Following up on my pervious blog entry regarding running three consecutive races in three days, this week is the start of my intense diet and training discipline.

I answer many questions through Yahoo Answers about training for long distance races and running gear. Now I want to share the journey to staying fit and ready for these three events coming up.  I rarely see runners write posts blogs on what exactly they ate and how they trained for such events.  Here is the first day of many days ahead of what types of food and training techniques I will endure before the weekend of May 15.

For the love of food:

Breakfast  – Everything Bagel with Philadelphia Fat Free Cream Cheese

2PM Late Lunch – Stouffers Chicken Club Flatbread Melt 

Snack – Lance Toast Chee Crackers with “real” (Yes, it is real) Peanut Butter

• 220 Calories (Fat Cal. 110)
• Total Fat 12g 19% of Daily Value
• Sat. Fat 2.5g 12%
• Trans Fat 0%
• Cholesterol 0mg 0%
• Sodium 340mg 14%
• Total Carb 23g 8%
• Fiber 2g 7%
• Sugars 3g
• Protein 6g
• Iron 8% 

Dinner – Spicy Maryland Crab Soup

• Calories 106
• Sodium 726 mg
• Total Fat 2 g
• Potassium 0 mg
• Saturated 0 g
• Total Carbs 12 g
• Polyunsaturated 0 g
• Dietary Fiber 3 g
• Monounsaturated 0 g
• Sugars 0 g
• Trans Fat 0 g
• Protein 10 g
• Cholesterol 0 mg

  The Work Out:

Before dinner, I worked out at the fitness center. I ran 5.50 miles on the treadmill at a 0.5 grade incline at a steady pace maintaining a 6.3 mph speed.  I burned about 600 calories. Aside, it is certainly a myth sweating (especially wearing a hoodie while running) burns more calories. 

After cardio, I worked out with both free weights and weight machines (averaging 5-12 reps on each machine) focusing on: 

• Core [100 sit-ups and side swipes]
• Abs [15 lb / 25 lb weights, 75lb on ab machine]
• Biceps [30 lb weights, 100+ lb on machine]
• Chest [100 lb bench press, 100+ lb on machine]
• Triceps [75lb Tricept machine]
• Lower back [75-110 2 reps of 10 on machine]
• Legs [Life Fitness staionary bike on level 3, Hill Plus for 15 minutes]

A typical workout at the gym for me is spending almost one hour focusing on all parts of the body. Because of time constraints, I have to double up on the workout spending about 2 hours and paying closer attention to increasing energy/stamina and strengthening the power of my legs.