impartial, genuine experience, do not read this (read my first 2 rolfing sessions writeups). It's not because it would be scary, but I am talking about my experiences here so if you do keep reading, you will condition yourself to expect something similar and your mind will pre-build a response to it before you have a chance to feel it yourself.
2. You have been warned and you're still here. Fine, read on.
   
3. We definitely took better pictures than last time. We used a tripod this time and aimed the camera at little below my waist and tried to get the right angles really right. We have pictures from before the session, in the middle (after my right side was done) and after the session. I am still not posting them here - you'll have to wait until I scale at or below 175.
   
4. Session #3 is concerned with the sides of my body. Ashlane started working with my right hip and I did feel the heat there. Literally. She was right about at the limits of what I can handle as far as the pressure goes. Just about perfect.
   
5. Then she moved really slowly up to my obliques and up to my arm and moved to my back later on. Repeat on the other side.
   
6. I really enjoy the slow, meticulous, determined movement. Have you ever seen Andrei Agassi walk on the tennis court? He walks with determination and a purpose. He means to make that every step. That's what I would compare rolfers movement to. Very deliberate, patient, every move has a reason.
   
7. There was a time I stopped talking in the middle of a sentence - talking is optional, not always desired, I tend to exercise my right to free speech unless asked to shut up and breathe. Ashlane asked me what's wrong. Nothing was wrong, I was just savoring the moment, it felt so good.
8. She has never even touched my legs and they started shivering and shaking towards the end of the session.
   
9. This time I didn't do any reading beforehand (hence my warning above), I did know it's going to be on the sides of my body, I didn't know what to expect.
10. Physically, this session was a bit more intense than the previous one, I felt more pressure, more heat. That may not be too surprising when you consider you have someone's elbow melting the tissue right below your skin and right on top of your hips or ribs. Not too many places the tissue can escape to and there is not much muscle cushion there either.
    
11. On the other hand, when she did move over to the more masculine parts (no bones underneath, on my sides), these muscles felt like a flexible canvas she was painting on.
12. Couple of times I wasn't quite sure whether I should resist or let go when she dug into my back. I felt like if I give in, she'll push me off the table. Well, she didn't, she was nice :).
    
13. I have a couple of tender spots on my hips, considering this is a pretty tough area, it shouldn't come as a surprise.
14. Very good experience one more time. I didn't feel nearly as wired as the last time. I felt much more mellow, didn't have any equilibrium problems.
15. I like to stretch in the morning when I am still in bed. I felt like stretching after this session. I laid on the table and felt like I can reach both sides of the room with my extremities if I wanted to. My upper body feels taller and stronger, I don't feel any different in my lower body, my feet are firm on the ground, standing very upright, I would say. I kind of feel like a stretched rubber band in a slingshot, begging to be released. I guess that could indicate power and strength.
    
16. I talked to my friend at work yesterday and we stumbled on the subject of yoga. I asked Ashlane about yoga and she is of the opinion that it's likely to be very beneficial to me. Got to find a place to go to. I think it would be a good thing to do. I am very inflexible.
17. Nighty, night, I'll probably do an update in the morning or sometime tomorrow.
    

Other comments:
Nothing to do with rolfing, but since I stopped writing down the food, I just have to mention this here. Had lunch in all you can eat pizza place. Yup, one of those shops of horror. Had 1 slice with ham and pineapple, one slice with pesto and 2 plates of salad with no dressing. It was still a relatively painful experience, looking at all those pies there, just begging to be eaten. Although I felt like a reformed alcoholic in a liquor store, I resisted. I am winning this game!


My ankle is still swollen a bit, I am still laying off (well, today was a rolfing day and I don't work out on rolfing days anyway). I will go at least walking on Friday, maybe running. Maybe I should go swimming in the morning - hmmm, what an idea!

Update on Thursday 6/23/05:
Didn't go swimming. Came to work today and my friend, coworker and running buddy S. said: "You're grinning and you look taller. Did you get rolfed again?" I could not compliment Ashlane any better.

I'll add that although she was pretty brutal (in a nicest possible way) and applied a lot of pressure to my hipbone area (I think it's called suprailliac) which is still somewhat tender, there are no bruises. Very impressive.

I feel good, walk with my head up, look people straight in the eyes. Cool beans.

Westminster rec center offers a three week yoga classes. I'll see if I can get in. Probably a reasonable place to get acquainted with yoga.

Update on Saturday 6/25/05:
Finally, a couple of bruises showed up on my hips last night (Friday). Both were about the size of a quarter. Ashlane applied plenty of pressure there - yes, she did ask and I said I was fine. It took two days for them to show up. Actually, they are almost gone by now (Saturday evening). Still pretty impressive.

I'll go to sample 'Yogalates' class on Tuesday evening. Combination of Yoga and Pilates offered by Westminster recreation center. New class starts on July 5th, I'll probably sign up for it.

Status

Breakfast: morning mush
Lunch: had a green chili burrito at La Casita de Durango. A really good, local 'hole in the wall' (no offence folks, you have a great place) type Mexican restaurant. Also had some chips & salsa of course and as an added bonus, pickled pork skins.
Snacks: had a small piece of chocolate cake, about 2x2x2 inches, about a cup of trail mix
Dinner: cup of potato pork leak soup, 1 toast, 1 sausage, load (about 4 cups uncooked) of sauteed spinach.
Fluids: my daily gallon, glass of wine.

Exercise: none - laying low with my right ankle. I have been icing/heating it up, it seems to be a bit better than yesterday, I wasn't gonna do any exercise tomorrow anyway (no workouts on rolfing days), we'll see what it feels like on Thursday.

Comments: it has been a month. Wow. I scaled at 191.8 today in the morning at my regular time (after a cup of coffee and regularly scheduled trip to the bathroom). Not too bad. I will definitely post on rolfing either tomorrow or Thursday. I am thinking about moving the rolfing to a new, separate blog, don't know yet, we'll see how much of other stuff I'll be blogging from now on.

This has been an experience I will never forget. This blog has kept me honest with myself and I am very confident I have broken my overeating habit. Sure, the cravings still come, but I have means of controlling them now. Kind of like with smoking.

I am definitely much more in touch with my body, mind and spirit than I was a month ago. I will have my cholesterol tested this Saturday, I am really curious whether my morning mush combined with generally better eating habits and weight control had any effects.

I am losing my shorts and this time it's not during a poker game. I really mean it. Would it be possible for me to go back to size 32? Hell yes, I know it's possible, it may take another month, but it's doable. I want to go to Chatfield or Cherry Creek reservoir at the end of the summer, put on my Speedo (I do wear them anyway, I am a European) and have the guys be pissed at me because their girlfriends are staring at me instead of them (well, they stared before, too, but that was because they couldn't take their eyes off of a chunky boy in body clinging swimsuit). Hmmm, we're talking about a serious ego trip here, aren't we? Eh, no, not really, I really don't care whether the chicks eyeball me or not. It's a nice thought, though, everyone likes to be liked :). I prefer for people to like me for my mind :).

Seriously now, I am much more appreciative of my well being - physical, mental and spiritual. That's kind of very important to me now. OK, enough rambling. The goals don't matter, it's all about the journey, master would say (and I dare to disagree). It's been a great, joyful trip. I'll make sure I heal so I can continue.

Status

Breakfast: mush
Lunch: my pork feet gello - low fat, pure protein, 2 small toasts, 1/2 onion, vinegar
Snacks: 1/2 cup of carrots, handful of trail mix
Dinner: 3 chicken drumsticks, 2 cups of broccoli salad, orange later on and handful of trail mix
Fluids: gallon +, no alcohol
Exercise: 2 hours table tennis, ran 2 laps:
Lap 1: 2.23 miles at 4.8 mph in 0:27:47, 136 average bpm (beats per minute)
Lap 2: 2.30 miles at 6.8 mph in 0:20:09, 175 average bpm (hit 191 once for about 5 seconds)


Comments: I can get my heart to go up to 150 bpm playing table tennis. Interesting. Morning scale: 192.0

OK, I am officially hurt. My right ankle is swollen. I need to lay off for a few days. This is a major bummer.

Status

It's Monday already, I am backposting (just like Saturday).

Breakfast: mush
Lunch: toast and herring
Snacks: orange, 2 bananas, handful of nuts
Dinner: Oh yes, party at my friends V & A. Get a load of this:
various chips and guacamole, cheese cubes and baby sausages as snacks
2 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup rice and vegetables
1 cup broccoli salad
3 egg sausage pastries
3 glasses of red wine
1 shot of port wine

Yup, pretty hefty, but overall it was not too much. I could have eaten a bit less, but I decided that today was my day off from being good. And that is, I decided this before I had any wine. I am OK with it.

Exercise: played table tennis for about 2 hours, not too bad
Fluids: other then the wine, had my gallon of water, actually a bit more.

Comments:
pretty relaxed day, didn't work too hard, my right foot hurts a bit, I am thinking about running to work tomorrow morning but it will likely not happen.
Scale: 192.6

Status

It's really Monday night now, so I am backposting this (and Sunday) with fake dates. I did keep track.

Breakfast: mush
Lunch: potato latke (it's actually some sort of corn cake, relatively greasy), half a cup of sobe noodles
Snacks: banana, toast with herring
Dinner: 2 small steaks, yellow gold potato, bowl of spinach salad with olive oil and vinegar
Fluids: gallon of water +, glass of wine, chamomile tea
Exercise: woke up in the morning and decided I need to earn the food I eat. So Nancy and I walked to Wild Oats on 96th and Sheridan. At around noon. Very hot. Bought the food, dropped of Nancy at Barnes & Nobles and walk/ran home to get the car. Totals:
Walk 4.17 miles in 1:10:00 at average speed of 3.5 mph, average heartbeat (bpm = heart beats per minute) at 104
Walk/run 4.0 miles in 0:46:39 at 5.1 mph, 148 bpm.


Commentary:
The walk/run was interesting. Thanks to my new toy, I would just run until I reached about 160 bpm then start walking and let it drop to 135 and then run again. This way I can comfortably do 4 miles and still get a decent average.

I think I need to lay off walking for a few days, had to ice my feet. This business of walking kind of hurts - I think I am using muscles I have not used before. We'll see.

Scale: 194.6