Felix is my hero

First of all, I'd like to point out that I've only been registered for my triathlon for exactly a week today and I've already bought a bathing suit, started swimming, and done extensive blogging about it. Last night I went back to the pool and did EVEN BETTER with the guidance of my swimmer roommate. I also was told of a public swimming pool that's FREE near my house, and I found the DC triathlon club, which led me to find a place where I can do free yoga on Sundays.

I'm patting myself on the back for signing up for this.

But I'm sure the question in all of your minds is...who is Felix? Why is he your hero? Can Felix be MY hero? Is Felix the hero of mankind? (the answer to that last question is probably yes)

How I know Felix is kind of a funny story - we met in Argentina.

Ok enough back story. Felix is now married to a wonderful woman and they are awaiting the birth of their first child, a little girl who will undoubtedly be as smart as Felix and as gorgeous as Jenn. Well, as many of you know, I sent out a mass email after signing up for my triathlon begging people for support and confirmation that, yes, I can do this (yes we can! ahhhhhhhhh). While I got many positive responses, my favorite by far was from Felix. He went through my whole blog and found any and all questions I've asked and then found answers for me. With his permission, I am reprinting some of the advice that he passed my way.

Good luck, let me know if I can help out. I've biked the early part of that trail and it's a nice ride. I used to bike alot...but now...I don't even have a bike anymore! When I get a bike again I'll make sure I hit you up for biking buddies. Jenn is an excellent swimmer but I think her extra buoyancy with the baby is cheating. :)

I read over your blog and it's very good and I made notes of most of your questions. Here's what I can put together.

iPods. What's wrong with them? I can probably fix it!

Over hydration. Caused when you either drink too much water (like in a contest) or when you are exercising and drinking water with no electrolytes. You'll have to drink over a gallon over the course of a few minutes. With your GU intake you should have no problems.

Stretching. Recently, studies have shown that stretching BEFORE your workout doesn't help much and over stretching can actually weaken your muscles and lead to injuries. However, it's a great idea to stretch after your workout. It's more important to warm up before your runs by a short walk. Stretching after a work out will speed recovery and increase strength.

Cross training. It's good because it can shake up your routine. If you don't get mentally bored of an exercise your muscles get used to the routine and lose training effectiveness. I'm sure you learning to swim and bike will be adequate cross training!

Lactose Intolerance. Have you tried skim milk?

Meat. For fun Jenn and I ate a 1lbs burger (Fuddrucker) for dinner. She beat me... I'll have to forward you the email.

Boston Marathon? Awesome! I had a co-worker complete it. She came back two days later and she could barely walk!

Eating after a work out. It's suggested that you eat proteins within an hour after a workout because your muscles will be able to get rebuilt faster and better. You're not eating because you're hungry but you should eat (the right foods) because your muscles are.

Yoga. Is a real good idea. I used to take martial arts (Wing Tzun) at a studio that shared it's space with a Yoga school. It'll really stretch out muscles that you've rarely used and will probably need, especially with your swim portion!

Swimming. You'll need alot of practice! I think the best advice I can give is picking up a good technique will help alot. For years I would swim really fast because that's all I knew how to. At my honeymoon Jenn taught me how much easier it was to swim with good form. It was actually more enjoyable and I had to exert alot less energy to go further!

Where to swim. That's the hard part. When I lived in Arlington it was hard to find a place to swim. The closest place was closer to Alexandria and needed a car. However, the BEST place to swim was in my old apartment (the one you visited for the Argentina gathering). It had a really nice and long lap pool with like 5 lanes. The problem is that you need to be a tenant.

Abs. Here's what I think works. Running more than crunches. Nutrition follows that. Doing planks gives me great ab results but I also think that you'll have to do strength/weight training to get those abs to 'pop'.



So okay that was MOST of the advice that Felix passed along to me...but honestly, what could I cut out??

Basically, I'm printing this in case anyone else could use this advice (who couldn't!!?!?) and also because I want to say thank you and acknowledge Felix's response. It means a lot to me to have everyone's support!! So Felix, yes you are my hero, and when can I bring my ipod by?