Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Two Month Checkup

It's been over two months since I started this.  No better like now to review the progress.  First of all, let's define what I mean by "this":

Blog
I read a statistic that 95% of blogs are abandoned after three months.  So I guess I need to review in three months.  I don't trust statistics -- well, 80% of the time anyway.

I'm getting my thoughts out there, so I guess that is good.  I enjoy discussing the experiments and hope to get back to Scott Eats soon (we haven't been meal planning well lately).  I could probably be more in-depth. I've written 30 posts so far, so I guess that's a good sign I'll stick with it.  Sorry ;).

Social Media
I'm loving the Twi-athlete crowd.  There are plenty of engaging folks are there and all are motivating.  I do feel like the new kid in class.  I am generally a reserved person and usually wait for my turn to speak my mind.  Well, I haven't had too many drunk tweet episodes lately as I have with my other/old twitter account.  That will probably change this weekend.  So you are forewarned.

Triathlon Training
I will always feel that I could be doing better things in this arena.  I guess that's why I started this blog.  The first month or so was pretty rough but I'm back into the swing of things.  I enjoy the challenge of the brick workouts and I LOVE when I can tell I've been improving.

Overall
Along with my reserved personality, I'm uncomfortable with talking about myself, things I'm doing, and things I've accomplished.  A month after my marathon, when people asked me what's new in my life,  I still gave the standard "not much" response.  I've had to get over that with this blog and putting my workouts on twitter.

The training has built confidence, twitter has helped motivate me and learn what others do for their training, and this blog keeps me accountable.

I'll try to get the self reflecting to a minimum in the future. :)

Monday, March 28, 2011

It's All About The Workflow

Whenever I start something new that requires some level of effort or focus, I have to figure out a "workflow" to effectively insert it into my routine.  If I don't, then I'm bound to fail. Anything that will aid in making that workflow happen is welcomed.

Naturally, the biggest workflow in the last few years was shifting to working out at the Y every morning.  This was huge.  It was like preparing an overnight hotel stay, 5 times a week.  I was going to be showering and getting ready for work at the YMCA.  In preparation for this task, I wrote down everything I would need to do for the transition.  My workflow:
  1. 6 items in the gym bag for work: work shoes, work socks, underoos, belt, undershirt, towel.
  2. Place slacks and workshirt on a hanger.  
  3. Put gym bag and work clothes in the hallway (or even in the truck).  The point being is to get it out of the bedroom.
  4. Lay out work-out specific gym clothes next to master bath.  This may be jammers (swimming) or shorts & tech shirt.
 This was the initial workflow.  The main point of this was to make it easier to go to the gym than to change my mind and sleep in.  I've learned that I also need to move the alarm clock far enough away that I have to physically get out of bed to hit the snooze turn it off.

In order to make this more efficient, I would do this all when I got home from work.  It was faster to pack the bag at the same time I unpacked it from the day's workout.  No rushing right before I go to bed (another excuse to avoid: didn't have time to pack!)

Part of the initial planning was to effectively utilize my gym time.  While my work doesn't requiring punching a time card, I prefer to get to work around 7:00am.  To maximize my gym time, which opens at 5:30am, I do as much as I can before I go to the gym, such as shaving.  My goal is to get to the gym as they unlock the doors.  This allows me to get an hour long session in and then off to work before my boss on time.

Other items that have been added to the workflow:
  • Pack my gym bag and set out tomorrow's clothes while I'm unpacking the gym bag.  This alleviates another often used excuse:  I ran out of time to pack my gym bag because it's bedtime!
  • Pack tomorrow's lunch after I've packed the gym bag
  • Prep my breakfast before bedtime (which used to be a fruit protein smoothie)
The Latest Workflow Challenge: Dailymile
When my only discipline was running, I could easily keep track of my workouts using Garmin Connect; however, since I've added swimming and I don't dare take my FR405cx in the pool with me, I have needed a new place to keep track of my workouts.  I reviewed many different sites and they need to meet a set of requirements:
  • Low Cost:  The freer the better
  • iPod touch app, iPad specific app, Android app, and clean interface.
  • Can track all three disciplines and weights.
  • Food log/calorie counter
  • I can access the web site from work (they block a lot of sites)
Working through many sites (The Daily Burn, Livestrong, MyFitnessPal) I ultimately decided my fitness life would be stored on SparkPeople.  What!  This isn't Dailymile!  Please keep with me!  After a few weeks, I realized I didn't need the Food Log/Calorie counter.  I may go back to it eventually.  While I like tracking the workouts, I have gotten tired entering them in.  I've grown to dislike the interface.  Waaaay too much on each page and it bogs down the page.  After a few months I have ultimately dumped it for everything except weights.  I keep track of my weights so I know what I'm lifting each week.  Apparently I'm above pen and paper.

So after a few discussions on Twitter, I landed on dailymile (Thanks TriBeccaTO!).  I have actually been on this before but never registered an account.  Dailymile is free.  I haven't checked for an iOS app but there is a third-party app on Android that performs the bare minimum.  It has a beautiful web interface and a great mobile site.  No food journal, but I've dumped that requirement.  What I like about it is the integration with Garmin.  It will import all my workouts.  I'm assuming if I had a FR310XT it would import swim sessions (but I don't think that works will in a pool).

So back to workflow.  It's easy to enter information once I've downloaded my Garmin data.  As soon as I get home from the day or get to work, I can quickly enter my workouts (generally less than 30 seconds, depending on how much commentary I add).

What's Next
With dailymile, I have definitely been able to track my workouts.  It's fun seeing how many miles/calories/minutes/hours I put in. However, my next step in statistical devouring is diving into the data and pulling out trends and things to improve upon.  I want to learn more about "zones" and "watts" and dailymile just doesn't seem to dig into that.

I've been debating about trying SportTrack but I'm an Mac fan, so I'd have to run this through Parallels (Windows emulator).  This isn't a big problem because it is always running on my Mac.  There are Mac options, so I'll revisit those.  Another option is the free version of TrainingPeaks.

Side Note
I have obviously not figured out my workflow with the blog.  For instance, I've been working on this blog post for a week now.  :)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Weekly Review: March 21 - March 27

If you've been following my blog lately, you'll notice I've decided to focus on my running form.  I've been quite happy with the results and hope to continue as the weather improves.

Still working through my swimming form and I'm just spending as much Time In The Swimming pool as possible.  I've decided to switch up where I go to the YMCA in the morning because it opens 30 minutes earlier.  Let's see if I can get myself up 30 minutes earlier too!

Breakout:
Swim: 10,000 meters
Bike: 37 miles
Run: 20 miles
Weights: 1 Hour
Total Time: 9:33

I scaled my time back compared to the previous week.  Not necessarily by design.  If the weather was in a better shape, I would have spent my Time In The Saddle.  I only did two rides this week and both were on the trainer.  Part of the reason was too make sure I'm not overtraining.

Other items from this week:
We have our Brew-to-Brew Team T-Shirts made



Also, I got registered for my very first triathlon!  Along with that, I'm an official USAT member.  (Still not calling myself a triathlete).

Upcoming
I'm on-call for work so my training may take a dip.  Working with computers means 24-hour availability, much to my wife's dismay.


Thursday: Royals Opening Day!
Friday: Day off from work.  I hope to get in a good brick session.
Saturday: Brew-to-Brew Food Prep Day
Sunday: Brew-to-Brew Race!!

Registered!

Four months of training has finally culminated into the registration for my first triathlon! My first official triathlon will be the Kansas City Triathlon on May 22nd.  I decided to go for the international distance.  This distance means swimming 1500 meters, biking 25 miles, running 6 miles.


If you've paid attention to my site, you'll notice this wasn't originally on the race list.  I've decided that I'm ready and hopefully will be entertainment for family who are visiting.  This triathlon is actually relatively new to Kansas City.  It is the third running but from what I have read this is put on very well.

So in 55 days this I will become "Scotty Trid!".

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Experiment: Running Form, Continued

I hadn't planned to revisiting this so soon.  While checking out the weather, I realized tonight was the best time to get outside for a run over the upcoming three days.  I planned a nice long run.  Another chance to evaluate the new form.

I elected to run the exact same route as Saturday morning (well, the last .2 of it was different).  I decided not to focus on pace but rather cadence.  I set my Garmin to only display heart rate and cadence.  I tried to stick to a cadence of 80.  Based on my tests that would give me a pace just over 8:00 minutes.

So I hit the road.  For the most part, I couldn't keep my cadence at 80.  It was mostly in the 85 range. I knew my toughest challenge would be the hills so I focused on getting my cadence to 80 and it made the hills much more manageable.

The results were amazing!  Compared to Saturday, my pace was 31 seconds faster.  It wasn't in the 8:00 range but it was 8:17 compared to 8:48.  My heart rate was only 5 beats per minute faster.  The cadence was even lower today, which is to be expected with the longer stride.  Remember, this was over 9.5 miles with some nasty hills.  I'm just absolutely elated!

Here is the Garmin data.  Let me know if you see something wacky:


Click to enlarge (that's what he said)
NOTE:  The .2 mile route change at the end did have a big change in elevation but I was taking the higher elevation with the new form.

I will start doing some more research on this running form to see what else I can learn.  Going forward I plan to stick to the mid-80s for the pace.  After a couple weeks, I'll push it up to 90 to see how it goes.  I'll do it as part of my training for the Trolley Run on April 17.

I just love the fact that I am still improving the one triathlon discipline that I felt most comfortable.  I'm looking forward to the running aspect of the training again!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Experiment: Running Form

I mentioned in my weekly review about trying a new running form.  My concern was that it would quicken my pace and tax my cardio system because of it.  So I decided to attempt an experiment.  I know I'm suppose to do some hypothesis and theorems and stuff, but I forgot science stuff a long time ago.

Environment:  A 1/4 mile-ish loop at the middle school next to my house.  It provided a consistent environment for the test.

I did two loops per test.  I wanted to try the test at my long-run pace (which is apparently 160 strides per minute) for each form.  I also wanted to pick-up the pace to the recommended 180 strides per minute per form as well.  I've read that 180 strides per minute is some magic number in running.  Whatever, I'm game  This presented four total tests.  Before starting a test, I let my heart rate settle back to 110 bpm.  Don't know why I used 110 but I tried to be consistent.

I did a warm-up prior to the tests to get my body ready.

In an attempt to measure accurately, I used my Garmin watch to measure cadence and heart rate.  Heart rate would provide the perceived exertion.  The higher the average heart rate per test, the more exertion.  I tried to make speed less of a factor as it can be somewhat inaccurate in short distances on GPS watches but I'll mention it.  Here are the results:


Curr -> Current Form (more vertical and landing mostly flat footed)
New -> New Form: Focusing on having the 'power curve' or 'power arch' discussed here.
cdn -> Cadence.  I have a footpod on my left shoe.  Multiply by 2 to get the total stride per minute.

So the new form does take roughly 50 seconds off my pace and increases my heart rate 7 to 8 beats per minute. A 10% reduction in time for a 5% increase taxing of the cardio system. That 10% reduction in time is enough to qualify for Boston though with the faster cadence. (.5 miles does not make a 26.2 mile effort, though).

Analysis of Data
While I attempted to control as much of the variables as possible in this test, the biggest thing is that my body was not accustomed to the new form. I'm moving more muscles with the longer stride so they may not be as prepared. I think that partially contributed to the higher HR. I'll work on improving the new form and give the test again in a few months to see what results I have. I'll probably stick with the 160 strides per minute initially until I'm comfortable with the form and then move it to a higher cadence. I normally target the higher cadence anyway.

Follow-up
I did this test on Monday night and did a run tonight down at English Landing Park (a mostly flat 3 mile loop).    I had a mostly consistent 80 cadence and was pretty consistent with an 8 minute mile.  This was after a full hour on the trainer with the bike (at a 16.2 mph pace).  In other words, my system was relatively tired and I was able to keep this pace.  Looking forward to see how this progresses.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Weekly Review: March 14 - March 20

Weather was finally warm enough to get the bike back out this week!  This time I took it outside the confines of the downtown airport loop and had to contend with traffic and intersections.  Ack!  Clipless pedals!  I was surprisingly better at managing the pedals/shoes than I thought I would but did have one fall (mostly caught myself) on Friday.  I'm doing better at setting up the correct gearing prior to stopping but still plenty of work.

Here's the breakout:

Swim: 9000 meters
Bike: 59 miles (32 miles outside!!!)
Run: 16 miles
Weights: 1 Hour
Total: 10 hours, 27 minutes

Overall
I feel like things are clicking well.  If anything, I'm behind on my bike simply because I have hadn't a chance to get out to mash on the pedals compared to my other new sport, swimming.  I've had all winter to work on that.

This additional time has gotten me more and more concerned about overtraining.  So I'm trying to pay close attention to my body (and then ignore it :)).  Even during the week of my longest training runs for the marathon, I only put in 6 hours.  This is getting close to doubling it.

Running
I've been watching videos on running techniques posted on Runner Girl Training's blog.  I have started spending more time thinking about running form than I had in the past.  While landing correctly is vitally important to less wear on toes/foot/legs (and more efficient), I've been focusing on toe-off and the "Power Curve" (or something fancy like that).  Basically the back of your body from neck/head down to heal should represent a nice curve when you toe-off from your stride.  Still figuring out why that's important :).  However, when I do this I feel like my pace quickens, which actually worries me a bit so I try to be careful with it.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Nominations for the Stylish Blogger Awards & The Requisite 7 Facts

So Falkie Triathlon must like orange because I'm not exactly sure what's "stylish" about my blog.  Either way, Ryan tagged me as one of his nomination of 7 Stylish Blogger Awards.  While determining if PriceWaterhouseCoopers is tallying the votes, I've decided to comply with the "rules" and reciprocate.

You are supposed to link back to the person who nominated you, list 7 things about you, and nominate 7 other people.

7 Things About Me
  1. I broke my arm when I was 7.  It happened performing a karate kick off of a bed into the stomach of my cousin.  The fall broke my arm.  Any early aspirations of being a ninja were quickly squashed.
  2. I prefer to be in the corner of a party than be the life of the party.  I'll sit there making fun of that center of attention.  I love that my wife is my partner-in-crime in this favorite pastime.
  3. My love of cooking started when I was 18.  I was a cook for Old Country Buffet.  When people commented to me that I should cook for them, I would always reply that I'd be happy to... just bring 500 of your friends because all I knew was how to cook large quantities of food.
  4. Found the love of my life waiting for me in my college dorm room in 1997.  She was introduced to me by a great friend that I had known since I was six.
  5. I had an Investment Retirement Account (IRA) before I could drive.  Thanks Dad!
  6. I am trying to get better about reading.  I don't read many fiction books and struggle with blogs that are more than a couple paragraphs long.  When I was a kid I would simply skip the Sunday Calvin and Hobbes cartoon if it was mostly dialog between Calvin and Hobbes.  It might be because I'd rather be doing something "productive"; however, even twitter overwhelms me if I can't keep up with tweets in my timeline.  I'm trying to get better because, frankly, I know I've put out some long posts myself!
  7. I have a 5 pound gummy bear in my fridge (OK, 4.9 pounds.. I ate his ears the other day)
My nominations:

  • Our Little Birds - TKB and I's great friends, Michael and Morgan.  Michael is the designer of Cartoon Scotty, so of course he gets nominated for making this blog stylish.
  • Lauren, VI, VII - Joe VI is one of the reason I started doing races.... so blame him. :)
  • Thought Per Mile - I work with Jill and she has shared my pains over the past few months (actually, I'm the one causing her pains :)).  She has one of the most clever titles for her blogs.
  • 344 Pounds - I've followed Tyler for a couple years as he has journaled his weight loss publicly. While I've never met Tyler (in person or in an online setting), he's worth checking out as he is very inspirational.
  • DC Rainmaker - I wish I had access to the gadgets that he does.  Once again, very little interaction with Ray, but he was the second athlete blog I started following (Falke Triathlon was the first and he's already been mentioned)!
  • Planet Money - These last two, while they do have blog components, have help me get through some weight room sessions in their podcasts (sorry, might be stretching the rules here).  This is an informative podcast regarding the economy, U.S. and the world, in a fun and easy to understand format.
  • Fat 2 Fit Radio - Discuss healthy life styles.  They produce a podcast every 1 - 2 weeks.
OK.. so it looks like I've got to add more blogs to my rotation, especially fitness related.  Since I started doing this website, I've focused on building my twitter following (meaning, the people I follow).  It's time to start putting those on my Google Reader.  What's your blog?  Put it in the comments!!!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sick or Overtrain?

Schedule
Monday - AM: 2500 meters in the pool
Monday - PM:17 miles on bike trainer

Tuesday - AM: 1 hour weight session
Tuesday - PM: 6.5 mile run

Wednesday - AM: 3000 meters in the pool
Wednesday - PM: 10 miles on bike trainer.

Total time: 5 hours, 33 minutes.

I never put that much time in over a three days span before, even during my marathon training.

Tuesday evening I was laying on the couch and I could tell my heart rate was elevated.  This was 3+ hours after my run.  I believe that's one sign of overtraining.  Wednesday evening I noticed the same thing and then started to get extremely hot and started coughing as if I had a cold.  So I scheduled in a rest day for today.  I feel much better today.  I am hoping for a walk at lunch because it is beautiful outside!

Related or Unrelated
I've worked at my current job for nearly 11 years.  My employer gives us 40 hours of sick time on January 1 and it accrues.  I looked at my current total and I have accrued 400 hours of sick time.  Doing quick math, that means I've only called in sick 5 times.  I believe in the last 4 years I've called in sick once (ironically, it was the Monday before my marathon).  Either I am a relatively healthy person or in denial and go to work anyway (sorry cube-mates!).

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Race Report: 33rd Annual Westport St. Patrick's Day Run

Pre-Race
One of the few races out there in which you can actually sleep off the previous day's happy hour before having to think about this race.  It starts at 10:00am  I woke up at 6:30am and fixed myself a couple eggs for breakfast.  I should have eaten a banana with it.

I will say that regardless of the start time you should always set out your race gear the previous day.  I did have the foresight to charge my FR405cx the night before and make sure my clothes were clean.  However there was no painstakingly laid out clothes, pre-attached bib to race belt, timing chip attached to the shoe, etc.  The chances of this biting me in the ass?  HIGH.  I started getting everything assembled when it was time for the bib.  I dump out the packet pickup bag.  I soon realized my bib was not in the bag.  I know I picked it up because I looked at it yesterday to see that the timing chip was one that did not need to be affixed to the shoe.  So double whammy... no bib and no timed race!

I retraced my tracks to find it in the door pocket of the truck.  Whew!!

Dramatization: Not the real bib.
Lesson learned.


I struggled with clothing.  The temps were upper 30s when I got up but they did increase to mid-40s by departure time.  I elected for compression shirt, sleeveless tech shirt and running shorts.  I almost put on running tights and glad I didn't.


I filled up my water bottle and off we went.  Arrived around 9:30am to meet up with Danny and Joe VI in front of Kelly's at Westport.

Race
I had hopes of hitting a 28:00 minute race when I digitally inked this on the blog's "2011 Race" list but didn't have the training plan geared for that (will work on that for Trolly Run).  Instead, I resolved to just beat my Personal Record (PR) and going sub-30.

1st Mile - 7:23 pace: The start was just like any start.  A bunch of humanity jockeying for position.  It took a good half mile to get in open space but I also started too fast because of it.  That's OK because I had a wardrobe malfunction 1 mile in.  My left shoe lace came untied.

The first mile has a nice "dip" (.4 mile 70 foot decline and then incline in elevation).  With this and my fast start, it impacted my split and probably the overall race.  I at least waited for the top of the hill to tie the shoelace and got a 10 second breather.

2nd Mile - 7:17 pace:  This was mostly downhill except the end.  I quickly realized that I left most of the water inside of the bottle that I filled prior to leaving for the race.  Oops.  I was getting dehydrated.

Secondly, I need to do a better job with my Heart Rate Monitor strap.  About this time in the race it had fallen down to a few inches above my tummy-port.  The compression shirt was making it difficult to adjust back up.  With pushing myself pretty hard, lack of water, and the HRM, I think it caused my stomach to start bugging me.

3rd Mile - 7:43 pace: The only aid station was at the beginning of mile 3.  I did walk through it and take in some water.  This mile is mostly up hill.  So with the aid station and the hill, my time suffered.

4th Mile - 7:11 pace:  Elevation was pretty level with the last 1/3 down hill.  Knowing it was the last mile had me kick it up a little.  HTFU is the term, but I probably half-assed that.

Total: 29:40 (from my Garmin) / 7:25 pace

Post-Race
Multi-grain rolls, bananas, apples, oranges, yogurt (apple cobbler), water, and chocolate milk.  They may have had some Krispy Kreme's but I think we got there too late.  I was ready to down 3 or 6 at a time ;).

There were 3 or 4 tables lined up with the food.  The table I went through had Apple Cobbler yogurt.  Interesting but it seemed overly sugary.

Overall
Overall I was quite pleased with the race.  I PR'd and hit sub-30.  I need to do some better pre-race hydration (never had an issue with this before -- I think I got a little cocky). 

Chip: 29:41
AG: 60  / 308
Overall: 256 / 3228

The Evidence


Today's Running Crew: Joe VI, Me, Danny
Me
Danny

Joe VI


Random: Hardcore Green -- Plus he was wearing Vibrams.


Random: Oscar!
Random: Some interesting scenery around Westport
Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72597410

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Westport St. Patrick's Day Run - 4 Mile


This pretty much sums it up.  I should be working on some web site projects but I'm comfortable on my couch looking for fellow triathletes on twitter and thinking about my upcoming race.

This is my anniversary race.  Last year this was my first organized race (chasing after the dog down the street doesn't count, I guess).  I was planning for this race to be a big PR jump.  I did the race in just over 30 minutes last year and I was hoping for a 28 minute (7:00 minute pace, for those calculator challenged) this year.  Due to lack of training (no excuses),  I'm just hoping for another 4 mile PR.

As you can see to the right of the page, I have a lot of races scheduled for this year.  The first four solo races are shorter 4 - 6 mile types and then I hit Hospital Hill in June.  I will definitely work towards a specific training plan for that race.  My hopes are to blow away my PR of 1:54.  The only thing that might throw a hitch in that is I've penciled in the KC Tri in May.  I'm probably doing too much too fast but I'm really falling in love with doing these events.  We'll see if that translates to triathlons... possibly in May.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Scott Eats: Ham and Beans

Today's edition of Scott Eats is of my new favorite recipe: Ham and Beans.


You can find the recipe here.  Normally the first time I make a dish, I try to stick to the recipe.  I try the original "chefs" version before I geek-out on it.  I didn't give this one a chance, but I didn't tweak much.  I added 1/3 cup of brown sugar and I'm glad I did.

Next time I would try to cook it the prescribed 8 hours (or less).  Most beans were mushy.  They cooked for 11 hours.  My crockpot has a setting called "auto".  It cooks for 2 hours on high and then down to low for the remainder.  Maybe I'll just use the "low" setting next time.  If you get over the mushiness, it's freaking awesome (I can get over it, TKB not so much).

For leftovers I may put them on a bed of rice.  We'll see.... that's assuming there will be leftovers.

I'd also like to calculate the nutritional value based on what I used.  According to the recipe the web site:

  • 494 calories
  • 15.5 grams of fat
  • 2434 mg of Sodium (!!! .. Daily Recommend Allowance is 2400mg)
  • A nice heaping 36 grams of protein (I'm going to need it). 


In order to combat some of the bad:

  • I only sautéed the onion and ham in a small portion of the bacon grease
  • I didn't add salt at the end
  • I used low sodium broth (It doesn't look like the nutrition facts took that into consideration even though the author mentions it).

All Your Base Are Belong To Us

Just finished up a 5 mile run.  I just can't help to think that I've lost my running base.  Before winter really set in and work ramped up, I was doing 14 mile long runs on the weekend.   I may be overreacting but it seemed like this 5 miles was tough.  I got a little pain in the side, my legs were achy, I was thinking more of the warm shower at the end than working the lactic acid through my legs.

The redeeming quality is that taking the stairs at work today hurt which was from my 4 miles yesterday.  This wasn't a nasty pain but a "I'm trying to recover and you are making me take the stairs" kind of pain.  That felt good.

Of course... all this whining could be contributed to the fact that I was working at an average 8:14 pace tonight and a 8:30 pace yesterday.  Both with occasional bouts with a strong headwind.  Yes.. I'll chalk it up to that.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Getting Jiggly With It

So I've been avoiding/ignoring things, this blog being one of it.  I haven't been following my training plan (I did get 7000 meters in the pool between February 21 and 28 though).  Work schedule has been very accommodating, so I can't blame that.  A tragedy in my extended family has been putting things in perspective but that's not a reason to avoid the gym (it helped me increase my swim by 1000 meters on Feb 26).  The one thing I can't ignore is when I start feeling the "jiggly".

I'm 6 foot 4 and 175 pounds.  Many people see my lanky build and wonder why I work out, run, eat healthy, etc.  I still have an odd spare tire around the waist but, frankly, I enjoy the healthy lifestyle.  When the gym membership card has gotten dusty and the credit card has gotten too friendly at the local restaurants, I start feeling the "jiggly" around the belly.

So now that it has arrived, it's time to get rid of it. I put in 2,500 meters at the pool yesterday and I'm about to head out the door to get in a four mile run in.  Got to start training for my next week race this coming weekend at some point!

Side note:  I have got to keep up with my blog.  I started this entry on Wednesday night and waiting a few days to finish made the references to previous workouts a little awkward.  Sorry about that.  WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!