Week 7: Strength and Stretching

Today was a much needed off day. Have you ever pushed yourself to the point where you KNOW just a little more and you would have hurt yourself rather than just push yourself? Yesterday was that day for me. Today I took advantage of the break from running to get in a couple good stretches and lots of water. Come Marathon day I'll regret not doing more strength training, but such is life. My path is my own, but it will still lead to Ironman. That makes it all worth while.

Today I had some fruit and nuts for breakfast. Lunch was ham biscuits and green tea. Dinner is still pending. Since this blog is all about marking my words, I'll go ahead and document it here that starting this week, on strength and rest days I will balance out my diet and give myself a chance to recover. Looking back it seems like the Tuesday/Wednesday runs are always struggles followed by solid meals and a strong finish to the week. My guess is that this is the result of my diet kicking my butt. I'll fix that in the coming weeks and see what happens.

All in all a great day. I have an amazing wife, a great job, a great business, inspirational friends, and a big, big dream to chase. I'm blessed to be a blessing. Hope to see you all very soon.

Week 8: Long Run

Today was the long run. Once again I got lost running in Baton Rouge. What started out as a 50 minute run would up being a 67 minute run on soft, soggy grass. My legs were a bit lethargic, but they loosened up about 40 minutes in and I finished the last 25 minutes or so faster than the first 40. Afterwards I had a Simply Nutrilite Joint Health Twist Tube, a banana and a bowl of asian rice. Later that night for dinner I had a pizza from cici's and a 32oz glass of XS Electric Leomanade Blast. Not the best nutritional plan, but I think I'll live. I should sleep well tonight.

Week 8: Cross Training

Friday night we left Richmond, drove through Atlanta and arrived in Baton Rouge Saturday afternoon in time to sleep!! No run today I was completely spent from the drive. These road trips are completely exhausting.

Week 8: Strength and Mid-Distance

Merry Christmas!! Today was a longer run. I went out for right at 42 minutes. The course was an out and back from my dad's house to the Food Lion down the street. Total distance was right at 4 miles with a nasty hill at each end of the route. By the end of this run I was full up on my hill work for the week and my legs felt like burger. I finished strong up the hill to my dad's house, but afterwards I was spent.

Immediately after the run I had a Simply Nutrilite Joint Health Twist Tube and a 4 hour nap. For dinner we had prime rib, potato casserole, green beans with ham hocks, white house rolls (man I ate a lot of these while we were there) and an XS Gold Energy Drink. For dessert we had chocolate cheesecake squares, some ice cream and pecan pie. Yes, I know I abused the sweets, but they were sooooooooo good!

Tonight I slept HARD!!

Week 8: Mid-Week Run

Today was a recovery day. After the hill work yesterday, I was still riding an adrenaline high about the change in scenery. Today was a light run up and back twice just to flush the legs. In hind sight, I probably should have found some flat ground to run on, but I wanted to make the most of the terrain while I was in town.

Afterwards I ate some ham and white house rolls, an XS Gold Energy Drink, Simply Nutrilite Sport Twist Tube, and took a nap. What a great Christmas Eve!!

On a side note, I probably walked another 2 miles that night running around with Shell looking at the last minute sales at the mall...this is why we shop online!!!

Week 8: Mid Distance

Today I woke up in Virginia...not really. I woke up somewhere in Georgia and wound up in Richmond by 8pm. It was cold...very cold due to a cold front passing through from the previous weekend. Today's run started out as a short one - 10 to 15 minutes - just to flush out the legs from the 17 hour drive, but ended up turning into a great 45 minute hill session. You'd have to see the route I took to understand how I could spontaneously stretch my run out 4x longer than expected.

The road to my dad's house has a 3 tiered hill leading from the beginning to the end of the street. Each round trip lap takes me about 11:30 to complete. I did 4 laps. That was a bit longer than the workout called for, but the course by my house in Austin doesn't have many hills and I was long overdue for a little hill work.

The hills never feel good while you're running, but once you're done, boy do they feel great. After the first climb, I didn't even notice the temperature. Between my trusty yellow wind breaker and the sweats I borrowed from my dad, I was able to carry a nice sweat.

After the run, I had about a pound of pot roast and white house rolls. Did I mention my family are, across the board, hands down awesome cooks!! I washed it all down with a Tropical Punch XS Energy Drink, a joint health twist tube, and a couple glasses of water.

That night I slept well, knowing I'd earned the rest.

Week 9: Long Distance

Today was a 5 mile run. I ended up getting lost...again :-) and putting in just over 55 minutes. I felt good but not too strong. All in all it was a great day. Afterwards I had some chicken and a joint health twist tube. Sleep was non-existant, but vacation starts today, so it's all good.

Week 9: Strength and Mid-Distance

Today was gorgeous. Where else in the world is it sunny and 71 degrees the week before Christmas!! Getting motivated to run was really easy today. I went out for a 36 minute run without a real firm decision about where I was going to go. A few minutes from the house I found a new neighborhood and proceeded to get lost :-). God is good, though. I managed to find my way back and only run about a minute longer than planned. Everything works out when I have patience and act in faith.

My legs were a bit sluggish, but I felt great the whole time. After about 20 minutes I noticed that I wasn't breathing hard and tried to pick up the pace. My legs didn't really respond. I felt good, mind you, my legs just wouldn't go any faster. When I got back I had a bowl of Activa vanilla yogurt with a Blueberry Antioxidant Nutrilite Twist Tube mixed in and a Lemon Nutrilite Meal Bar for some protein.

I didn't get a ton of sleep last night, so after I got out of the shower, I took an hour nap. That was the best decision I've made in weeks. As soon as I woke up, Shell surprised me with an awesome home cooked dinner. She baked Tilapia with a green bean, olive and french fried onion topping. It came out all pretty and smelling good and tasting good. I was blown away. What a great wife. What a great cook. She also made a greek potato salad to go with it.

They say men are simple. We only need three things to keep us strong at home. They call them the three S's: Supper, Sleep, and...you can figure out the other one. I pray everyone has a wife like Shell. She's always finding more and more ways to keep me strong every day so I can go out and fight for her and our future.

Praise God for the gift of today. I made it a good one.

Week 9: Mid-Week Run

I missed yesterday's run due to a 30 degree temperature swing. I need to get a gym membership... Today I went a little longer than scheduled. I did 4x5minute intervals and then a 20 minute run to finish up. Afterwards, I stretched, drank down a joint health strawberry smoothie with protein and headed off to karoke night at celebration church.

The run felt good. It was cold outside. I was in long shorts with a tshirt, long sleeve tshirt, and a running vest I got from SC08. Talk about a key pickup. That vest kept me toasty the entire time. I can't remember the last time I ran in weather like that and didn't feel my lungs freezing midway through. I'm definitely going to keep wearing that on cold days like today.

During intervals 2 and 4 I felt really strong. During intervals 1 and 3 I was loosening up. The long run ended too quickly. I could have run for another 2-3 miles no problem. That being said, my lower back is a bit stiff and I've been stretching throughout the evening. I'll be fine tomorrow, but for now I'm sore. It was a great day. It was a great run. God's blessing keep finding Shell and I everywhere we go. This is our platinum year. giddy-up.

Week 9: Strength and Stretching

I got in a couple good stretches yesterday. Overall I felt good. I managed to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which I think made a big difference. I also was caught up on sleep from the weekend. It's amazing how the body responds when you take care of it. As a side note, Blueberry Meal Replacement Bars are my favorite breakfast food in the world next to the Breakfast Sampler at IHOP. They balance me out. They're simple. They're tasty. They're priced right, and did I mention they're tasty? :-) It's going to be a great week!!

Week 10: Long Run

Today's run hurt. I accidentally turned off my stop watch about 4 minutes in and didn't notice again until about 20 minutes later. I suppose I should have noticed by the scenery, but I was just caught up in the run. On the way back, about 2 miles out, I could feel my butt flex on every stride. I've found from experience that when you can feel your muscles start to strain during the workout, it's a bad thing. Terrible soreness awaits the next day; mostly in anticipation of the real pain that comes two days later.

About half a mile from the house, my lungs started to burn. My body wanted to slack off and slow down. I could feel nausea beginning to swell up in my gut. I had pushed myself right up to the edge of comfort and my existing fitness threshold. That's when I started sprinting the rest of the way home. It hurt. A lot. My lungs burned. My back ached. My butt and hammy's throbbed. Now, 3 hours later, sitting in my living room, the pain of the run has passed but my self-respect is still there, perhaps stronger than before.

The journey from fatty to finish line is filled with opportunities for little victories like today. Anyone can claim them and make them their own if they're willing to test themselves one more time.

Sleep: a ton.

Food: balanced lunch before. xs sports drink during. small bowl of turkey spaghetti after. I also discovered a great recipe for a fresh fruit slushie:

Strawberry Fresh Fruit Slushie

1 cup frozen strawberries (thawed)

1 can 7up

1 simply nutrilite sports twist tube

1.5 cups ice

Blend the strawberries and ice first. add 7up and twist tube and blend on low until mixed. Pour and enjoy!!

Week 10: Mid Distance

This week has been insane. The temperature dropped into the 30's and it snowed in Austin. Baton Rouge got over 5 inches of snow and all along I'm bundled up manning the ship. I need to get a gym membership and get my butt out of bed early before I kill someone. I need to get out and run!!!

I got some sleep, cooked breakfast, had lunch, and am generally well hydrated. It came to pass but it will not last.

Week 10: Strength and Stretching

I should have taken it easier yesterday. Today my lower back was incredibly tender. I didn't do any lifting. I did do some stretching. I had a great dinner of spaghetti and m$m's. I was running on about 1 hr of sleep all day, so the little pink elephants were not the most conducive thing to my recovery.

Week 11: Long Run

Today was the long run of hte week. I went out for 30 minutes, circling around the neighborhood, then through the park, finally ending back up at the house for a total of about 50 minutes. This was a bit longer than the workout called for, but I felt good and my mileage was down having skipped yesterday's workout. I finished with 100 crunches and some stretching. I really enjoyed the workout.

Diet was horrible. Ambrosia Bakery grand opening. Late night coffee and fries. Chicken sandwich at 3am...yikes. No sleep tonight. Catch up tomorrow.

Week 11: Skipped

I was in BRLA today and didn't get a chance to get in a pace run. Lack of sleep is catching up with me. I did walk about 3 miles, though, so I guess that's better than nothing. I'm feeling strong. Can't wait until tomorrow's long run.

Week 11: Off Day

I did NOTHING today but walk around and look pretty. I felt a little tight, but strong and confident after yesterday's run.

Week 11: Mid-distance

Today was a long day!! Shell and I went to the "Get Motivated" conference during the day then hosted at our informational class in the evening and finished the day grabbing dinner with some friend. I love days like this when my days run into night and I have the opportunity to keep my commitment to train or take the easy way out. These are the choices winners and losers remember as the buzzer sounds, the tape breaks, and the last out is made. This is the price of success.

My run started at 1:30am. I went out about 15 minutes, then picked up the pace on the way back, cutting over a minute off the return trip. To make up the time I threw in a quick loop to the park and back. The sky was clear. The air was warm and humid. I felt fresh and strong. Afterwards I walked to the end of the street and back, stretched my legs and put down an immunity twist tube. No post-run meal since I had breakfast (Rudy-Tooty Fresh and Fruity at IHOP) right before. Great, great run!!!

Character isn't a big decision, it's 1000 small decisions a day. Tonight I kept my commitment despite how I felt. Tonight I earned my own self-respect one more time. What a great way to end the night.

Week 11: Strength and Recovery

Today was a quick flushing workout. I did a full body stretch and some abs. I also went for a walk. It was a long night, and we need to be up by 6am tomorrow to hear Colon Powell, Susan Orr, Rudy Guliani, etc. speak at a conference downtown starting at 8. I'm looking forward to the run tomorrow. I feel strong.

Today Shell surprised me with Sushi and a fruit tart for dinner. I had a blueberry meal replacement bar for breakfast. No lunch. Still working on the diet.