Drex Gets Focused: An Essay on Shenanigans

8/7/08

10:01AM
Ran 6.17 miles, 50:47, 8:14 min/mile, Avg HR 149, Max HR 171.

2:30PM
Swam 1250 meters, 1 hour.

Played 6 games of volleyball, went 0-6.

The swimming just isn't going to be ready for the triathlon. It took me 35 mins to get in my first 750 meters. That is way too long.

Food:
 
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[Focus] said:
Welp, I believe that a) calories is calories and b) they reduce perceived fatigue more than they do actual fatigue - which is to say I'm not convinced of the performance benefits. Also they taste over 9000 times worse than even whey (which still makes me want to vomit every time it hits my mouth), so. I believe the conventional remedy is a citrus-flavored drink to mask it, but I can't do that, as my body will accept no citrus substitutes. I literally cannot hold down flavors like orange, limeade or lemonade. It's quite disturbing.

How much do you take? o_O
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The BCAA's I take are made by ON and have no flavor at all.
 
Drex said:
The BCAA's I take are made by ON and have no flavor at all.
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You're right - I should probably try a few different brands before condemning them. Usually do, but not in this case. The stuff I've got from trueprotein tastes like zombie taint.

But then, that's mixed in with some other stuff. Guess I'll try it by itself first and see what's up... but I'm weird about supplements. Most of what has no taste at all or even a pleasant taste to other people nauseates me. On the other hand, I have very little interest in the unhealthy refined foods either, so it's not all bad. :)

Hum. How does we make the Drexatron swim gooder... Aquatactics upgrade module?
 
Call in the experts. I do this **** for a living, yall. Stand back and watch the magic--

Drex, are you putting your face in the water? :D
 
g8r80 said:
When is your triathlon? Is it wetsuit legal? Have you practiced in a wetsuit?
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The triathlon is August 17th. It is wetsuit legal and I will wear the wetsuit. Hopefully the wetsuit is enough help, but I doubt it. I will probably heat up pretty good too, the water temps should be around 80. I have done the one ows with the wetsuit and it did help. I have been trying to do all my scheduled workouts without the wetsuit though to make it harder for the conditioning.

LeiYunFat said:
Call in the experts. I do this **** for a living, yall. Stand back and watch the magic--

Drex, are you putting your face in the water? :D
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Do you think that will help? :yelrotflmao: Actually, it seems my biggest problem is I sink too easily. I swim more like a submarine than a boat. My swim instructor was having me rotate all the way around and turn my head to the ceiling so I could get a breath of air without water for side swim drills. It is also why the wetsuit will be a big help for me.
 
Drex said:
The triathlon is August 17th. It is wetsuit legal and I will wear the wetsuit. Hopefully the wetsuit is enough help, but I doubt it. I will probably heat up pretty good too, the water temps should be around 80. I have done the one ows with the wetsuit and it did help. I have been trying to do all my scheduled workouts without the wetsuit though to make it harder for the conditioning.
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80 is pretty high temp for a wetsuit and if you use a wetsuit between 78 and 84F, you will be ineligible for age-group prizes. But that beats not being able to finish because of the swim. But, I suspect the water temp will be colder than 80. At the end of June, the water temp in that quarry in Rochester was 74, but I don't think it will go up much beyond that. I would guess mid 70s.

Drex said:
Do you think that will help? :yelrotflmao: Actually, it seems my biggest problem is I sink too easily. I swim more like a submarine than a boat. My swim instructor was having me rotate all the way around and turn my head to the ceiling so I could get a breath of air without water for side swim drills. It is also why the wetsuit will be a big help for me.
Click to expand...

I sink like a stone too. And, I suspect Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz with their 2% bf probably do too. Phelps and Spitz kick like muthas and stay horizontal and, therefore, fast. Although some say you can improve your balance in the pool, in "Immersion Swimming" the author admits that some folks, and I think I am in that category, are leg heavy and their legs sink like a stone and cannot float regardless. I wonder if this has to do with bone density or just disproportionate muscle groups. I wonder if cyclists are more vulnerable to this?:confused:

So, after several months of thinking and studying this, here is what I have concluded:

You have to learn to kick to keep your legs up in fresh water (in salt water it is not a problem). Alternatively, or until you develop this kick, use a wetsuit.
 
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All this sink or swim stuff fascinates me. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be struggling with the same thing in a bit. I honestly can't remember what I swim like... most of my recent swims I was more focused on my contacts constantly wanting to pop out of my eyes, or getting up to a particular mischief.

May sound harsh to all y'all eating whinecakes out there, but I agree with: "Kick better, Sir Drexalot." :D

Yes, I think I shall definitely go for a little swim this next Wednesday and see what's up. At which point I'm sure 10 or 15 different people will show up just to point out how I have no business telling Drex to do better, haha.

Also, 35g!? :eek2: ....Awright. I will get right on that, bb. :11doh:

P.S. Random thought - I really like your name. It rolls off the tongue smooth-like.
 
08/08/08

Before we start, I'd like everyone to take a moment to observe the date. Today is a very special one... Crazy 8's. Do something... strange. For your old boy.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming:

Training

A1 Full Squat 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 165x3, 195x3, 215x3, 235x0, 225x1, 225x1, 225x1, 235x0
B1 Wide Full Squat 115x20x3
C1 R Bulg Split Squat 25x10/10x2, 25x9/8
D1 45 Deg Hyper 50x12x3
E1 Ab Machine 50x15, 150x15, 125x15, 135x15, 150x11

Thoughts

Devastation. Walking home was a real struggle.... Glorious. :D Looks like I was weaksauce on the squats compared to last week, but I most certainly wasn't. I'm pretty sure the bar I used this time (the only one that's new enough to have a proper grip) weighs 10-20 lbs more than the other. Couldn't compare directly, as the rest were in use, but I'm not worried. Made some improvement by focusing on coming out of the hole fast (instead of pausing, losing all my momentum, and getting stuck) as per speed squats.

Love the BSS's, now that I can actually balance somewhat from all those lunges. There were like a hundred clowns in my way everywhere for some reason, so I went and played with the ab machine instead of doing my ground-based stuff, which was aight, but boring. Curiosity sated. Don't understand why my hypers are making such huge gains, but whateva. Couldn't do reverse cause the Y sucks. Oh well. Something's getting worked hard, so why fix what ain't broken. :)

Now to figure out my half-marathon training schedule and think about how badly it's gonna suck to be running 15-20 miles per week in my 7th-12th weeks of the velocity diet. I think I might die. ^_^
 
[Focus] said:
Oh, there's no doubt about it. This long-term v diet stuff is ridiculous. I'm guessing most people have no idea what it feels like to do the workout I did today on what has been pretty close to 6 weeks of starvation.

Currently in the process of pondering whether continuing with this thing fits with my goals. My pride says no surrender, but my head says I am being dumb. Just looking at these workouts and my planned 1800 calories /day... It makes me want to seppuku, tbh. XD

I'm thinking it might be a better idea to just stop what I'm doing, take a re-feed week (where I eat whatever I want, whenever I want, but clean), and then eat "maintenance" until the end of the marathon, 'n' see what happens. Hard to tell whether that's my mind playin' tricks on me, or actually the right thing to do, though. I'm fairly sure it's the latter, but I will consider it carefully.
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Your thoughts, Drexalicious? I'm fairly sure you're going to tell me to eat, but still. :)
 
g8r80 said:
80 is pretty high temp for a wetsuit and if you use a wetsuit between 78 and 84F, you will be ineligible for age-group prizes. But that beats not being able to finish because of the swim. But, I suspect the water temp will be colder than 80. At the end of June, the water temp in that quarry in Rochester was 74, but I don't think it will go up much beyond that. I would guess mid 70s.
Click to expand...

At the end of June we haven't had a lot of warm days. It gets hot in July and August and the water warms up a lot more. The website for the race says the water temp will be between 78-80, but wetsuits are legal. I don't think they are going by the rule of being disqualified for awards if you wear a wetsuit, but I won't have to worry about that anyway.

g8r80 said:
I sink like a stone too. And, I suspect Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz with their 2% bf probably do too. Phelps and Spitz kick like muthas and stay horizontal and, therefore, fast. Although some say you can improve your balance in the pool, in "Immersion Swimming" the author admits that some folks, and I think I am in that category, are leg heavy and their legs sink like a stone and cannot float regardless. I wonder if this has to do with bone density or just disproportionate muscle groups. I wonder if cyclists are more vulnerable to this?:confused:

So, after several months of thinking and studying this, here is what I have concluded:

You have to learn to kick to keep your legs up in fresh water (in salt water it is not a problem). Alternatively, or until you develop this kick, use a wetsuit.
Click to expand...

Total Immersion states "Athletes who are lean, densely muscled or long-legged (and particularly those with two or more of these traits) commonly find that no amount of position adjusting allows them to achieve real comfort in the nore-up balance drills.

I have all 3 traits with exceptionally long legs.
 
[Focus] said:
Your thoughts, Drexalicious? I'm fairly sure you're going to tell me to eat, but still. :)
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Yes, my recommendation would be to eat a balanced diet. It is going to be hard to increase perforamnce on an extreme cut. Do you have a specific race you are going to sign up for?
 
Drex said:
Yes, my recommendation would be to eat a balanced diet. It is going to be hard to increase perforamnce on an extreme cut. Do you have a specific race you are going to sign up for?
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Yup. Ended up going with a half marathon here in Calgary on the 27th. Which is... soon. I don't know why I do these things to myself, haha.

I'm pondering maybe just trying to find maintenance, but eating completely clean (berardi'ish), until then, and then going on a bulk. Assuming I'm around 10-13%'ish body fat by then. I really wanna bulk. Really really. :D
 
8/8/08

9:56AM
Biked 24.49 miles, 1:19:59, 18.37 mph, Avg HR 116, Max HR 142. Drove out of town a little bit so I could ride without stops.

5:00PM
Back Squat - 135x10; 255x5; 255x5; 255x5; 255x5; 255x5
(ss1)Sumo Dealift - 135x10; 285x10; 285x10; 285x10
(ss1)One Leg Calf Raise - 150x10; 150x10; 150x10
Incline Bench - 95x10; 155x10; 155x10; 155x10
Decline Bench - 230x5; 230x5; 230x5; 230x5; 230x5
(ss2)Cable Row - 185x10; 185x10; 185x10
(ss2)Fly - (50x2)x10; (50x2)x10; (50x2)x10
(ss3)Push Press - 115x10; 115x10; 115x10
(ss3)Lateral Raise - (20x2)x10; (20x2)x10; (20x2)x10
(ss4)Chin up - 10x10; 10x10; 10x10
(ss4)Tricep Extension - (40x2)x10; (40x2)x10; (40x2)x10
Leg Raise - 24x10; 24x10; 24x10

Anybody know of any good equipment for adding weight for hanging leg raises? I bought some hooks that are for the wrist to help with grip and tried to use them around my ankles, hooking dumbbells to them. They would work ok, but since they are made for wrists, they are a bit small and pretty much cut off circulation just to get the velcro to stick.

Took my daughter to the county fair in the afternoon.

Food:
 
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Drex said:
Anybody know of any good equipment for adding weight for hanging leg raises?
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I would try one of those wide belts with the chain attached to hang a plate from. (For doing weighted pull-ups and such.) You could just put it on your ankles? Hmm, or maybe mid-lower quad (bit above your knees) would be better. Odds are your gym already has one somewhere. Even the Y does.
 
[Focus] said:
Yup. Ended up going with a half marathon here in Calgary on the 27th. Which is... soon. I don't know why I do these things to myself, haha.

I'm pondering maybe just trying to find maintenance, but eating completely clean (berardi'ish), until then, and then going on a bulk. Assuming I'm around 10-13%'ish body fat by then. I really wanna bulk. Really really. :D
Click to expand...

27th of August? I think that is a little soon from what I have seen of your running schedule so far. You will want to do a build up schedule to get your milage up and you should not exceed 10% per week when increasing your distance.
 
Drex said:
27th of August? I think that is a little soon from what I have seen of your running schedule so far. You will want to do a build up schedule to get your milage up and you should not exceed 10% per week when increasing your distance.
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Oh, sorry. Meant to write 27th of Sept. Yeah, I think even Sept is pushing it. But then, I'm reasonably sure I can already run 13 miles if I go slow enough. It's running it faster than JoveGirl I'm worried about. :p
 
After thinking it through...

Here's what I've decided:

V Diet is officially done, as of now. It was borderline counterproductive to begin with, and simply will not suffice. I think I have pretty much made my point to myself with 6 weeks of flawless adherence.

Tomorrow, right through until next Saturday, I am taking to re-feed. That means I get to eat whatever I want, and as much as I can get in me, until next Saturday's run. But, Berardi principles, of course. So, real clean, mostly. After that, I will eat 3400 calories per day (odds are this will be more than I manage to take in when left to my own devices, and a struggle), which should be maintenance'ish (if this seems high, remember, 7 days/week of hard training, + 3hours/day of extra NEPA to meet my 200 hour summer goal!), until the half marathon, at which point I will reevaluate my body composition situation and alter my goals accordingly. Gonna do the posture and proper bodyfat assessments again shortly after the end of August, so we'll know whether I'm eating way too much, or what, then.

Marathon training runs will be monday, thursday and saturday. This is the best I can manage, pretty much, in terms of not messing up other **** but still spacing them out some. When they fall on weight training days, they will be later in the evening. And hopefully I won't be up all night afterward. :)
 
K so...

For today's run, I weighed my camelbak bag (I know, I know), and it's all of 1.8 lbs. Filled with 1.8 litres of water (the medium sized bag), that comes out to 10.5 lbs. I'mma take it with me, filled with some sort of performance drink, to counter the dehydration effect somewhat - I lose crazy amounts of water when I run. I'll probably just use gatorade/powerade for the moment, as I can't be bothered to get anything proper for today. Whatever's best at CostCo, haha. Then I strap in and see if I can run 13 miles continuously at 10mm. Hope my knee lets me.

Should be fun... I'm gonna listen to Pillars of the Earth (the book) while I'm doing it.
 
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