(Tonight's blog was written while listening to music. Notably, Nine Inch Nails' cover of 'Dead Souls'. I think it's a cover of an 80's song by the Smiths or Bauhaus or someone. Skinny Puppy? Too lazy to Google it. 98% sure it's a cover.)
Hello again. I haven't posted anything for a while. Not much has changed here. Since my last blog posting I sold my road bike and used the money to get a Retul bike fitting on my tri bike at BioWheels in Madeira, Ohio. Worth every penny! I can't wait to hit the streets again.
I also fell on/off the wagon - whichever one is the bad one. Since Thanksgiving, I've gained about 8 or 9 pounds and only worked out a dozen times or so. :(
At my parent's for Christmas, I was talking to my brothers about triathlons and my one brother suggested I take the Air Force PT test to gauge my fitness. He's been in the AF for a while and knocked the test out of the park recently. The test is pretty simple. How many push-ups and sit-ups can you do in one minute? How long does it take you to run 1.5 miles? What is your waist circumference? Following the rules for the test, I decided to give it a try at lunch today.
Before I tell you how I did, let me throw out my first excuse. Last night, I was lifting weights - bicep curls and tricep skull crushers. I also stretched and did a few yoga poses while cooking chicken breasts for lunch (cook in a lot of Italian dressing - delicious!). I set my watch alarm to what I thought was one minute and started doing push-ups. I found a Nerf ball about the size of my fist to use as my guide to make sure I went low enough with my chest. After 10 push-ups I realized my alarm was on an hour, so I stopped and set up for the sit-ups next. I think you can have your toes held down, so I put our yoga mat next to the couch and got to work. After about 20 I was really struggling. Pathetic! This minute seemed like 10. I ended up doing 27. This is below the minimum the Air Force allows for someone my age, so I automatically failed the entire test. Not a good start.
After a couple minute wait, listening to some music to try to pump myself up, I went for the push-ups again. I'll skip the suspense... I only got 17 push-ups in one minute. Very embarrassing. This is also below the minimum, so another failure. I thought, "Maybe this will be a re-building - 3 years?"
Next up was the run. I set my treadmill to 7:00mm and got to it. Holding this for 1.5 miles would give me a 10:30 time, which I'd be happy with. After 0.35 miles though, I was struggling and slowed to an 8:00mm for a bit to get my pace under control. I've been running in the 9:00 to 9:30mm range lately. After a bit I was able to speed up and finish in 10:56, which is a 7:17mm avg pace. Not bad.
Now, for the most embarrassing part - the waist! I am 6'2" roughly, maybe 6'2.5", and now 223 pounds. I have a large frame, more suited to football than triathlon. Sadly. I graduated high school wearing 36 inch waist jeans when I was a bean pole, and I'm now back to 36's. But the Air Force test measures at the top of your hip bone - right where the love handles live. I measured myself at 40.5 inches, which is also failure in the AF. They want 39" or less, no matter how tall you are or how many push-ups you can do.
So, I failed 3 of the 4 parts of the test. After work I had my wife check my waist measurement and she got 41.5. Dammit!!! I have a lot of work to do. I am less concerned with my results here and more worried about my triathlon races, but I can use this test as a benchmark for my "well rounded-ness". I know that most runners have chicken wing arms, and most bikers have giant legs and small arms. But everyone needs a strong core (sit-ups), and it wouldn't hurt to have more upper body strength (push-ups). I'll use the 1.5 mile run(s) as a speed work day. And who doesn't want to get rid of their love handles?
With that giant failure on my brain, I ate my chicken breasts (two) and some brown rice with low sodium Mrs. Dash seasoning for lunch. My breakfast was two organic oatmeal packs, no blueberries today like normal. I need to hit the grocery store. My 10:30 and 2:30 snacks were green seedless grapes, about a bowl full. Very delicious snack. For dinner, my wife made ravioli, which the kids love. I had a big glass of skim milk with it.
My 2014 New Year Resolutions are the following:
1. No alcohol for 6 months
2. No pop for 6 months
3. No junk food for 6 months
4. Stop biting my finger cuticles
I am not a big drinker, but LOVE Bud Light. I could drink 8 cans a night without breaking a sweat - which I'm told makes me an alcoholic. But I don't like most other light beers, can't stand regular "full" beer, and don't touch hard liquor. It's just Bud Light that I like. So, no drinking for 6 months. Why six months? I have a half marathon in March, a full marathon in May, and my first 2014 triathlon (Tri for Joe) May 24th. Also, my cousin is getting married the night of May 24, so that will be a nice goal that's not too far away to have me fail, and I could use the calorie drop to shed a few pounds for the season.
What I lack in non-Bud Light beer appreciation I more than make up for with my love (yes, love) of pop. Diet pop, specifically, rocks. I love all of them. I bet I drink 8-10 diet pops (mostly Diet Mt. Dew, Diet Pepsi, or Pepsi Max) per day, plus 2 cups of coffee at work. I usually have one in the shower and one while I drive to work to get me going. So, by 8am I've already shot-gunned two. I know that pop is bad, sugar water. I know that it might lead to cancer. I know this and that about it. Trust me, I've spent the last 2.5 years looking for research that says it's okay to keep on my path. But, it's bad. So again, let's see if I can do 6 months without it.
Junk food is easy to add to the list, like I'm sure most people at New Years. Who needs Busken smiley cookies? I love them more than anything though. Especially the large Christmas tree ones, as they seem to be more moist/raw than the others. UDF Golden Vanilla ice cream? Yes please! I usually eat half a gallon per sitting. It's about as bad as the cookies. This stuff is obviously gone for a while. But the tricky part is what about chips and salsa? Pretzels and hummus? French fries? Loaded baked potato? To play it safe, I'm going to pretty much try to avoid all of it AND eat cleanly. I'm going to more or less eat what bodybuilders eat - lean meats with veggies. I'll add fruits and more carbs, but they have almost no body fat for a reason.
Lastly, I have a nasty habit of biting and picking at my cuticles. I've always been embarrassed of it, but never tried to seriously quit. So, I'll add it to the list.
I'd love to get to May 24th and only drink on special occasions, not want pop anymore (drinking just water and coffee, skim milk, juice, etc.), only have junk food sparingly, and never bite my fingers again. We'll see. So far, though it's only 3 days, I've done well. I'm surprised at the backlash I've received by telling people I'm giving up alcohol. It's almost like I've committed some crime. It reminds me of a funny Jim Gaffigan skit about not drinking..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-X2zPMB5dk
But anyway, I'm excited for the year. I start the Fleet Feet marathon training program January 7th. That should help my running a lot. Here is my race schedule as of now:
| 2014 Rough Schedule | ||||||||||
| Date | Day | Event | Location | Type | Swim | Bike | Run | Cost | Registered? | |
| 1 | 3/16/2014 | Sunday | Mini Heart Half Marathon | Cincy | 13.1 | 13.1 Miles | $55 | No | ||
| 2 | 5/4/2014 | Sunday | Flying Pig Marathon | Cincy | 26.2 | 26.2 Miles | $90 | Yes | ||
| 3 | 5/24/2014 | Saturday | Tri for Joe/Coney Island | Cincy | Sprint | 700m | 12.4 Miles | 3.1 Miles | $55 | No |
| 4 | 6/1/2014 | Sunday | Little Miami Triathlon - Sprint | Cincy | Olympic | 6M kayak | 18 Miles | 5.5 Miles | $85 | No |
| 5 | 6/14/2014 | Saturday | Loveland's Amazing Race | Cincy | Fun Run | ~ 8 Miles | ~ 3 Miles | $180 | Yes | |
| 6 | 7/12/2014 | Saturday | Muncie Half Ironman | Muncie | 70.3 | 1.2 Mile | 56 Miles | 13.1 Miles | $250 | No |
| 6 | 7/12/2014 | Saturday | Laurel Lake Triathlon | South KY | 70.3 | 1.2 Mile | 56 Miles | 13.1 Miles | $135 | Yes |
| 7 | 8/9/2014 | Saturday | Warrior Dash Ohio 2 | Massillon | Mud Run | ~ 3 Miles | $70 | Yes | ||
| 8/28 - 8/31 | Weekend | Alligator Hunting | Louisiana | |||||||
| 8 | 9/7/2014 | Sunday | Rev3 Cedar Point Half | Sandusky | 70.3 | 1.2 Mile | 56 Miles | 13.1 Miles | $250 | No |
| 9 | 10/5/2014 | Sunday | Little Miami Triathlon - Fall | Cincy | Olympic | 6M kayak | 18 Miles | 5.5 Miles | $85 | No |
You might notice "Alligator Hunting" on the schedule. My dad and brothers have started a bi-annual tradition of doing something wild together. In 2012, we all went sport fishing at the Outerbanks and caught lots of dolphin fish (mahi mahi, not Flipper) and one white marlin. Mind you, none of us even own a normal fishing pole and we definitely never "fish". Totally out of our realm. For 2014 we decided to go gator hunting in Louisiana, hitting New Orleans after. We're thinking of wild boar hunting in 2016. I suggested we climb a mountain, but so far I've been out voted. None of us hunt, fish, etc. Not sure what started this, but we seem to wonder, "What is bad ass, dangerous, AND something we're completely unqualified to do?" Our attitude is that we're Bistors and pretty much the baddest dudes in the world. Hah ha
PS. I wound up Googling Dead Souls. It's a Joy Division song. Got to love the internet!
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