Random Comments

Last week was a good training week. I had a rest day on Monday when a snowstorm and a town meeting stopped me from ever getting to the gym. After that, I lifted and ran on Tuesday, ran twice on Wednesday, lifted and ran on Thursday and ran twice on Friday. I taugh skiing both days over the weekend and woke up a bit sore this morning.

Regrefully, my workout this morning was a lower-body workout, doing 3x15s with only 30 seconds rest between sets. I always have to use much lighter weights for this set/rep/rest pattern. I did squats, deadlift shrugs, Bulgarian split squats, and bench step-ups, the latter two with dumbbells. Then, some reverse crunches, push-ups, and pull-ups. Tonight will be a very easy run or uphill walk on the treadmill.

It was great to be teaching skiing to kids again over the weekend. I enjoy our pre-season training clinics, but I feel most comfortable when I'm back at work, hanging out with the kids all day. My group has a range of ages, from 7 to 11, but no 9-year old children. We were skiing double-black-diamond bump runs yesterday afternoon, so I know we'll ski hard this season.

I had a hard time following the meal timing of Precision Nutrition while skiing. I have to figure out how to eat 3 small meals during the skiing day - meals that include protein and vegetables.

I guess that getting into Western States must have scared me a little bit. I didn't have a drop of alcohol last week - the first time in many months that I went a week without a drink.

I need to step on a scale and see where my weight is right now. Getting my bodyfat percentage lower is a key for me if I'm going to be successful in June.

Overall, I think I know the keys to getting my bodyfat lower. I know that we're all different, but this is what seems to matter the most for me. From a training perspective, speed work helps a lot with my weight, lifting seems to help, and total mileage doesn't seem to matter much. I think that as my mileage gets high, I simply compensate by eating more.

From a dietary perspective, alcohol seems to have the worst impact on my weight. After that, simple carbs (sugar and flour especially) are probably my biggest problem, and perhaps dairy fat is next. If I stay away from those three categories of food, or limit them properly, I can eat all the food I want and still lose weight. That basically means lean meats, lots of salads, other veggies and some fruit, plus my post-workout recovery drinks. It gets boring, but it seems to be effective, especially when combined with speed work or weight training or both.