A long journey from Fathappy to Fithappy with and Ironman in sight

bradcfairchild

I officially withdrew from Ironman Coeurdalene. I have decided that the half in St George will be my big triathlon. Spudman in Burley, Idaho will be the other Triathlon I do. It takes way too much time to train for a full. A half is doable while maintaining my life style. So, in a way, this accident helped me decide important things.

solieco1

This is why 70.3 is my favorite too.

FrankieandSpots

Sorry to hear about your accident, love your attitude and drive though. Good effort.

bradcfairchild

I'm thinking this morning about life and wellness. I'm not longer wearing my wrist brace for my broken left wrist. It makes typing interesting. My shoulder is healing. I still have metal inside holding my shoulder together. I've been good about not running, I couldn't swim, I'm thinking of starting to bike again but my wrist might be an issue still. I've just been hiking and flying. Most days I'm good about eating, I've had a few bad days. I've seen a few 199lbs on the scale. If I had not been injured, I would be out running biking and swimming most of Saturday and a lot more on week days, to get ready for the event day. Instead I'm getting things done around the house and spending more time with my wife. She's way more fun to be with anyway. I'm not a fit as I would be but I'm healing, life is good, and we're going on a cruise to the Mediterranean in a few months.

solieco1

Sometimes these enforced down times from training are a needed respite.

solieco1

BTW, I registered for Ironman Costa Rica 70.3.

bradcfairchild

solieco1 wrote: »

BTW, I registered for Ironman Costa Rica 70.3.

Costa Rica is an awesome place to play before and after a race. Wish you well.

I signed up for St George half. Once I've healed up I should have about 6 months to get ready for it. My ife and I have been hiking and flying a lot this summer. So I'm not totally out of shape. The titanium comes out early next month (Sep). I should be able to train normal after our cruise which is in October. Life is good, I'm maintaining around 203 lbs. I'm thinking of trying the high fat low carb imbalance, (keto diet) to see if I can burn some fat that way. I have a friend who loves it. Giving up sugar seems so hard. Getting my head wrapped around something like that will be the hardest part. Then hopefully I don't hurt myself and life can go on.

Does anyone have good or bad experience with starving yourself of carbs?

bradcfairchild

I've almost completed week one, of eating a low carb high fat diet. Avocado's are my super food. This is the first time of changing my eating habits that I have seen and felt a significant difference in the first week. I don't have any ketone sticks yet but I'm pretty sure I've successfully entered Ketosis. I've not worried about going over my calorie count. In fact I'm sure I've been significantly over. I can honestly say I have noticed a change. The biggest change is this, after three days of being on the diet and a 19.4 mile hike up Timpanogos; I didn't have swelling in my legs and I felt great the next few days. I'm also down on the scale 4 lbs. I'm curious how the next few weeks will go. I'm happy at the results and sad of thinking my love affair with easy carbs is over.

"Ketosis /kᵻˈtoʊsᵻs/ is a metabolic state in which most of the body's energy supply comes from ketone bodies in the blood, in contrast to a state of glycolysis in which blood glucose provides most of the energy." from Wikipedia

I think I understand the science behind this way of eating. I read a lot before starting. Before last week (last few years) I considered myself to have eaten pretty good, stayed under my calorie count, exercised a lot, etc. I've done nothing but fluctuate up and down around a set point. This diet is giving me hope that I've found a key into the way my body functions. I know it's extreme to cut carbs so drastically. I love fruit and have only had the littlest bites of a peach this week. I've had almost no bread, and pretty much no easy sugar. Most my carbs have come from vegetables and various low card foods. I love fatty foods so there is some positives to this diet. I've had 2 sausage links, eggs, cheese, and a Anaheim pepper, each morning for the last week. I guess the sausage took the place of toast and jam. I've missed the OJ too. Some day I hope to enjoy some of these carbs again.

I don't have much to loose. To look at me, you would think I'm not over weight, they say I carry it well... But I like to do extreme things and being 10 - 20 lbs over is not good. So I've taken up extreme dieting to match my activities. I know there are plenty of opinions to go for and against getting into a ketosis state. The one thing that is bugging me the most is that my gut feels full in a weird way most of the time. (I don't know how to describe it, maybe a greasy feeling) I skipped dinner yesterday and it felt good to feel hungry. After Flying our paragliders, I had a shake that consisted of 1/2 cup half and half, some cream cheese, some CG control for flavor, some Stevia, ice and peanut butter. It's pretty tasty really.

OK, so I'm in my first week! There will be more to come. Later - BRad

cimarrona27

I recently joined the low carb group (The Low Carber Daily Forum- LCD) and there are a ton of resources there. You should check it out- lots of people on keto diets and modified low carb. This is a great place to ask questions.

Best of luck!

bradcfairchild

cimarrona27 wrote: »

I recently joined the low carb group (The Low Carber Daily Forum- LCD) and there are a ton of resources there. You should check it out- lots of people on keto diets and modified low carb. This is a great place to ask questions.

Best of luck!

Thanks, I did read a few post in that post. It looks like there are people who are just starting like me and people who have done it for years. I'll see if I can figure it out how to join. It'll be nice to see how other people are doing it.

solieco1

Brad, as an athlete are you familiar with Metabolic Efficiency by Bob Seebohar? May be a good resource for you.

bradcfairchild

solieco1 wrote: »

Brad, as an athlete are you familiar with Metabolic Efficiency by Bob Seebohar? May be a good resource for you.

I am now. Thanks for the tip.

bradcfairchild

Why did I include in the title of this discussion, "A long journey". It's almost like I made a self fulfilled prophecy. What's really cool about my road to success at the moment is this: I'm feeling great and losing weight without a lot of exercise and I definitely don't feel like I'm dieting. I almost feel like I'm pigging out! My wife pointed out this morning, if I was to go on a walk or do anything it would help like 4 times. She's most likely correct. The only things I've been (kind of) consistent with is, hiking and (more) consistent with is, flying paragliders. I took some time away from hiking to Faux paint our garage door, which took several morning I could have hiked. Morning was the only time cool enough to paint. If I don't say so myself, the garage doors, looks pretty good for an amateur.

I go in this week to meet with the Doctor to schedule getting the titanium plate out of my shoulder. It will probably come out early next month? After that I have a few weeks before I can start working out with swimming, biking and running. I've been really good about not doing repetitive arm movements like running.

My neighbor did the Coeur Da'lene Idaho Ironman last weekend. That was going to be my 10 year anniversary of Ironmanship. I watch his progress through the day. It looked like another hard one. Hot and windy! In a weird way I was relieved that I wasn't doing it. However, I am looking forward to being in better shape for St George Half Ironman in May 2017.

This time I am going to join our local pool and start swimming once or twice a week. I only swam one time before I did the St George in May of 2016. I occasionally used a machine called a body glide to help maintain some semblance of swimming.

If I continue to loose weight, that will be the biggest success with both biking and running.

So my long journey continues... Sometime we learn things in the weirdest ways. You gotta be grateful for all of it or it's no fun! Being grateful is a game we play in our heads that make the world appear better than it actually is.

bradcfairchild

No big news to record. I'm still toying with lowering my carbs. It's sometimes really hard to eat a lower carb diet, like 50 grams a day. I did it for a couple weeks. I could tell that I was in ketosis some of the time. Then things happened like, we had a anniversary dinner with all you can eat desserts (So good but I felt like crap afterwords). Also our peach tree is ripe now. Most of the time I am trying to eat less easy carbs, more vegetables, more good fat, more water, sometimes I even have bacon like this morning. It's been worth a try to see how my body works with this way of eating. In comparison I think I do and feel better without the sweets. They are everywhere though, so it not the easiest way to diet. I think I will settle into a more normal diet but keep the easy carbs low and see how I do over the next few months.

The plate in my shoulder comes out in a week. Then a short waiting period to let the scar and muscles heal and I will start back into my work outs and work back up to where I need to be to do the half next May. I've have been hiking and flying a lot. I could have been spinning too but haven't done it. (I'm a very Bad Boy!)

bradcfairchild

I got the titanium plate out yesterday. It went well. I'm feeling pretty good considering. So far ice and Ibuprofen is keeping the pain down enough. This time around my arm is a lot more mobile than the first surgery. I have to take it somewhat easy for a couple weeks then I will start some moderate exercising.

bradcfairchild

Just got back from a 10 day Mediterranean Cruise. Yes, I gained a few lbs, around six. It was the chocolate melting cake. OK, and I over ate most nights. It was worth it. My wife lost a few. Not fair for a second. But I'm happy for her. She is amazing! I feel good. My upper body is still very weak but I did light arm exercises most days on the cruise and it is definitely helping. I'm taking advantage of the last couple good days before day light savings end by riding my bike to and from work. We're going to join the local recreation center that has a pool. I'm going to swim in preparation for St. George half Ironman this May. Last time I only used my machine and swam once. This time, at least once a week will be a good goal. So the journey continues. I really do think it's more a a journey rather than an end result.

solieco1

Hi Brad, Sounds like a fun time. I imagine the 6 pounds will drop of super quickly. I came back from Italy several pounds up but it was gone in 2 weeks. Have you done St George before?

bradcfairchild

solieco1 wrote: »

Hi Brad, Sounds like a fun time. I imagine the 6 pounds will drop of super quickly. I came back from Italy several pounds up but it was gone in 2 weeks. Have you done St George before?

Hey it's coming off. Yea!

Yes I did St. George last year. It was super cold and wet. People were shivering out of control. I was lucky to come out of the water at the same time as it was pouring so I took the time to put all my layers on. I'm doing it again this year. I couldn't do Coeurdalene because of the shoulder. The injury kind of convinced me that whole Ironman is too much to train for, with my life style. I love southern Utah anyway, it's on Saturday, it less money, and I have a place to stay. It's kind of a no-brainer for me.