12.04.2011

An Update

The past couple of weeks have been kind of busy with work and the holidays so I haven't had much time to write.  So I thought I'd write up a quick update.

Gluten Free Month

My gluten free month went well.  I didn't really write much about it, but it was good.  I actually enjoyed it.  It was difficult at times, but I think I developed some new habits.  I got used to eating salads for lunch, and now I prefer them over the sandwiches I was eating.  Going gluten free is a great way to clean up your eating because a lot of the processed bad foods have gluten so you have to avoid them.  You're forced to eat real foods.

I didn't quite make it the whole month, though.  My boss found a new job and November 30 was his last day we had a going away pizza party for lunch so I decided to end my streak a day early.  Since then, I've had some gluten to test things out and have found that I definitely have a threshold.  A little bit and I don't really notice it, but a little more and I feel like crap.  Mini Wheats put me over my threshold.  I don't know how I used to eat those for breakfast all the time.  

I felt better not eating gluten, so I'll probably stick with a gluten free diet but I won't be super strict.  If I want to go out for a burger and fries, I will.  If I want a sandwich, I'll eat one.  But I think, for the most part, I'll try to stick with the diet I ate last month because I felt a lot better and was eating much healthier.  

Training

I haven't officially begun my 2012 training program yet so I'm still in the "train as I feel like it" stage.  That stage, believe it or not, has included lots of swimming.  I am determined to improve my swim for next year.  So I'm swimming a lot.  Since Thanksgiving, I've swam more than 30,000 yards (this is as of Sunday morning, and I'll be swimming about 4,000 yards today).  Volume.  More is more.  I'm also going to be working on my increasing my stroke rate (more on that in a future blog post).

My knee

I was hoping I wouldn't have to write about my knee anymore, but the pain has returned.  I did a track workout to prepare for some turkey trots and an upcoming alumni indoor track meet.  I felt fine during the workout, but the day after the tendons in my knee were stiff and sore.  I don't think I tore them again, but I definitely did some damage so I haven't been doing much running in the past two weeks to play it smart and make sure it heals so I don't have another major setback like earlier this year.  I've also hit the weight room again.  Doing one-legged hamstring curls, I noticed my right hamstring is still much weaker than my left which either caused the injury or is a result of the injury.  Either way, I will be hitting the weight room this winter to balance out those muscles and build more strength in the muscles that support my knee.  

Reading

I've read a couple of really good books lately that I'm planning on writing about so I'll try to get that done soon.  

Twitter

I've been using Twitter lately, so please follow me on Twitter.  I need some followers, otherwise it's kind of pointless tweeting.


http://twitter.com/mikewolfgram





 

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