The cost (or lack) of eating healthy!

I always hear people talking about how expensive it is to eat healthy - it isn't.  It is more difficult to plan meals than not planning meals which ends up causing you to go out and buy a meal that is marketed as healthy (maybe is, maybe isn't).

Try planning your meals for one week - you might spend two-three hours actually sitting down and analyzing the Calories in each meal and determining how much you need in a given day; however, it will allow you to spend less time preparing and return noticeable results. 

I got off track..

of my diet that I had worked hard to create a routine and a habit.  It was hard getting started and easy to follow, but even easier to turn one cheat day, into two, into three, into my old habit of "I work out all the time so I do not need to watch what I eat".  Wrong, I need to watch what I eat so I can continue to get results I want.


Anyway, I was motivated to write this post because to help me get back on my diet, I made a ton of salads tonight!  I actually enjoy eating a big salad; used to hate it but now it is something that I crave.  I made a bunch so if I slip up on planning a meal, I can just grab a salad - I have snack, medium, and large sizes for any occasion. 

Every single one of the salads are pretty big; the smaller ones are about the size of a side salad at a restaurant and the medium/large salads are as big as an entree you would order.

What is even cooler is that I made 17 salads for less than $.75 per salad!!

For the price you would pay for one meal at a restaurant or two meals at a fast food joint, I made 17 meals!  Also, my wife loves them as much as I do!

You do not need to eat salads all the time, the point is to plan your meals, save money, get results!

My salads have:

Lettuce

Carrots

Turkey Bacon

Tomato

Egg

Colby Jack Shredded Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Cucumber

Leveling Up!

I am getting ready to go to bed but I wanted to drop a quick line as to what was on my mind today! 

I used to play a lot of video games and I know the excitement of making progress in the game; especially a game where you can develop your character.  Developing your character is called leveling up - each level you gain (by playing more) your character gets stronger and usually gets some feature or power that you have been looking forward to.

These games that allow you to level up your character requires a lot of time to play and it made me wonder how much time I wasted leveling up in a video game when I could have been leveling up in real life!

Don't waste your time - exercise, learn something, spend time with family or friends!  You will be surprised at the achievements that you can earn in real life compared to the ones that you will eventually forget about in a video game!

Demotivation, Work

Training is going great!

I have not been posting much because my blog has not had much traffic and I started to lose motivation for my posts.

THE GOOD NEWS

I have not lost motivation for my training!!!  My injury is practically non-existant and I am more confident than ever :)  This past weekend I went on a 56 Mile bike ride with a 4 mile run afterwards.

I will start to post more and I might even start adding a few more videos and pics.

EXCITED

A few months ago I applied to be part of a program, at work, that would involve a team of people to document my training for the Half-Ironman and other health related activites that I participate in; I WAS SELECTED!  My health journey will be reported to over 250,000 people who work for at&t which also includes some pretty cool video follow-ups that I am very excited about.

Ride to Rockport!

Ride to Rockport and back

After being stung by a bee on the head yesterday, I decided to give the 56 mile ride another go; afterall, I was looking forward to it.

My friend Aaron and I left about 5:35AM and took a break when we got to the riverfront in Rockport; we asked a few kids to take this picture:




All in all, it was a great trip.  I will probably start making this Rockport ride a weekly thing :)

Ouch!!!!!

My head hurts and my legs look like the front of a vehicle grill!

I started out on a 56 Mile Ride and 5 Mile Run this morning.

7.5 miles in a large insect flew right into my helmet vent; I felt it crawling around so I stopped to take off my helmet and felt and awful pain.  A bumble bee flew in and stung me!  I had never been stung before now and it hurt like heck.  Ashley came and picked me up.

While I was waiting for my ride I had a homeowner that lived close by offer to help but I did not feel that I needed anything.  I, also, had another rider stop and ask if everything was okay.

I rode out in a rural area and there were a lot of small bugs.  My legs look like the front of a car grill, bugs are plastered all over them; yuck!

I am at home now, the stinger was not left in so I just have to deal with the occasional throbbing.  However, I think I will attempt again tomorrow!

1000 meter swim and 3 mile run

Had a great night last night at Blue Lake in Newburgh.

I am a slower swimmer but I was still able to link up with a couple others to do the longer distance.

After swimming I went on a three mile run!  My foot is feeling great and I plan on going on a long ride on Sunday.

I got some great news at work thar is going to allow me to work with a lot more people in a health/fitness capacity.  Additionally, I brought back a program that guided 15 people to finish the Half Marathon last year - expecting more participation this year!

Hello World!

Hello World has a few meanings for me:

*My son has entered the world (May 5th)
*I am back to training!!!

My son, Graysen Charles Lampton, was born on May 5th @ 8lbs12oz & 21 inches long!  I am prepared for the attention he requires to take some time away from my training; however, I will not lose focus on my goal!

This week has been a success!  I feel no discomfort while wearing shoes so I bought some new running shoes!!  Check them out in the pic below!  Just since May 16th I have already put some miles on them and my foot discomfort has not developed in to a pain. 

I went open water swimming for the first time on May 17th and I swam a slow approx. 1,500 yards!

Now for today!!!  I woke up at 6 am and went riding about 18 miles with some tri team members and enjoyed a great breakfast with them. Then I went on a 25 Mile ride!!!  I had a blast and my body feels great!  I included a pic of my awesome sunburn - I am buying a travel container so I never forget again!!!

You can expect to see more posts now that I have started training again.

I also downloaded the Blogger app to my Android so I can post quicker!

Day 17 - 22

Day 17 - 22

Still resting my foot - it has kept getting better even though it has taken longer than expected.  I have been flexing it as if I were running to see if I still feel discomfort while running - I do.

I have decided to wait for it to fully heal in order to avoid any long term damage - luckily, I am on a long training plan and I am not worried that I will be able to catch up.


Day 20

I went on the River City Rockin ride today!  I did the 15 mile ride because I was concerned that my foot would be an issue and it was not at all!  I am going to take it safe and only work on swimming until it can fully heal; but this ride was mentally reassuring that I will be able to run/ride again!


Day 22

Getting in the pool tonight and taking it easy! 




My Personal Life:

I have been in overdrive with putting together all kinds of baby things!  Swing, Check; Travel System, Check; Clean and ready to move-in nursery, Check!

I am not sure what is harder, putting together all of this stuff or getting rid of all the boxes!!!!  :)

Day 15 and 16

Day 15 and 16

Still resting the foot - I expect to be back in full force by Saturday!  My foot has gotten much better since Sunday; however, it still hurts a little when I put pressure on it.

Day 14 - Foot Injury!!!!

Day 14

Just when I thought that I had control over my body and training, I made a dumb mistake!  This is unlike any injury I have ever had before; all of my injuries in the past have been from overtraining.

Alright, so here is how it happened!  I went to an open water swimming clinic today in an indoor pool; you would think that it would be outdoor, but we learned technique so it helped that it was in controlled water.  I made it through most of the workout when we decided to start oturning over people which is a way to get around them if you were stuck in a pack of people.  Turning over someone requires you to do this twisting motion with your body where you corkscrew through the water.  When I went to corkscrew, I kicked my right foot into my left heel - the top of my right foot had an awful pain.  The pain got significantly better pretty quick so I continued with the workout even though I felt it anytime I put pressure on it.

When I got out of the pool during a short break, I had to put more pressure on it and it hurt a lot more.  I decided to leave to put ice on it and I have had a slight limp to avoid the pain since.  I instantly started thinking what it could be; is it a bruise?  Did I break the bone?  Did I do something to it that I do not have the knowledge to diagnose?  A lot of thoughts that scared me because a serious injury could put me out of training for long enough to scrap my entire Half-Ironman :(

I talked to a member of our tri team that did a presentation on injuries and really knows his stuff.  Here is an X-ray of a broken foot:



If you feaked out, don't worry!  That is not my foot - I intentionally searched for "xray broken foot" on Google just to get a rise out of some of you :D :D :D

I did not have an Xray done on my foot because my friend from the tri team told me that based off what I am telling him, he does not think it is anything that will keep me off my feet for much longer than a few days to a week!  After talking to him, I am expecting it to be a little worse tomorrow but much better by Thursday.  I will give it time to heal - he thinks it is just a contusion on my foot.  He made me feel a lot more reassured after our discussion.




NOW, ON TO THE GOOD STUFF - My Windy Ride
(BEFORE MY SWIM CLINIC)

I logged on to Facebook by a message that says "Hope you got your bike ride on before the winds picked up".  Well, knowing that I did not get my bike ride on before seeing that message, I was in for a doozy!

25MPH winds welcomed me as I got on my saddle from my garage.  I planned a 90 minute ride and I still did it, I knew it was going to be a painful ride when I started heading South on a straight away that I normally break around 19.1 on and I could barely break 13 MPH and I was working harder!

The wind was blowing from the South to North and I did not get the tail wind as much as a typical out and back because my course went mostly East-to-West-to-East and when I did go South by the river, the river caused all kinds of crazy crosswinds!  However, just to give you an example of how strong the wind was that held me back 6 MPH when I was working harder - I went North on that same rode and caught a tailwind and I was able to pick the speed up on my bike over 30 MPH!!!  It was a great feeling that I needed, especially towards the end of my ride.

All-in-all, I was satisfied with my ride!

Here is a link!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168428241

Day 12 and 13

Day 12

I went to the pool this moring and was really looking forward to biking this evening - by the time I got home from work it was raining heavily and I decided to hold off until it slowed down.  It did not slow down until it was too dark so I chose not to ride.  I have a ride planned on Sunday for 90 minutes that I will harder on to make up for my missed workout!  I am two weeks in to my training plan and this is the first workout missed.  I will try not to let this happen again :-/

Day 13

REST!!!  Well, Ashley and I went to a birthing class and I got to wear a fake 30-lb pregnant belly with a very strong elastic strap that prevented me from fulling inhaling.  The facilitator dropped a pen on the floor and asked me to pick it up; little did she know that I just finished up my P90X2 program a couple weeks ago and I was able to squat like a pro!  She complimented me with "strong legs", ha ha!  Here is a picture for your enjoyment!!

Day 11

Day 11

I slept in this morning and went running when I got home from work - I experienced the first demotivating thought since I started the training. 

Before my Run

I started thinking about how tired I was this morning and how I am looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday.  I thought that maybe I could skip the swimming planned for tomorrow because I know that I can swim 1000 yards already.


During my Run

I took a nice and slow run that last 60 minutes and was a little over 6 miles.  During this run, I thought about if I would go swimming tomorrow because I was so tired.

 I started telling myself:

• I needed to take a break
• I have been training hard
• I could actually over-train and cause problems
• If I rest then I can go harder on another day

EXCUSES!!  When I got to the third excuse I realized the truth, that I was making excuses because I was tired and lost focus.  The training is not easy and I will need to remind myself of this over the next 129 days!  If I want the reward, finishing, then I need to work hard for it!


While running up a hill, a woman slowed down because a car was coming in the opposite direction; I am grateful that she noticed me to slow down but she still scared me when her car mirror came very close to touching me and I had to jump in the grass to avoid it.  She was not going fast enough to hurt me but it was still a little scary because she could have accidentally ran over my foot or something!

While running on the first long stretch of road, there were a ton of tiny little bugs flying and I probably looked pretty funny when I started swatting them all away from my face :D


After my Run

I stretched and regained the motivation to continue my training tomorrow!  Excuses will keep you from your goal and I am not letting anything get between me and the finish line - okay, maybe several hundred triathletes that are faster than I am can get between me and the finish line ;)  But I WILL FINISH!



Tomorrow

1000 Yard Swim
45 min Bike

Day 10

Day 10


Not much on this day!  Just a 1200 yard swim :)  I woke up at 5:30AM and made it to the pool around 5:55AM - Swam until about 6:30AM.

I practiced a couple flip turns so I do not have to stop and turn around each lap - I ended up getting a lot of water in my nose, lol.  I will practice more and more each time I go!

Day 9

Brrrr - It is cold out there! :D


Another early morning!  I usually have plans on Tuesday night that prevent me from working out in the evenings; tonight, I went to a volunteer meeting with my fellow Team 13 volunteers and talked about the upcoming season.

This morning my workout consisted of a 30 minute slow run followed by a 35 minute slow bike.  My phone said that it was 56 degrees before I went outside so I put on light clothing; my phone said it was 44 degrees when I finished an hour later!!  I was freezing!  I was alright during my run; it wasn't until I got on the bike that I felt the wind.  I will not let that happen again - on my run/ride days I will have some heavy and light gear picked out for the next morning until it starts warming up again :)

Here are the links to my workouts:

Run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/166679046

Ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/166679056


Volunteer Meeting

I have talked about it before - Team 13 - this group played a huge role in helping me where I am today.  I learned about Team 13 on the YMCA Half Marathon website and thought that it would be nice to train with other people who are trying to accomplish the same goal I have; over 350 people were showing up to the trainings!!

I participated in the Team 13 trainings in 2010; I decided that 2011 was the year to pay it back.  I have started volunteering for Team 13 and it has been so rewarding to see people battling the same challenges I did just a couple years ago.

Tonight I met with some of the other volunteers to mainly socialize and talk about what we are going to do this upcoming year.  Team 13 starts on July 10th so I will only have a little over a month of training left before I can give full focus to Team 13.  Before my Ironman event, I will do everything I can (including getting up early) to make it to the trainings - After my event, I will just focus on Team 13/Half Marathon training so my work load will be lightened.

30 to 13

In addition to Team 13, I started 30 to 13 at work last year; it is a goal to get 30 people to cross the finish line in October.  Last year, 30 to 13 had 15 finishers; I hope I can get it to 30 this year!!!  It was inspiring to see all of the people who did not think they could do it, do it!

Beginning of Week 2 - Day 8

Week 2
Day 8

Slept in until 9AM and enjoyed an episode of The Price is Right; after that, got to work on the yard :)

I had two workouts planned for today - Running for 40 minutes and swimming 1,600 yards.

RUN

My love for running has continued to grow; for some reason, I enjoyed my run more than I usually do.  It is easy to take things for granted - I am so thankful for the ability to take part in this training which includes running.  While on my run, I started to feel a tingle in my knee which got me thinking about how I am lucky to be able to do what I do!  I am confident that the tingle was more mind over matter, but, I am icing it just to be safe :)


SWIM

Went to the pool and did the following workout:

• Warm Up - 6 x 100 Yards
• Main - 4 x 400 Yards
• Cool down - 2 x 150 Yards

During my swim, I had a headache, about halfway through my main portion of the workout, which is unusual - but it went away pretty quick.

I have gotten my bike ready for my early morning run/ride and I am about to go to bed - Good night!

Training - Day 6 and Day 7

Day 6 = REST!!!!!!

I was looking forward to this much needed rest!  Very glad that I was able to make it through my first week without feeling overwhelmed.  I would imagine that the first couple weeks would be the hardest while I am trying to build new scheduling habits.

Although I am looking forward to another rest day on Saturday; I am also looking forward to getting better at the sports I am practicing!



Day 7 - Easter

Well, just because Jesus has risen does not mean that I have to miss a planned workout!  My early morning ride gave me a great opportunity to socialize with a few friends and burn off some Calories that I will be consuming while eating my mom's amazing Hash Brown Casserole :D

I woke up at 6:45AM so I could meet some friends at 7:30AM to start our ride.  We had a great ride to the river front and back; took the long way so we could stretch the time out!  There was a pretty strong head wind when I first started the route which was slightly demotivating; but I just planned to do my best and have a great time with friends!  Luckily, we did not go in the direction of the head wind much so it was not too bad.

Coming towards the end of my ride, I had wondered if my hamstring was going to act up like it did a few days ago.  After finishing, my hamstring feels great; I will cross my fingers that it will last!

After having a few days off from running, I am looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow!  Running is the sport that made me fall in love with fitness!

Training - Day 5

SWIM

I started at 5AM this morning; made it to the pool about 5:45AM.  My workout at the pool included:

400 Yard warm-up
8 x 100 yards
6 x 25 yards cool-down

My training plan calls for each of the 25 yard cool-down exercises to be slower than the last; I am already slow so that was hard for me :) ha ha!


BIKE

I got home from work about 5:20PM and left for my ride around 5:45PM.  I rode for 45 minutes, mostly in the big ring which is not the norm for me.  I was in the small ring for about 1 mile when one of my friends from the Tri-Team passed me going up a hill like he was barely trying!  I quickly switched it into high gear and remained in the bigger ring for a majority of the work out! 
After riding I got off and could feel that my hamstring was sore and I could still feel it, hours later :(

I foam rolled for about 10 minutes and my hamstring is feeling much better; I am about to go to bed and I hope it is not killing me in the morning!!!

Training - Day 4

This morning I woke up motivated to run for 60 minutes; I felt great and thought about what I wanted to wear.  I almost decided to run without a shirt on (don't get too excited, ladies) - I decided to wear a shirt and I am glad I did!  I took a step outside and instantly realized that it was much cooler than the previous days.  By the time my GPS watch got connection, I was freezing!  The wind was blowing so hard and it was 45 degrees out, my shorts and short sleeve shirt did not keep me warm. 

I felt a sprinkle after running for 6 minutes and I had a feeling it was going to start raining - it did, but luckily only for about a minute. 

I finished my run by going at a much slower pace than normal - this is inteded to be a recovery run.  I had a great time running and it went by fast.

Here is a link to my workout:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164910588

Training - Day 3

Easy day!  I went to the pool and swam!

My workout included:

4x 75 yards - No rest and on the last 25 yards I did backstroke
3x 400 yards - no rest in between and I increased power each 400 yard increment
150 yard cool down!

Swimming is boring, but it gives me a lot of time to think about the most random things; today, I mostly thought about how it was not long ago that I could not swim 25 yards without needing to catch my breath!

I am getting ready to go to bed so I can wake up at 5AM to run for an hour before work!

Training - Day 2

Mommy, look at that man....

Yup, I heard that this morning - I can only imagine it was because I decided to wear my tri suit for the first time.....it is a one piece ;)

This was the first time I wanted to quickly transition from a run to a ride - my reasoning for doing this had nothing to do with recreating an actual tri transition, where participants go from one exercise to another; I have to get to work so I needed to get my workouts done with as little time wasting as possible.

My goal was to run for 30 minutes and then ride for 60 minutes; typically, a triathlete will ride then run - I had to run first because I feel safer riding my bike in the light and I had to start while it was still dark.

I started around 5:40AM and did not finish running until 6:10AM, starting riding about 5 minutes later!  I had to start getting ready for work at 7AM so I only rode for 40 minutes.

I even saw one of my triathlete friends out running while I was cooling down on my bike!


Here are my two workouts!

Running: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164370365

Cycling: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164370369

Training - Day 1

I do not work on Mondays; so today, I woke up and took the dogs to the groomer and then came home and did a 40 minute run at an easy pace.  After my run I had to shower and go to the dentist for a cleaning :)  -  I love leaving the dentist office after having my teeth cleaned.  Once I got home, I mowed the grass and then rinsed off to go swimming!  Very busy day!!

At the pool, I swam the following:

Warm up: 4x200 yards
Main: 1500 Yards

My swim coach was there who is also the person that can certify me to swim in open water; open water typically requires a 1200 yard swim so I asked if i could swim the 1500 and she would count that towards my certification and she did :)

After swimming 1500 yards, I had to retrieve 3 rings and a 10lb ball at 7ft deep to finalize my open water certification - I am now open water certified and I knocked it out while training so I do not have to make a special trip.


RIGHT NOW:

It is 9PM and I am about to go get my bike ready so I can wake up in the morning and run 30 minutes followed by a 60 min ride!


FEELING:

Great!  I am not fearing any injuries and I am stretching a lot just to be safe!

35 Minutes - 8m14s Pace - 4.26 Miles

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/162566229

I ran in a loop that is just under a mile.  Everytime I passed this boy (about 8) and his friends, he yelled out "Look, he is running!" and "He is still running!"  -  It feels good to think that he might possible remember me one day when he needs to go the extra mile :)  He also provided me with a nice little reward to look forward to everytime I passed him!

12 Week Fat Shred!

12 Week Fat Shred!

I have been trying to shed as much body fat as possible before I officially start my Half-Ironman training on April 2nd!

I have never felt better in my life and I highly recommend the P90X2 Diet/Program to anyone; follow the plan to the T and get even better results because I cheated on some days :D

These pictures are a result of P90X2 and Running/Cycling/Swimming - The P90X2 Program has made me feel more confident in all legs of the triathlon!

 I am not trying to sell P90X2 - They have way better success stories than mine!  I am just proud of my results and I wanted to tell you what I did to achieve it!

Cincinnati Fitting / First Run of the season!

I went to Cincinnati this weekend to visit my sister-in-law, Andrea, with my wife; while I was there, I decided to take advantage of cycling fitting technology that is not available in Evansville.  When I got back home, Monday, I decided to go for my first run for quite some time!

RETÜL Fit

I needed to have my bike fit so I can ride more comfortable for longer periods of time while maximizing my power.  I did some research and found a lot of great stores that offered a very compelling argument as to why they should fit me.  I ended up chosing Mitch, from BioWheels for several reasons:

• He has completed over 1,500 bike fits
• He uses state of the art technology to assist him with the fitting
• He offers a great fit even without the technology
• He was in Cincinnati, where I was heading

RETÜL Fitting Technology reminds me a lot like the Xbox Kinect camera with a lot of complex software to go with it.  Mitch started out by asking me about the type of goals I am attempting to obtain, previous injuries, and pain that I experience while on a ride.  He explained why he was asking the questions and then moved on to checking my flexibility and having me do a couple of balance/core strength exercises, i.e. push-ups, plank, one legged squatting.

After all of that, Mitch had me jump on my bike in the Computrainer and had me start pedaling at a lower power level to observe me; he instantly gave me feedback and had suggestions for things that I could do better.  One thing I liked about Mitch and the RETÜL fit, is that he did not just make a change after his initial observation; he would make a change after testing the same behavior multiple times.  He would have me maintain a certain power level, then stop, then do it again so he could get the best idea of how I needed to be fit.

After all said and done, I was able to see and feel huge improvements.  He took a before/after video of my riding style and we compared the two and the end - big difference!  Additionally, the report that is put together by the RETÜL software showed huge improvements as well.

All-in-all, I would recommend Mitch.  The RETÜL technology added a pretty cool spin to the process, especially for a geek like me; but Mitch's combined fitting experience makes in obvious that an experienced fitter is more important than the RETÜL technology.

Here is my after video if you want to have an idea of the fit session.  I had these velcro stickers stuck on me and an LED Sensor Strip was attached so the software could analyze my riding.

FIRST RUN OF THE SEASON


Went running today for the first time!  I only ran for 20 min because I did not want to over push myself.  I am a cold weather wimp, so I stayed inside for most of the winter!  I woke up this morning and watch the Prize is Right while eating a good breakfast, then I started foam rolling while watching other shows.  I foam rolled for 90 minutes and it felt great.  I have a lot riding on the line this year and I was to do everything I can to prevent injury, foam rolling is my best bet. 

Here is a link to my Garmin Activity so you can see the run that I completed.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157398940

Food for thought....

I bet it's more than 50 days!!!!

I was getting ready to send out a weekly fitness/health newsletter at work and it got me thinking how many people say they don't have time to exercise.  How much time will you have when you don't have anymore time?
 
What would you give to have more time when laying on your deathbed?
What changes would you have made throughout your life?

Going back in time is not a luxury that we have, do something about it now!

If you are wondering how I came to the conclusion from my picture above, let me explain:

10yrs*365days =3,650 days

3,650days*20mins = 73,000 minutes

73,000mins/60minPERhour = 1,216 Hours

1,216Hours/24 HoursPERday = 50 Days!

Training, P90X2, Baby ;)

TRAINING
April 2nd is the day that I will start following my Half Ironman training guide exactly as it was written; I found several Half Ironman training plans online and decided that the one at www.beginnertriathlete.com worked best for me; it is a 20 week plan that will prepare me for my August 19th Half Ironman date. 

P90X2
I started the second phase of P90X2 two days ago, some of my muscles that haven't been utilized as much in the past are letting me know that it was a great workout!  I have shed about 15 lbs since I started watching my weight and I have checked my Body Fat% for a second time to see where I am at with it; my goal is to get as slim as possible so I can be at my best physical condition on race day.

I picked up a foam roller to help stretch out muscles and prevent injury; I hate it and I love it at the same time!


A 3 month year old baby!

If you didn't know, my wife and I are expecting our first child in May; it's a boy!  I know, I am crazy for planning a huge training schedule like this when my life is about to change so much.  I am doing this triathlon for a lot of reasons:

• Confidence
• Health
• Desire to finish!
• Prove to others that they can do it too

I will have to manage my time more effectively in order to keep my training up while helping my wife care for the baby!  One thing is for sure, I will never be limited to the physical activities that I can participate in with my son.

Every time I think about my son or my Half Ironman, I get very excited!

Tony Horton has been my training partner lately :)

Three weeks in to P90X-2!

Alright - I am a wuss when it comes to cold weather!  I have not been running or riding nearly as much as I should be!  So I need to make my time inside the best!  I did about a month of P90X back when I started running and then realized that I did not have the time to do P90X and train for my half-marathon.  Now, I am realizing that I do not have time NOT to do extra core strengthening.  I am not trying to sell anyone on P90X or P90X-2 but I will say that I have had amazing results in just three weeks and I have noticed a huge difference in my balance. 

I did not follow the nutrition plan the first go around because my diet was "running a lot" so I could eat whatever I wanted.  WRONG!  Calories are Calories when it comes to losing weight, but when it comes to fueling your body, you need to put the best fuel possible for the best performance.

People always say that eating healthy is so expensive; I have actually saved money by doing a few things:

• Sit down for about 2 hours on Sunday and plan my meals for Mon-Sun (EVERY MEAL)
• Make a grocery list with exactly what you need
• Check the ads for the best prices

Some people might say "But I don't have the time to price match."  Alright, then go to walmart, they have a super easy price matching policy; I have used it, it consists of me saying "This is cheaper at Schnucks." and then they match it!

Not only have I saved money at the grocery, I am eating better than I ever have!  I have had good home-cooked meals for EVERY MEAL!

You have to make time for yourself!



199 Days until I jump in Lake Michigan to start my Half-Ironman!!!