Pizza Sundays!

Looking good and tasty right! Feet up, live band playing hippy music...I'M DONE!

My gosh this weekend went by ever so quickly! And what can I say it was filled with? Well, I'll describe each day for ya so buckle in, blend a green smoothie and get your fat okole [ass] back here and read this post!
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Waiting while you blend a smoothie...
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So yeah, Friday was a rest day and that translates to one thing for vegan boy: FOOD. Yes, yes, I took the wonderful opportunity to 'binge eat' on all things quality and vegan. That includes all kinda [soy] yogurts topped with mounds of fruit and not to mention some mango tea from Hawaiian Tea Co. Because nothing says 'Aloha Friday' quite like lounging around in an Aloha shirt for the better part of a day, working away on the computer on some SQL code. :-)

Saturday was the day I would meet my maker! It started off well with a small [and I mean tiny] cup of decaf coffee [first time in weeks!] and a vegan scone from Peet's [gluten free too!]. Afterwards, it was off to the frigid [and I mean 55 degree water] waters of San Franicsco where a 30 minute swim in VERY CHOPPY water awaited me. Let's just say I wasn't worried about my sodium levels after that swim. I swear, I must have ingested so much salt water but it was good to be out there. Thank goodness for that wetsuit too! Good laaaaaaaaaaaaawd where would I be if I was just a skinny Hawaiian vegan boy trying to fight the Pacific Ocean! One thing was pretty cool though which was I saw a sea lion swim a few meters next to me!

After that, hopped on the bike for intervals..and these were hellish intervals. I had to do them on an indoor trainer because Evelyn's shifter broke and needed to be sent in. So I punished myself on the bike for a good 1.5 hours and by the end, I was sopping wet in sweat. I didn't even bother putting on a shirt..I was in a corner, shirt off, heart rate monitor on, shorts and shoes. I went through 2 aero bottles of water which had an ill effect on my stomach because....

...I had to run afterwards! That was a descending pace run of mile intervals. First 2 miles hurt like hell...stomach cramps and then my calves were all outta wack as the transition was lightening fast. But somehow, I got through and clocked my last mile @ 5:33 pace and then I was all through wtih that kablooey.

Sunday rolls around and my legs are feeling REALLY good. And I mean like, REALLY good. I go for ANOTEHR swim in the bay and do really well [once again I think I'm getting arm muscles!]. Then I head out for a recovery run...10 miles at a 6:37 pace. Easy peasy lemon squeezie. And what better way to end a Sunday and spend a Sunday afternoon then at Whole Foods binge eating. And for $9.94, that plate has 2 slices of gluten-free vegan pizza, 1 soymilk protein odwalla drink and then 1 vitamin water sweetened with stevia. Not shabby...throw in a triathlete magazine to boot and the only thing that can top that is the lates ProCycling magazine!

...and for those watching the Vuelta [pronounced Woo-elta en espanol] Igor Anton is a BEAST son! How do you turn the 53 on a 24% finishing climb! that's stupid watts!!!!

Nonsense with Mike Chua

Whose that's handsome devil!? And those ARMS?! More than peashooters! ya jerks!

Today was nice because:

a) I'm not eating lunch alone like my loser-ish personality :-) That or I'm vegan so people think 'oh he's tooooo healthy for me!'. At least, that's what the girls at Cosmpolitan said about me!! Ahh, clearly I had too much fun with yesterday's blog post!

b) Mike Chua and I met for lunch and walked, talked and consumed calories. Mike, and he'll make NO SHAME about saying so, is a carnivore. He eats animals...mama animals, baby animals, etc. You name it. If it breaths and has 2 eyes he'll eat it. Going further, if it has a PULSE he'll eat it! But somehow, someway, he puts up with me and doesn't mind me giving him shit [more often than not it's vice versa!]

Anyways, we had some epic moments. Let's revisit them:

1) Alex: When was the last time you had Korean Mike?

Mike: Hmmm....

Alex: You know, like some Kim Chee Ji Ghae and Soju?

Mike: Oh you mean Korean FOOD!?

hahhah epic!

2) Alex: Mike you've been rather quiet lately about the guns [looking down at arms RIPPING through shirt! haah I make no lie, I have typical cyclist arms which means I have no arms!]

Mike: What guns?

Alex: [flexing my tricpes] Oh these ones right here! bam!

Mike: Well, they are well concealed weapons!

...ouch

And to cap it all off he took a photo of me in front of a rocket ship. In my typical cycling face: mouth open, tongue out, squinting!

Going Bananas!

Ms. Denise, post-run Banana. gotta love it!

I admit, this is an old pic but still conveys the idea what I'm like post-workout. Just about ready to slaughter an entire banana plant. :-)

Dang, bananas are so good, EVEN MIKE Z likes em! Gives the phrase 'Be like Mike' an entirely new meaning!

My oh my how time flies by when you're having fun [flogging yourself daily on the bike, run and then swim portion of things].

My mom goes 'son, each time I get up and check your blog and hope to see a new post...only to be met with disappointment.'

Denise goes: 'in between work and running I check your blog and come up empty handed....'

USWeekly says: 'Alex, when he remembers to write, is a pretty funny kid. However, his issue is remembering that he even has a blog!'

Time Magazine wrote: 'I'll bet he thinks he's being cute right now.....'.

Alex's response: 'Oh I don't think I'm being cute!'

In fact, the anxiety was too much, soon-to-be-Tiger-Woods's-ex-wife Elin Nordegen said: 'I've been through hell [waiting for Alex to blog]'

Even Lady GaGa chimed in with a few words: 'dont call my name dont call my name...Alejandro!'

Goodness gracious! Some pretty epic responses no! Anywho, it goes without saying that I welcome my new blog follower [follower numero ocho!]. Welcome to the blog! I hope you find it helpful but as a warning, vegan tomfoolery is boundless not to mention how ridiculous my exaggerations are!

But anyways, I'm back blogging and as usual, back training. I've got 1 month to go before the big day. Before all that is right with the world clashes with all that is wrong with the world. This is more than vegan boy vs. triathlons, this is more than lakers vs. celtics, this is more than east vs. west...this is....the essence of class struggle.

Okay, that's an exaggeration too....about the whole lakers celtics thing. Pffft, no where close! :-) Anyways, seems like weeganism and banana-eating is having an effect on people! Just take a look at Ms. Denise and Mike wolfing down on bananaEs [not a typo!]. Who knows, you could be going ape too!

Fellini's w/ Denise + Transitioning-ing-ing-ing

Did I end up eating the whole thing? Not entirely. Denise had 2 slices...AND THEN I ate the rest :-)

NOTE: while she has the capacity to eat all that in ONE SITTING, she exercised MODERATION. A quality buddhist trait!

But before all that good stuff~! I totally sold out and went to Sports Basement this weekend and cashed in on my riches that I won in my running races to go gear shopping! Yes! And what was on my new-toy list you say? A wetsuit, tri-top and tri-bottoms. Whoa nelly this was an interesting thing. I, for one, had never put on a 'tri-specific' wetsuit before....now, I've been in some tight places [that's what I said!] but this wetsuit was an epic first for me. Damn thing took over 10 mins to put on correctly! It's ridiculously tight [thats what....imma get carried away] and form-fitting. In fact, the first time I put it on it was too 'loose' and we notched it up 2 more inches [save it, already on it!]. Felt like I was going to pop an artery out!

Let me also say thank goodness I shave my legs! Holy crap! If you're considering doing tri's and you do NOT already shave your legs...consider this fair warning. W-O-W! The tri top is a sleeveless jersey that shows off my pea-shooter arm muscles [if you even can call them that] and my funky cycling tan lines which I'm always proud to show off. What I FORGOT to get because a certain someone FAILED to remind me as usual were my compression socks - a new pair that is. Sigh...looks like we'll have to make ANOTHER trip! :-)

Anywho, after that nonsense I did some real brick training [this is when you are practicing transitions from one sport to the other, specifically, the bike to the run]. I've been doing alright in cycling and in running but for sure, my first EVER transition was miserable! I did some okay work on the biccicletta and then quickly transitioned to running. I knocked mile 1 out in 5 min 29 sec. Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar too fast for right now. And then I proceeded to die a slow and miserable death after that. Sigh...FAIL.

So to make up for it, I grabbed Denise and she and I headed to Fellini's where we indulged in delcious [vegan] EYE-talian food. You'll see there a daiya [soy-cheese] pizza with soyrizo, mushrooms and tomatoes accompanied by her pasta which she had to make an ENORMOUS SACRIFICE: she had to leave out the anchovies cuz my black ass won't have it. And so, like a good trooper she did just that and we had an enjoyable meal. And then, off to bed to wake up and bury myself all over again. Such is life. :-)

Day in the life: Fish / Cyclist / Hare

A lot of you have been curious how life / the workouts have changed since transitioning to triathlons [get it?! transition?! sigh...you're all hopeless :-)]

So I figured I'd just give you a 'day in the life of ___________' yours truly. It's pretty ridiculous. Being a triathlete is like working a second full time job with respect to tme and energy. It seems that at every free moment, I'm either getting ready to workout, eat or sleep. Not much in between there huh? Well, here's the basic gist of it...

5:45 - 6:13am: Snoozing and practically throwing my iPhone against the wall in my failed attempt to sleep more. This part of my day really, really sucks.

7am: Arrive @ the gym. Time to get wet and wild.

7 - 7:45am: Swimming workout. This generally leaves my arms feeling like crap. Well, who am I kidding, I aint got no arms! :-p

8am: Arrive @ work.

8am - 12: Eating and working. If I'm running during lunch then I'll stop eating around 2 hours before the workout so everything digests nicely and I'm not left with my stomach turning circles.

12-1:15: Run workout. Normally this doens't kill me...yet.

1:25: Back at the office and eating my lunch at my desk.

5pm: Hit the road jack.

5:35: arrive at home, quickly change and then its time to hit the road [yet again]

5:40 - 7:30: cycling. Finally, my emotional release.

8pm: First meal down the hatch followed by a shower. Lately, the post ride fuel has consisted of yogurt, bananas and lotsa blueberries. Yum yum.

9pm: Dinner time!

After dinner, it's you know who time,

[note the comma!]

The Weegan/Buddhist Dilemma

Just look at all that cruelty! And to think, I was flipping that nonsense! Outrageous!

You cant see it well enough I think but atop of that ladder was a fan blowing cool air that hopefully originated from the Hawaiian islands and not the bathroom that was next to the grilling area.

So a couple of weekends ago, I participated in my buddhist temple's obon festival! Now, for those that dont know, Obon is a Japanese holiday celebrated in the summer to honor those who have passed. Typicall obon lasts 3 days in Japan and during that time people visit the gravesite, clean the tombstone and....and.....there's a celebration invovled with dancing, food, and good times to be had by all. In Hawaii there is an entire season seeing as how the vast majority of Japanese on the islands are buddhists anyways. However, the bay area does not have that concentration of Japanese the way Hawaii does [by way of size, the Bay Area is too vast to have concentrations].

Anyways, my church is the Buddhist Church of Oakland, AKA the OBC. During this time, I was volunteered to help do the most anti-vegan of vegan things known to man kind. FLIP STEAKS. Let's think about this. I'm vegan therefore I dont eat meat. I'm buddhist therefore I wouldnt eat any type of animal anyways. And yet, here I am flipping steaks. Hmmm...

In all honesty I have come to realize that not everybody is vegan or cares to be vegan. Fine, I get that. And desptie my feelings about flipping cruelty to serve others cruelty [so that they can ingest cruelty and BECOME cruel!] I willingly did this because this world is more than just weegans and non-weegans. But yes, the irony of the situation caused this post which I was relecutant to even post! But I figured, I've written far worse - and I'm not just talking about my obvious mistakes in the english language either!

Mama Tellez came out to visit me and the whole day was nice. I was flipping cruelty and sipping on water, conversing with other die-hard 'buddhists' about the joys of bbqing outside with friends and family. I was always offered food and rather than say 'No, I'm cruelty-free' I knew that would make them feel like jerks so instead I said I had eaten my share already before my shift.

And therein lies my first ever VEGAN FAIL!

But ya know, I had a good time meeting new people and I remember walking inside my home and telling my mother that for the first time in I cant remember how long, my clothes reeked of BBQ. At the end of the day, I realize that being vegan has its complications...we are ethically bound to not eat meat or exploit animals in anyway. I'm down with that. I also understand though that not everyone is vegan or cares to be vegan. I'm down with that too. That's their trip and their cup of tea. I think too often vegans are so quick to judge others because of our uber-cool knowledge of all things cruelty-free and the deliciousness of a well-ripened peach.

At the end of the day, we're all under the same damn roof, even if my roof is made cruelty-free. See, even vegans make sacrifices! ;-)

5k Run Test

One happy family. And we all know, happy families come from California...in addition to our cheese...which I wouldn't know about anymore. But yeah.

3 Tellez Men.

young william, AKA Squinty McGuinty

Man, when was the last time I ran a 5k?

Well, let's think all the way back to my time on the islands and the Jamba Juice 5k run around beautiful - and I mean BEE YOU TI FUL - Magic Island, HI. At the time, I was very, very new to running and still not as 'fit' as I would have wanted to be. Long story short, I turned in a time of 17:21 sec for the 5k, averaging a 5:28 sec mile. That was only my second ever running race. Not shabby eh!

So this past Friday, I had to do a 5k running 'test'. Not a race, but just a test to gauge my level of fitness 4 weeks of base building and running. And the results you say? Well, I was a bit shocked myself...I ran a sub-16 min 5k. Now, normally that's nothing to write home to mom about but really, that's after 4 weeks of running. Can you imagine what this will be come January of next year?!?! Lots to be excited about there.

This weekend, we were also blessed to have celebrated 3 birthdays in my immediate family! My older brother, Andres, his wife Katy and my Dad! People very very close to me and my inner circle of people who I would no sooner vouch and trust my life with. In addition to that, I got my SRM back [fiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnally!] and was able to get on the TT biccicleta this weekend which was a lot of fun. It's always good to pound on the bike and I couldn't be happier! :-)

1,000 Yards

1,000 yards is significant as this is an accepted 'Time Trial' for swimming. Now, granted that's a cool 400 yards LESS than what I need to be churning out but let's face it, this vegan boy isn't made for swimming long ass distances like that. I need to be on a bike [climbing my ass off] or running [my ass off]. That's where I'm comfortable. Swimming has been good and dare I say, I've started to develop something resembling some arm muscles - let's not get carried away now!

The time wasn't too shabby @ sub 17 mins but not nearly where it needs to be. Holy crap there are some guys that are smoking fast and SCARY fast in the water. Guess what? I'm not one of them. Turns out that fast swimmers are a) tall and b) heavier [not weeeegan]. Odd isn't it...

One amazingly positive thing that happened was my SRM finally [and I mean FINAAAAAAAAAAALLY] came in the other day. Whew. I can breathe. Now alls we gotta do is strap the BRAND SPANKING NEW SPEEDPLAY TRACK ZEROS [!!!!!!!!!!!] on those things and we're ready to rock out with the ............ out.

Alright, I'm nearly dead and my arms are damn near falling off me from that effort. Nighty night.

So What's all this big news anyways?!

dang! She has bigger arms than me!

As promised [like a week ago! ahem!], I have some big news to deliver. Not big like godzilla-goes-to-Tokyo big but certainly enough for me to take not and blog about. You're probably thinking 'Ill bet it's cuz that man has nothing better to do in his life!?' You're not far from the truth but that's a completely seperate story you smart-ass. :-)

I'd like to take this blog post and tell you that for my triathlon endeavor, I've decided to hire a triathlon coach that a) has actually done a few triathlons, b) coaches the USA National Team @ the Boulder training center in CO and c) has even won a few MAJOR MAJOR triathlon cups herself! [there are too many wins to list so this is the first that shows up on Wikipedia.org]. She practically won every single World ITU race there is...TWICE. Her name is Melissa Mantak and she'll be in charge of training me for my first every Olympic Triathlon [only 2 months away! gasp!] and eventually, the undeniable hell that can be summed up with a few simple numbers: 70.3

Now why on earth would she do a silly thing like take up a [vegan] [buddhist] [doofus] athlete like me? Well, I guess people have their reasons....just like how I have mine for splurging at the Hot Food bar yesterday at Whole Foods. Suffice it to say that I've consumed my fair share of hummus and veggie sticks for the free world. Difficult job, yes...but someone [vegan, preferably] has to do it and I figured I might as well! So today is Monday and that's when our 'coaching contract' kicks in. Translation = if you thought pain, suffering and misery were commonplace now...welcome to undeniable amounts of hurt.

You'll all be proud of me too! This weekend I was able to clock some serious laps in the pool! Not yet ready to take on open water...that will come with time I'm sure but this was a start. But man...my arms hurt! Those swimmers are absolutely crazy!!!! One thing that sucks about swimming in a pool or even in open water...it's boring as all hell. There are times where I was on my 9th consecutive lap and I'm thinking 'holy hell, I must be clocking in the time!'. After my 10th lap I realize only 7 mins 26 seconds have elapsed. Fk me...and I'm supposed to swim for an ENTIRE MILE!!!!! Oh HEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLL no! :-) Just get me to T1 [transition to the bike] and I'll be okay.

This weekend was especially vicious on the body. Brick training galore [this is when you done one thing after the other...until you're dead!]. I swam a jillion laps, then hopped on the bike and proceeded to kill myself with 16 x 1 minute all out intervals [1 min rest in between] and then...just when you thought the legs couldn't take it anymore, 7 miles running to top it all off - oh yea, the pace was sub-6. Hay-sus Maria..that's ALMOST where it needs to be. Hahah I remember passing this pair of runners and as I passed I heard one of them say 'Jesus....'. I turned around and said 'close...but it's actually Alejandro.'

...okay no, I didn't say that but I was thinking it!!!!! :-)

So there...big news. Alex gets a [serious] coach. Whew.