Alkalize or Die, Update

I got back from the “Food Fest Wedding Weekend” with Ms. P (Now Mrs. P), and I went from 190lbs to 197lbs. I wasn’t shocked at all, as I ate at most beautiful breakfast buffet every morning, and was taken out to dinner every night by a different group of friends celebrating my wedding. It took about 5 days for me to get back to 190lbs. That is my normal weight around this time of year when I’m deep in my training program. I have been eating an 80% Alkalizing/20% Acid diet to the letter and the results have been amazing, as I’m at 186lb right now. I haven’t even touch my mountain bike since June 24th, or have I touched my road bike since July 1st. I have been gearing up emotionally for the mtn bike season. I have totally given my body a break from the hard season of road racing and very, very long mtn bike training rides.

To refresh the body I have been doing plyometrics and that has been kicking my ass. I’ve taken a book out of my days as a professional table tennis player. When I lived at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs as a resident athlete, I remember being the most fit when I did plyometrics 4 times a week. Those are the only workouts that absolute make me want to puke, especially if you do them right. The concept is to create more explosive muscle that can handle a higher workload. That is done by driving the blood to the legs by doing sprints and jump exercises, then when your body responds, you drive the blood to the upper body by doing pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups. Then going back to driving the blood to the legs by doing the same sprint and jumping exercises. It makes your body become more efficient about energy output. It is the hardest 1 hr full body workout that I do. As a matter of fact, I can’t even walk correctly for the next couple of days. I also do pilates, and yoga because you can’t neglect having more flexible and elastic muscles. I have been playing a lot of table tennis to get my core area really fit and lean. If you don’t know I’m an International level table tennis player, and a 2 hr training session in table tennis has the Avg HR of 148bpm. You can go here to see me in action, so that you know that it is a killer workout. The link is on you tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1UcIV9KQu0. I also have been doing 1 to 2 spin classes a week just to keep the legs turning so the transition back to the bike won’t be too difficult.

I know that this program sounds unorthodox, but I have tried it the classic (Train hard all summer, get burnt out, and have no form left at the end of the season) way, and that does not work for me. This year I’m starting very late, but I’m working on strengthening my core which will help with recovery time. I also feel having a stronger core helps with bike handling skills, and end of the season strength. This spring all of my hard training rides on the mountain bike were geared toward “Skill-building”, and becoming more efficient on the bike. That was more than accomplished, as I had about 14 weeks of good solid lap time improvements. In February my best lap time at my normal training trail was 34mins, 18secs, with an Avg HR of 172bpm. On May 13th (The last day I rode race speed) by myself without chasing any rider for motivation was 31mins, 35sec with an Avg HR of 161bpm. My lap time improved almost 3mins, and my Avg HR went down 11bpm. In addition I had at least training 20 rides that the totally time was over 3hrs and 30 minutes. So I have rode the longest and the hardest this year, in addition to having a very successful season racing on the road with 3 wins, sprinters and yellow jersey title. That is a very successful training block in my eyes.

In addition to eating an Alkalizing diet, I bought a wheatgrass juicer for my home. I always normally get 2 to 4oz at Wholefoods for an astronomical price because I never bothered to get another one after I broke mine. That is liquid oxygen if you know anything about it. I also cranked out my Norwalk Juicer. If any of you know Norman Walker, he lived to be 119yrs old. He did it religiously juicing everyday, and he created the best juicer on the market. It cost $1800.00, yes, Eighteen Hundred Dollars. The motor that is in this juicer came from and industrial assembly-line factory. The motor can run continuously for 24hrs a day, 365 days a year, for 3 years without stopping to be serviced. If the average person spends 45 minute juicing, imagine how long it will take for something to go wrong. The people at the company state that you will be able to give this juicer to your grandkids before it needs to be serviced. I bought it in eleven years ago in 1996, and I have not had a problem with it. The thing is just downright indestructible.

I have a 32oz green drink everyday. The drink includes Spinach, green and yellow pepper, cucumber, and celery. No apple to sweeten it up, straight “Like That “. I quickly acquired the taste for it, and I look forward to it, as it is smooth going down now. My second drink is carrot, apple, and celery drink at night.

So I have been very strictly adhering to the new food plan, as I hate the word “Diet”. A typical day would be the following:

Before Breakfast: 2 to 4 oz of wheatgrass on an empty stomach
Breakfast: 2 Cups of watermelon, Pineapples, or Honeydew Melon. I almost stuff myself. One hour later – 16oz of water with lemon and organic grade B maple syrup. A nice drink
Before Lunch Snack: Half cup of organic granola cereal, half of banana, and organic rice milk.
Lunch: Salad with regular and Arugula spinach, Organic Onion, Tomato, Green, Red, and Yellow Peppers, Carrot shreds, Organic Turkey or Ham, a little bit of parano cheese, Vinaigrette Dressing, with 1 teaspoon of organic flaxseed Oil, and Braggs Amino Acid formula.
Before Dinner Snack: Raisins and Almonds. Chlorophyll drink with organic apple juice.
Dinner: Same type salad as lunch with the exception of some grilled chicken.

I have practically followed this program to the letter since I have been back from Las Vegas on July 10th. I do have some impression for the last 3 and a half weeks, and they are:

• I never felt the normal “I want to go to sleep feeling” after eating this type of lunch.
• I never felt like my food was sitting in my gut, like how a pasta dinner sits there.
• I instantly became leaner in my mid section
• My water weight changed from 56.2% water avg, to 63% water. I have never been above 60%.
• I have not felt any cramping in the legs since my water weight went up.
• My body fat is down 1.6% from last year.
• I’m 4lbs under what I was last year
• The action in the bathroom is a lot less than before since my body digests more of my food now.

I took a look in my pantry, and I take a crap load of supplement and products. I’ll do a post that is solely dedicated to what I put in my body that has made the difference in my performance at the end of the month when I have reached my weight goal. I was shocked that I take that many products, but you will see how they all relate to health and performance.

I’m not a big beef eater, so Dedicated Athlete has helped out with a sponsorship that allows me to get my iron uptake for the day in taking EP-NO. EP-NO is a blood builder, and it allows your body to get 5 types of absorbable iron without having to scarf down a Steak or Cheeseburger. They also have the Rapid Recharge and Athlete’s Multivitamin that is specifically geared towards an endurance athlete. My healthy oil comes in the form of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, and Cold Pressed Flaxseed Oil. I have everything covered, and my goal is to keep improving at the end of the season. As you can see I’m on this “Finish the season strong kick”, because in the last 2 years as an Expert I have not had the form to finish the season.

My first target is to get less than 180lbs, which is something I have not done in over 10 years. The second target is to stay under 185lbs throughout the season. Last year, I started the season at 188lbs, and finished the season at 182lbs. That weight loss was due to training, and hard racing. My secret number this season is 178lbs, and to actually get down to 175lbs before the season ends. I’m going to give myself some kind of window of reality, especially with me in school getting my Masters Degree right now, working 30hrs week, giving private table tennis lessons, studying, training and racing, and the most important one which is giving Ms. P the quality time.

Here is a before picture which was taken on July 15th at 197lbs and 10% body fat. I will not put another picture up until I have reached my number of 178lbs. So the pressure is on for me to eat right, train hard, and stay committed.

Right now King Leonidas is providing the motivation to get ripped.


Pacer Out!