April Update

Wow! Here it is the last week of April and time is flying by at mach speed. The Eagleman Half Ironman event is 1 month 2 weeks 2 days away and it is not leaving very much time for final preparation. Putting the physical training aside for a moment I want to look at my diet and nutrition which has been very important. During the off season I was doing some weight lifting and added some unwanted pounds and did not understand why. When I emailed Doctor Dr.Babak Moeinolmolki, MD, MA (who I see due to my obesity history) and asked him what might be going on, he put me in contact with the nutritionist. The one thing that was highlighted was the use of the sports drinks and how I was consuming them. When I looked at what I was using and when I was consuming them I made some changes right away. What was I using?

1. Pre workout: Gatorade G1
2. During the workout:  Gatorade G2
3. Post workout: Gatorade G3

The above products were providing too much sugar and I was not able to metabolize it all no matter how much exercise I was doing. Once I looked at this and did some research I made the following changes to my workout supplements. 

1. Pre workout: FRS
2. During the workout: Cytomax
3. Post workout: Gatorade G3 or eating a high protein meal

With the above changes I have lost 10.8 pounds since January and 6.9 pounds were body fat.

Now these numbers don’t compare to what you see on the Biggest Loser but to lose weight and do it safely and not lose strength is a big challenge. My cardiologist and general practitioner have also requested that I change my diet due to my cholesterol. My consumption of red meat has been reduced to about once a week. The rest of the diet has been adjusted to make sure I am getting enough protein to maintain or build my muscle and strength; to this end I have been completely successful.

From all of my training I am noticing a lot of improvements.

Swimming: my swim coach has been helping me improve to a level that I was not sure was achievable. My distance training in the pool is continuing to improve and open water swimming is going to start in May. The primary thing that my coach has me working on is to slow down my stroke and make sure that I am getting everything possible from each stroke. The coaching I’m getting is so valuable and I cannot wait to see how it works on June 12, 2011.

Cycling: this is another area that I have made tremendous advancement and there are a couple of reasons for that. This year I will be riding a new Trek road bike that has been outperforming my 1980’s Raleigh road bike. The setup is great and since getting this bike I have over 300 miles on it and it feels great. The other reason I think this year is better is I have been able to ride with the Annapolis Triathlon Club and learn from their vast experience. The other team I have been riding with is Team In Training.  The Team in Training coach has put together a schedule letting us know what we should be doing and when so that we can be successful.

Running: while this is where I started before getting involved with triathlons I have adjusted my training schedule so that I might see some improvement here as well. As a member of the Annapolis Striders this year I am planning to run all but one of the Championship Series. The 10K run scheduled for Father’s day I cannot run as I will be in Assateague doing the half mile swim as part of a relay team. The other teammates are my wife Marion and daughter Tesia with Marion doing the 14 mile bike and Tesia closing with the 5K run. This is such a cool thing to train and compete with family. 

To wrap things up I am still raising funds to find a cure for Leukemia and ask everyone to join me in this fight by making a tax deductable donation here http://pages.teamintraining.org/md/Eagle70311/blewisc59c.