Is Gluten Free the way to be?

Since becoming gluten-free in February 2010, I've had many requests for more information and my personal insight on the details of this healthy way of living. For many years I suffered from the "typical" gluten intolerance symptoms (bloating, gas, frequent BM's, afternoon fatigue and stomach pain after races or hard workouts). Within a week of going gluten-free most of my symptoms went away and I was feeling the best I've felt in years. Training was going better, I was sleeping fantastic, and my energy levels were at an all time high - best of all I was dropping pounds like crazy, eventually losing more than 15 pounds. I was sold!

What is gluten you might be asking? Gluten (from Latin gluten "glue") is a protein composite that appears in foods processed from wheat and related species, including barley and rye. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and to keep its shape, and often giving the final product a chewy texture. So...basically all my favorite foods and most of the foods making up my diet at the time. I was used to eating lots of pasta, pizza and other gluten enriched foods.

So how can I train for triathlons and have such a low carb diet? That's the question I asked and was actually having trouble adapting to. I had yet to learn much about carb rich gluten-free alternatives, so I basically was eating what looked to be an Adkins diet and any training over 60 minutes was very difficult. I found out later that it was more my body getting used to a new fuel rather than not eating enough carbs. Nonetheless, I (meaning my wife) needed to learn more about cooking gluten-free and I needed to learn a different carb source. I quickly found that fresh fruits and rice dishes with fresh veges and lean chicken provided me with plenty of energy for the longer workouts.

Since this now was a "family" issue, because you can't just cook(or shop)for one person, we embraced the gluten-free lifestyle to include the total elimination of gluten food from our pantry. This included all snacks, cereals, cookies and most importantly the flour we backed and cooked with. There are many great books out there on gluten-free cooking and plenty of great gluten-free areas in grocery stores. Our favorites include Raisin Rack, Trader Joes and even many of the big box stores now carry or have gluten-free areas in their stores.

Now almost a full year into our new lifestyle and it's no longer a chore to put together meals or find a gluten-free snack at the Kurek household. Jennifer recently made gluten-free Christmas cookies that are awesome and I even had Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving dinner.

With the recent surge in folks finding out they too are gluten intolerant (which I believe is a results of years of eating foods that are saturated with gluten) there is loads of great information online to help you get started. I encourage everyone to give it a try. Go online and learn more about it and you'll soon find out why eliminating gluten from your diet is the way to be!

Bring it!

HFP Man

MiamiMan Triathlon Build-up Blog

Once again in an effort to help keep me accountable to my buildup to the November 14h MiamiMan Half Ironman I will again share my training build-up on my blog. Since all my training buddies are calling it a season I'm counting on HFP's finest to keep me motivated and focused on the goal.

For daily updates go to:
MiamiMan Triathlon Training Blog

Behind the scenes of HFP Racing

It's been quite some time since I've had the time to update my blog. It's amazing how fast the season is going and how tremendously consuming the day-to-day race director grind can be this time of the year.

I often get the laughable question from race participants during race weekends "So...is there much to do during the week or do you just work weekends?" Funny stuff. I'm writing this blog during my "off" day (the Monday after a race weekend) and during my "off" day today I've been at the computer since 7:00am updating our website for the upcoming weeks race and getting the results pages updated. Next I'll spend several hours attempting to catch up on email and phone messages from last week and hopefully by Noon today and will start my "off" day by spending the remaining part of today unplugged and focused on my family.

Don't take this wrong - I LOVE MY JOB and the crazy schedule and hours I work are always worth it (most of time). However, this blog is not about me (for once) but about the person that holds it all together - the always fast moving red head you see at registration - my amazing wife and business partner Jennifer.

As they say "Behind every good man is an even greater woman" and wow does that hold true for me. Not only does Jennifer hold everything together with the business on race weekend she also balances keeping our family and household in top shape - all while being a Cancer survivor! She is the ONLY reason I feel comfortable enough on race day to jump into the race and because of that I still have a fiery passion for this sport as a business and as a triathlete.

This is truly a "family business" - Jennifer and I work side by side in our home office with nearly constant interruptions from our three children that include Henry's drum solos banging through the duct work and Madeline seeking approval on yet another family portrait she colored and Ezra just being Ezra. Of course we would not have it any other way.

Bring it!

HFP Man

My life without wheat, television and S.E.X.

It's been quite awhile since I've been able to update my blog as we're heavy into the racing season and my time on the road away from my office is significant. I thought an update would be appropriate on some things in my life that I either recently got started or recently eliminated from my life. The first being Serious Extreme Xross training (S.E.X). Sure, I've been a triathlete for the last 20+ years and I've been Xross training - however, after 20+ years of swimming, biking and running this no longer is Xross training - it's just normal training that my body has totally adapted to. In an earlier blog I wrote about taking on the P90X challenge with my good buddy Randy Lehrer. I started the P90X challenge the first week of February and successfully got through the 90 days and I experience amazing results. I was blown away at 40 years old that I could do an exercise and see such significant results - from the obvious physical change my body went through to the psychological gains I made coming from getting stronger as I was getting older. I now implement P90X workouts in my weekly routine year round and am looking forward to S.E.X. to help me age more gracefully.

About the same time I started the P90X routine I found out I was gluten intolerant - well that explains a lot of things (constant gas, many trips to the bathroom daily, etc...). Gluten intolerance is an allergy from anything made with Wheat. This created a significant problem as most of my diet was wheat based (pasta, energy bars, pizza, cookies, beer, etc...). How in the world was I going to continue training, working and racing with little to no carbs? Well - I soon found out that there are many other options (healthier) that soon replaced the old wheat rich diet. White rice replaced pasta, more fresh fruit and veggies replaced cookies (obvious benefit), and some things I just could not eat which I soon realized another benefit - weight loss. I started the new diet in February at 172 lbs and this week I am a much fitter 158 lbs all by simply changing my diet NOT restricting my diet. The benefits from a wheat free diet are many even for endurance athletes. I encourage everyone to read up on this topic and see if maybe some of your "mystery" symptoms are just a simple wheat allergy gone undiagnosed.

And lastly I continue to live my life without T.V. and I (along with my family) continue to receive incredible benefits. This is also an update from an earlier blog which I stated my family gave up T.V. in September 2009. I now can happily update that even my children have acclimated to life without T.V. I no longer get the questions of when are we getting the T.V. back or why can't we have T.V. - it's just not part of our lives anymore. I'm now on my 5th book since last fall and I recently completed an incredible book that all endurance athletes MUST read "Born to Run". An inspiring book that will motivate you to run longer and take a totally different outlook on buying your next pair running shoes. My current book is the "Art of the Start" a great book for anyone starting any kind of new business, church, club, non-profit or organization.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Helen Training Camp - Final Day and review

Got home late last night around 10:30pm and got very little sleep as I had a 5:00am workout scheduled this morning. That was bad planning but I got up anyway knowing two of my training buddies were counting on me being there. It ended up being a great workout but I'm quite tired now - looking forward to an easy day in the office.

The last workout for the Helen Training Camp was a fantastic 70 mile bike featuring 3 major climbs and a nice 30 mile "flat" section to close out the ride which we hammered. We started with 16 campers but only 8 started the ride and 6 finished the entire 70 miles. Another 5+ hour day in the saddle. We decided to start the ride later (11:00am) to get the warmest part of the day for the ride. Beautiful weather greeted us at the start and it quickly warmed up to over 70 degrees as we challenged each other up every climb. Winning the KOM jersey for the week was Kurt Molter who consistently road near the front all week on every major climb. He did not win every climb today but again was always near the front challenging. The now 50 year old Tom Lebuhn was strong all day and finished the day with a 3 mile pull to finish the 70 mile day that had everyone hanging on for dear life. Mark "the locomotive" Lemmon also showed all his ironman training over the last two decades paid off as he got stronger as the week progressed. After a nice barbecue dinner to celebrate the hard week of training there was one more competition left - putt putt golf. I was pleased to take the title in putt putt with Mark Lemmon second and Kurt Molter getting the final podium spot. First time putt putt golfer Curt Haywood put in a strong showing as well.

Already looking forward to next year. A big thanks to all the campers that hung in there and did all the workouts - you were a great inspiration for me.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Helen Training Camp - Day 5

Sorry for the lateness on this post - we were just having too much fun after the workout. Yesterday featured a 45 mile ride followed by a 30 minute run. Most skipped the run and opted to lay in the sun and hang with me as my ankle would not let me run. I was thrilled to be able to ride however, and my ankle did not really bother me too much. The ride featured one of the most difficult climbs of the week - Hog Pen Gap. Very steep and bumpy road surface makes this climb really tough. Tom Lebuhn dominated the climb followed by the camps King of the Mountain - Kurt Molter, then Scott Myers and then fighting for 4th and 5th was myself and Mark "The Locomotive" Lemmon. Nearly 3 hours to complete the entire loop. Everyone is starting to feel the miles in their legs.

Today's a 3k swim followed by a killer 80 mile bike featuring Hog Pen, Brass Town (highest point in GA), Unicoi and a portion of Devils Branch loop. Today the weather will be awesome and will likely be our last workout before we head home Sunday morning.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Helen Training Camp - Day 4

Sorry for the lateness in my report on day 4 but I had a mishap during the scheduled 20k trail run yesterday. Thursday was the one day with a 70% chance of rain so we scheduled it for a run and swim only day. The Ruby Falls trail is a narrow single track with lots of off-camber tilts and a great deal of elevation gain. The plan was to run to Ruby Falls (about 5 miles), return on the road then run another 3 miles around the park lake. About a 1/2 mile from Ruby Falls I turned my ankle. In full stride I laid my outside ankle bone squarely into the dirt and then went head over heals off the trail. Swelling was almost instantaneous and the looked like I had a donut in my sock above my shoe. I tried to keep moving fearing it would lock up but just a 1/4 mile later I was required to hobble the remaining trail out to the falls. While everyone enjoyed the view of the falls I was sitting in the creek soaking my foot. After getting out of the creek it was clear I was not running back. Thankfully the park visitor center was just down the road and a very kind park employee drove me back to my truck. Later that day the rest of the campers swam 3k and called it a day.

My ankle this morning has much less swelling and I think I can get it into a cycling shoe for our 40mi ride of Helen 3-Gaps. I'll have to skip the 30 minute transition run but 2.5 hours in the saddle should be good. I'll make sure to send some good photos from the top of the gaps.

Bringing it in Helen!

HFP Man

Helen GA Camp - Day #3

Another beautiful day greeted us for an "easy" 75 mile bike today. This course only featured one 2 mile climb with a lot of rollers in between (like Southern Ohio). The pace was steady all day and most hills featured a race to the top with some epic battles between Scott Myers, Kurt Molter, Tom Lebuhn and myself. The ride started at 10:00am and we ended the day around 3:00pm. A big hand for Andrea Myers - she is a super woman. Hung with us the entire day and eventually dragged her bonking husband in the last 5 miles. I don't know a tougher woman than Andrea.

Amazingly I felt better today then the previous 2 rides. Fitness level is quickly going up. Still pretty tired after the ride and not up for much blogging. I hope to give a better camp overview at the end of the week with some interesting and unusual happenings from the week.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Helen GA Camp - Day 2

Very little time and energy to write much this evening. Just got done with what was the hardest workout day of my life. It started with a 3k swim at 8am and by 10:15am we were on our bikes for the most difficult 93 miles I've ever ridden. The ride just ended at 6:30pm. We had about 60 minutes of breaks throughout the day but a pretty steady pace all day. The ride had 8 category 1 climbs of over 31 miles of climbing!

Lots of good photos posted on my Facebook page from the epic day of training. More fun continues on Wednesday.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Helen Training Camp - Day 1

What a difference a year can make. Last year cold rain greeted us 4 out of the 6 days of the camp - which made it tough on everyone. This year is was 87 degrees when we checked into the cabin at 11:00am today along with clear blue skies and a light wind. Today's ride started on time at 4:00pm (late start for those driving in today) and on paper is the easiest ride of the week - an out and back 40 mile course to the base of Brasstown Bald and back. There was the optional climb up Brasstown Bald for those up to it. The ride leaves downtown Helen and immediately starts climbing peaking out at 15% grade at the top of an 8 mile climb. A quick 5 mile decent follows then another long slow climb to the base of Brasstown Bald (site of stage finish at the Tour of Georgia). Superwoman Andrea Myers joined her husband Scott and Kurt Molter for the extra 2.6 mile climb (Brasstown peaks out at 25% grades). The rest of us turned back and enjoyed the 6 mile decent to the base of Unicoi before climbing back up another 5 miles then enjoying the 8 miles downhill back into Helen. Curt Haywood, Mark Lemmon, Tom Lebuhn and myself stopped at a local park and soaked our legs in the icy cold Chattahoochee River for 10 minutes - Mark swears it will be the key to getting through the week. Total ride time 2hr 26min for 39.6 miles. Does that give you an idea of the terrain down here? Next up 80+ miles and 8 major climbs of more than 5 miles each (after 3k in the pool).
I'll be Twitting from the ride with pictures the rest of the week.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Spring has Sprung!

I know during the February snowstorms here in the Midwest San Diego was in the mid-70's and sunny 28 days...BUT I can't help to think that when our weather finally breaks and spring starts to rear her pretty head we got it made. I can't imagine missing out each year on the joy and hopeful perspective I get during this time. It's SPRING - race season is on its way!

I've always said that if I lived in San Diego or Tempe I'd probably be injured a lot more. Sunday it was sunny and 48 degrees and I was riding in shorts. That's booties and winter tights weather in San Diego! After my ride I was playing some hoops with my son and he took his shirt off - he said it was too hot! If you know Henry that might not be too big of a surprise. Today it's going to hit 60 and I have a skip in my step and one heck of an optimistic attitude today.

Though I hate to (and normally don't) let the weather dictate my training schedule, every spring I let that rule slide a bit and blow off planned meetings (sorry if that's you today)or other office work in exchange for a ride on my favorite 60k course or enjoy a nice LSD run through my favorite county preserve. Regardless of what you're doing today or on one of the many more nice days heading our way - don't forget to enjoy the blessings that a nice warm spring day brings. Even if you can't get out for a workout - listen to the birds, notice the more smiles on folks faces (smile back), or just grab a quick bite outside on a park bench.

Spring has Sprung!

I'd write some more but my bike is calling me!

Bring it!

HFP Man

I Downward Dog Dare You To Try Yoga!

At 40+ years of age and over 20 years in multisport training there is little I have not tried in my training. You name it - I've probably given it a try during the last 2 decades. However, with that said it's been quite awhile, at least 10 years, since I've actually done anything in my training that has been new or really challenging outside the normal swim, bike and run routine. Well - you can teach an old dog new tricks.

As of February 1 my training buddy and longtime teammate, Randy Lehrer, dared me to take on the P90X Challenge with him. At first glance I thought this would be a joke and I felt it would be of little benefit to me. P90X is composed of weight lifting, Kick Boxing, Plyometrics, and Yoga. OK - no problem doing the weights and the plyometrics but come on - Yoga? Kick Boxing? The main principle behind P90X is muscle confusion with lots of variety in the 6 day a week routine.

I reluctantly popped in that first DVD (Chest and Back) on that early Monday morning and joked to myself as "Tony" warmed us up with what seemed like an almost silly, if not useless warm-up. I wanted to get going, get my heart rate up and start feeling the burn like most workouts. The first set started off with 4 different types of pushups and 4 different types of pullups. Talk about humbling - after the first set of pushups my chest was throbbing and my arms were shaking. What? Are you kidding me? How have I left myself get this weak? I must sadly report that set #3 and #4 I was doing girl pushups and I was totally unable to do the pullups. Randy was right! This workout is tough and certainly is going to be beneficial for the triathlon season.

The remaining week was totally brutal and I had soreness in places I'd never been sore before. Then came the 90 minutes of Yoga at the end of the week. All I can say is I'm glad my friends could not see me! I was stretched out in ways I've never been stretched before along with holding complicated Yoga poses (in poses I'm still too embarrassed to describe) that had my entire body shaking and covered in sweat. After getting through the final downward dog pose and finishing up in baby's pose I felt awesome. I had an incredible post Yoga buzz - not like my normal endorphin buzz from swimming, biking and running but something completely new. A Yoga buzz - I really liked it!

If prior to your next race you attend you see someone in the corner of the transition with a contorted face desperately trying to maintain his balance - don't worry - it's just HFP Man trying to perfect the Warrior pose before heading to the swim start.

Bring it!

HFP Man

P.S. It's now been 3 weeks and the soreness is mostly gone and I'm no longer doing girl pushups and I can complete most of the workouts without hitting the "pause button".

I killed the TV!

I guess this blog title should be more appropriately named "My 4-months since I killed the TV". In late September 2009 my wife and I decided that the TV's in our house were history and the cable bill was no more (except for the internet access). My main reasoning was I felt there was too much trash on TV and I did not want my kids influenced by it. I must confess I'm a huge sports fan, more specifically a huge "Buckeye Fan". So to have no access to a TV at the start of Big Ten Football season was surely going to be rough or at least that's what I thought.

I quickly realized I was slightly addicted to the TV. I was really missing it at night and I was used to having Fox News in my office on all day. At first I was a little annoyed that my night time routine had changed but that was soon gone upon realizing the many benefits of not having a TV.

The biggest benefit to date is with my kids. I think the TV can take the creativity out of kids if they spend too much time in front of the TV. My oldest would come home from school and really did not want to talk much until he got a snack and spent some quality time with the TV. Similarly, his morning routine was to zone out in front of cartoons before heading out to catch the bus. Now he wakes up, enjoys a better breakfast and actually has 20-30 minutes of lively conversation with mom and dad. Wow - imagine that, a kid talking with his parents and enjoying it! In addition, our two youngest kids now play with each other in much more creative ways. It seemed like when they got bored before they would just say "let's go watch TV", and now with that not being an option, they are forced to do something more active or they sit down and read a book.

For me, I'm sleeping better than ever, enjoying more time with my children and having great evening discussions with my wife. I'm finishing up my second book and I'm getting my sports fix by checking scores on ESPN.com and not wasting hours watching games that really don't mean much to me anyway. I already get up at 4:15am each morning now but since I'm getting such good sleep I'm considering a move to a 3:45am wake up call so I can get in another 30 minutes of training while everyone else is sleeping.

In closing, this was only going to be an experiment in the beginning but this has radically changed our family for the good. I would recommend it to everyone and look forward to a continued life without the TV.

Bring it!

HFP Man

It's the little things that matter most.

Just like it's important to take the garbage out without being told or remembering to buy flowers for your wife's birthday or looking away from the TV to actually listen to your 3-year old tell a story about his batman car - it's the little things in life that matter the most, especially to the ones we love. In training this week I found out the hard way that this applies to multisport training as well. During my build-up to the MiamiMan in November last year I decided to quit my Wednesday weight and core workout in lieu of another longer endurance workout. I've done this short 60 minute workout consistently for more than 10+ years and I would refer to it as my "Fountain of Youth" workout as it keeps me strong (mentally and physically) and feeling young. I rationalized that it was much more important to get in the miles (and maybe it was) but when I finally got back to my old standby workout this last Wednesday, after almost 3 months off, what a shock to the body I received. First off just a little background on this workout - this is not your typical weight and core workout, this workout is by far the hardest workout of the week (normally) for me. It consists of a 10 mile all out time trial on the Computrainer and then immediately followed by 4 sets of circuit weight training and core routine that features cleans, box squats, leg press, calf raises, leg curls, and finishes with reverse bench medicine ball sit ups. The circuit is run continuously with no break other than to move to the next machine. After 4 sets I then jump back on my Computrainer and try to negative split the 10 mile time trial (not usually possible). This workout has a pretty nasty reputation with my training buddies of which many have visited the bathroom to give back their breakfast when joining me for this workout. I love it - the music is cranked up loud, the weights are clanking against each other and there is a large amount of sweat and pain. It's perfect but super hard. As I mentioned Wednesday was quite a different story. Once I got off the bike and started with my first set of cleans (with girly man weight I might add) I could not believe how hard everything was. My hands immediately started to get blisters, my back was on fire and I was seeing black spots in the air. By the time I got to the last set of medicine ball sit ups it required a 3-5 second break in between each one and my abs were in spasm, my neck was cramping and my shoulder were on fire. By the end of the day I could barely turn my head and my abs looks swollen and bloated. Since that November race I'd been running nearly 60 miles a week and feeling really fit but this workout made me feel old and out of shape.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone out there (especially those of us over 40) don't forget the little things in your training and most importantly in life. Go out and enjoy today's snow storm with a long slow run BUT first remember to take out the garbage before you leave.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Back to the routine

Today marked the return of the S.H.O.P workout for the first time in 2010. SHOP is an acronym "Shannon's House Of Pain" given to the house where myself and my training buddies do our indoor workouts. The house is owned by my Church and I was fortunate enough to be able to retrofit the basement into a weight room and CompuTrainer workout facility. Currently we meet their 3-4 days a week to punish our bodies into submission. This morning the workout started at 5:30am and I was fully expecting to be by myself but just before 6:00am my swim coach Chris showed up and I looked at him and stated "The off-season is officially over!"

The pain actually is increased on our famous Saturday workout that is now so popular we do it in two shifts (6am & 10am). This workout usually is a combo workout featuring running and cycling adding up to a 3+ hour workout.

It's good to be back to the routine.

Bring it!

HFP Man