Mariah! Where have you been all my life!

I just couldn't wait to post the Tuesday download as I just copped the new Mariah Carey album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. Two Words: God. Damn.

She killed it with this album...I mean, I'm a pretty big RnB fan and this one is classic Mariah. Angelic voice, crazy stupid hot body...speechless.

I'm only a couple songs into it and here are the favorites:

1) H.A.T.E.U.

2) Candy Bling

3) Ribbon [feat. the radio killah, the dream]

4) Inseperable

5) More than just friends

What is it about her voice...

One other download to cop would be Marques Houston. Big fan of his and have been following his work since IMX. Check him out too.

Pineapple Smoothie anyone?!

I know I said in an earlier post that I don't like pineapples and I still stand by that! I've had a million and one people offer me 'sweet' pineapples only to be stunned by how sour the taste was. Having been burned a lot on this [a million and one times of course] subject, I'm EXTRMELY skeptical of pineapples in general.

But what about in a massive green smoothie? Hmmm.....Here's a smoothie I whipped up this morning. I call it 'Monday Madness'. Try it sometime:
1) Mangoes
2) Blueberries
3) Bananas
4) Flaxseed
5) Cinammon

Hell Day Thursday

Tuesday's and Thursdays are the worst days to be Alex Tellez. Especially Thursday...but oddly, this gets me kind of pumped up. To know I have a huge effort coming up is just enough to send my blood above normal. Here's yesterday's log I forgot to do [too busy being giddy about young William].
Workout Log -
AM: Hill day on the spin bike. For some reason, I was a slight bit slower as my heart rate never really jumped that high, just the usual 150-170 bpm.
PM: GORGEOUS Waikiki run. Man, I love doing this run but in particular - I love wearing my Oakley sunglasses because I can stare at pretty girls without anyone being the wiser. Problem with this is it diverts my attention from the road; and let me say this, idiots = bad, idiots holding surfboards and turning = worse.
Diet Log -
AM: Green smoothie + clif protein bar
Lunch: Umeke Market Chili with Brown Rice
Dinner: Oatmeal, peanut butter, tons of bananas, apples
Snacks: banana, raw vegan protein drink and vegan electrolyte drink.

Today will probably be disgusting. AM was a recovery ride on the spin bike. Pretty much a 40 minute session of Sarah doing her damndest to convince me that green bananas from costco are ripe. I fought this until I tried it and to my amazement, they ARE RIPE. Normally, I try to eat ripe fruit and when it comes to bananas, freckly and all yellow = just right. Too freckly = gross. Green = chalk. However, these were different and hence the admission.

Running day is tough. This workout is called the "Scott Spitz" and it basically mimics his version of the predator run. 1 mile warm-up, 6 x 1 mile negative repeats starting at 5:30 pace and then getting harder every step of the way. Nice. I'll be clockin low-teens when we're all through. One more mile to cool down and that's called 1,000 calories lost.
Note - I only do this insanity when I know the reward [dinner] will be well worth it.
Green smoothie and 2 oatcakes anyone?
Here is tonite's dinner in readable form.
1.5 cups of filtered water
2 bananas
1 peach
1/2 cup blueberries
Kale
3 Dates
Flaxseed
2 flour-less, sugar-less vegan oatcakes. Yum =)

Speak to you guys after the run. Keep those knees up! yhp

More Pictures of William!

I'm going to go apeshit on pictures of William here because my parents keep sending them into me and bombing my inbox [they forget to re-size them]. So here are 2 very happy grandparents holding the Sir William Tellez. Enjoy!

Yesterday's log looks a bit like this:

Diet Log

Post-bike: Raw Vegan protein shake

Breakfast: Green smoothie + Clif protein bar

Lunch: Green Smoothie

Dinner: Oatmeal with 3 bananas, 1 apple and 1 peach. 2 Oatckaes. Throw in a little peanut butter and wow, solid, satisfying meal.

Exercise Log

AM: V02 sets, 6 of em! I went to work and my legs felt like jello and rubber.

PM: One of the best run workouts to date. 4 x 2 mile negative splits at 155 bpm [5:50-5:39 pace]. Finished well and wasn't sore this morning.

Oh thank heaven for the ice bath and compression pants =)

Welcome to the World!!!

Today at approx. 5:45am California Time [the Left Coast], I became a grand old uncle. Yes, Uncle Tellez is now official and I'll be flying back home soon to be with the little one. Weighing in at 8 lbs and 15 inches, William Alexander Tellez, the newest installment in the Tellez Family. Welcome to the familia nephew! This post is dedicated to you! Andy [brother and new father] sent in some cool photos via iPhone and I'd thought I'd share it with you.

How awesome is this kid. He's quite the mixed breed or as we say here in Hawaii, 'Hapa'. 'Hapa' means mixed ethnicity of which, a portion is asian. 'Hapa' people are EXTREMELY beautiful but don't tell Emily or I'll get my a$$ kicked if you know what I'm saying.

Kinda sad when I think about it..

Here in Hawaii, most of our income comes from tourism with a significant share stemming from tourists from Japan. Having visited Japan and studied the language and culture, I'm always happy to help a fellow tourist looking for directions even if I'm running.

Sadly, I've all but lost how to communicate, read and write Japanese despite being surrounded by the culture. I think because I don't use it enough and don't practice it that I lost it. To me, that's really frustrating given how hard I would bust my ass in undergrad and grad school only to forget it all. Sigh...man that sucks. Hopefully, I can get this skill back on day. It's a fascinating culture full of wonderful sights and people...much like my experience of China. Wonderful place.

I'm ranting I know, I know =) Here is today's log.

Diet Log

Breakfast - Green smoothie [been making awesome ones with mango lately] and cliff protein bar

Lunch - Vegan chili with rice and a big salad

Dinner - Green smoothie, delicious red apple and another clif bar.

Snacks: Lots of vegan electrolyte drink.

Exercise Log

AM - Slow spinning. Zone 1 stuff.

PM - Nice 6.5 mile run through Waikiki. The 'sights' weren't bad either =)

Starting over again...WISER

It's been a cool minute since I last made a post and it's not because I forgot about you all...=) Truth is, going through that crash has caused me to be a little more reflective in my life and I went through a few days thanking people who mean a lot to me and just trying to be more grateful...grateful not only to be alive and walking but grateful I have my family, friends and readers who still read this blog and my ramblings!

As a male, I'll never know how moody a woman can 'feel' when it's that time of the month...but this might be like it. I was really thankful and gracious for a lot of things. I spoke to my buddhist sensei who advised me on things and the message among him and other friends has been unanimous: "You fell off the horse Alex...Now get back on the horse."

And true enough, one solid weekend and I'm back to form ready to blog daily and kick ass on all fronts. Funny thing...was running through Waikiki this weekend and someone tried to offer me meat on a stick while running [sample of the food]. Nevermind the 'Go Vegan' shirt I had on but let's think for a moment...running hard...meat on a stick...yeah, NO is the answer!

Here's today's dietlog -

Breakfast: Steel cut oats, 2 bananas, 1 apple and a vegan Clif protein bar

Lunch: brown rice and beans, vegan tamales, salad

Dinner: Steel cut oats, 2 bananas, 1 apple, 1 peach

Snacks: Banana, Raw vegan protein drink and a decaf soy latte [my palette thinks poorly of this drink]

Workout log -

AM: 2.5 hour bike

PM: 1.5 hour bike

Running again is nice. The reason it sucked to run hard lately is because the bandages were coming off and it was gross.

Quote of the day: "Winners lose more than losers because they stay in the game"

Car vs Bike, guess who won?

yes folks the unthinkable - yet inevitable - happened at 6:20pm HNL time on Diamond Head road. I was hit by a car on my bike, flew over the car's hood and landed hard on my side. Road rash [again], broken thumb, bruising and a totaled Specialized S-works Roubaix bike [$7k bike]. Nice trip to the ER too. Saw my heart in the ultrasound and got some measurements:

1) sitting heart rate - 49

2) blood pressure - 122/70

They totally overdid it as I have a hairline fracture and was given a cast and armsling. That's just overkill. Tomorrow I get it taken off and get a splint. Running begins again. Insurance has been a pain and I'm trying to get my bike fixed. Damage so far - $4k [yikes]

Will let you all know how that goes.

Oh Thank Heaven for Recovery Runs

Yesterday, I had a pretty intense morning because for my bike workout that day, I was to race up Tantalus Road which is 4.1 miles of intense uphill. I think the average grade roughly 5%, maxing out at 9% or so. Anyways, I'll quit blabbering and show you a picture:

So yeah, in short, I came to work tired, sore and happy [the feeling of a triathlete I imagine!]. I was ridiculously hungry for some reason too...I ate a moundful of fruit and other delicious carbs that I'll go into detail below.

Here's yesterday's log [I know, I know, I'm behind a bit. I'll catch up once all this soreness goes away]:

AM: cycle up to tantalus

PM: Recovery run of 7 miles at 140-145 bpm. Nothing crazy, right around a 7 minute mile. Legs feel better today too.

Diet Log:

Pre-bike: Electrolyte drink + Vitamineralgreen

Post-bike: Raw vegan protein drink

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Green smoothie

Dinner: Steel cut oats with 3 bananas, cashew butter and an apple.

Snacks: LaraBar, Brown Rice ball

*************NEWS UPDATE***************

@ 8:28am HNL time, Vega became another sponsor!

Hooray! I love this company and the guy who wrote the book, Brendan Brazier [The Thrive Diet] is my hero!

Views of Hawaii + One Happy Camper

Living in Hawaii, you get spoiled with views like the one above. That is taken at the top of a hill known as Makapu'u. Well, it's not really a 'hill' in my sense, just a big mound of dirt that takes 2 minutes of heavy breathing in pushing pedals. Hardly enough fun in my opinion.

Pretty good workout with Sarah this morning. I think she likes my music =) I have to say that my run today was absolutely crappy in that my mind was full of energy but my quads were blasted! Even now as I type this in compression pants, it hurts to holy hell! Ouch!

Tomorrow doesn't look too good either.

On a more positive note, I've come back from my weekend binge of food to 2 green smoothies a day with the third meal being heavy on raw foods. And let me say, my digestive system is 'cleaning house'. Okay, TMI, I'll stop there. Here's what you all want to see:

Exercise Log -

AM: V02 bike work. Nice job Sarah.

PM: Tempo workout. 1 mile warm-up, 3 x 2 mile at 155 bpm which is a 5:52-5:50 pace for me, sustainable for a LONG time.

Diet Log -

Pre-bike: Electrolyte drink + Vitamineralgreen

Post-bike: Apple, Raw Vegan protein drink

Breakfast: Green smoothie [I'm going to post a video of this soon!]

Lunch: Green smoothie

Post-run: Brown rice ball with raw vegan protein drink

Dinner: Gluten-soy-dairy free pizza. Huge salad with tons of greens and electrolyte drink.

Snacks: Clif protein bar, Water.

Oh what a Saturday...

Okay so now that I'm back from injury and can run again, this Saturday - this week for that matter - was a mixed day full of intense cycling and hard running. I have to say that getting back to running hard feels odd because I haven't run hard in like 2 weeks or so so this week was punishing. My legs and everything around me is letting me know this. Here's a great recovery tip for those of you doing intense runs:

1) Eat something immediately after your run. You have a 15-30 minute 'glycogen window' that your body is able to to re-fuel itself again. To stock glycogen you need easily digestible sugars but not the artificial kind [i.e. no colas, etc]. What you need is fruit and lots of it. Today after my run, I downed 4 bananas followed by a raw vegan protein shake. Protein to rebuild torn muscles and sugars for glycogen. Nice.

2) Ice. If you can, sit in an ice bath. Fortunately for me, my gym has a nice ice bath which I soak in soon after showering. I mean like 5 minutes after showering...this is very important. Inflammation subsides faster with ice and NOT heat. A common mistake is to take a hot shower. Wrong. Take a cool one and you'll feel much better about it.

Today's log looks a little like that with some additions. Oddly, I only got through half of Halekoa Drive..the worst half of course [the one with the 19%ers]. I felt really, really tired and dehydrated. I figured, no point in pushing into the red zone with dehydration so I turned back. When I got back home, I was so friggin thirsty and hungry it was a joke.

Here's what you all want to see, today's stupid hard log.

Exercise Log -

AM: 75 mile bike ride, of which 18 miles were grueling hill climbs. But I was certainly trucking and did a few reps of a popular hill overgeared [i.e. harder gear] and a few undergeared [spinning away]. 4 reps of this hill at those paces and trust me, your legs will feel like jello..no doubt. Only got though half of Halekoa Drive. Shit. Eh...I'll get em soon.

PM: 16 mile run at 130 bpm. Well, I was supposed to go 130 bpm but it feels ridiculously slow. So I ended up averging 140 bpm which is roughly a 7 minute mile pace for me.

Diet: Stupid Alex didn't have a sufficient enough breakfast and not enough water. 2 bananas and one glass of water before hard day.

Lunch: 2 bowls oatmeal with bananas, peaches and raw vegan protein drink. Clif Builders bar and then more water.

Dinner: 2 slices of gluten, cheese-free pizza, 1 hummus wrap on whole-wheat pita, pasta and soy 'chikin strips' with 'chikin salad'. A shit load of food but I think I'll come in weighing 135 lbs tomorrow.

Thank god I've got a 'rest' day from running and I'm doing about 75-80 miles of Zone 3 riding. Not too much and not too little. The right amount I say. No running either...my body will thank me.

Goofy Pictures

The one of my mom above is at a restaurant called 118 degrees raw. Why 118 degrees? Because that is the highest you can heat food before you start destroying the enzymes i.e. making your own science experiment. Mom and I are sharing a 'cobb salad' with avocado, spicy tomato dressing with some wonderful greens. In the picture where I look like an idiot [when do i not], I'm getting ready to kill a plate of miso-marinated zucchini pasta. Andy's dish that you can partially see is the double-crepe entree. Crazy good bike ride today with Mike...not as fast as Tuesday but I was sweating! Took the day off running because my legs felt / feel like crap from all the running hard the past 2 days. Body's in shock practically.

S-O-R-E but at least, I can make damn good oatmeal

I have this new oatmeal recipe that I want to post. It's wheat and soy-free and by default, gluten and soy-free. And it's super good and super filling. In truth, I dont think it's the oatmeal as much as it is the toppings. Here's the recipe, best consumed after a hard running session like today:

OATMEAL - Bring 3 cups of WATER to a boil, then add1.5 cups of Steel cut Oats and Buckwheat Groats, turn heat down and wait 10 minutes.

TOPPINGS: 3 bananas, tons of grapes, cinnamon to taste, GoRaw Apple Cinnamon 'Granola' and cut up one LaraBar.

HUGE meal and I'm totally full but I feel like my glycogen levels will be good to go for tomorrow mornings bike ride.

Running is getting easier though as my road rash is healing nicely. Big fan of tegaderm, quality stuff if you have roadrash. This morning was stupid because my legs felt like Jello after yesterday's punishing workout. What do we do when we're sore? Hop on the bike and do 3 minute V02 max reps on hills of course! I mean, DUH! Rep this 4 times and it adds up. But I did catch this one guy going up the hill so that was pretty cool.

Had a nice run through Waikiki which amounted to 7 miles at a 6 minute pace. Too fast really because tomorrow's run workout is truly hellacious. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.

Exercise Log -

AM: Hill repeats, V02 max reps on hills.

PM: 7 mile 'recovery' run at 6 minute pace [whatever the hell that means]

Diet Log -

Post-bike: Raw Vegan protein powder

Breakfast: green smoothie

Lunch: Tostadas with tofu, sprouts and lettuce.

Dinner: Alex's DAMN GOOD OATMEAL

Snacks: Water, papaya, apple and Clif Builders protein bar [these babies are VEGAN!]

Quality Ride + Andy goes VEGAN! [yes!]

So I have to start this blog off with a cool update from a really close friend of mine...someone I consider family - yeah, that close. He has decided to try my crazy diet of raw vegan with some cooked vegan thrown in. This is a HUGE step in the right direction and I'm thrilled he has taken this step. And you know what...he's full. He goes "that's a lot of fruit". Yes Andy, a 5-banana smoothie is no laughing matter. So tomorrow morning when I make my green smoothie, I'll take a big gulp for my good friend who has made a great decision. Here's to you Andy, eat them greens.

Also, had a wonderful day of cycling AND running. Yes, you read that correctly, I was able to forget the pain today and ran my ass off and cycled my ass silly to be exact. I also rode outside and met for the first time Hawaii's state champ, Mike Zagorski. Really nice guy who was patient with me when my leg cramped up when we finished a big climb. It was really encouraging because I got to get a reality check with how I stacked up. Honestly, I thought this was a recovery ride and I needed it given my running workout AND my cycling workout that I completed minutes before riding with him. I'm thankful that when we started climbing big time, I wasn't dropped at all although he did out-climb me but he was going hard and I was trying to keep up. Again, never lost contact and constantly rode myself back into it. Riding with a Cat 1 racer [pro cyclist] and hanging even if on a brief 40 mile ride...encouraging. I told him that I began riding 3 months ago and that if he helps me learn, I'll be better in 6 months. He said "man, you're going to surprise a lot of people when you race. I know how much power I was putting out [he has a Watt meter] and I was going hard and you were hanging." Nice feeling to know that even after a hard run and cycle, I still have the GRRRRR to hang with Hawaii's best. I'm happy. And make no mistake, we were hauling ASS on some climbs and on straights.

Running for the first time in 2 weeks felt good and I know I'll be sore and looking forward to my 'recovery' run tomorrow along Waikiki. Serious heart-rate monitoring. "Alex, dont go above 130 you dope." Today's stupid log -

Diet:
Breakfast: Banana, soymilk, Clif Builders bar, blackberries. This was a kind of 'cereal' I'll have to show you guys.
Lunch: 4 bananas, yet ANOTHER Clif builders bar, Larabar, green smoothie.
Snack: Gluten free, veggie pizza. This was not smart as I ate it and then ran 1 hour later. Gross. worst cramps EVER.
Dinner: Buckwheat oatmeal, mom's homemade granola, grapes, bananas, GoRaw Apple Cinammon granola.
Sound good huh...tasted damn good too.

Exercise Log [this part is stupid]:
Run: 1 mile warmup at 6:18. 3 x 2 miles at 5:52, 5:52 and then 5:46. Not too shabby after 2 weeks of no running. I'm quite pleased.
Bike part 1) VO2 max reps. It certainly was intense and I used a lot of energy for this.
Bike part 2 with Mike) very intense. Compounded with bike part 1 (see above) = very, VERY intense ride.
I had to sit in the ice bath for like 8 minutes!