Before and after...

From July 2007 to August 2010. Who knew.

February recap

Darn short months. February wasn't as good as January was, but it's still cold and wet outside... as it warms up, I'm sure things will improve.

1) 21 hours, 10 minutes, 23 seconds. Behind scheduled pace of 25 hours / month. However, February is 2 days short... figure an hour a day... B+

2) Down about 5 lbs for the year. Slow but steady progress. C+.

3a) ran 48.5 miles. Again, this will be higher in the warmer months when I can get outside and make daily runs more like 6 miles on average than the 3-4 I manage on the treadmill most times. Again, I'm giving it a solid B.

3b) biked 48.4 miles. Pitiful, even for February. D-, and barely that.

3c) Did weights 3 times, but group fitness 9 times. That's 12 total. I'll give it a B. I need to get in the gym on my own more.

3d) Didn't swim at all. None. Fail.

Time to pick up the pace for March. February was just bad.

I gave up milkshakes for this?!

Okay, to be honest, I will still have the occasional milkshake. But it's more like one a month tops, rather than one or two a week. What am I having instead?

Zach's Peanut Butter Smoothie:

1 banana
1 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup chocolate milk
1 handful baby spinach (about 1/2 cup)
1 big spoonful of peanut butter (probably about 2 TBS)
A squirt of honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend and enjoy. Yum.

428 calories
20 grams fat
52 grams carbohydrate
35 grams sugar
6 grams fiber
13 grams protein


Compared to my usual chocolate PB milkshake:

969 calories
62 grams fat
83 grams carbohydrate
6 grams fiber
29 grams protein

I think I'm coming out ahead!

Here's another of my favorite smoothie recipes:

Zach's Citrus Smoothie:

1 banana
1 cup ice
1/4 cup diced pineapple
1/2 cup orange juice
1 handful baby spinach
1/2 tsp vanilla
squirt of honey

211 calories
1 gram fat
51 grams carbohydrate
4 grams fiber
3 grams protein
158% of your daily vitamin C

Good stuff. Have a favorite smoothie recipe? Include it in the comments!

Shameless contest entry

I really want one of these cool body composition scales, and it just so happens that a certain triathlete is giving one away on his blog. Check it out.

January's progress

So my annual goals, broken down by month, average out to:

1. Exercise at least 300 hours. That's 25 hours per month

(Goal 2 is long term. I will say that I lost about 2 lbs in January, or so it appears.)

3a. Run 800 miles in 2011. That's 66 miles a month.
3b. Bike 2500 miles. That's 208 miles a month.
3c. Get in the gym 100 times, or 2x / week avg. That's 8.3 (call it 9) times a month.
3d. Swim. At least some. Yeah.

-----------------------------------

So how'd it go? Well...

1) 26 hours, 15 minutes, 52 seconds. Ahead of scheduled pace. A+

3a) ran 45.5 miles. This is going to be higher in the warmer months when I can get outside and make daily runs more like 6 miles on average than the 3-4 I manage on the treadmill most times. So whereas that's only 68% of the pro-rata goal, I'm giving it a solid B.

3b) biked 149.2 miles. That's again going to be lower in the winter months than the summer months anyway, so even though here it's only 71.7% of the average goal total, I'm going to give it a solid B+.

3c) Did weights 7 times. 7 of 8.3 per month is 84%, or a B. However, my employer has also started a "wellness program" that includes weekly group fitness classes. These generally aren't killer workouts and end up being more aerobic than strength, but I'm counting them towards this goal... and that means I'm going to have to modify this goal, since I get to go to 3-4 of these per week. So for now, I'm sticking with a B.

3d) Didn't swim at all. None. Fail.

So overall, I'm going to give the month a solid B to B+ average grade. On to February!

Who Am I?

I've come to the realization that I need to decide what my goals are, long term. I work with a guy who runs the Wasatch 100 every year. He's the ultimate endurance junkie in our office. He's not über fast or anything, but he can go all day, that's for sure. He and I often workout at lunch together. The other day I was doing a weights workout, and he, knowing that I like to run marathons and have been eying some cycling road races and even contemplating long course triathlon, said something that caught me a little by surprise. I don't remember it word for word, but it was something to the effect of "Be careful with all that weight lifting. You don't want to pack on a ton of muscle that you'll have to haul around during a marathon (or an ironman)."
Now the truth of the matter is I already have plenty of extra weight to haul around. I need to lose a good 20 lbs or more to be at a good "racing weight." But I need to think at what my long term end-all be-all goal is. Do I want to be an efficient marathoner and triathlete and cyclist? Is that my ultimate goal, to see how fast I can get, see if I can qualify for Boston or finish an Ironman standing up? Is my goal to become a Cat 3 or maybe even 2 cyclist, and win some races and compete in the Masters division(s)? Or is it something else?

I think I started running mainly to lose weight and get in shape. I was tired of being left behind on group hikes and mountain bike rides. I know I began mountain biking for the sheer fun of it, and its fitness benefits were just gravy. But running, and consequently distance running, and marathoning, and then triathloning and biking all evolved from the desire to not look like I was pregnant. Not too long ago the "When are you due?" jokes began at a family party, and they were directed at one of my wife's cousins. At that point, I realized that it's been a long time since someone's made that joke about me, and that made me happy. I want to look good with my shirt off at the swimming pool. So, do I worry about how packing on extra muscle is going to effect my endurance sport performance?

Like I said, at this point, I've got enough weight to lose that putting on muscle will only help in that effort, so for now, I'll keep exercising and building muscle and hopefully shedding fat. Yeah yeah, I know there's the whole diet/nutrition component. And I'm working on that, slowly. Baby steps.

I think my goals can be summed up, at least in part, by this quote from Teddy Roosevelt:


“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”

2011 fitness goals

Okay, after much thought and deliberation, I give you my goals for 2011:

1. Exercise at least 300 hours. This would be 55h 54m 05s more than last year, and 31 h 11 s over my all time high in 2009. How to get there: 6 hours per week average, or 5 hrs / week in Jan - Mar and again Oct - Dec, and 7 hrs / wk in Apr - Sept. Or so. That will fluctuate, of course.

2. Get BMI down below 25. Currently at 27. This one should come easily-ish. How to do it: Eat better. Less snacks. More good stuff. Smoothies instead of shakes. Method: food journal 80% of the time.

2a. Get body fat below 16%. Currently 19%. This and BMI will happen simultaneously, since I'm not getting any shorter.

3a. Run 800 miles in 2011. 2010: 359 miles. 2009: 1000+ miles
3b. Bike 2500 miles. 2010: 2408 miles. 2009: 1000 miles.
3c. Get in the gym 100 times, or 2x / week avg. 2009: 46 times.
3d. Swim. At least some.

4. Do some races and feel good about it, but more on that later.