Getting Ready For Deployment, Deployment Workout Thoughts, And Supplements.

Well folks I'm a little under 1 week until I get on that big old jet airplane and head off to the 'Stan.  For those of you who don't know this will be my first trip to Afghanistan.  I've absolutely had enough of Iraq after two tours, so I'm glad for the change of scenery.  What I'm not glad about  is missing out on a whole race season.  I managed only one half marathon this season and I'm shutting down my workouts when most people are fine tuning for an "A" race.   Don't even get me started on missing my family for a year.  Don't you all worry though I've got weekly beer reviews that will go out until at least mid August.  Even if I'm not currently drinking a beer you can read what I thought about it.

I've been working on a workout strategy that will carry me through the year long deployment and have me in tip top shape for racing season '11.  I plan on hitting at least one Ironman 70.3 race, a Marathon, and a couple of ITU Olympic distance races.  I think I'm going to focus on strength training for the first 6 months, switch to a strength/cardio for 2-3 months and then slide into a bike/run focused regime to carry me through the final days until I come back. 

In order to accomplish this I've loaded up my iPad with two decent Apps that I'll be checking out, both from Men's Health, the No Weight Workouts and 1000 exercises. I'm really looking forward to the Building Explosive Strength Fast and the Cardio Ultimate No Weight Workout from the No Weight Workout App.  I've also invested in a TRX strap system, with workout DVDs.  I used one of these for a little bit during my last deployment to Iraq and I liked it, I just wished we'd of had the DVDs that I splurged on to describe the workouts.  I'm also taking also taking a swiss ball and my fab abs workout book.  My core is my weakest area and if I can come out with a stronger core that equals success.  To complete my no gym needed workout gear I've also thrown in a jump rope.  Finally I might even throw a few weeks of CrossFit in just to break it up a little bit. Check the blog and if I've got good internet access than I'll be chronicling my workouts here.

One last thought.  I tend to take supplements when I'm in the middle of a good training phase, mostly what I take though is protein, although I've used a lot different stuff at any given time.  I've been thinking about trying a stack to maximizing my training results this year and I'm probably going to go with a BSN stack.  Something of a combination of their Fit Stack Advanced and their Mass Stack Advanced with only one type of protein, probably the TrueMass and not the Dessert Protein.  I want to build a little more muscle mass, cut body fat, but stay lean.  I'm a large framed guy who really just needs to tone up and put on a little bit of mass.  If anyone has any thoughts on combining these stacks and my goals let me know I'm willing to listen.