Sunrise and other stuff

Sunrise

Yesterday I posted about some sleep problems I've been having. I think I cured them last night. It's Monday morning at 10:45am and I'm at home resting. I think the sleep thing had a great deal to do with training, driver's license work, and overall work and family stress. Last night I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at 7:00am. I feel better today than I have in weeks and I guess it was a build up of things. Anyway I plan on rolling into work at about 12:30 today. I'll be there until 7:00 so it will be a full day but just a different one.

The picture to the right is just a random triathlon picture. I think it tells two stories. First and foremost is why I like the sunrise. You just can't be that to start your day. It ushers in the day peaceful. It tells you that it's a new day which means you have a chance to make an impact all over again. Secondly, this picture shows a bit why I love the sport of Triathlon. That moment just before the start of the race is absolutely peacful. Yes, the butterflies are always there but you have find a way to get calm because the start of the race is anything but calm. Sitting there in the stillness of the morning with the sun just peaking out is inspiring. No matter if this is the start of a one hour race or a 10 hour race, the effort to take it on is large and a good calming before the start is not a bad idea.

Other Stuff

While other athletes spend large amounts of money on bike equipment I choose a different route. The bike is the most important part of the race. The more time you spend riding it the more comfortable you will be for the run and the faster you will run. So athletes spend a huge amount of money on fast comfortable bikes. I saw a post the other day of a bike that easily tipped the scale of $10,000. My choice is a bit old school, I choose to ride an older bike and work on the engine more. This Spring (it's not Spring yet in Germany) has been spent working on getting strong and controlling the fuel.

Getting Strong

I really hate lifting weights. My coaches put two days of weight training per week and list roughly 15 different things I should concentrate on. I was doing this in December and January and just could not get motivated. One day roughly 6 weeks ago I was surfing the net and went to www.menshealth.com . There I found the Belly Off Club and an 8 week program to core strength and flat bellies. I think Men's Health is probably the biggest source of encouragement if you need to get your butt off the couch. They are really good about giving motivation, simple advice and on their site a really simple plan to follow that if you work it works. So 6 weeks ago I started using their plan which is 3 days a week with no weights. I am much stronger today than I was 6 weeks ago. Pictures (OS!M) will show up on this blog in two weeks. I have a before picture from 6 weeks ago and we'll take one in 2 weeks.

Fuel

Fuel is absolutely important to feeling healthy and going fast if that's your goal. So earlier this year I made a commitment to drop some bad habbits and also join the Mary program. The habbit I broke was soft drinks. It was almost a daily routine to walk to our cafeteria to buy a coke or diet coke. I quit cold turkey about 10 weeks ago and I think I have had one maybe two diet cokes since. Then about 8 weeks ago I joined the Mary program. She can't eat anything made from Wheat without feeling ill. I wasn't having a problem but I read a Blog from Chuckie V. It was an all out assualt on Grains and Dairy. His claim is that many of the ills of the nation come from these two. Dairy because humans are the only group of mamals that eat or drink dairy beyond infancy. (Your house cat doesn't count because you feed it that milk) Grains because if you notice where people live the longest, hard grains like wheat are not eaten. Anyway I read his blog and decided to make shopping easier and gave up Wheat and for the most part Dairy. I can't speak to any results just yet because it's too early. I know you are asking where my carbohydrates come from and that's easy, Fruit and vegatables. They are cheap easy to digest and full of carbs. I think the strength and the fuel are directly linked and may or may not show up in the pictures. Maybe they will show up in a race or two planned for later this year. We'll have to wait and see.

It's a good life....

Dave