Back to the diet -

Wow – It has been a little while. I guess that I am experiencing a little but of the post-ironman blues. Fall is not my thing anyway and I guess coming off of a high – well, I have been having fun exercising but fun without direction. I need the structure.

Anyway, last Wednesday the storms moved in and the STADIUMS had to be relocated. We went and did the coliseum – the basketball courts. This is still a challenging workout but it is not the STADIUMS. For one thing – it is air conditioned. Another is that at full speed it only takes about 8 seconds to reach the top. The first two climbs we used to figure out the rest intervals. They went from a 1:15 RI to 1:00 total for the working set with the rest. Then we started to alternate between doing double steps and single steps. Some people like the singles some people liked the doubles. The singles took about 5 or 6 seconds longer going up. It was a good compromise to alternate them. Total up and down for the singles took about 31 seconds while the doubles took about 25 seconds. I pushed the pace to set benchmarks and I was about to get the singles down to 27 seconds and the doubles down to 22 seconds. The intensity was still high but the shorter working sets made the session much easier. We ended up doing 40 repeats. It was a good workout.

I have kept up with the P90X for two whole weeks now. I have altered the plan to fir my multi-sport lifestyle. I am really only doing the DVD’s 4 times a week and I have not done all of the sessions. I did the Kenpo (TYBO thing) only once and I have not done the yoga-X session at all. The DVD’s that I have done are the Chest & Back, Plyometrics, Legs & Back and Shoulders & Arms. I believe that each of these DVD’s are really good. I feel spent when I complete them but I will have to wait and see about results. I am going to keep up with this altered version of the P90X program.

With the weather turning cool again I had to pull out my arm skins for the Sunday group ride. I should have also pulled out leg skins and maybe even my shoe covers. I only rode 30 miles but my feet were cold the entire ride. This cold front came over night and again I was not able to acclimate quickly enough. These 50 – 60 degree afternoons will just fine in about a week (actually in about it week the temps will probably be back in the 80’s again).

Now onto the diet. For about a week and a half after I completed Ironman Louisville I actually lost weight while exercising less and eating more. This is no longer the case. My weight has crept up this past month and I am at an uncomfortable level right now. I have said this for years but it is really easy for me to follow a plan but I have never created a real eating / diet plan. I am going to do this right now. I am eating the same meals over and over without any problems but I am an opportunistic eater. I can’t go to all you can eat type restaurants or holiday get togethers and stay on track. I always over indulge. This was very evident this past weekend. I went to essentially 3 of these type events – 3 outdoor BBQ outings. There was really good (bad for you) grilled wares as well as a huge selection of desserts. I probably sampled everything. Starting tomorrow, it won’t be interesting reading, but I am going to start posting my food journal on this blog – you can skip right over it but I think the accountability would do me well. Feel free to comment on the selections and amounts (no pop tarts I promise).

I know that it will not be perfect but it is a start.