Keto - The Return

[K-Court]

Ben, just thought I'd check in and say "hey" before taking off on my vacation to Oregon/Northern CA - head out early tomorrow morning. Still have to pack. Hell, still at the office. Have a great couple of weeks - work hard, run harder, eat smart. Oh yeah, and go for a bike ride or two. See you at the end of August.

Rob

PS Cool about the job prospect in the Great White North. Pick Vancouver, pick Vancouver ...!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Phaedrus49er]

Put in a good word for me in Portland! "Yes dear" to all of the above [img]tongue.gif[/img] So, is it pronounced "Van-KOO-vah"?

Diet - N/A (pizza and Mexican mostly)

Training

Total time: 1:14:27
Time in zone (208/164): 59:56
Avg HR: 176
kcal/fat: 1557, 20%

Six-mile interval run today. Felt pretty good for most of it. I still have this nagging habit of pushing the pace a hair too fast at the start, and I end up between the 11:00 group ahead and my 12:00 group. Oh well, I'm just an 11:30 [img]smile.gif[/img] How odd that 5Ks are going to start being recovery runs... go figure. My running partner spent today's run trying to hook me up with married chicks

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 827cal (207g)
Carbs: 22cal (6g)
Fat: 1091cal (121g)
Total calories: 1988 (uh oh...)

Diet today was a product of the day's activities...

Training

1 x running single stair flights with furniture and various other household items helping a friend move for about two hours (I only do heavy stuff; leave the light stuff and decorating for girls)

1 x 1 hour very light swimming in their pool afterward

5 or 6 block interval runs

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND

10 x 10yd sprints

Odd, yes. Taxing, yes. Enlightening, yes. The moving and swimming was nothing out of the ordinary (except for swimming, which I haven't done in... years? who knows). As for the running, I attempted to do block intervals for the first time in a few weeks, yet this time, my sprint form was shot all to hell for some reason. Heel striking, overstriding, arms flailing, off balance... basically sucking hairy monkey nuts. So I quit after five or six intervals (lost count during the next move) and lined up to do ten reps of ten-yard form sprints. It took me a few reps, but after first getting my footwork in order, I got my arms in sync with my hips and legs. My only concerns are that my first step off the line isn't as high as I'd like it to be, and my upper body may be leaning forward a bit much, but then, I was sprinting up a slight incline, so maybe flat ground will fix that. Geez, I finally start to get distance running down and my short game suffers. Looks like sprinting will (weather permitting) be on my Monday schedule for awhile

[Phaedrus49er]

SONOFABITCH! Forgot two random slices of cheese I had during the day. My diet numbers should be:

Protein: 885cal (221g, oops)
Carbs: 27cal (7g)
Fat: 1227cal (136g)
Total calories: 2187

That looks better [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet (for real, this time)

Protein: 822cal (205g)
Carbs: 32cal (8g)
Fat: 1215cal (135g)
Total calories: 2121

Training

Continuous for time (10:30ish):
--10 chin-ups
--10 push-ups
--10 chin-ups
--10 push-ups

Now, this may not seem like a lot, and the push-ups weren't. However, I was doing well to get two chins in a row. I just did what I could, stepped back until I felt semi-recovered, and kept knocking them out until I hit ten reps. That was the only rest I took in there. In fact, while I was waiting for my chins to recover, I was (for some reason) shadow boxing and working on my wrestling footwork in front of the mirror. Go figure.

After yesterday, I'm getting an itch to work on my sprinting more, especially since I haven't done a whole lot of it this summer. Depending on when and what I run Friday night or Saturday morning, I'll consider limited sprint work either tomorrow or Thursday. I need to get some sleep first, though...

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 842cal (211g)
Carbs: 25cal (6g)
Fat: 1150cal (128g)
Total calories: 2063

Training

Seriously was getting ready to do more sprint work today. Sat down on the couch to eat some cooked veggies as a snack and woke up an hour later. So much for that. Tomorrow will be nice to run, but it depends on how long I spend at Animal Control (yes, I'm looking at getting another dog; it's getting to be difficult not having one around).

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 804cal (201g)
Carbs: 31cal (8g)
Fat: 1054cal (117g)
Total calories: 1925

Training

Playing with and shopping for dog stuff in preparation for Harley's homecoming tomorrow evening or Saturday morning [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 867cal (217g)
Carbs: 29cal (7g)
Fat: 1348cal (150g)
Total calories: 2284

Eh, a touch high, but then, I had a rather abruptly different training day...

Training

10 x sprint intervals
--~30yds/100ft sprint distance
--60RI walking recovery back to start line

5min walking recovery

10 x same sprint intervals

*whew* Been awhile since I've done those with any kind of purpose beyond a form check. I was sucking hard toward the end, but I maintained (mostly) good form throughout, and it was a good change from the distance running I've been doing. Speaking of which, hopefully I'll get a five-miler in late tomorrow or (more likely) Sunday. That being said, no pizza this weekend, but massive burgers tomorrow after breakfast bagels, especially since I missed my bagel date last weekend.

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 830cal (208g)
Carbs: 42cal (12g)
Fat: 1175cal (131g)
Total calories: 2106

Training

4 supersets with 60RI:
--10 box jumps (mid-thigh height)
--3 x walking figure 8's with overhead hold

I noticed my left shoulder aching somewhat during my recent running which told me I was slacking on my rotator cuff work. For the figure 8's, I walked three long paces up-left, right, back-right, left while holding sandbags overhead. I tried 50lbs at first, but I was using too much tricep to benefit my shoulders much, so I went to 25lbs for the last two rounds and really noticed a difference since I was able to lockout my arms for the entire round.

Also ditched distance running this weekend since I can't seem to shake this nagging throbbing in my right calf during any type of running. Hopefully I can get some sprinting in tomorrow and see where things are with that before a seven-miler this weekend.

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 695cal (174g, ugh)
Carbs: 10cal (2g)
Fat: 597cal (66g)
Total calories: 1349

Forgot to eat, plain and simple. A bit preoccupied yesterday.

Training

4x5 ~30ft 100lb sandbag carry with 60RI
~20min walking dog

Since it was raining when I started, I had to keep this inside, so for each "rep" of the sandbag carry, I picked up the bag, carried it to the end of the hall, turned around and went back (about 30ft roundtrip), deadlifted the bag down and back up, and did it again for five reps each set. The first two sets were okay, but that last one had me huffing and puffing pretty well.

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 902cal (225g, oops)
Carbs: 12cal (3g)
Fat: 1096cal (122g)
Total calories: 2065

For the past week or so, I've noticed that keeping my calories around 2000/day hasn't been difficult. In fact, I could've easily gone lower in some cases, so somehow, that Velocity Diet theory is working itself out. As long as I keep my "meals" spread out and drink lots of water, I seem to be okay. Maybe it's the fish oil caps? Granted, I've been slacking and only taking one in the morning each day, but since I started them, I haven't been nearly as hungry.

Training - N/A. The now-usual 15-20min walk and 10-15min play in the back yard with the dog.

[Phaedrus49er]

Diet

Protein: 855cal (214g)
Carbs: 25cal (6g)
Fat: 1161cal (129g)
Total calories: 2088

Training - 2-3 hour bike ride (that's a motorcycle for some of you ), playing with the dog

So a mirror and picture assessment shows very few, if any, body composition changes IMO after having been on CKD for about 45 days. Looking at the strict CKD parameters, my "weekends" have not been up to snuff. I'm taking in too much fat, not enough carbs (not that I could eat any more), and not enough calories overall. That being said, I also have to consider my sensitivity to carbs in the first place, and the ungodly amount of carbs recommended for the "weekend" (I actually did a prescribed weekend once and wanted to throw up the whole weekend from eating so much pasta and bread and such, just a constant malaise).

Training-wise, while I'm am performing the recommended timing and styles, it doesn't seem to be enough. I'd like to shift to something along the lines of Meltdown without, well, melting down. With tomorrow being my last early morning, hopefully I'll be able to get more and better sleep over the next couple weeks--on a regular basis--and see how that affects my situation. I'd love to do the CrossFit WOD, but I've gotten spoiled with my sandbags, chinup bar, and not driving to the gym and dealing with all the fucknuts there (if I can effectively train at home during the winter, bye-bye gym membership).

If nothing else, my energy level as a whole is better than if I were on carbs (I wasn't sleeping too well then, either), so I hope prolonged decent sleep will get me motivated to put an extra day of training into the week. It's not helping that I have run in two weeks due a couple leg tweaks I've been dealing with as well (right calf/hip flexor, left knee/quad/hip flexor).

Just have to keep Lyle McDonald's words in mind:

The equation is this: Ass busting work + consistency + time = results. Burn that into your head and quit looking for quick fixes and secrets. Because they don't exist.

[Phaedrus49er]

As an addendum to that last post, while 24/7/365 keto would be fine with me, there's no way with working on a cooking show that I could handle the temptation [img]smile.gif[/img] Not to mention I have a Dunkin Donuts 3 blocks away, a pizza place just beyond that, and about a dozen other restaurants within a three-minute drive including my weakness: Bruegger's and Caribou.

[Phaedrus49er]

Completely lost track today. The last numbers I had were:

Protein: 634cal (158g)
Carbs: 12cal (3g)
Fat: 823cal (91g)
Subtotal calories: 1505

Fell asleep (slept like ass last night) and woke up craving donuts. I blew off training today because of the sleep thing and ended up just walking the dog around awhile. Got a couple donuts and will sleep a lot tonight so I can get in the seven-mile run in the morning. Man, I can't wait to start getting some regular sleep.

[Phaedrus49er]

Seven-ish mile run this morning... on our own (just me and my running partner)... without intervals. What were we thinkg...

10min walking warm-up

Total time: 1:49:40
Time in zone (192/160): 1:32:50
Avg HR: 181
kcal/fat: 2410, 20%

15min walking cool-down and stretching

Total time includes a 1min water break at about 4 miles and a 2min Gatorade break at 6 miles. Other than that, no stopping. We did the five-mile lap that the half-marathon group uses (hence the conveniently located fluid breaks), even though we didn't run with them today, then added the extra two miles.

A key to my survival today was not water beforehand, but nutrition. I was sucking hard toward the end of all three distance runs I've done so far. This morning, I took in a half-serving of NLarge2 (300cal, P26g, C43g, F3g) and a leftover glazed donut. Before the un-fucking-godly, relentless, hellspawn of a hill that was most of the seventh mile, I was doing pretty well. I even kicked up a bit toward the end of the sixth mile, though that might've been more from seeing that the Gatorade stand was still in place (we ran later than usual today). Definitely must start getting some calories in me before running. I know, I know, I've read it, heard it, know it, but it just didn't click until I actually had to do it.

FWIW, not doing any distance running for the last two weeks made this one go well, too. Combination of rest and calories. Now, if I can just nail the sleep thing, I'll be in business. Probably didn't hurt to be overcast and 75F this morning, either [img]smile.gif[/img]

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lie in a puddle in front of the TV for awhile.

[K-Court]

Originally posted by Phaedrus49er:
Put in a good word for me in Portland! "Yes dear" to all of the above [img]tongue.gif[/img] So, is it pronounced "Van-KOO-vah"?

Well, that's how my wife pronounces it, but she's an Aussie.

Back. Had a super trip. Virtually no "are we there yets", though that is probably more attributable to the Harry Potter books on CD than anything else.

Portland was great - a really liveable city. Lots of tree-lined streets, beautiful river-side park, super public transit system. Loads of activities in the surrounding area. Any word on the job prospect?

Looks like you've been doing well on your exercise and diet in my absence. Good boy. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Now what's this about a dog ....?

[Phaedrus49er]

Glad to hear you had a good time. Doesn't look like Oregon is going to happen, though. Latest prospectives are Charleston SC (traffic), Washington DC (A/V support), and *crosses fingers* New York City (traffic). I've actually slacked on my training, but I think getting more sleep will help with that. Dog? What dog?

Diet

Protein: 828cal (207g)
Carbs: 22cal (6g)
Fat: 1078cal (120g)
Total calories: 1974

Training - Modified "Helen" CrossFit WOD (Aug 5)

3 rounds in ~20min
--one lap around a city block (.3-.4mi?)
--21 x 50lb sandbag swing
--12 assisted chin-ups

I guesstimated on the run distance, but any lack of distance was made up in elevation change. The sandbag swing was WAY tougher than a dumbbell swing because (a) the grip is baseball-style and (b) the pendulum load is farther away from the pivot point. Granted, the sandbag barely got above my head, but it was much farther out than a dumbbell would've been. Chin-ups had feet on a chair behind me to make sure I got the reps, especially after my grip was destroyed on the swings.

Sleep is a good thing. I'm looking forward to more of it.

[K-Court]

What do you mean "what dog?"?

Spill.

[Phaedrus49er]

You mean this dog?

[K-Court]

Apparently. Ben, is this the dog you had to give away? Have you got it back now? If so, that is very cool. You must be really happy.

[Phaedrus49er]

Nope, different dog, but both from the pound. They're thinking of giving me honorary rescuer status since he's the fourth one I've adopted.

[K-Court]

I think you've moved up at least one of the levels in Hell now ....

Name?

[Phaedrus49er]

Originally posted by K-Court:
I think you've moved up at least one of the levels in Hell now ....

Name?

Just for that, I'm going to KILL you.

Three guesses and the first two don't count [img]tongue.gif[/img]


Diet

Protein: 785cal (196g, a hair low)
Carbs: 36cal (9g)
Fat: 1066cal (118g)
Total calories: 1928

Might throw a couple tablespoons of natty PB to hit the protein target.

Training

~5min rope jumping (finally found it!)

2 rounds non-stop:
--jump tucks x 10
--push-ups x 10

60RI

repeat previous rounds

60RI

5 x 50lb sandbag overhead squat

Just as soon as I finished my jump rope warm-up, it starts to rain, which sucks because I was going to do up-downs/burpees/whatever, but instead of just a regular jump, I was going to do a hip-high box jump in there. Oh well, I'm gassed anyway.

[K-Court]

Surely not Phaedrus ....

[Phaedrus49er]

Originally posted by K-Court:
Surely not Phaedrus ....

Nope. That's one.

[K-Court]

Killer?

[Phaedrus49er]

Strike two...

Here's a hint: TG already guessed it in another thread

[K-Court]

Nah, that would be cheating. My last guess is "Harley". I'll only go look if I strike out.

[Phaedrus49er]

Yooooouuuuu are correct, sir, yes!

/Ed McMahon

[K-Court]

Woohoo. What's my prize, Ed?