The devil is in the details

Well, it's day 3 of the Zone. Yesterday, I felt a little cranky and vaguely hungry. This was surprising since I didn't work out at all - I guess, I just had all day to perseverate on the food that I was (not) eating. Being at my cousin's house didn't help either. . .she has 3 kids which means that there's always stuff to eat.

In the afternoon, I subscribed to the Crossfit Journal. I'd been meaning to do it for a while, but finally just did. One of the first articles that I read was "Getting off the Crack" by Nicole Carroll where she describes her introduction to the Zone. As I read through her account of the first few days, it sounded just like the dialogue that I was having in my head.

"What kept me going through the first brutal weeks? Most likely it was a combination of stubbornness, anger and curiosity. I was pissed that this moderate way of eating was kicking my butt. I thought it should not be this hard and that I should not give into my own weak will. . ."

Ouch. My own weak will. I have gotten on the nutrition and workout wagon many times. Yet at some point, usually telling myself that it's no big deal, I find a reason to quit. Not this time. I am going to push on and reap the rewards.

Reading the article helped me get through yesterday and, I'm happy to report, today has been much better. Saturday is my normal rest day so I've had 2 days off from training. Tomorrow, I'll hit it again with a morning bike ride and Crossfit in the afternoon.

You've gotta eat. . .

A big goal for this season is to dial in my nutrition to maximize performance. Over the past 5 months or so, I've dabbled in Paleo eating and IF. And I like both of them. So I've been looking for a way to put it all together.

My ideals for nutrition are most accurately listed below (shamelessly borrowed from Spartan Fitness Body).

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS JUNK FOOD -
"There’s food and there’s junk.
Eat food not junk. Food is what is found naturally in nature. If it wasn’t killed or picked off a tree recently don’t eat it. That’s the ideal to shoot for. This eliminates stuff like sugar, bread, pasta, donuts, flour.
Extra credit if you eliminate grain, beans, and pasteurized dairy.
Do this alone and you will see BIG changes guaranteed.
One more thing. Stop drinking junk too, water’s all you need."

Though I love donuts and cake, I'm willing to sacrifice them for better performance.

Today, I started the Zone-Paleo. Basically, I'll be eating Paleo foods in Zone proportions - 11 blocks a day. Practically, it is already making my life easier because with my crazy schedule I NEED to have prepared food with me. My plan is to commit to 2 weeks of strict weighing and measuring and then reassess. And since I've been loosely following a daily 14-hour fast for the past 3 months, my eating will likely fall within my "eating hours."

This morning, I weighed in at 137.2 pounds with a bodyfat of 27.7% (based on the Tanita scale). The bodyfat number was surprisingly high for me - I thought it would be closer to the 24% that it was back in September since I feel leaner now than I was then. But it's a line in the sand. My goal is to drop 10 pounds of bodyfat and improve my performance in Crossfit and triathlon.

I made Char Shiu chicken last night so I've got plenty of protein to build meals with. I'll probably cook again on Friday or Sunday. Today, I've had two-3block meals and one-1block snack. I'm about to have my last meal shortly and then the snack in a few hours. I was worried that the calorie intake would be too low but soo far, so good - I felt good during my workout and haven't been hungry.

3-2-1-Go!

Adding Crossfit to the mix

After completing my triathlon season in 2008, I was working to maintain my fitness with the usual Masters swimming with occasional running. I'd heard about Crossfit online somewhere and finally stopped by Potomac Crossfit for one of their free classes. I took 2 free classes and then signed up for Foundations in mid-October.

My Foundations trainer, Jen Conlin, really did a great job of introducing our class to the basic movements in Crossfit. I loved the intensity of the workouts and the way that they balanced strength and metabolic conditioning. When Foundations finished in mid-November, I re-upped with PCF and have been going ever since (minus some time taken off around the holidays).

With triathlon season approaching, I've decided to combine Crossfit with Crossfit Endurance-style training. Right now, the plan is to do 5 Crossfit workouts with 3-6 triathlon workouts each week. Coming off of the holiday break, I've been ramping the CF up and adding the multisport back in.

Here are some of my workouts for the past few weeks:

1/13: Deadlift 3-3-3 (165-295-205); Bench Press 5-5-5 (75-85-95)
1/14: "Quarter Gone Bad": Five rounds for reps of 55# thruster, weighted pullup, burpees - work 15 sec, rest 45 sec. 67 total reps
1/15: Snatch 6x1RM (35-45-65-75-75-75) and 1/2 cindy - 4 rounds plus 2 pullups*
1/27: CFE - Swim 20 minutes at 85%RPE, CF - For reps/cals: 5X (1 minute row, 1 minute 25# thruster, 3 min rest) - 142 reps
1/28: Deadlift 7x1RM (175-195-205-215-225-230-235)
Split Jerk 7x1RM (65-75-85-95-100-105-110)
1/29: Heavyish Fran: 65# thrusters and tan band- 11:17*

I have been working on my pullups. I started out with jumping pullups, but am trying to focus on deadhang pullups until I get the kip down. My reps and times are suffering, but I think it'll be worth the effort.

My schedule was off this week so I'll end up with 4 days of work before my rest on Saturday. I'm definitely feeling it.

Let's start at the very beginning!

Well, this is my first post. The purpose of this blog is to detail my training, triathlon season, and other fitness topics. This year, I've decided to train by adding Crossfit to the regular swim/bike/run. Let's see how it goes!