Today is a Good Day!

Things are starting to come together, on a Saturday, Yes a Saturday I woke up at 6:20 am without an alarm while my wife was still asleep to get out on a bike to peddle for 17 miles with no destination but to end up home again. I did not set an appointment with someone so I would have to keep my word and be on time, I just did it? Anyone that knows me knows first off this at one time this was the time of the morning I would return home from the night before and that I enjoy my sleep time so this hours are not a norm for me. I know for sure that I will never be one of those old men that are up at the crack of dawn to tinker around the house and read the paper but the thought of this does scare me a little.

I have had more energy lately, between my fitness program and my nutrition plan I am finding it easier to maintain a level of comfort each day and do not find myself feeling worn out or my mind wondering in the middle of the day. I have increased my training some with the addition of Asylum and backing off slightly, less days, with my running, swimming and biking. I increased the distances and try to stay within a percentage of my heart rate (zone training) and this is working for me.

Eating Primal 80-85% of the time really has helped me achieve this, I do not get hungry almost ever. In fact I have had days where I have experimented with intermittent fasting and it seems to kick start my metabolism. There was a time where my body used to go into starvation mode if I was not constantly feeding it and would store fat. The strange thing is, and I can’t figure out why this is happening, I am continuing to drop inches but not weight. In fact I gain and lose weight like a roller coaster, I can feel that I am stronger but I am not yet seeing the decline in weight I would like to see.

Most importantly I am enjoying everything about what I am doing right now and want to ride this wave in the hope of all things coming together. With that said I am going to reward myself a little today as my wife and a few friends head out to a local Beer Festival. It looks like it's going to a beautiful day so get out and do something. 

Lift Your Head 4 Air

This morning I headed out on another 10 mile bike ride this distance is getting easy for me so it’s time to jump the plan a little and expand the distance. I am glad it’s easy because the first few races I plan on doing are 12.5 bike portions so the easier the better off I am before I fail in my runs…Hard!

I am trying to stick with the Zone 2 training plan I started with and I sometimes find it hard to remain patient and go easy without pushing myself too hard. The Garmin is great for my cycling training and it is really motivating me to get up early each day and get out there to chew up the road.

I enjoy swimming, always have and I am learning a few things about myself and my swim stroke each day that I do my swim training. Yesterday for the first time in my life I swallowed a big gulp of water in mid stroke as I came up for a breath, seriously I have never done this before, and Oh My God! That is horrible. I thought I was going to throw up right in the pool, and it hurt too! My arms were fatiguing and I guess I did not get up high enough to catch air and you can guess the rest of the story there. I will never let that happen again.

I can’t seem to get the Garmin to record my laps successfully yet in the pool and this is starting to annoy me. I have read the booklet over a few times and I can’t seem to figure out what it is I am missing. I guess I will need to start wearing a swim cap and put the watch under my cap on my head to get a more accurate reading because it looks like a big zig-zag some kid drew on my map when I am finished when it’s on my wrist. I swam yesterday morning and then again tonight and my time is improving and my breathing is stronger and I can feel my heart rate is coming down. (Heart Rate Monitors don’t work in the water) at least mine does not unless I am missing that too?

Last is the run, last in my heart and last in the race. I wish I could finish with any one of the other two this way I would have something to look forward during the run portion on race day, instead I will just look forward to not having to run anymore and making it to the end of the course. I have not really yet had to push myself in my run training so I guess I should not complain so much this early in the program but I am just not ever going to be excited about running. 

Core Training, Making Improvements and Increasing Performance

You may think of the core as isolated abdominal muscles such as the familiar transverse abdominals, oblique’s, and anterior abs. In fact, your core is the ENTIRE trunk from your hips and pelvis to your neck and cervical spine. Its purpose is to be your body’s foundation for all of your sport movements. The purpose of this foundation (your core) is to STOP or control motion, not create it.

In fact, the definition of stability in athletics is to stop or control motion in the presence of motion somewhere else in the body such as in the swinging arms and legs of a runner. The true goal of core development is to create STABILITY, which is central for superior athletic performance, protection from injury, and overall good health. The pelvis and the lumbar spine, in particular, must be rock solid.