A Good Week

The plan for the week was to recover quickly from the race the weekend before, then start putting in the miles on the bike. I didn't get any swimming in this week, but I'll fix that this week. The recovery ended up turning it into a bigger weekend. Friday involved just under 60 miles on the bike, Saturday had a 8+ mile really hilly run. Sunday was a ride up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for some more riding while those with me chilled at a waterfall picking blueberries (seriously). Suffice it to say, it was a long descent (about 3 miles) and steep from where I began. I did a couple of decent climbs going out and it was tough but fun. i took a picture on the way out, and below is what I look like without thinking about facial expression...

And this is what I look like 30 seconds later when I realize how horrid that first picture looked...

The final climb back to the beginning was a doozy. I'm not sure exactly of length and elevation because I forgot my Garmin. However, I was climbing for about 13-15 minutes in my granny gear. Good stuff. I got to the top and hiked in my bike shoes to a little overlook. Then I came back and hung out with my cool peeps (who gave me relatively no crap this weekend for all the training). We were going to eat at the BRP that night, and I told them about the overlook I found. So we ate turkey tacos/burritos on the side of the mountain. A look at the fare and the ambience is below.

We closed out a good ride home with some flowers in the hair (and a bike in the back :D )

Finding Inspiration

Just wanted to say thanks to Sam - who couldn't resist breaking out a little Harry during the pre-race dinner - for letting the momster tag along for the Buck Creek International Triathlon last weekend. It helped me to see how the race actually worked - getting ones gear set up in the transitions, etc.

But I also appreciated men and women who were obviously - obviously - older and heavier than moi chugging past me - in swimsuits! - on that steep uphill out of the swim and steadily working to propel their bike down the road. KUDOS to all those people who were able to set aside all thoughts of "I'm not young, slim, fast, buff enough.." and just got out there and DID IT. Thank you, thank you. You spur me on.

for linking Kuota Kueen K

Buck Creek International Pics

Here's a few snapshots from the Buck Creek Triathlon this past weekend. Of course, most are featuring Sam, but I figured that would be ok with Sam's fans.

I'm a novice at posting pics, so please bear with any strange layouts.

First swim wave of the sprint distance. Looked to me like 3/4 of the athletes did that shorter distance.

This green cap /dark goggles/wet suit with yellow lightning bolts might be Sam.

The sun was in his eyes, the hill was steep, but Sam, I think, was happy to have the swim behind him.

Yes, it took Sam awhile to peel off the wetsuit, but I'm not sure if anyone else who wore a full length suit did it much faster. They were all unzipping on the way up the hill, except for one fellow who sat down as soon as he reached the start of the grass hill and pulled his suit off pretty quickly. Many didn't wear wetsuits - especially in the sprint division.

I realized, too late, that if you want to take reasonably centered photos of a specific person approaching and flying past you on a bike, knowing their face, body build, and clothing/gear colors are not enough - you simply must have either a spotter or a set of binoculars, preferably both, along with your digital camera. I didn't, so I have some nice pics of riders I don't know. The first time Sam passed, all I got was a backside shot of him pedaling away from me.

Water station two miles into the 10k run.

A

Sprint to finish

About 60 seconds after finishing the triathlon, Sam has a gracious smile for the momster who is bugging him for yet another mug shot.

Buck Creek International Triathlon

(I do not as of yet have any pictures to post, but as soon as I get some, I'll slap 'em on here) The Buck Creek Triathlon was Sunday Morning. The Madre came up friday and we hung out friday night, and drove up saturday afternoon. There was a massive T-storm on our drive over to the park and I was excited at the prospect of an overcast day for a race.

Packet pick up was smooth, We did a little pre-race exercise at the hotel just to work out the kinks from traveling in the car, then it was off to dinner for some fish and a sweet potato, along with a salad...and some bread...and some of mom's salad...and some of her steak...I think I was done after that. Got back to the room and set up the bike and got all my stuff out and ready to go. Didn't sleep well at all, but that's typical the night before the race. I need to figure out a way to solve this.

I don't like showing up too early at races as I hate sitting around. That said, i was there at 6:40 and had almost two hours to get ready. Plenty of time. had the Garmin FR 305 all set up with Multi-sport function and ready to go. It was pretty warm, but they said the water was 76.5 F. I didn't buy it, but really wanted to give my wetsuit a shot at a race. Humor of the day: as the sprint race was getting ready to start, some dude walks up to the guy with the Megaphone...Dude with megaphone delays race start and asks if anybody has experience in popping shoulders back in place because dude would like his shoulder in correct position before starting his swim wave. Unreal.

After all the sprint waves, the 0-39 International distance wave (mine) was set to go. I was chatting with some dude before the start. He said he signed up elite and was hoping to go 2 hrs. He wasn't convinced though. He also said he thought the swim was a bit long. I had thought that the day before, but didn't really care as I was planning on going out easy on the swim and then pushing on the bike and run. My swim isn't exactly a strong point.

Swim, 1500 m + run up massive hill into transition: 32:36
I went out easy just like I had planned. The current was such that the out leg of the rectangle was tough and the back was easier. I gained on a lot of people on the back of the first lap, then lost a lot to them on the second lap. What happened was that I am not a very good open water swimmer, and I was all over the place. It's totally my fault, but I'll bet I swam at least an extra 200m if not more. I pushed a bit at the end and came out winded, thus going pretty slow up the hill to T1

T1: 2:23 :
No big news here other than my transitions need practice. I couldn't get that dang wetsuit off. Bike, 40k (23.7 miles) : 1:07:03, 21.2 mph I felt pretty good on the bike most of the time. It was rolling, but mostly flat. Definitely flatter than what I ride in KY most of the time. For the most part, people were riding a really clean race. Except for one guy, he was drafting everybody he could. It was ridiculous. I passed him on the second lap only to have him bridge the gap and draft me for 3 miles heading back to T2. I didn't want to waste energy on him out there, but I kind of wish I would have seen him after the race to let him know people know he's a rat fink putz.

T2: 1:38 :
No big deal still need to speed it up here.

Run, 10k, 44:50, (7:14/mile)
I had taken in a bottle of gatorade and two gels on the bike, which I thought was pretty good, but there was definitely some cramping going on during the run. It was pretty flat with the exception of a couple tough hills. I wanted to go a bit harder but just couldn't really on the second lap of the run. I came in feeling pretty good, all alone.

Total: 2:28:31, 6/12 in 25-29 AG, 21/90 total Int'l finishers.

I need to speed up the swim just a bit, and definitely get the sighting worked out. I need to keep improving bike fitness as it was definitely in better shape. And transitions, I think I could easilty take a minute off just by working on those. Other than that, nutrition needs to be figured out for the 1/2 in miami. Let me know if I missed anything.

Hmmmm?

Am I scared of pink? No. I even sport it to work from time to time. But I'd like to say that Spencer Smith is in possession of a set.
Wow. Just. Wow....But I'd take that bike (even in pink) if they gave it to me. And I'd ride the crap out of it.

Oh ya...It's on!

Here we go. Bring the jitters and the excitement. It's race week. The race is the Buck Creek International Triathlon. The course maps can be seen here. The race organizers describe the course as rolling to sometimes hilly, but from looking at it on Google Earth, and it being Ohio, It looks kind of flat to me. But we'll see.

I certainly pump the excitement as I write here, but the most difficult thing with all this stuff is staying relaxed around the race. So that's the focus for the week, especially friday through sunday. I'm looking forward to testing myself and pushing it this weekend. We're also hoping to be able to stop by IM Louisville on the way home as well. Should be gangbusters. If moonpie wants to make an appearance, he should bring it.

Motivation?

Check out some George Sheehan quotes here.

Training For Life

So why on earth would Sam invite a 52 year old woman to contribute to the fitness torch blog? I think mostly to encourage me, but perhaps also to share a little perspective from farther along the age spectrum. Not "the other end of the age spectrum" because I think I should have a good 20-25 years before I get to that point.

I've been a morning walker for much of my adult life, with fitness classes and running worked in for a couple years, and regular leisure biking for several multi-year periods. But at the time this photo was taken (Kayaker's Cove on Resurrection Bay south of Seward, Alaska) I was in a fitness slump that lasted over 2 years.

In the months previous, both my father-in-law and my father had died after slow physical declines and our son and daughter-in-law had returned from several years of volunteer service among the street people of Calcutta to live with my husband and me. They and their newborn lived in the guest room just vacated by a young friend who had lived with us for several months - for a few months while they saved for a home down-payment. We were in the midst of helping both sons move into their first homes - one in Kentucky and one in Florida - and we had just co-signed a loan for the purchase of a large office and warehouse space for our 30 year old business.

I was spending large amounts of mental energy trying to sort through major questions about the existence of God, the suffering in the world, and personal life purpose - questions I never expected to be wrestling again with at age 50. On top of all that I was trying to return to a 30 hour work week (with my husband as my boss :-) after 6-7 years out of the business and I was in the throes of a chaotic peri-menopause complete with sleepless nights, unbelievable hot flashes and night sweats and simmering and expressed anger the likes of which I had NEVER experienced.

It was a crazy, stress-filled time, and I coped by going back to bed after my husband left the house at 5:30 am- the only time I seemed to be able to sleep for two consecutive hours- and eating and drinking more - I was cooking for 4 or more adults most nights now and hoagies, pasta, rice, potatoes and ice cream made frequent appearances on my plate.

I slowly realized that I woud quickly become unable or unwilling to continue to help my husband and family if I did not get fit again. This past fall I finally started walking and biking again on a limited basis and then, since I had been following Sam's marathon training, I went to Chicago to cheer Sam on as he ran his first marathon with knees that had endured several major injuries and surgeries.

WOW. Watching over 40,000 runners of all ages stream past me was awe inspiring; and finally catching a glimpse of Sam at mile 20 and watching him cross the finish line brought a huge lump of joy and pride to my throat. He had disciplined himself intensely for many months to do something he didn't think he could do (and most "sensible" people didn't think he should do, given his knee history) and he had made his time goal.

At the end of January, after several months of walk/running, biking, and skating in fits and starts, I joined a women's gym and began weight training with a personal trainer once a week and other days on my own. It was just what I needed to fuel my "Can she do it? YES, she can!" engine. So for 6 months now, I have been weight training twice a week, doing some form of cardio 4-6 days a week and gradually feeling better physically and emotionally. Thanks to the exercise and progesterone cream, the hot flashes are no longer debilitating and I sleep much better at night. My weekend bike rides are increasing to pretty respectable distances, Sam has gotten me seriously thinking about my first triathalon, and I am thinking that running a marathon by the time I've finished my 55th year of life is a reasonable possibility.

But we need a little Contro-versy

So there are numerous "reports" that aspartame, and sucralose and whatever other compounds people choose to use are poisons and are slowly killing them. Now, it's obvious that there are many things that people use or are subjected to that are technically "slowly killing them." For instance, drinking water that has been treated (depending on your location) has somewhere between 1 in 50 million to 1 in a billion chance of killing a person if one does the environmental engineering math (so many oz a day for 75 years, etc). We consider this an acceptable risk.

But it seems impossible to find information about these sweeteners that is truly substantiated and valid. I'm not saying I know what's going on with them, but I use them sometimes. If in fact, they are making me stupid, giving me headaches (which they don't for me), or slowing my metabolism, I'd like to discontinue the use. So does anyone have any good info on this stuff? I'd like to hear some reasoned opinions. Now as I say that, all us diet coke drinkers are gonna have to drink a caffeine free one and calm down before we get upset about the perceived perfection of our drug of choice. Seriously though, I wanna know what the deal is.

Le Tour de France

I'm torn about all these dopers getting caught. Don't get me wrong, I think the tour would be much better au natural, but how much of the peloton is actually dope-less? I'd like to think that it's a high percentage, but if you are not competing without the EPO (or whatever it is), what other options do you have? It would take some pretty high morals to be clean if the majority of your peers are not, in fact, clean.

Also, how slow will the TDF be next year after they get all the dopers? Which brings me to my question of whether or not all the dopers can be caught. The testing seems like a fairly inexact science. For example, with Lance, his 'A' sample came up clean, but the 'B' sample had something in it. And sometimes, the 'A' sample will be positive, but the 'B' sample will be clean. I won't claim any sort of understanding behind the science, but it seems like a bit of a witch-hunt at times. That and I'm sure that there are some creative dopers that will figure out how to get around the testing.

Feeling Dirty

So I've been wearing speedos underneath my longer shorts for a while now while swimming. The issue is that the longer shorts are starting to wear out and get really thin. I was in the midst of a swim this morning and the looseness of the material finally had me fed up. I stopped after a 100, and promptly whipped off the longer shorts, leaving me but a skimpy piece of material between myself and complete nakedness. I was a little uncomfortable at first, but I must say, after swimming a few hundred yards, it all became clear to me. It's friggin' awesome! who doesn't like feeling almost naked while swimming? I'm not gonna lie, I put the long shorts back on before walking into the locker room, but this could be the beginning of a trend. This is scary, I feel like I'm one of them now.

Is a Strict Diet Worthwhile?

I've been thinking a lot about diet these past days. Mostly, I've been wondering if my fitness level would go up if I was on a diet I actually attempted to control what I eat. I currently assume that I can put pretty much anything into my mouth given the amount I'm working out. I know this is a bad assumption, but I do it anyway 'cause I like to eat! Currently, I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian, which seems pretty good for me. I eat the occasional fish/seafood, and am considering throwing in other meats every so often for the protein.

My biggest concern is probably the way I eat after I get back from a long run--my body seems to be telling me to eat sugar, and I comply. My energy level is quickly up after an ice cream sandwich or two, and every so often a popsicle. What would be a more healthy option to get the energy levels up quickly and sustainably?

Is anyone very strict with what they eat? If so, when you got on the diet was there a noticeable change in energy level?



Also, wondering what everyone else is training for. I'm doing the Chicago Marathon at the beginning of October.

A tasty morsel...Sam is Scared (and kind of excited too)

Take a look at week 6 of the 1/2 ironman training program I'm doing. Yeesh, that's between 14 and 14.5 hours of training in 6 days. I think you can do that math. I need to sleep a lot more than I currently am. Oh well, at least I'll be prepared, right?

sore butt

I have ridden to and from work since tuesday afternoon, which is (4) 7.5 mile trips. My butt hurts, and it's not the butt meat, its the bones under there. and I've been wearing some biking shorts too. so what can be done about this?

Encouragement, Collaboration, and Diplomacy

In an effort to make this less about me, and more about working together for balance, I've decided to invite some other people to participate in this blog.

This was, in fact, the original intent. There were supposed to be 2 authors, preparing for a marathon and talking about how the journey of fitness has mimicked, influenced, or informed their lives. That didn't happen, but the other author has been re-invited to take part.

There aren't really any rules, so to speak, other than keep it clean, and encourage each other.

We currently have on the list of invitees to author a wide spectrum of abilities, goals, and purposes in exercise. At least two people are training for marathons, one for a half-ironman, some are simply trying to be healthy, lose some weight, cope with the stresses of life, the stresses of chasing kids around...

If you'd like to participate, just post it in the comment section and we'll get back to you. For the other authors, if you'd like to update the look of the site with links and pictures, feel free. If you can't do it, let me know, and we'll figure out a way.

In the meantime, get to contributing!

Draft Legal IM?

Found this photo on xtri today. Footage is from IM Lake Placid. Seriously, people, I like drafting as much as the next guy on a group ride or when you're having a hard day, but a bit of self-respect might be warranted...

consistabred

Working toward consistency. The base is not built by huge days or weekends, but by the slow grind. Consistency of effort, diligence, and rest.

The focus currently is a normal schedule, and especially ramping up the volume of sleep. I've been lucky to get 6 a night for the past couple of weeks. This must change.

The tentative race schedule for right now is as follows:

Aug 11, Lexington, KY: Midsummer's Night Run (5K road race - just for fun)

Aug 18, Georgetown, KY : Lame Duck Tryathlon (Shorty sprint)

Aug 26, Springfield, OH: Buck Creek International Tri (On the drive home, we will be stopping for a bit at IM Louisville to catch a bit of the vibe-it's gonna be sweet)

Sep 16, Nashville, TN: Music City Tri (Oly distance)

Sep 23, Lexington, KY: Tri for Sight (Sprint. The local tri is important and looking forward to it)

Nov. 11, Miami, FL: The big daddy, Miami Man 1/2 Iron distance.

Some of the sprints listed might not happen, but I'd like to do all of these. The two international are B races to lead up to Miami and be prepped, leaving the last 6 weeks to build race-specific 1/2 iron fitness.

The late-season race has got my schedule off from most, who are peaking right now. It's going to take some discipline to keep my head down and just train base for a few more weeks.

Yes, this is what parts of KY look like as you ride past. A quilt on a barn might be a little cheesy, but it sure is nice to be able to get out of town and be quiet for a while: nothing but you, pastures, nature and a couple of wheels.

Weekly wrap-up: here we go...

Swim: 3000 yds (55:12)
Bike: 84.17 mi (4:33:00)
Run: 14.95 mi (1:55:48)

Total: 7 hrs, 23 min

Pretty easy week. I think I'm figuring out a little bit more how to train fully today but also keep the next day in mind. The focus right now is really on consistency. If I can continue to do moderate aerobic work, it should be possible to develop a solid aerobic engine. This in turn, theoretically, should enable speed work to be more effective and profitable relative to the current state.

I was motivated today as I was at about halfway through my 46 mile ride. The bluegrass cycling club
was out with a lot of beginners and they were lucky to be pushing 10-12 mph. They were circling and going back to pick up some people who were obviously struggling. More and more, I find myself appreciating people who get out and go for it even if they aren't going to look good doing it. Who cares, right? If somebody's got a problem with you being out there, or you feel like you're overweight, or don't know what you're doing....why not just get out there and ask somebody? Here's to you, people who overcome their fears to live their lives. Cheers

Raising the roof:

Looking forward to a bit longer bike ride tomorrow. 2.5 hours aerobic. Should be good. All about the bike. I love it.

accidental slow week (wrap-up) and miami

5:18 Total

Swim: 4000 yds (1:14)

Bike: 39.15 mi (2:28)

Run: 10.39 mi (1:24)

Lift: 0:35

Felt ok, but work and travel got in the way this last week. I'm stepping it back up this week, and hoping to get around 80-85 mi. on the bike. I need it.

I'm coming for you Miami. You better be ready. I know I will be.

Bluegrass 10K

That's yours truly in the background (green shirt). In the midst of passing these yahoos on my way to a 41:55 10000 meter road race, they yelled to people on an overpass, "Hey rich people, don't spit on us!" Hence my smile.

Avg. HR: 179

It's an odd thing when the only person to truly keep one accountable is oneself. I have few measures against myself currently. I think I could have run this race faster had I done some speedwork and focused on it leading up to the race. However, doing all the aerobic work has kept me from that. Speedy road races will be the focus next march as I'm prepping for St. Anthony's in April.

Needing more of this...

Man, I'm tired. So glad today is a rest day. The body needs to be doing better than the 6 hr/night I averaged over the last 8 days (all training days). I move that we insert a new 26 hr day. Or maybe just work 40-hr weeks (there's an idea).

Weekly Wrap-Up

I'm going to try to start doing this partially to keep track, and partially to serve as accountability.

Lift: 2 sessions (~1:10)

Swim: 6500 yds (~2:00)

Bike: 78 mi. (~4:00)

Run: ~19 mi (2:50)

Total Training Time: 10 hours

The nice part is, I don't really feel all that shelled. I rather expected I would. However, I do need to get more sleep. Looks as if caffeine might have to take a back seat once again.

I'm noticing more and more how difficult it is to keep things in balance. This really has to be my free time when I'm not with friends/family if I'm going to do it. Oh well, I didn't miss the College World Series that much. It is funny how the importance of some things you used to care about fades away as you do things more important.

Time to wrap this up. I'd like to do a segment on the bike fit I got two weeks ago (forward seatpost, new angle, etc) and how I feel coming out of it, so look for that.

To close, I'll leave you a quote from Frank Shorter to get you fired up:

"You don't run 26 miles at 5 minutes a mile on good looks and a secret recipe."

Bugs and Money

These little schmucks are forcing me to get rid of hard-earned cash. It's impossible to get a good training ride around here without riding around horse/cattle/tobacco farms. The aesthetic quality of the rides is wonderful. Eating bugs with my eyes is not. Every morning ride I do, it's as if there's some gravitational pull toward the middle of my eye. There's no good way to remove said bug from eye until reaching destination, finding a mirror, pulling back the skin around my eye, and digging out the now eye-juice saturated black lump of organic mass. Disgusting and painful. It usually takes half an hour to stop looking like an Eastern Kentucky Oxycontin dealer with my prolific red eyes.

The solution: of course, another pair of glasses to shield the eyes. But when it's barely light outside, it's difficult to use the shaded glasses. Aaahh, the savings dwindles by another $30-$40.

I wonder if I need to buy a bug-screen for my mouth to keep them out of there? Nah, I'll just eat 'em (involuntarily) or spit them out

Ummm, ya....I'm gonna need you to come in on Sunday, ya

Callout issued: Callout answered. I'll see you Nov. 11th....MOONPIE! Man, how am I gonna get my bike down there?

Staff Response to Moonpie...(if middle fingers offend you, please don't read this)

moonpie said...
Sounds like a great training day! I think if you haven't fallen over while clipped in then you simply haven't ridden enough :PAnd YES, you do MiamiMan this year. Oh, you also need to do the Little Smokies half-iron race THIS Sunday with Erik and I! Yes, I'm calling you out punk! Bring it!!http://www.hfpracing.com/races/smokies/index.php

Alright, first: Oh I've fallen over clipped in a couple times my friend. Last summer, on a work commute home, I stopped at a light, clipped out, and then leaned toward my still clipped in foot. I reached the tipping point and went right over (at a crowded intersection mind you). This description does not include the multiple times I dorfed it into the street learning how to clip in and out last summer.

And dude I told you, I'm gonna be in NY this weekend. Otherwise, I would be there rocking it. I'm disappointed I can't make it. I'm really jonesing to race, and I couldn't find one in Crapchester, NY this weekend either. Such is life.

Bill, thanks for the comments and I'm glad you enjoyed the taylorsville lake race. Pretty much anywhere in the general area around here, if you're not in town, your working hard on a bike (or run for that matter).

Ahh, getting toasted and eating humble pie...

This in some ways relates to the previous post regarding time. Some would support the idea of moderate workouts most of the time supplemented with some big weekends/time off. This weekend was far from epic, but as a build, it was pretty successful. Little hard run (8.5 miles) on saturday led me to a slightly difficult sunday.

My buddy Tim just graduated from Seminary, and his brother-in-law came to town to hang out as well as to put me through the paces on a 45-mile moderately fast-paced ride in the "rolling" hill of central KY. Rolling! What a bunch of crap. Anyhow we crushed the first 1.5 hrs at an average pace of 21.5 mph, and took a quick stop to refill water and get a little bit of food in our bodies. I decided on the way back that 45 was preferable to 60 miles, so I took a "shortcut." While Quentin was definitely the fitter of us, even he was dog-cussing those ridiculously long and steep hills on KY state route 1981. Wow, I was in pain. I actually had to get out of my big ring to be able to survive. I don't normally do that either. I live in Lexington. Tim lives in Nicholasville (a slightly redneck town, but a peaceful burg nonetheless). I never thought coming into the outskirts of Nich-vegas would look so good to me. It was beautiful.

Now for the humble pie: I have yet to actually wreck on my bike. I will maintain that assertion even after yesterday. So as one is prone to do on the bike, we run a lot of stop signs, and expect people in cars (if we arrive at said 4-way stop at the same time) to let us go first. This worked great until the second to last stop sign. Quentin was leading and I was pretty close on his wheel. Dude in white truck pulls up, barely beats us to the intersection, and I think we're going for it. Quentin said afterwards that he (quentin) did not give dude the confident look, and that it was his fault. So dude goes right in front of us, and quentin locks up his brakes. I lock up mine, but my back wheel starts sliding out to the side, and I just nudge the back of quentin's wheel. I fall over, clipped in. Beautiful. So I'm on the ground and can't unclip my right foot. Picture a ladybug holding up a scaled down bicycle, writing around. I'm trying to get it undone and that bastard quentin says "are you ok?" "Ya" I say. "Are you embarrassed?" Hell yes, I'm embarrassed. Best kind of accident though, nobody's hurt, just a little bit of getting laughed at by people sitting in their cars. Oh well. Good weekend. Not really even all that sore. Guess I need to train harder.

Next: do I do the Miami Man 70.3? I just don't know. Time is tight these days.

The silent monster

The perpetual passing of time really does make it difficult to accomplish many of one's goals. How to work the currently desired 45 hours/week (not including driving time and lunch, etc), fulfill personal and spiritual obligations, maintain friendships, and also reach the level of fitness aspired to is the question.

No one here is sure, but suggestions are welcome. The idea of a 10-hr cap per week is being examined. There's apparently a method to that type of madness.

Seriously, how do you keep it all straight?

The fire returneth

So one of the all time great feelings is when one has not been in the pool for a while, swims hardish, and feels pretty good. (I was able to get an employee to take a picture of me, which you can see)

I also ran into a dude who did Escape from Alcatraz last year and chatted with him about it at Gold's last night. That was encouraging and got me fired up to get some races in. In other news, due to their general dumbassness, Gold's will henceforth be referred to as GloboGym.

If a gym chooses to put tv screens and speakers all around the place, I'm ok with that. I'm even ok with them playing music, albeit far too loudly on said speakers. But if these boundaries are crossed, some bastions of decency must remain. Lil bow wow and jojo are not to be played under any circumstances. It's just wrong. And what's with all this teeny-bopper garbage? It's a gym people. Get in. Work hard. Enjoy yourself. Get out. Pretty simple concept. It would be really nice if they could put something decent on these tv's, like Lance crushing some people or some old Iron War footage. All these things, and the commercials have to stop.

The confluence of this nonsense has me extremely excited about the prospect of a new YMCA to be built in east Lex Angeles. Oh it will be sweet.

Apparently, I lack bike fitness...

The weather had been crappy here for about two weeks and I hadn't gotten time to ride the bike much lately. Thus, sunday was the time to take care of such things. And it was a great ride. I'm still not fit in that my HR is a lot higher (I think) on the bike relative to my run numbers. But a large portion of that is likely attributable to the lack of sport-specific training (again, relative to my running).

So the ride was great. It was 36 miles in sub 2 hours. Just working on slowly building time in the saddle. Great day, enjoyed being outside in the nice spring air. The only problem is that roughly an hour after I got done, I was cramping and my legs were totally sapped. I went to stand up and a pain the likes of which I hope to never experience shot down the inside of my left leg. Apparently my hip adductor was cramping (Thank you Amber for saving me from prolonged pain in knowing how to stretch that thing). In case you're curious, the picture above represents the approximate level of pain I experienced in that 5 minutes. And yes, that is the other guy's foot in that tender area.

So the issue I believe is partially bike fitness, but also related to the strength difference between my two legs. I've been trying to strengthen the one that has had the 4 surgeries, but it feels like I'm running into a wall. This shifts priorities a bit to really working on ironing this out. I don't want to be fighting injuries while training. It also really hinders performance. When the left leg is good, i run faster and bike faster ( I think I swim straighter too.). Regardless, Sam needs some help.

Finally

Ah yes. It's about time. Can anybody say bike rides for months? It's gonna be a good summer.

There's a Noreaster moving in...

Sometimes people travel to see friends and still want to get in a little workout. Sometimes they get to said place and the weather has changed. Not wanting to let circumstances dictate behavior, these same people decide to carry on as planned. And oftentimes, these same people have a great time running 7 miles in sleet and wind. The dude in the pictures is Nate, a buddy of mine from college. Nate's getting back into running and is racing a 5-miler in a month or so. This was his longest run in years. Life is good.

Bringing Crazy back

So running a marathon brings a tremendous sense of accomplishment. For me it also brought a tremendous amount of lazy along with it. Putting on 10-15 lbs over the winter didn't help out too much, but crazy sam is on his way back. He's eating better, cutting out dessert all over again and generally stepping it back up to previous levels. I now just wish I had another couple hours in the day to work out more and sleep as much as necessary.

Why I love/hate Triathlons

A few thoughts on the moment.

The excitement surrounding it (before, during, and after)/The pain in the middle of training and racing that allows that enjoyment to come.

I began looking at some training races leading up to St. Anthony's yesterday. They're all pool swims with short bikes, but such is life pre-May in the mid-south. However, as I did it I felt myself getting all pumped up and feeling anxiety that I needed to get out and train. Previously, I had been dreading the races I wanted to do. Now I'm only looking forward to them with a sly smile. It's gonna be a good year. First on the docket. Triple Crown of Running in Louisville. Run myself back into shape and mix in some bike and swim work. Now we just need some sunshine to make the bricks easier.

Sick & Flow

Well, I'm hoping this will be the beginning of some more writing. I went to the gym and did a quick leg workout on saturday; and ever since have been quite sick. I'm coming around, although I didn't sleep at all last night. Not a good start on my new year's resolution to sleep more. Oh well, that's what tomorrow is for. Always believe it.

A friend just finished up a masters degree in Psychology and shared a very interesting paper with me on the subject of "Flow." This could be described to most people as being in the zone. The research noted that flow is most likely to occur at a point where someone is challenging themselves at a high level, has a clear understanding of their goal(s), and is confident they can achieve with their given (or sometimes only perceived) skills.

Looking at this research explains to me some of the phenomena of how a slower, chubbier kid (like me) with a ridiculously huge ego relative to actual physical talent was able to be successful in sports against much more athletic kids. Very few people seem willing to tell themselves that they can and should win because they may fail. The few who continue to tell themselves they're winners in spite of early failures are the truly successful. I believe this principle of perseverance applies to myriad areas of life.

Another interesting thought that flow brings about is how do we achieve an "in-the-zone" like state in our life? I'm not saying we should shut off our brains, but if one believes that they are truly designed for a purpose, but yet do not have clear goals, this state is nearly impossible to achieve. (e.g. "those who fail to plan plan to fail."). What do we do to truly harness all of our potential to truly live with purpose and passion?

3 days

It's a strange feeling for a competitive person to go into a race for "fun." The Chicago Marathon is sunday morning. Lots of people have been asking me if I'm excited, and I suppose I am. I'm excited about the realization of 5 months of training aimed at sunday, of the changes I've undergone in mind and body during this time, but mostly it's just a really long run. I am looking forward to it, but I don't think my body is cut out to do this kind of distance over and over again.

It's a strange question really? Who gets excited about causing themselves pain? I enjoy training more after a workout is done and I'm feeling all the endorphine benefit, but in the middle of the tempo run, it's all out and it's not fun. This is where the competitor departs from the fitness-oriented. I enjoy an easy long run as much as the next person, and these times are great stress-relievers. However, the most enjoyable part of training for me is pushing myself faster than I originally thought possible. You only truly discover your limits if you are willing to push beyond them. I know this is a tangent, but there is great frustration for me in running into so many people who have decided they don't like or won't do something because it is hard. They give reasons such as "well I don't like it" or "I couldn't do that" but have never even given themselves a chance to believe that they could. If you can't believe in your mind that it might be possible, you will never push hard to get there. It's called Faith. If everybody behaved like this, nothing outstanding would ever be accomplished except by chance and dumb luck.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step...so where are you going?

And yes, I'm looking forward to a nice tour of Chicago sunday morning.