Case of the Mondays Vol. 1

I've decided to follow Ringo's advise and "get by with a little help from my friends" this week for workouts. I'm sure that song is talking about some sort of drug reference...but we'll take it at face value.

I sent about 10 text out last night trying to round up workout partners for the week. Being low on sleep, it's going to be tough to get in 4-5 solid workouts without accountability and the responsibility to meet these folks for workouts. Sleep is very valuable stuff around our house. Here is my plan...

Monday-Run/Bike (900p tonight)

Tuesday pt 1-Weights (815a between appointments)

Tuesday pt 2-Swim (1230p)

Wed-Off

Thursday-Weights (815a)

Friday-Bike (12:00p)

Sat pt 1-Run (530a)

Sat pt 2-Swim (630a)

Sun-Off

Meal Rotations for the Week

This will be a little tricky this week because folks at our church are cooking us meals 3 nights this week...which is an awesome blessing. We've already had 3 meals made for us and they were all super healthy (chicken, salad, beans, potatoes, etc.) I think people are scared to bring us anything but chicken and veggies...go figure. ; )

If we end up with leftovers, they will become our lunches for the week.

Snack Rotations

Premier nutrition protein bar (picked up at Sam's, really tasty...30 grams of protein and 270 cal.) and banana.

Fage Greek Yogurt 0%, cranberries

Boar's Head Turkey, Gluten Free Crackers, Mango

Grass-fed beef (no nitrate) hot dogs by Applegate (yummy) toped with mustard, frank's red hot, no bun. Gala apple

HEB Energy nuggets and apple

Cashews and 2% string cheese and mango.

Syntha 6 Protein Shake

*I also have started supplementing my lunch and afternoon snack with 1/2 of a 5 Hour energy.

Back at it!

I'm back! I took a short break last week as we welcomed our 4th little bundle of joy into our lives. Baby girl Ellie was born last Thursday, she weighed in at 6lbs 15oz and 19 inches long.

I'm trying to brainstorm a few ways to tweak my workout schedule as we adjust to disrupted sleep. I was able to workout Monday and Tuesday this week getting in about an 1.5 hours of weight training on Monday and then an 8 mile run on Tuesday. I took Wed and Thurs off as things have been a little hectic with Ellie.

Welcoming new life into the world makes me ponder lots of different things and ideas. I won't bore you with the laundry list of thoughts swirling through my head...but will share some of my thoughts relative to my fitness and nutrition.

I've thought a lot about my training regiment and what my children will learn as they watch what I do. Here is a quick list of some of the thoughts I've had...

1) I hope they learn what it means to commit to something. If we don't choose to show the younger generations what commitment looks like...how will they know how to commit themselves to something. In the world of "actions speak louder than words," our getting out of bed and pursuing something that challenges us (like exercise) sets a powerful example for those around us.

2) Believing vs. Following

I can tell someone the importance of eating broccoli, but if I'm not willing to follow my own advise and actually eat it there will likely be very little impact. If I believe I should be exercising but just sit around the house, those around me only see belief and not action.

I really have wrestled with the believe vs. follow paradox on a spiritual level as well over the past few weeks. I asked myself, "do I live my life as if I just believe in God...or do I follow Him as He guides me through His plans for the bigger picture of life...whether I like them or not."

When it's all said and done, my offspring will benefit very little if my actions don't speak louder than my words...if I just believe in what's right and not actively follow that which is right.

3) I hope to show my children that they have the potential to be strong, fast, fearless and courageous.

I've learned what this looks like through the example of one of my trainers at BCS Fitness. Trainer Linda has brought her children to her workouts at the gym, as well as local races, for the past few years. In doing so, they have been able to see their mom be fast, be strong, be fearless and be courageous. Her oldest child ,who's 10, has started to run most of these events with her. He now knows what it's like to go beyond what he thinks he is capable of. That is a powerful legacy Linda has been able to impart to her offspring. I hope to do the same.

This fitness stuff is character building! I've been exercising for the last 16 years and only the last two years have I truly seen what fitness SHOULD be about. Our character and the condition of our soul can be revealed if we allow it.

Fitness for the sake of vanity is shallow and empty.

Baby and Blogging Break

As many of you already know, my wife and I are expecting our little girl to be born this Thursday. It's a C-Section...so we're fairly certain that will be the day.

My goal is to push push push to get our family to-do's, gym to-do's, and my personal workouts taken care of by Wednesday night. Thus, I'm signing off my blog for the remainder of the week so I can dedicate myself to pressing 5 days of to-do's into 3 days.

Have an awesome week everyone! I'll update everyone this weekend. C-Section is scheduled bright and early Thursday morning, your prayers are appreciated! -Brad

Triple Threat Thursday

I knew after Sunday's run, I'd need to have some sort of "redemption run" before next Sunday. I had my chance this Thursday as I wedged in a 5K between weights and spinning...

Weights-Set 1: warm up set of Frontal Squats (15 reps @ 65lbs)

Set 2: Frontal Squats at 85lbs @ 10 reps

Set 3: Frontal Squats at 95lbs @ 10 reps

Set 4: Frontal Squats at 115lbs @ 10reps

Set 5: Frontal Squats at 135lbs @ 15reps 

Set 1-4: Reverse Swiss Bench Crunch (The Brad Pitt) @ 20 reps each

Set 1-4: Strapped barbell core twist @ 20lbs for 40 reps each set

Run: 5K @ 8:14 average pace per mile, 24:42 overall 

Cycle: 55 min "Spinervals 34.0" workout for Max Lactic Acid Threshold on cycle. 

Meal Rotation

• Eating for Life Turkey Spaghetti w/ Romaine Salad, pinch of feta cheese and honey mustard dressing
• Subway sandwich-all vegetables possible except onions, turkey, no cheese, no chips, no cookie.
• Turkey Chili w/ side salad
• Breakfast for Dinner NIght: 4 eggs scrambled, avocado, no nitrate turkey bacon, pinch of shredded cheese
• Chicken fajitas on the grill, corn tortillas, red peppers, green peppers, fage as sour cream.

Snack Rotation

• Almonds and 2% Cheese stick
• Fage 0%, Flax Seed, Cranberries
• Syntha 6 Protein Shake
• HEB Energy Nuggets and apple
• Zone Perfect Nutrition bars (convenience snack) 
• Cashews and Orange
• Whole Wheat Sandwich round, almond butter, agave nector 

Breakfast Rotation

• whole wheat sandwich round, almond butter, agave nector
• wheaties fuel, syntha 6, skim milk
• eggs, frank's red hot, turkey bacon, avocado

Here is how training broke down this week...

Sunday-Long run 

Monday-Off

Tuesday-Upper Body Weights

Wednesday-Swimming workout 

Thursday- Lower body weights and core work, short run, cycling

Friday-Off

Sat-Swimming workout

Cowboy Jeff and I registered for the Pioneer Power Triathlon in Denton, TX on August 8th. 300m swim, 16.1 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. Can't wait! 

What Sunday's "Survival Run" Taught Me About Myself

I learned a lot about myself this Sunday on our 10 mile run. What started off as a great run quickly turned into a potential train wreck. Here is how it went down...

Mile 1: paced at 8:05 per mile...felt good

Mile 2: paced at 8:08 per mile...still feeling pretty good

Mile 3: paced at 8:22 per mile...starting to see the upper register heart rate

Mile 4: paced at 8:34 per mile...heart rate steady at 175 bpm...which is too high...I like to stay around 165 bpm on longer runs.

Mile 5: paced at 8:50 per mile...wheels starting to come off...heart rate 175-179 bpm and perceived exertion is way up there. I almost threw up twice.

Miles 6-8: paced at 9:37 per mile... heart rate is now off the chain at 180-190 bpm. I'm only 31...so you can figure my estimated max heart rate is only 189. Almost threw up 2-3 times between miles 6-8. 

This is where God started teaching me about myself. My first temptation was to stop. Ken even asked me, near mile 7, if I needed to stop. I really had to fight to keep going. My lack of time in high humidity was really making my breathing difficult. Seeing average paces of 9:40, 9:58, 10:05, etc on my Garmin became really frustrating. 

My next move was to pull my headphones out and start listening to my breathing in hopes of establishing rhythm. This brought my heart rate down to around 178...music can ramp up your heart rate if it's fast and heavy. I also started praying for God to show me something about myself in my struggles. I tell my clients all the time, your character will start to show under stress, strain, and suffering...this is true in life and in exercise.  Exercise is a great way to reveal character and what is buried deep at your core. So as I prayed over that 20-25 minute period, I learned about a few character flaws...

1. I wanted to make excuses. I tried to give myself "an out" due to the humidity, the fact we started to0 fast, my asthma, etc. If I was willing to make excuses then...I'd be willing to make excuses when life became challenging. I just had to put on my armor and go to battle against the excuses.

2. I wanted to complain. I started to yell out to Ken, who was about a block ahead of me, "this sucks dude" but I didn't. However, I was quickly reminded that complaining would not make things any easier. Again...if I do it on a 10 mile run that would be over in less than 90 min...I'd do it day in day out when the stresses of life are present. 

3. I wanted to break a commitment I made.  I told myself that whatever happens and however bad my pace gets, I am not stopping. I thought about stopping 1-2 times when my heart rate was reaching 190 bpm. I needed the character victory, so with God's blessing, I kept pressing on. I can't remember the last time I stopped on a long run...but I was really close that day. 

Mile 9-9.9: somehow pulled out a 8:35 aver pace on the last miles plus. Maybe it was a second wind...who knows. 

So, I finished the run at an average pace of 8:56...which was really sad compared to the 8:15 and 8:20 we were putting up on 7 and 8 miles runs in the month of May. However, I am extremely grateful to be able to learn and work on the parts of my character that break down under stress.

If you don't take yourself to that place in your workout, where you are tempted by "the dark side" of your personality...I'd highly recommend it. You will be better for it...trust me! 

Last Four Workouts

Here is the quick run down on workouts Thursday-Sunday

Thursday

Burn out sets of barbell squats @ 225lbs

15 sec break

Burn out set of barbell squats @ 225lbs 

Burn out set of kettle bell sit-ups @ 26.5lbs

15 sec break

Burn out set of Kettle bell sit ups @ 26.5lbs

Burn out set of barbell calf raise @ 225lbs

15 sec break

Burn out set of barbell calf raises @ 225lbs

Burn out set of cable hyperextension @ 15lbs

15 sec break

Burn out set of cable byperextension @ 15lbs

John and I were killing it on these sets. Most sets went between 15reps and 20 reps. The calf raise was the exception, due to the limit range of motion of the calf...we kept at 40 reps + on those. 

Friday Part 1

12 Mile Cycle followed by 5K run (time 59 minutes) 

 The goal was to keep in high gears. My legs felt like logs after getting off the bike...but that's a really important thing to learn to work through. 

Friday Part 2

John, Cowboy Jeff, and I had swim training at Bryan aquatics with Shellie. Here is what i remember doing ( I may have blocked some of the more painful parts out...)

4 No breathers (see how far you can go across the 25 meter pool without getting air, helps build lung capacity)

2 100 meter sprints

50 meter swim w/ bilateral breathing every 3rd stroke

50 meter swim w/ bilateral breathing every 5th stroke

50 meter swim w/ bilateral breathing every 7th stroke

50 meter swim w/ bilateral breathing every 9th stroke

2 More No Breathers

 50 meter Twist Drill Practice (getting head to stay stable while core twist right and left)

I was going to include the "Sunday Survival Run" but I'll update you all on that joyous occasion tomorrow. Have a great day everyone! 

Tuesday Quick Update

Tuesday's Food:

500a-Wheaties, Syntha 6, skim milk

745a-Apple

900a-4 energy nuggets, 8oz glass of 1% organic chocolate milk

1200p-4 eggs scrambled, avocado, salsa, cayenne pepper and simple potatoes in bowl (mixed together) and grapes

300p- (1/2) 5 Hour energy, curry cashews, 2% string cheese, apple

645p-lean taco salad (romaine lettuce, lean ground beef, pinch of colby jack, salsa, avocado, fage as sour cream)

1000p-Fage 0% w/ cranberries

Had two workouts today...

Part 1: Weights with John

Burn out Dumbbell Shoulder Press @ 45lbs

(15 sec rest)

Burn out DB Shoulder press @ 45lbs

Burn out Pull Ups (body weight 180lbs)

(15 sec rest)

Burn out Pull Ups (body weight 180lbs)

Burn out weighted vertical dips @ 60lbs (plus 180lbs body weight)

(15 sec rest)

Burn out weighted vertical dips @ 60lbs (plus 180lbs body weight)

Burn out barbell bench press @ 185lbs

(15 sec rest)

Burn out barbell bench press @ 185lbs

Burn out Military Press @ 50lbs

Burn out Pull Ups

Burn out Weighted Vertical dips @ 65lbs (plus 180lbs body weight)

Burn out Bench press @ 205lbs

Since we were doing burn out sets, we were not counting reps. Most sets fell between 3-10 reps per set. 

Part 2: Night Swim

My wife had a friend over, so I used the time to get in another swim workout before our 3rd lesson tomorrow. I did trainer Shellie's 800 meter workout again this evening. Things are getting more natural...still have to really concentrate on each little aspect of the stroke. Probably cut 15 min off the time it took to complete this workout compared to when I did it Sunday. 

Tomorrow it's 90 min of swimming...can't wait.