creatine monohyrate and olympic weightlifting cycle #2

I started taking creatine monohydrate on Monday. The last time I started taking creatine I made the biggest gains I'd ever made in strength and weightlifting. The last time I cycled 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off. This time I'll take creatine for 12 weeks on, 8 weeks off. The only thing I really don't like about taking creatine is that I'm so much hungrier all the time. Seriously, creatine makes me hungry! All the time! I understand that the hunger is because I'm making more muscle and strength gains so my body needs the extra calories. I know that I wont get fatter because of the extra calories. I'm trying not to freak out, but it's hard for me because I know how I look right now. I'm 280 pounds. I'mcrea obese. I'm in the process of losing fat while gaining muscle, and that process takes time. I didn't gain it all in a year, so I can't expect to loose it all in a few months either. I'm working in the right direction every day. In the mean time I'm trying to be gentle with myself.......

the 2013 CrossFit games: 13.1 and an injury

I'd been training at a CrossFit gym for 9 weeks when the 2013 CrossFit games started. I'm one of the slowest, least fit athletes at Zia CrossFit, but I decided to attempt the games anyways. The CrossFit games will be 5 workouts/fitness tests, one a week for 5 weeks. The 1st test is called 13.1, meaning it's the 1st test of the 2013 games. The 13.1 workout is:

17 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible in 17 minutes) of:
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible


1.5 weeks before the CrossFit games I maxed out (most weight I can lift one rep) on snatches at 125 pounds, so I was disappointed to see the 101st rep would be snatches of 135 pounds. I assumed I'd get to 100 reps and not be able to get a single rep of 135 pounds. Somehow I was able to accomplish 18 reps at 135 pounds, with a total score (reps) of 118!!!! That was much better than I dreamed. So far I'm ranked 2,384th out of  4,549 athletes in the South West.

One of the gym members posted a video of Matt S., Sarah B., and myself doing the 13.1. at one point I got so excited I yelled. I was embarrassed later, but the excitement got the best of me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbG6IwP1vzA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

On Monday I fell and injured my foot while practicing walking on my hands. My foot has been swollen and I can't walk on it. I'm hoping and praying I heal up in time to be able to attempt 13.2, the 2nd workout of the 2013 CrossFit games. The 2nd workout I should be able to kick butt at, because I'm really good at box jumps. The 13.2 is:

10 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible in 10 minutes) of:
5 Shoulder to overhead, 115 / 75 lbs
10 Deadlift, 115 / 75 lbs
15 Box jump, 24 / 20 inch

I'm currently weighing 234 pounds. Since starting CrossFit I've lost 22 pounds and have gained over 3 inches around my chest and back. Since starting a Paleo diet competition with I Suck at CrossFit 4.5 weeks ago I've lost 12 pounds.

hydrostatic body compostion test

Today I got a hydrostatic body composition test at the UNM exercise physiology lab. The results weren't good. But there is an upside: I have a ton a fat I can shed to win this Paleo lifestyle competition I've started with http://isuckatcrossfit.com/. I'm going to SMOKE YOU Mr I suck at CrossFit! (I'm not calling him names, that's the name of his blog). To check out the competition check out this link: http://cody-the-clydsdale.blogspot.com/2013/02/day-1-of-paleo-lifestyle-competition.html

Here the results of todays body fat test, and the results of my previous body fat tests:

Feb 2013: 241.1 pounds @ 28.1 % body fat. 173.3 pounds lean mass. 67.8 pounds fat.

Oct 2011: 181 pounds @ 6.86% body fat. 169.3 pounds lean mass. 12.5 pounds fat.

June 2011: 188.4 pounds @ 10.9%. 169.4 pounds lean mass. 19 pounds fat.

Nov 2010: 222.2 pounds at 19.01% body fat. 180 pounds lean mass. 42.2 pounds fat.

July 2010: 189 pounds at 9.81% body fat. 170.6 pounds lean mass. 18.5 pounds fat.

Jan 2010: 207 at 18.4% body fat. 169.2 pounds lean mass. 38.5 pounds fat.

2013 triathlon and duathlon goals

I have 2 goals I'd like to shoot for this year:

1) take top 3 in both the New Mexico Open Water Series and The South West Challenge Series. This goal will take a minimum of 10 multisport races, but may take as many as 16. I'm excited about attempting to place in 2 series in the same year. I've placed top 3 in The South West Challenge Series 7 years in a row, but trying to balance two series simultaneously will be quite the challenge indeed!

2) My 2nd goal is to get down to 220 pounds. This goal will be harder for me then racing an average of twice a month for an entire year. Food sucks.... well in all honesty, I guess food ROCKS! Which is why it sucks. I love food- no I hate it! But I love it..... I hate to love it! My relationship is with food is kind of like a fresh baked bear claw. Sweet, comforting, and kinda warm deep inside, but all twisted up and slippery.

 

My current weight is 250. I only have 30 pounds to lose to reach my goal. It's really not that much to drop in a year. I've lost 120 pounds before and kept the weight off for a year and a half, but right now losing 30 pounds feels virtually impossible. Honestly, it feels like I'd be more capable of a successful jump across the Grand Canyon with ankle weights on.

finding a training program that works

A week and a half ago I stopped dieting and working out AGAIN. I feel like a broken record. I realize I need to change some things or this cycle of starting and stopping training will continue repeating itself. I need to start doing what I can and change the things that I cant stay consistant with.

I still love competing in triathlons. I still enjoy running but I currently have issues with cycling, so I started a run focused training program with just enough cycling to be able to finish the bike portion of a triathlon. I wont be as well rounded of a triathlete without a lot of cycling, but training consistently is more important than having a perfect triathlon training program that I dont follow. Now that I've addopted this new training regimine I seriously doubt I'll be finishing races with the caliber of athletes I used to. And I can pretty much garentee I wont be beating Arnold Ceniceros anytime soon;-( But those things aren't the reason I fell in love with triathlon anyways. I love triathlon because I love challenging myself, because of the amazing people I meet at triathlons, triathlon training keeps me healthy, and allows me to keep up with my babies!

I weighed in at 236 this morning.

the art and science of low carb performance and triathlon

After 7 years of triathlon training, calorie counting, fat restricting, and yo-yo dieting I got down to 175 pounds, I was fast but was miserable with hunger all the time. I was also grouchy a lot and injury prone. I finally fell off the wagon earlier this year and my weight shot back up. I read the book The art and science of low carb performance and am trying this whole low carb thing with triathlon training. So far I'm loving it. Yesterday and today I did brick workouts (a bike followed immediately with a run) that was long enough I needed to eat and drink to have enough energy to finish the workout. The book said once I'm keto adapted I could eat fat rather than sugary sports drinks and bars during my ride to sustain energy, so today I added a TBSP of olive oil to each of my water bottles. Today at the end of my 2 hour brick I felt great, still had energy, and hadn't bonked. I had a bit of a head ache from not taking in any salt during my workout, the book said I was supposed to drink bullion to avoid head aches and cramps, but I'm ever the critic and rarely do what I'm supposed to.

This morning I weighed 224 pounds.

Lessons learned today:
#1 Olive oil and water works as well as power bars, gels, and Gatorade for long workouts but I need to add bullion for the salt.
#2 Don't ride a mountain bike 20+ MPH down a bumpy trail 2 weeks after having a vasectomy.
#3 Don't try to bunny hop a curb on a mountain bike on fatigued legs after a long run.
#4 Crashing on a mountain bike trying to bunny hop a curb hurts much worse shortly after getting a second vasectomy performed by a mountain bike seat.

temporary digression

I'd been on a low carb diet I'd read about in the book "The art and science of low carb performance" for two and a half weeks. In that time I'd lost 17 pounds. Although I was getting fantastic results I became frustrated because that book didn't go into a lot of detail about how to eat their version of a low carb diet, so I started eating a more traditional diet for endurance athletes and promptly shot back up to 235 pounds. The book "The art and science of low carb performance" mostly explained why a low carb diet works for ultra endurance athletes. The book said I should buy the book "The art and science of a low carb lifestyle" for a more detailed explanation of how to eat his version of a low carb diet. So I purchased the book "The art and science of a low carb lifestyle" and started reading it last night. I'm back on the low carb diet as of this morning and am expecting a lot of the confusion I had previously to be worked out by this book.

Today I went on a 9 mile run and it hurt. My problem during the run wasn't my endurance. My endurance was sufficient. My problem was that I'm just to heavy to run long distances right now. My body was beat the heck up after that run. I'm very motivated about training for my first 50k ultra endurance trail run, but I'm afraid I need to postpone training for an ultra until I'm at a lower body weight. Hopefully now that I have the book "The art and science of a low carb lifestyle" I'll be more capable of getting to that lower body weight so I can resume training for my goal of earning my 1st ultra endurance trail run belt buckle.

low carb and endurance running

I'm currently attempting to build up my run miles for next years Angel Fire endurance trail run. It'll be a challenging 31 mile run over mountains and through valleys using national forest trails starting at the base of the Angel Fire ski resort. Currently my endurance is poor, I have a long way to go. Last week my longest run was 6 miles. I ran it slowly and it was uncomfortable.

Earlier this week I started a low carb diet I read about in "The art and science of low carbohydrate performance". It's a low carb diet for endurance athletes. When I started this diet I assumed my endurance and speed would decrease. I was also fully expecting to feel horrible. So far I feel great. Today I ran a little over 7 miles consuming nothing but water and felt fantastic. Feeling even better than I had felt on a traditional endurance athletes diet was not what I was expecting, but that is exactly what has happened.

On my first day of my low carb diet I lost 2 1/4 pounds. I'm back into the 220's again! So far I'm loving this.

quick progress

I'm in my 2nd full week of triathlon training. Today I ran and I felt pretty good. During my run I didn't need to stop and walk to keep my heart rate in zone 2, I felt fast during my sprints, and I wasn't exhausted after the workout. Thank goodness my body has muscle memory. I was convinced it was going to take FOREVER to get back into shape! I think I'll be back into race shape by the Nutcracker triathlon.

If anyone sees Price Lawhon who races in the 35-39 AG, please tell him I said thank you. He was the one who motivated me to start training and eating well again after a 3.5 month layoff from training.

I'm currently 226 pounds , down from 238.

Day 1

Today I rode my bike. This was the 1st time in months that I got time in the saddle so this felt like a huge accomplishment! I seem to have found some motivation to start training again. That motivation is a late season race. I'll let you know what that race is if I'm able to continue training consistently.

I weighed in at 234 pounds this morning. My goal is to be back to 197 by my first triathlon in the spring.

the Eagle In The Sun triathlon

Man have I packed on some weight. I'm currently just shy of 240. I haven't been this big in a long time. Early in the triathlon season I had registered for the Eagle In The Sun triathlon, that race is this weekend. I am petrified of going. I haven't trained in a few months, but that wouldn't be a problem, I know I could gut check the race. I'm embarrassed, petrified of racing this weekend because of my weight. Everyone who knows me knows me as an in shape and fast guy. I'm everything BUT those things now. I don't feel like racing, I'm afraid people will say to each other, "what the hell happened to him?" I don't want that. I'm going to show up and race anyways. I need to find something to get me back on track with my weight and motivate me to start training again. I'll be back to 300 pounds in no time if I don't do something quick.

triathlon off season

I don't usually take any time off from triathlon training, consequently I usually suffer from burn out mid season. This winter I'll take 2 weeks completely off of triathlon training, then do 4 weeks of strength training. To avoid burn out during the 2012 season I wont be doing any swimming, biking, or running until January 2012. But I will be losing weight! Since mid season I had maintained 181 pounds, now I'm in the process of getting lower! I was planning on stopping my weight loss at 179 pounds, but I'm already at 177. Next stop 175 pounds!

tapering for my 1st road race

I'll be racing in my 1st cycling specific road race in the morning. It's called Oak Flats. It'll be 4 twelve mile loops on a somewhat mountainous course located 9 miles south of Tijeras New Mexico.

I've done 74 triathlons/duathlons and a couple centuries, but never a cycling specific road race. I've been tempted before, but have never pulled the trigger. There's a lot of tactics, team strategy, and drafting used in road racing, as a triathlete I haven't practiced at those skills much. Plus most of the people who race road events are pure cyclists. They're great at cycling because that's all they do. Right now I'm training for Ironman Arizona, so only about %50 of my training time is dedicated to cycling. On one hand I'm in good shape & I'm weighing at an all time low, but on the other hand cycling is my weakest sport. The lightest I've raced at before was at the 2010 Dog House triathlon & the 2010 Chick-Fil-A tri. At those races I weighed somewhere in the high 180's to low 190's & I finished 5th & 10th overall, right now I weigh 182. I'm hoping being another 10 pounds lighter helps my racing performance.

To ensure the best performance I'm capable of I did a small taper this week. This was my 1st taper of the entire 2011 season. It felt great to have a little down time. Let's hope it helps me out on race day! Wish me luck everyone, I think I'll need it! Let's hope I keep the rubber on the road!

15 weeks until Ironman Arizona

I'm now 15 weeks away from IMAZ. This weekend I finished my 1st big brick workout for Ironman Arizona. Yesterday I did a 13.1 mile bike & a 9.7 mile run, today a 61 mile bike & a 3.4 mile run. My weight is maintaining around 185-188. Although I'm still struggling to fit in enough cycling I feel really good. I still feel confident in breaking the 13 hour mark. I probably wont be as close to 12 hours as I originally hoped, but I should hit my sub 13 hour mark.

Body weight fluctuations

A low body weight is imperative to being a fast Iron distance triathlete. The last two times I trained for an Ironman I kept dieting until I was miserable with hunger, then promptly fell off the diet wagon & gained all my weight back. I've decided to start a maintenance diet from here until Ironman Arizona.

I've started the build phase of my training plan, so I need my energy to recover, build fitness & speed. Being at a caloric deficit would hurt my Iron dreams. My current weight on my home scale is 186.8 pounds. Thanks to the great advise of a few of my Face Book buddies like my wife & James Webster I'm hoping my weight on race day will be 186 pounds.

I know I've posted things similar to this before. But it's different this time. Before my goal had always been to maintain for a short while so that I could start losing weight again as soon as I felt physically able. This time is different because my goal is to maintain. I'm staying at this weight for the next 5 months!

Thanks to the wise advise of my beautiful wife & James Webster, this is the one of the few intelligent decisions I've made in regards to my weight. Thanks guys.

stopping my weight loss, maintenance time

I've decided to maintain my current weight for at least a few weeks even though I'm only 2.5 pounds away from my goal weight of 190. I'm seeing signs that my body is no longer content being on a calorie restricted diet. I feel weak & am not training well. At last weekends race I felt slow & unable to push myself as hard I'm usually able to. The biggest sign I'm seeing is MY HUNGER!

I've been losing an average of 1.5 to 1.75 pounds a week since January. I wasn't restricting my calories enough to feel that hungry, but gradually the hunger has been building, & yesterday I was hungry enough that I was very unpleasant to be around. I've had this happen before: I'd get close to a goal weight and I'd ignore my bodies warning signs. Then I'd end up falling off the wagon & gaining most or all of my weight back. So this time I'm not going to ignore my body. Even though I'm only 2.5 to 3 pounds away from my goal weight, I'm going to do what my body's telling me it needs. This time I'm not so focused on the short term that I end up destroying my long term goal. I'm going to let my body recover & start to feel good again. Perhaps I'll try to drop the extra 3 pounds in late May or early June. If I decide to, it will be because my body feels great & I know it's ready & able to. If I feel that my body isn't ready, I won't. This more moderate approach to dieting is something I've never done before, which probably explains why I've always shown up to my Ironman triathlons over weight. The only thing that has held me back from finishing an Iron distance triathlon in under 13 hours has been my weight. Hopefully this November I'll show up to Ironman Arizona between 180-200 pounds & break that elusive 13 hour mark!

Right now my metabolic rate is 3100 calories. I'm excited at the prospect of eating 3100 calories a day plus the calories earned from exercise!

Almost to goal triathlon weight!

Today's workout was a 30 minute recovery bike keeping my peddle RPM's 100+. I forgot how much different Iron training is from sprints. Very unique and interesting training techniques for the longer distances. I know 1 thing for sure, I was in desperate need of the recovery time!!!

I weighed in this morning at 192.8!!!!!! If I keep losing at my current rate I'll be at my goal weight of 190 pounds in approximately 10 days!!! From there I'll try to maintain that weight until September. In September I'll start trying to get down to 180 pounds by Ironman Arizona. After Ironman Arizona I'll allow myself to get back to around 190, which is the weight I feel healthiest at.

Project one-nine-zero day 4

Now that I'm training for Iron distance triathlons again I am experiencing one of the benefits of ultra endurance training: the most amazing sleep anyone could imagine! I'd forgotten how easily I fell asleep while endurance training. I'd forgotten how deep I sleep, not waking at all during the night, & waking feeling absolutely rested & revitalized! I'm really enjoying myself. Iron distance triathlon training rocks! I'm glad I have a supportive wife who not only "allows" my long training days, but encourages it. I'm a lucky man.

Mission one-nine-zero day 4
weight: 221.4
goal weight: 190
weight loss needed: 31.4 in 17.5 weeks
Calories eaten today: 3,520
Calories burned today: 970
Net calories today: 2,550

I have to say I'm a bit upset with the Ironman corporation. They no longer have Clyd & Athena divisions at their 70.3 & Ironman races. The 2 70.3's & Ironmans I'm scheduled for next year may be my last WTC race for awhile. They're more expensive ($600 for an Ironman slot), they're harder to get into, & they have gotten way to uppity for my tastes.

The beginning of mission one-nine-zero: day 1-3

I'm really wanting to break my 70.3 PR or 5 hours 30 minutes in April at The Memorial Hermann 70.3. To break the 5.5 hour mark I need to train hard- never a problem with me- & get my weight down below 200- all too often this is a big problem for me! So I am now starting mission one-nine-zero! My goal is to be 190 pounds by April 10th 2011. 3.5 weeks ago I was 235 pounds, I am currently 222 pounds To get to 190 by April 10th I need to drop another 32 pounds in 18 weeks. That's an average of 1.77 pounds a week. Very attainable- in theory at least.....

I've realized through trial & error my body is NOT happy being at or below 190. Anytime I get at or below 190 I then end up packing on a whole bunch of weight. It's as if my body has a self defense mechanism that kicks in anytime I drop that low. So after the Memorial Hermann 70.3 I'll allow myself to get back up 200 pounds, & then I'll drop back down to 190 just before Ironman Arizona in Novermber.

From here on out I'll be posting my current weight, Pounds needed to lose & the # of weeks to do it in, calories burned, & calories eaten here on my blog:

Week 1 of 18
At the beggining of week 18 I need to lose 39.4 more pounds.

Day 1
Weight: 229.4
Weight lost: 0 pounds
weight loss to goal: 39.4
Calories eaten: 2,488
Calories burned: 1,148
Net calories: 1,340

Day 2
Weight: 224
Weight lost: 4.6 pounds
weight loss to goal: 34 pounds
Calories eaten: 2,869
Calories burned: 888
Net calories: 1981

Day 3: Dec 3rd
Weight 222
Weight lost 7.4 pounds
weight loss to goal: 32 pounds
Ate- 3,291
Burned- 1,711 (30.7 mile zone 2 bike followed by a 31 minute zone 2 run with six 20 minute sprints with 40 seconds rest intervals)
Net calories- 1,580

While reading the bible last week I found this:

"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free."
Psalm 119:32 

I have found a lot of encouragement in it. My life is so much better & rewarding when I turn to Christ in all things. Anytime I start getting caught up in life & forget to turn to Him for strength & encouragement things get much more difficult. My finances tend to get out of control, I lose my patience much quicker, & I find myself struggling with my triathlon training & racing. I find peace & strength in Him, when I turn to Christ it makes my heart feel free & light.

Diet maintnance: failed!

I had FINALLY got down to 187 pounds last week & had decided to try & maintain that weight for my upcoming A race, the Patriot triathlon on September 12th. I've never been able to maintain my weight before. I'm always either losing, or gaining weight.

Earlier this week I pulled my quad. I became frustrated & stressed having an injury occur this close to an A race, which led to Sunday night's eating bad foods in bad quantities. The dreaded comfort eating! I continued to do so until Tuesday night. I know 3 days of eating unhealthy isn't going to make me gain an unmanageable amount of weight & ruin months of weight loss, but it was upsetting to me nonetheless. From my 3 days of eating crap I'm going to need to spend about a week eating slightly below my metabolic rate to get back down to 187 again. This got me to thinking, & obsessing as I have a tendency to do. Since I'm already going to be dieting for the next week, & I'll be in the weight loss mode, I might as well continue the weight loss & get down to my all time #1 goal weight of 179!!! After all that's only 8 pounds less than what I was Sunday morning right? Since 179 is my all time weight goal & I'm so close I may as well crack the whip & get there right? If I start losing the weight now I'll be to my dream weight by the Silverman 70.3 in November, & that race has a ridiculous amount of hills, & everyone knows the most important aspect of hill climbing is low body weight! If I start losing now that's just shy of 1 pound a week of weight loss to hit my goal! After I get to my goal weight I can spend the rest of my life maintaining, so why maintain now for just a little while when I can do it forever starting in November?

If you frequent my blog you'll know my biggest problem as an athlete is staying focused on a goal. I'm constantly coming up with reasons & justifications to change my goals. Here's just another example of this. But the decision has been made. My new & exciting goal is to get down to 179 pounds by the 1st week of November.