The Ides of March are upon us.

It's time to chalk up February 2010 and I have to admit it was a pretty easy month. I didn't do any races and even took almost a week vacation to hit Vegas and the Strip. Man, I loves me some Las Vegas. What's funny is that it was easier to work out in Vegas than it was when I got home. I imagine part of the problem was letting my sleep cycle get out of whack, but it's hard not to want to stay up with all the bright lights and the lure of the blackjack tables. However, it's been a week and a half since we got back and I felt very tired last week. So with March arriving tomorrow and a 5K on March 6th, a 50K on March 13th, and sprint triathlon on March 20th it's time to make sure that my nutrition, training, and recovery are all on point.

In march I'll be starting the Paleo challenge. It's an idea I've been toying with for a while but just have never taken the plunge. I guess if all my friends jumped off a bridge, I would too, I would just be the last one. I really have an interest in raw foods and enjoy all the tips I get from other blogs but I've got to have my meat (please don't judge me). I'm thinking that I'll be using many of the raw recipes I've been wanting to try for quite a while. Right now, I assume any raw recipe would fill any expectations that the Paleo Diet would have of a food. I went to the grocery store this morning just to get ready for the next couple of days. I imagine that I'll have to be going to the store every few days to make sure I'm staying stalked up on the produce. So, let's see how easy this can be.

Too Much Chocolate

I considered myself fortunate yesterday. Because even though the cold front blew in (rain included), I was able to get my run in while it was still just really windy. I also had a little company while I did my warm up, my 100+ lb. chocolate lab Dylan. The reason it was fortunate to have Dylan along for the start was because just a month ago it looked like our family may have lost him due to post vaccine encephalitis as a result of his annual innoculations.

It was a Sunday morning in mid January and my daughter, Dylan, and I had just returned from our local grocery store. I gave a raw hyde and let him head to his favorite spot to eat it. About 15 minutes later, I heard him beside the couch making noises similar to when he rolls on his back acting all silly like he does many mornings. Next I heard his nails on our tile floors much like when he's really working to get that itch behind his ear. Because I couldn't see him, I got up to walk around the couch and that's when I saw Dylan convulsing on the floor. My wife and I first thought he might be choking on the raw hide but after we ensured his airway wasn't obstructed; all we could do was try to console him until he stopped seizing and became somewhat coherent. We took him to the vet hospital and over the next 24 hours he suffered another 6 seizures with no initial explanation. Everyday after at the vets seemed to bring two steps forward and one back. The seizures stopped but then he had diarhea, the diarhea stopped but then he had intestinal bleeding, and on and on. The vet told us he may never be the same cognitively, but we didn't care we love the big guy and it's not like we need him to do the taxes. So on Thursday, for better or worse, we decided to bring the big guy home.

It was rough at the start, because this dog was as high as a kite and he kept running into the walls and the furniture. We had to walk him every 15 minutes because the medications had him drinking gallons of water and because he was so disoriented he needed plenty of time to get outside without having an accident. It was a long process but with lots of love and attention Dylan got a little better. It started with a little wag of the tail, then he could get back on the bed, and finally his appetite was back. Now when his appetite came back, it really came back. Dylan has always been free fed but after eating a 40lb bag of dog food in two weeks, we had to start limiting how much we feed him because he has really started to fatten up. He was starting to become to much chocolate lab for one house. My wife started to walk him to give him some exercise but it wasn't until this week that he was well enough to start running. So, I was excited to see that he was able to make it a mile. Sure he's gone further in the past but it was just his way of telling me he's back. Well then, welcome back big guy.

Running WOD: 1 mile warm up

ball of foot drills

100m sprint at 70% effort

exaggerated foot pulls

100m sprint at 80% effort

Wall drill

100m sprint at 90%

2 x 12 minute intervals (covering as much distance in each interval) with 2 minutes rest between intervals.

Lure of the Loincloth

Beach to Bay is just a mere 12 weeks away (12 weeks from last Saturday to be exact). What is Beach to Bay you ask? For quite a few locals, it's the only reason all year that they peel their butts away from the couch. Some even put in a few weeks of training to prep for the 6 legged relay marathon. Each year the organizers let it grow just a little bit larger, so that in most recent years the city ends up with about 9000 runners/walkers struggling through the heat and wind to finish their leg of the run. Some of the runners are so serious about how they do in the relay that they practically take applications from potential runners; as well as, require oaths that team members will give every ounce of exertion for the team come race day to ensure maximum placement in the racing category. For the most part, I have always kind of fell somewhere in between the two extremes. Okay, I've probably been closer to the competitive side but I've never taken an application. However, there was the one year our team missed it's projected time and I found it necessary to interigate my fellow team members to find the guilty party. For your future reference, it's always the one who isn't quite sure what their time was because they forgot to start their Polar until a mile or so into the run.

So where does the lure of the loincloth come from? Well...In December, I found myself running a half marathon in town shortly after I finished reading "Born to Run". If you've never read it, pick up a copy because the only reason you'll want to put it down is to go run. So I'm running my half, getting into my groove, holding my form, and imagining myself on the endurance hunt just as Christopher McDougall writes in the book. I didn't see myself running down Ocean Drive but instead across the African plains with spear in hand. Running my prey to exhaustion just as our ancestors most likely did it. That's when I started thinking that it would be awesome to run my leg of the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon with nothing but warpaint, a spear, and a loincloth. Can you believe my wife wasn't excited to hear that? Still I stand undeterred. So with Beach to Bay just a mere 12 weeks away (12 weeks from last Saturday to be exact), I find myself in the market for a brand new loincloth.

3..2..1...Go!

Okay, so my wife made this blogging thing sound so fun and look so easy (which it had to be if I was going to be able to do it) that I just had to have one of my own. I knew I would most likely create a blog somehow related to fitness and nutrition since that has been what I've done for the last 15 years but I wasn't sure what angle to take. I own a Crossfit gym here in Corpus Christi and thought about that but I saw there were some pretty fanatical crossfitters with blogs already repping the community, and doing a good job at that. Plus, I don't think I'm that fanatical about it. Sure, I love to get my WOD on but I don't have dreams of winning the games one day, I haven't named my daughter or any of my animals after any benchmark WOD, and I certainly don't have any type of Crossfit related tattoos (i.e. Pukie on my stomach).

However, I didn't find any blogs by any Crossfit Endurance athletes and since I've become a Crossfit Endurance coach in the last year and I'm very involved in getting back into racing this year I've decided the focus of my blog will be on my training to get back into racing shape. The reason I say back into racing shape is because in August 2008 I had some kind of gunk take up residence in my lungs and hang around until February of 2009. It was so bad I couldn't show a new member our warm up without getting short of breath. I just couldn't shake what ever it was and eventually ended up on a few rounds of different antibiotics and an inhaler. When you're sick that long you just start to think that you'll never be well again, but in February the muck started to clear up and I started to finally feel better. Finally, I could work out again. So as soon as I could, I was back to my WODS and working on my Crossfit Endurance homework. I had a few more colds during the year but nothing that took more than a couple of weeks to get over and I was able to run my first marathon in San Antonio in November 2009.

Now we're in 2010 and I've filled my calendar with plenty of races to keep me busy. So far I've found 2 marathons, a 50k, a 50 miler, 2 sprint triathlons, 2 half Ironman triathlons, and who knows what else I'll find to do. So if you're ready let's get started. 3..2..1..Go!!!