Mays miles & weekly weight

My May miles aren't that impressive, I'm still in the transition period. I'll be picking up my milage mid June with the beginning of my base period. In early July I'll be going to Night shift at work and I'll really be able to pick up the milage then!!!! When I'll be getting off of work the sun will be coming out so I can train as long as I want! No time constraints due to the sun going down! Oh how glorious that will be!

Time trained this month 40 hrs 20 minutes
weights 4 hrs 20 min
Bike 244 miles
Run 29.4 miles
Run stairs 4.5 miles
Mountain bike 68.4 miles
Brick 74 miles
Race 62.4 miles

Weighed in this morning at 231 lbs. I weighed in at 238lbs two days ago, but I weighed in mid day and after a big meal. So that wasn't my true weight. I've been doing really well on the healthy eating (diet if you will). Eating frequent, nutritious, small meals. Although last night I did have a couple slices of the the low carb Papa Murphy's pizza. That's not ok because I'm slightly alergic to wheat products. When I eat wheat products it irritates my intestines and makes my body unable to absorb vitamins and minerals, although it is able to stiil absorb the calories (go figure). So since my body isn't absorbing the nutrients of my food my body thinks it's starving and I get these horrible cravings! That's when I over eat! I'm going to try to keep all gluten out of my diet from this point on. I'll let you know how it's going. 11 lbs and 5 months to my goal.

An update on my dog smelling up the house... I got busted, wife found out. When she got home the smell was gone, and she was clueless. But she got an email from one of her friends who found my blog. I have no clue how her friend found out about my blog, I didn't tell her. But the word got spread and I got busted. My wife's really kind hearted and just laughed it off so I got to sleep inside and in our own bed. Goodness I love that woman! And thanks for the comment and reminder athenadiaries!

Thanks for tuning in. I'm out!

Fat guy in a little suit.

I've always battled a weight problem. I think allot of my weight issues has to do with me having a mild case of Celiac Disease. Basically that means I'm allergic to wheat, barley, and other such EVIL foods that contain gluten. Some of it is genes, but most of it is that I eat when I feel happy, sad, nervous, bored, you name it. My food issues is allot like my wife's shoe issues. What ever mood, there is a food/shoes that goes well with it. Without diet or exercise my usual walking around weight is just south of 300lbs. I'm only 5'11 people! With triathlon I've been able to keep it to an average of 220- 230 lbs.

In Feb of this year I was down to 211, since 1999 that was the lightest I'd been. To get down to that weight I seriously restricted my calorie intake, way to much as a matter of a fact. Since my calorie intake was too low I was in a constant state of over training and felt like crap all the time. I was also moody all the time. Can any triathlete's out there say "DUH! You got to feed the machine!" I knew it, but I know how important racing light is to race FAST! From Dec to Feb I felt horrible from the restricted calories. I was losing strength as I was losing body weight but I was still getting faster! Says allot of how important being light is. Finally in late Feb I couldn't stand it any longer and I started eating again.... ok to be honest, I started binge eating. Unfortunately, this is not unusual with me. Since Feb I've been eating all the foods I shouldn't and in ridiculous amounts. Consequently I'm now around 238lbs! 238lbs! That is ridiculous! This is the most I've weighed since the summer of 2003. If it wasn't for me working out 10+ hrs a week I guarantee you I'd of been over 300 again!

So today as I tried on my wet suit and realized it is close to no longer fitting (I looked like peach colored play dough being squeezed through an angry child's fist), I decided it was time to take action. But not in my usual over the top kind of way. This time I try "moderation". All my friends out there just issued an audible gasp! This will be a first for me. I have never been able to do anything in moderation in my life! Can you say obsessive compulsive? But I've got to try to apply moderation in my diet because this yo-yo dieting is not working. It's making my run and bike times slower even though I'm working out regularly, plus it's bad for my already horrible metabolism. So tomorrow is the day. As of tomorrow I am going to eat lean meats, fruit, veggies, and brown rice in moderate amounts. My body is unable to handle foods like pasta, and breads. Rice doesn't contain gluten so I can eat that grain. I am going to try to eat every three hours to avoid getting overly hungry and binging again. But I think the best reason for success this time is because I'm going to be praying to God for will power. Any of you out there who'd be willing to say a quick prayer for this weight issue of mine I'd be very grateful!

I usually have unrealistic goals when I start something (see, no moderation in my life!). But this time I am going to start small. I just want to be at 220 or below by Nov when I compete in the Silverman Iron distance triathlon. The Silverman has 9300 feet of elevation gained and lost on the bike, 3700 ft on the run. In a race with that much climbing it is particularly important to be light. It's also very important to be healthy in any Ironman, quick fixes won't work there! Doing anything stupid will most definitely cause a dreaded and horrific DNF(did not finish)! Every triathlete's worst night mare.

From this point on I will post my weekly body weight for all to see. I'll even be honest and let you know if I ate too much, if I binge, or if I went to far with the calorie restriction. Thanks for tuning in. As of now all you out there will keep me accountable simply by reading. Thanks so much!

I'm out.

A letter from our heavenly Father

Dear One:
You are not here, at this moment in time by some mere coincidence any more than you are on this planet by some random act of fate. I created you and I have a unique purpose for your life that you and only you can fulfill. Many things vie for your attention and affection, but your life is about much more than what you can see with your own eyes or touch with your own hands.

I love you, I love you so much that I sent Jesus to this earth so that you and I could be reconciled. His death was the ultimate expression of My love for you. In Jesus, My love is revealed, and I long for you to know the peace, freedom and forgiveness for which He died. I gave up everything I loved to demonstrate my impassioned love for you. Jesus' death for your life. His rescue is for all who call on Him as Savior, including you.

You may or may not be aware right now that you need to be saved. But beloved, you do. Your dependencies will not last and your securities will fail, but take comfort, because I know what tomorrow holds. I see you and I know your thoughts, fears, concerns and secrets. I know you better than anyone and I love you more than anyone ever could. It's My desire to lavish My love on you. So come to Me...I will give you rest. Come to Me...I will give you peace. Come to Me...I will carry you no matter what your life is or will be. Come to Me...and I will be your constant rescue.

Come to Me by coming to Jesus, who came for you.
Love, Your Heavenly Father

Colossians 1:16, Psalm 139, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 8:31-32, Romans 11:33, John 18:3,; 1 John 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:18, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, John 17:26, John 10:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, Romans 3;23, Mark 4:22, Matthew 11:28, John 14:27, 1 John 3;1, Isaiah 53

OUCH!

When I started this blog I thought I would only be adding onto it once every couple weeks. But it's been an exciting week!

My old football coach used to say if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes it'll change. That usually is the case in NM. Unless you are trying to ride a bike home from work during a hail storm dropping grape sized hail with no trees or shelter anywhere! I think that was Gods way of telling me not to leave early from work anymore. Very convincing argument Lord.

If I get bruising on top of my head and on my left ear like I think I will, I'll make sure to post the pictures on the sight.

Party time. Busted.

I got to leave work a little early yesterday. Plus my wife and Mother-in-law were planning on doing something early this morning and rather than drive 1+ hrs in the morning my wife was planning on spending the night with my mother-in-law. I figured I'd take advantage of the situation. I did a duathlon brick:15 min run/ 1hr bike/ 15 min run. I was done with my workout early and ready to PARTY!! I let the dogs in, ate a bowl of low carb cereal, left the cereal bowl on the TV dinner tray, threw my workout clothes on the floor, and watched an episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5. Oh ya, I'm an animal. This doesn't seem like a problem unless you know my dog got sprayed by a skunk Wed night. Now, I only let my dog in because I went out and did a sniff test first. It didn't seem bad at all, I swear! I figured it must not of gotten her as bad as I had originally thought. I went to bed at 9pm to see if I could catch up on some desperately needed sleep (see, when the wife's away, I'm a man out of control).

In the morning I went outside to load up my bicycle with the gear I'd need for work. When I went back inside the house smelled like skunk badly! Once I left for work I put the dogs back outside and opened all the windows in hope that the smell will be gone by the time my wife gets home. Ironman left a comment that I should of slept outside with Sonya (my dog) to keep her company. I probably will be sleeping in the dog house tonight:)

An honorable sportsman

I had come to watch my cousin Greg Layton compete in an Olympic distance race when my eyes were first opened to the mystic world of triathlon. That was the day I caught the “triathlon bug”. Triathlon was attractive to me because it offered two training aspects that I felt would assist me in staying dedicated to a life of health and fitness. Triathlon could provide a positive focus for my own training and would provide numerous accomplishable goals. Without exciting short and long-term goals I had a tendency to become bored and quit at just about everything I’d ever started. But somehow I knew that triathlon was something I could commit myself to. That day my cousin took third in his division and I became obsessed with the sport.

I’d been extremely competitive my whole life. All I’d ever done was compete to win. Everything I did, was dedicated to one goal: winning. In two and a half years I’d transformed myself from a 300 lb obese slob to a still plump, but fiercely focused clydesdale eating, breathing, and training triathlon. From all my time studying the sport I had seen one person repeatedly winning most every race and claiming victory at most every southwest challenge series championship. Arnold Ceniceros. He’d been at the top of his division longer than I had even known that the South West had it’s own series. I’d seen him at a few of the races I’d done, but only at the start. Then he’d quickly become a speck in the horizon.

He is one of the fastest triathleletes in his division, he’s also one of the most consistent and respected competitors I’ve seen in this sport. He’s my age, relatively young, yet he’s been dominant for years. I’d been taught that to be the best I had to beat the best. And there was no doubt in my mind that Arnold Ceniceros was one of the best. Everyday after I trained I would log my training on beginnertriathlete.com. On this web site, the first page has the goals I’d set for myself. My two top goals were to become an Ironman and to beat Arnold Ceniceros in a race.
Once I started training, each year the huge gap separating Arnold’s time and my own got smaller. One year during the 2005 Polar bear triathlon at white sands missile range I had been involved in a bike wreck and shortly after that I had a flat. Consequently I placed last.
Afterwards at the awards ceremony I moped around feeling sorry for myself. There were plenty of other competitors in attendance who did not place top three in their division, but I was the only one who was not enjoying the post race activities. At the time I failed to notice that. In the midst of my self-sorrow I heard the top 3 finishers for the Clydesdale’s. Not surprisingly Arnold was at the top of his division. When I heard his time I was, as always impressed. But it dawned on me that if I subtracted the time I spent fixing my flat and spitting dirt out of my mouth, I would have only been four minutes behind Arnold. As soon as I realized this I jumped out of my seat and ran outside to phone my wife and tell her the news.

With my enthusiasm resparked I was exited and confident about the upcoming 2006 Stealth Duathlon at Holloman Air force base. In the three months before the Stealth Duathlon I had made great improvements. I wasn’t sure if I could beat Arnold, but I knew I was close enough that I wanted to tell him that I had my sights set upon beating him. I had no idea how he’d respond to me telling him this. The morning of the Stealth Duathlon I started setting up my equipment two bikes down from his, and while doing so I told him how I had, in the last three years been chasing his times. And at the last race was only 4 minutes behind him. I let him know that it was my intention to eventually beat the great and speedy Arnold Ceniceros. When I told him this he smiled, walked over to me, shook my hand, slapped me on the back and said with what seemed like great sincerity “That’s great! Good luck! I’m sure in no time you’ll be faster than me, I’m surprised you haven’t beaten me already!” Then he walked over to my bike and started making suggestions: take off the extra water bottle cage, in this race you’ll only need one, and the extra one will make you less aerodynamic. Try using lighter tubes, the rotational weight in the wheels are the most important weight to reduce. He even went as far as to remove my race number from where I had placed it and put it on my bike where it would create less drag. I was confused…was this some kind of psychological ploy? Was this his way of letting me know that nothing I did could help me beat him? What the heck just happened? After a bit, I decided not to let it rattle me. Someone as experienced as him probably had a lot of trickery in his arsenal. I was determined not to let him throw me off my game.

When the race started I took off like a jackrabbit! I’d never run so fast in my life. I knew Arnold was still a superior cyclist. So the only way I could beat him was to finish so far ahead of him on the run that he’d be unable to close the distance on the bike. I finished 74 seconds ahead of him on the run leg. Just before the half waypoint on the bike he ended up passing me. As he passed me he slowed down and yelled “Come on, come on”. That motivated me and I picked up the pace and held to within three bike lengths of him. After awhile my legs began to shake and my lungs burned. I was simply not able to keep up the pace he was riding at. As I started to lose ground on him he looked back at me, stopped pedaling and again shouted, ”come on Cody, come on!” I stood up and started hammering. Thanks to his encouragement I took my first ever third place in the Clydesdale division. During the race Arnold slowed down three separate times to encourage me to go faster. He also took the time before the race to teach me ways to make my bike faster. He did this even though it meant risking his placing in this or future races. After the awards ceremony I was walking away with something more awarding than a medal. I was leaving having learned a better way to approach competition. Because of the change of attitude that I learned from Arnold, triathlon is now much more rewarding. And after a race, regardless of how I may do, I am simply happy to be there with other triathletes of all abilities.
If you log onto beginnertriathlete.com you will see one of my top goals has recently changed. It now reads, “compete with as much honor and integrity as Arnold Ceniceros.

Ooops, not sure what happened here

Stinkin' night run!

Yesterday morning I got a call from my Lieutenant when I arrived to work at 6am, he advised me I'd be working a mandatory 16 hour shift. 16hrs. 6am- 10pm has a tendency to put a damper on the training. I looked at my workout planner and saw I had a 30-45 minutes of weights and a 1 hr run to do. All the weights routine I could do at work. So I did just that. It was a little embarrassing doing all these push ups, dips, & lunges in HU-1A E pod in front of 12 inmates whistling, hooting & hollering. But I HAVE TO do this workout, if I don't some other Clyd will, and where would that leave me? Behind him in the next race is where it would leave me!

After getting off of work @ 10pm and as I was riding my bike home I start thinking... I could still do my 1hr run. There's no reason I can't still train. Couch-potato-to-Ironman is training through a missing big toe & calcium build up in the rest of the toes on that foot. There's no reason I shouldn't workout too. Tired is a state of mind. And I don't recognize that state! As soon as I got home I put on my running gear, a head-light(a light that is held onto your forehead by a sweat-band type strap) that I use for running in the dark, and told my trusty running partner to get ready for a run. As soon as I say the word run, she's jumping up and down rearing and ready to go! Sonya has been my running partner since I started running in 2005. She's amazing. Always optimistic, she never complains, is willing to do whatever workout I want to do, whenever I want to do it. She's a great runner too! I've never once been able to out run her. But that might have to do with her having 4 legs.
She's my highly trained 8 year old Rottweiler. I've trained her to run on my right side and never leave that side while we run. She'll stay on my right hip the entire run no matter how fast or long we run. I haven't used a leash with her in many year because I never have to worry about her leaving my side under any circumstances. In over 2 years of us running she's only left my side 2 times. Both times was because dogs were chasing after us. That was pretty scary because we trail run out in the middle of nowhere and it was a whole pack of dogs. She kept herself between me and the other dogs. She was tired from running and out numbered but she was fearless and unwilling to back down because she was worried about me. I love that dog, and it's amazing to know her world revolves around me.

I chose for us to run at the corrections academy track because it's within running distance and once we get there we will have a somewhat safe place to run that is devoid of rocks, holes, etc. About 40 minutes into the run Sonya sprinted to my left side and pushes herself in between me and the edge of the track. Trouble. I just don't know if it's the 2 or 4 leg type. She started to growl, the hair on her back stood on end. Crap what the heck is going on? She lunged forward issuing a bark and that's when I saw a little black and white skunk tail pop up into the air pointed at my dog and I. I took off running and yelled for her to follow, she took off after me right on my tail, but it was too late. She got a face full of skunk spray. We still had 20 minutes left on my run and I knew there's nothing I could do for her right then and there anyway. So I decided we'd finish our run. During the run I kept praising her and telling her what a great dog she was. She was really enjoying the attention. Once we get back to the house I got her fresh water and then realized there's no way I could let her into the house with the way she smelled! It was 11:15pm at night & everywhere that sells anything to get rid of the skunk smell on dogs is closed. Plus I had to wake up at 4:30am so I could be back to work at 6am. I felt HORRIBLE! The whole reason she stunk so bad was because she was protecting me, and I was rewarding her by making her sleep outside for the first time in years! What a horrible friend I feel like! Any ideas on what will get rid of the smell?

Well that was my night. Thanks for tuning in, I'll let you know how she fares.

Isn't it strange?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don't want to believe , do, or say anything to get there?

Buffman race report

About 20 minutes before the Buffman & Squeaky I walked up this gigantic hill to my van. Once I got there I dropped Off my bag and headed back down to the transition area. I decided to leave my new Blue Seventy wet suit in the van because a triathlete is never supposed to try a new piece of equipment the 1st time on a race. And as usual I hadn't been swimming in many months. No swim, no test swim equipment. That simple. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill there was 15 minutes until the race and the pre-race meeting is being held. As I got to my transition area I hear the RD say "The water temperature is 64 degrees." I'm glad everyone was paying attention to the pre-race announcements or their transition area when I heard this because I'm sure I looked like a deer caught in the head light! 64 degrees? Dang that's cold! My eyes got great big and round and I took off running the half a mile or more to my van-up that HUGE hill again! By the time I arrive at the swim start I have 4 minutes left. It'll be close but I can get my wet suit on in time. As I pulled it over my shoulders and turned to ask someone to put the pull string under the Velcro for easy reach I realize I put my wet suit on backwards! AAHH, I'm panicking! I ripped the suit off as quickly as possible turning it inside out in the process! AAHH, somebody help! I was 100 pounds of potatoes squeezing into a 50 pound sack turned inside out with a time limit!!! AAHH. I finally turned it right side out and got it over my feet, I quickly stood up and tried running to the mass lake race start while trying in vain to pull my wet suit up at the same time!!! AARRR. I looked like a panguin running with a black wet suit around my ankles! I heard people giggling at the boat ramp, but I cared not! I was determined to start this race with the rest of the other triathletes fully dressed! I finally got to the edge of the water, bent over for one more big pull of my wet suit to get it up and my head jams into some into some guys butt knocking him foreward into the water. By this time I'm getting an audience, there's no one laughing anymore. I think they were to the point of pitying me. Finally I get the wet suit over my shoulders, use the draw string to zipp up, and some guy behind me is kind enough to strap the string under my Velcro without me having to run around pleading SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! I think the RD saw my my trial and tribulations and waited until I was calmed down sufficiently before he started the race. After about a minute of me standing there at the ready position my heart rate finally started to slow, and BANG, the race starts! My heart rate promptly shoots sky high again. This is one of the problems I found I have for races where I want to do well so badly, I can't calm down because I'm so exited. At the 20 minute mark I look up and realise I am only at the half way point! If I keep this up I'm going to have a 40 minute swim!! "Come on man! Calm down! Concentrate on you breathing, relax!" I told myself. It wasn't until then that I finally started to make some progress. I passed more people in the last half of this swim than any 2 of my races combined! Only the 2nd swim of my life where I felt fast-well on the 2nd half I felt fast. I finished in 33 minutes, which was an Oly swim PR. I don't have any idea how I pulled that off with such a bad swim start! Thankfully I had a relatively uneventful transition to the bike.

On the bike I was pushing my best but couldn't seem to get much speed out of these X-large thighs of mine. I think that was because of the slow base mileage I'm putting in for my Iron in Nov and because of me coming down off my pre-swim adrenaline rush. I kept praying to God to either let me have fast race, or for him to give me the strength to accept a slow one. By the time I got off the bike I was at 2 hrs flat. That was exactly the time I got out of T-2 last year, but last year I didn't push myself as hard on the bike or swim, and last year I ended up having the 2nd best run of my life(next only to Soma 2005)! So I wasn't optimistic about breaking any PR's. This is usually a sweltering hot race but almost as soon as I started the run a whole bunch of clouds covered the sun and a nice breeze started up from across the lake. Felt great and I think that God answered my prayers because that sure helped my performance allot. As I was finishing the run I saw my wife and baby girl standing about 50 yards in front of the finish line. I looked at my watch and realized I had enough time to run over and pick up my daughter so that I could run the last 50 yards with her in my arms while still beating my best Oly time.

Best part of the day was that I finished with my 19 month old daughter in my arms! As we crossed the finish line my daughter saw everyone clapping for her and she got this huge smile on her face and started clapping those little hands as fast as her little arms possibly could while screaming "Hurray!" at the top of her lungs! No one can tell me Jesus doesn't love me. Life is good. Every Outlaw who showed placed in thier division Stuart & Helen Crane, Carl, Onearm bandit and her husband, Misty(El Chivato's Mom), & El Chivato finished in 3:35, breaking his old PR by an HOUR!!! Another Outlaw and a fellow Clydesdale we call Miles(who is El Chivato's Dad) ended up breaking his PR also with a 2:37! Miles had the 3rd fastest Clyd finish in Buffman history! I ended up 1st place Clyd 39 and under with a 2hr 52 minute race. I PR'd by 2 minutes. I love you too Jesus, and thank you for a perfect ending to a wonderfull race.

my first attept at blogging

Sat May 19th

Tomorrow I will compete in my favorite triathlon, the Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon held in Lubbock Tx. Today I'm planning on a 1.5hr Z-1and z-2 bike then an easy day of packing and a 5-6hr drive from Santa Fe NM to Lubbock Tx made tolerable by the company of El Chivato a 16 year old fellow New Mexico Outlaw hitching a ride, my wife, and my 19 month old blond headed baby girl Bell. This will be Chivato's 2nd Oly distance tri. Last year he placed 1st place in the 19 year & under division @ the Las Vegas NM Oly at the young age of 15 with an admirable time of 4:30.My first year doing the Buffman & Squeaky was 2005. It was my 2nd race ever, I finished in 3:07 taking 3rd place Clydesdale which was pretty good considering I still weighed 260lbs. In 2006 I showed up 30lbs lighter and by that time I'd completed 3 Oly tri's. I finished 2:54 taking 3rd place again and setting an Oly PR (personal record), which is impressive because it's a very hilly and windy course. This year I come in with a 3 goals. Some of them doable, some a little lofty. But I can do the unthinkable, anyone in doubt of this can simply watch me at an all you can eat buffet in amazement! Now for my goals. Once they're on paper- er, screen, type? oh you know what I mean- Than it's the real deal. Right? Well here they are set in stone-type- whatever. This blogging is harder than it looks!

-1. I want to set a new Olympic distancePR. My old PR was 2:54. I think I should be able to pull this one off. I have no idea how I'll do time wise with my 1500 meter swim. I haven't practiced swimming in any way shape or form in over in over 14 months. The only swimming I've done has been at races! My running is at an all time best. I'm guessing a sub 54 min run. My 40 kilometer bike should be sufficient to hold on to a decent pace, but this is iffy because I've been putting in allot of slow base miles for the Silverman Iron distance triathlon in Nov. Ok, now that I see it in black and white -wait this is my first time blogging, I don't have any idea what color it'll be- I see that I have an unknown swim, an iffy bike and a good run. 1 out of 3....But I refuse to readjust my goals. Add heart and determination and that makes it 3 out of 6. OK...I shave my head, which makes me more aero dynamic! Thus the odds are now in my favor! See how a little optimism goes along way?

-2. I'd like to do better than third place clyd 39 & under. 2 years in a row I've taken 3rd. I give glory to God that I was able to accomplish that. But 1st or 2nd, Oh how glorious that would be!

3. I'd like to finish faster than 2:50. Now that is a lofty goal! Like I said before this race follows the same course as the Buffalo Springs 70.3 which is known as the most difficult half Iron in the world! This course has it all. Cold water(usually in the low 60's) hills, heat, a very windy bike- someone remind me, why in the world is this my favorite triathlon? Since 2004 there has only been 4 clydes to go sub 2:50. One of which is the Honorable Sportsman himself Arnold Ceniceros with a 2:46.

Well we're off to the races! I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for reading.