Well, hopefully you survived the thanksgiving feast with little damage to yourself.  One more to go with christmas and then the we are on the homestretch towards 2009.  Couple of things can happen between now and then.  First, you can say... "heck with it, the year is almost over, I gonna begin my fitness and diet regime in 2009..." or "It's the 'holiday season' what's the use of getting out there when I know this month is filled with all those sweets and high fat foods that I love so much."

Or second, Beginning Monday, "I am going to beat 2009 to the punch and get active before the year is up."  This way, you are already setting that foundation for next year.  Don't wait!  Strike while the iron is hot.  Same can be said about eating habits.  If you end the year eating horrible guess what will happen as we crossover to the new year?  You will find yourself in a tailspin and wanting to get out.  Watch what you eat and get outside year-round and you will find yourself happier, healthier, and energized!

 This is where I bring in my own personal experiences... I signed up for the Austin 1/2 IronMan in February.  There is no possible way I am going to wait until January to start training.  I have to start now.  The great thing is that I already have set the foundation through the training from my 1/2 IronMan.  My goals for 2009 are simple, stay as active as possible and do as many triathlons as possible, peroid!  One of major goals for 2009 is to complete the big daddy of them all... a Full IronMan.  I will keep you updated as this year comes to an end.   

Take some time and write your goals down... maybe it's to run in a 5k or complete a sprint triathlon or just stay active and change your attitude about health and fitness.  Who knows... skies the limit!

Let me know what your goals are and I will do my best to help you achieve them.

Today, I have a date with the gym... need to move! 

Training this past week... Rode 37 miles on the bike, wednesday morning.  Fun ride, perfect weather.
Monday morning went out for a 3 1/2 hour surf session.  The waves were awesome and the water was perfect.  Surfed til my arms felt like noodles. 

Saturday Morning, pumped some iron over at LA fitness and ran a couple of miles on the treadmill.


Next Camp begins December 1st.  See ya soon!

vince g.

Hello and Welcome to Adventure Boot Camp's Blog spot.  Well, I did it!  I completed the 1/2 ironman in Conroe, TX.  It was alot of fun, but also grueling at times... especially the first 400 yards of the swim and the middle part of the run.  The bike, as always, was the best part.  Cruising through the hills in and around Sam Houston Nat'l Forest was awesome and beautiful to look at.  

To recap the race let's start with the swim.  Needless to say, we were farther north which made for a colder race start ... and I mean cold!  Low for the morning was 40 degrees, and I didn't have a wetsuit.  This was probably my number one concern, but I was stuck b/t a rock and hard place.  I could've purchased one the night or even the week before, but I have not trained in a wetsuit for an open water swim prior to this race.  I surf in a wetsuit, but it's different when you have a board underneath you for support.  So, here I am thinking... if I buy one, then I could very well struggle with this extra weight on me, but if it's too cold then I won't swim as well, but at least I don't have to worry about a suit weighing me down.  Never do anything on race day that you haven't trained for.

I opted to suck it up and just swim without one.  Let's just say that I will buy a wetsuit for next season because it was colder than I would have liked.  In cold water, your body is trying to become warm, muscles are constricting to create blood flow, your heart is trying to pump this blood faster than normal to try and warm up the body, all the while your breathing becomes faster and shorter.  Not Good.  So, it took me a while to get into rhythm and not panic... just breath easy and start swimming.  Finally, after 400 yds. or so, I got into a good rhythm and finished the swim in 46 minutes or so.  Not bad considering the last time I swam this distance in open water was 3 years ago.

The bike... I would have to say my strongest event of the three is the bike, hands down.  The only concern in this part was the hills.  Everytime you looked up there was a hill.  The were all types of hills, one "Walker Hill" was a beast of hill.  It was the steepest hill I came across and slowed me down to a measly 8 mph... phew.  Another hill I encounter was on a road called "Dacus-Johnson."  For the most part, you hit a hill coast down, it may be flat a few miles, repeat.  Well, Dacus-Johnson rd. was one long gradual hill that lasted for 3 miles!  Fought through it and finished the final 12 miles strong.  Finish just over 3 hours on the bike.  

The Run... the dreadful run... well, out all the events, the run was probably my biggest concern.  A... I have been having a knee issue, B... also having a calve muscle issue, and C... the longest I ran during my training was 9 miles.  The longest brick I did was a 50 mile bike and 4 mile run.  So, I went to my method of 6 minutes of running/1 min. walk which turned into 5 minute run/2 minute walk, and so worth.  I did alot of playing around with my ratios... at one point I walked for 5 minutes ran for 1.  I thought I ran a smart race from both a nutrition standpoint and the actually running of the 13.1 miles.  I didn't try to be a heroe or let my ego get the best of me because this would have spelled disaster.  Bottomline... just finish safely and healthy... do not kill yourself or injure yourself.  And so, with each mile that passed by, I ultimately finished the run just under 3 hours and crossed that finish line.

The finish... crossed the finish line around 2 o'clock or so, started the race at 7 am, all in a days work... 7 hours to be exact.  As I finished, I grabbed my commenrative IronStar race mug and headed straight for the pizza!  I must have ate 5 pieces, consumed plenty of liquids, drank a diet coke for a treat, and headed back home.  

All in all, it was a beautiful day for a race, great weather, great people, and best of all... I accomplished my goal.

How does this apply to you?  

Enough about me... how about you.  I simply stated a goal four weeks ago and then set out a path to accomplish it.  A by-product of the goal is a better fitness level, eating well, and being discipline enough to follow all of the above.  You can do the same.

Goes back to my motto from a few weeks ago... JUST START.  Set a goal for yourself to become physically fit, join our camp, and stick with it.  It doesn't have to be a 1/2 ironman that motivates you, but it could be one or all of the following:
drop inches
drop body fat
increase my endurance/stamina
become stronger
stay consistent with exercise
eat better
Make better choices in terms of my health
get into those JEANS!
Feel better, and so on.
Pick one or all and get after it.

Thanks a million for all of your support before the race as it truly motivated me to finish!  Trust me, tons of thoughts go through your mind on race like this... yes, quitting or stopping is one of them.  Like any great challenge, you have to be stronger than your mind or body, and just punch through it.  I felt like if I did quit, I am not only letting myself down but also my co-workers, my students here at Berry Miller Junior High, my wife, my son, my family and friends, and you... my campers.  So, no matter how much mile 7 and 11 kicked my behind... I knew I had only one choice... FINISH!  I would also like to thank Abby and Dr. Lee at the TX Chiropractic School's student clinic for the work they did on my knee and calve muscle.  Physically, this helped me get through the run.


Yours in Strength,
vince g.



 

Well, as I told you on that first Monday of this current camp... the fourth week will be here before you know it, and here we are.  We are all in the same boat in this regards.  Four weeks ago I embarked on an incredible challenge and so did you. 

The challenge... to make fitness and health a priority by signing up for opportunity to be challenged, be held accountable, and to become better, physically and mentally, thru physical activity.  And I will tell you... we are all better for it.  I have pushed you through obstacles and workouts this past 3+ weeks that you would have never thought otherwise of doing before and vice-versa.  Keep it up! 

You're with me...
Although you may not be with me on my training runs or rides or in the pool, but each and everyone one of my campers, present and past, are with me... pushing me, encouraging me!  I always reflect on workouts I have pushed many of you through, and when the training gets tough... I look back and can picture ya'll running to the bridge and back, then performing 4 or 5 exercises, with minimal rest, then doing some core, then hitting the obstacle course... that takes guts and will power.  This, in of itself, is all the motivation I need to keep pumping. 

Deal or No Deal 
Great workout yesterday and this morning.  We played a game that is based on the show Deal or no Deal... some of my campers dodged a few bullets by taking the deal.  We had fun and I would like to thank my buddy Sara, owner of Adventure Boot Camp in Deer Park and the Bay Area for sharing her game with us.  This morning we hit some much needed core and some sports type agility work. 

Training Last Night:

Well, I recovered better than I thought from Sunday's long ride and run and decided to hit the pool and pump some iron.

Swam a Mile, took about 37 minutes or so.  I tried to mimic an open water swim by not pushing off the walls or doing any flip turns.  Basically, I did not touch bottom, at all.  Practiced wading, and survival swim methods, just in case.  You never know what an open water swim will bring you, since you and about 60-100 or so of your best friends will enter the water at once.  Looks like a "herd" of tuna being chased by dolphin... splish'n and a splash'n.  

Weights... I did a giant superset, 2 sets, 25-30 reps, with the leg press, leg ext., and leg curl.  Followed that up with single leg-leg press, hyper extensions, and bench press.  Then transitioned into some Olympic style lifting, i.e., single arm snatch, cleans, with bent-over row.  Then performed Incline Dumbbell, with core movements, and some shoulder injury prevention exercises.

Just a few days are left, but we are beginning another camp on Monday, and it's half price. So, come on out and join the fun.  We've got plenty of buzz regarding our camps, and we want you here.

vince g.

Hello, it's a been a few days since my last blog post, but I have been busy training, family stuff, and resting. 
I must say, we had a SPOOKTACKULAR workout on halloween morning.  We had fun with bats, ghosts, and other goblin type items related to the day, plus some of my campers had the opportunity to train me.  In all I performed 6 basketball courts worth of duck walks, 60 push ups, and had to perform full sit ups for 45 seconds.  TRICK OR TREAT!  Even with all this training I am doing, you guys managed to make me sore, thank you campers.  I know that the treat for me was watching my campers have alittle fun while working out.  Thank you for being such great campers!

Today's focus is all about the "Just Start" mentality.  We have the nike slogan, "Just Do It." Right?  Well, in my opinion you cannot just do it if you don't "START."  Just Starting any routine can play in your mind either as motivator or in most cases... you may become discouraged. 

What do I mean by all this? 

Please allow me to use my personal experience as the perfect example of the "Just Start" syndrome.  We all fall into sometype of "pit" with our activity level, finances, life, etc... and sometimes being able to start the process to fix whatever the problem may be is half the battle. 

During the past ten months, I've stayed as active as life would allow... got a surf session in when I could, ran alittle, rode my bicycle once or twice during the summer, and even touched some weights along the way.

But, the biggest deterrant for me was to "JUST START" and then stay consistent.  Everytime I would start to run, bike, lift, and even surf... I couldn't help but think these thoughts... "Man! Do I have along way to go to get back to where I was...,"  "I can't even paddle out (on the surfboard) without getting so winded..." and of course... "I am running today, why? I know that tomorrow or the next I may not beable to..."  you get the point, right?  Very discouraging for me. 

Now I am wondering why even start with so many outside factors playing into my head, lack of consistency, no motivation due to being out of shape, etc., etc... etc...

Three weeks ago, I "JUST STARTED!"  No excuses, who cares about all that other stuff from before... "JUST START!"  As a fitness professional, I know how to fix the problem... eat well, get active, rest.  Simply put: practice what you preach, get your health and fitness back on track.

Because I have started, my fitness level and eating habits have been phenomenal!  I put on a pair of jeans this Friday and they were falling off of me.  I feel better, my body composition is changing daily, metabolism is through the roof. 

Everything is happening as it should.  Either you are experiencing this now, as one of my campers, or you can experience it should you decide to start with us, here at Adventure Boot Camp.

It's crazy!  Once you start, then everything switches to a motivator.  Once you begin eating properly, you look forward to eating properly, once you begin exercising, you look forward to exercising.  You know nothing else!  You expect nothing less!  It's what you are meant to do.  The human body needs to move, period! 

So, I challenge you to get up, get out, and get active, today.  I don't care if you haven't seen a drop of sweat dribble down your nose in a year, JUST START.  I am telling you right now that you will experience that "workout high" which will carry over into your daily life.  Better moods, better energy, better heart, and so on.  It's great. 

Let's talk about my training since the 30th.  I elected to rest Friday night because I knew I was in for some serious training over the weekend.  I have exactly 7 days until the 1/2 iron-man, and it's time to crank it up. 

Saturday, I woke up and went out for a 6 mile run with one of my co-workers, she's is a great motivator and competitive, so running with her is alot fun.  We followed a 6 minute run/1 minute walk for the first 4 miles or so.  We decided to hit the "Bailey Bridge" by the high school, phew what a challenge. Then switched to 6 min. run/2 min. walk. So much of training is mental, I tell you.  We then followed up with a few weight training exercises and called it day. 

On Sunday, are you ready for this, I burned over 2500 hundred calories!  

I went on 50 mile bike ride with my good buddy, "Mr. G."  He's gonna be 61 this year and you would never know it.  Age is so chronological if you allow it to be.  Mr. G and my dad are the greatest role models for not only me, but possibly for you as well.  These two guys are pushing near 60+, but pushing their activity levels even more so than ever. 

Felt great on the bike, even though it took nearly 3 hours.  The great thing about such a long ride is the adjustments you find you need to make.  I will make such adjustments by next Sunday, bars need alittle tweaking, need to change out my handle bar tape, seat needs to be moved back, etc.  I also concentrated on nutrition and made sure I was taking in the appropriate amount of carbs each hour.  Knowing I was going to run afterwards, I didn't want to "BONK." 

Jumped off the bike and headed into a run.  Gotta do it!  I proceeded to run 4 miles in 45 minutes.  Worked out some more kinks along the way and I was done.  Immediately following the run I consumed a cup of OJ, a banana, and power bar, then went home and ate a good meal. 

This consisted of noodles, vegetables, and chicken along with a smoothie. 

Sounds like alot of food, but when your body is burning calories at a high level and you're burning calories because of extreme activity levels you have to eat well and often.

Thank you for visiting and blog to you soon.

vince g.