7:10AM Swim 2800, Force(2)(b) workout (from Swim Workouts in a Box). Lots of pulling! For the main set pulls, I used paddles and band around my ankles. A little masochism to perk up my day!
After this swim, man were my arms pumped up, like I had lifted weights for an hour. I could tell, because as I walked towards the fans in the cardio room before my run, the trainer at the desk said "you have a lot of muscle, no wonder you want the fans on." He he....I am bulking up! My masseusse, Mike, also said yesterday, that he could tell I was bulking up. I told him wait until he sees (feels?) me in February. I will be pretty ripped. He asked me if that's what I was going for, and I said no, all I need to do is clean up my diet a little bit. I am hitting the weights pretty hard, and I can tell it's toughening me up. I may be fatigued during my cardio workouts, but I can still push myself hard enough to do whatever it is I need to do.
8:27AM Run 1:00. Ran on treadmill. This was an easy to steady run. I felt sort of sluggish, like the 5K race, the 1/2 IM last week and the hard brick workout yesterday were getting to me. But I forged onward and got it done.
I stretched about 10' afterwards, and then headed home after a shower. I had all these plans to rake leaves and stuff outdoors (it IS a nice enough day), but the fatigue really hit me all at once once I got home. I basically haven't done much of anything except lay around, tool around on the Internet, read and watch some TV. Oh, I finally managed to wash the dishes. This is the feeling of "I am overtrained." I sort of figured if I tried to do yard work today that it would just put me over the edge, and I REALLY need that long run tomorrow, so I'll just coast the rest of the day. Good thing for me to do once in awhile anyway, just coast. It should be nice enough to get out in the yard tomorrow, so after I run, I'll rest a little and give it a shot. I HAVE to get the leaves raked up and the roses covered. Everything else is optional.
I didn't have any particular "awareness" thoughts today. I'm sort of on cruise control in that area right now, but I do have this deep conviction that I am on this path, and will remain on it forever. I've been more or less a recluse for 2 months now, except for my trip to Vegas, and I'm OK with that. I will hook up with some peeps in Disney World in 6 weeks anyway. Or at least I think I will. It really doesn't matter to me. I'm going there to run. But we get the run of Pleasure Island after the marathon, which should be pretty cool! I haven't been there since the infamous 1996 PeopleSoft conference, where there was SO much fun to be had!
I'm sure after a good night's sleep I'll be plenty recovered to hit my run tomorrow. As long as I stay off my feet for the rest of the day, which is not looking like a problem at all at this point!
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
Today's Workout
10:58AM Brick-O-Rama! 2 hours on the trainer, including some 1/2 Ironman watt intervals, followed by a 30' run. I didn't feel like negotiating 20 degree temperatures outdoors today, so I ran on the treadmill at the Y. It appeared that my heart rate did not want to go into its usual range when I was going harder on the bike. I had to work a harder gear to get things rollling to achieve the desired watts. Aha! Maybe I was tired from yesterday's festivities! Remember how yesterday I was very surprised at how not tired I felt, well I guess that little workout yesterday did a number on me! But nothing too bad.
I got a kick out of the run, since I wore some low-rider DeSoto bike shorts, that I wore while I was on the bike. They really show off my abs, and when I walked into the cardio room at the Y, I got quite a few stares. More like stares of disgust from some women, and stares of approval from the men. As long as I think I look good enough to wear stuff like those shorts and thongs while on the beach, I'm going to keep it up! I may be 49, but I'm in phenomenal shape, so I am going to enjoy it!
I got a kick out of the run, since I wore some low-rider DeSoto bike shorts, that I wore while I was on the bike. They really show off my abs, and when I walked into the cardio room at the Y, I got quite a few stares. More like stares of disgust from some women, and stares of approval from the men. As long as I think I look good enough to wear stuff like those shorts and thongs while on the beach, I'm going to keep it up! I may be 49, but I'm in phenomenal shape, so I am going to enjoy it!
Thursday, November 24, 2005
A Perfect Day (Today's Workout+)
I woke up at 6AM, after a nice 9-hour sleep. I’d had some weird dreams—one of them included the words “KE PODU,” which I Googled and could only find what looked like some Slavic-porn site. The REAL turkey day porn, I guess. But when I clicked on the URL, I got “404 Nicht Gefunden.” My first German “Not Found.” So I’ll have to hold onto finding out what “ke podu” means until another day.
I had 3 small mugs of coffee and the usual PowerBar Triple Threat for breakfast, finishing it by about 6:45. I was hedging on whether or not to run a local 5K today. The race start is only a little over 1 mile from my house. I needed to run 1 hour today, and it would have to be outside, as my gym is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. The temperature when I woke up was all of 12, and the winds were running 20-30MPH, with gusts to 40. Oh joy! I hadn’t run outdoors in weather like this in at least 3 years that I can remember.
I rationalized that if I was going to run outside in this crap that I might as well spend some of it with a bunch of other crazies, and the race fee goes to a good cause, so OK, I’ll pony up $25. I decided I’d run 10-15 minutes before the race (warmup, ha ha) and after it, and that would be enough. My workout main set was supposed to be 15’ steady, 20’ Mod-Hard, 10’ steady. Well the mod-hard is taken up by the 5K, so I’ll just run easy to steady on the front and back ends.
Next order of business—what to wear? I have a lot of cold weather technical running gear, so it was just a question of trying to choose the best for what I was going to do. I went with a lightweight Polartec turtleneck, sock liners under my usual Ironman running socks, Coolmax undies, fleece-lined biking tights, and my brand spanking new *pink* Nike run top thingie, which I hoped would keep me warm enough. I topped off my head with a fleece hat and wore fleece gloves. I brought my glove liners with me in case I thought I needed them, but as it turned out, I didn’t. I would run away from the start initially and go back past my house (about .5 mile) and check whether I thought I was dressed appropriately. I took a 12-oz. bottle (I save those baby Gatorade bottles just for this purpose) and filled it with Ultra Violence, to have some when I arrived at the race start, since I’d have at least 20 minutes to wait before the start.
I went outside and began to run, and whoa, it was fucking cold! My nose immediately started running, but I felt like I got the gear selection just right. Ran up the hill away from home, turned around, saw one of my triathlete neighbors outside, told him I was running the 5K, and he said, “Warming up, huh?” Al thinks I’m a little nuts, but in a good way, you know? So with gear check just fine, I kept going past home and ran towards the race registration area. Only 9’, so I just kept going around the area, circled back and went to registration. I had forgotten to bring my race belt, so I was forced to pin my number to my brand new jacket! Oh well, now I also had this T-shirt that I didn’t know what to do with. I figured I’d tie it around my waist. I drank ½ the bottle of Ultra Violence (everyone else seemed to be drinking coffee), made one potty stop, and was ready to go.
I asked someone where the race start was and was directed, so off I went for another couple minutes of easy jogging. I found 2 of my masseuses with tables at the ready (one of them was racing), and was able to leave my T-shirt there to pick up afterwards. I had told one of them, Cindy, that I “might” do the race, and she was happy to see me. I told her how I had rationalized that as long as I had to run outdoors, and there would be plenty of other crazies, I might as well show up. AND then I could get a short massage afterwards!
The other masseuse, Mike, who owns the massage school where Cindy was trained (and also my friend Harlan, who can’t yet work on me until his doctor gives him the all clear after his September triple bypass surgery), is doing his first Ironman next fall (Wisconsin). Mike and I ambled to the actual race start, where they had pace cards for people to line up. I thought, my, this must be a competitive race! Mike advised to stay close to the front (something I didn’t want to do—I’m not very fast) because of all the walkers/wrongly seeded people, but I opted to move back to the “8 mpm and under” group. I ran into someone I know and she asked why I was there. I said because I’ll run about 8 mpm, and she said, no this is everyone over that, and she was running maybe 10mpm, so I moved up after all.
Soon enough there was some sort of signal to start running—I really don’t remember what it was, but people started moving. And there were lots of people improperly seeded anyway, so I ended up going up on the sidewalk to try and get clear of the pack.
The course was nice—through my town—and within about .5 miles, I thought my nose was going to fall off, it was so cold from running into the fierce headwind. But then as my body warmed up, things were just fine. I wasn’t counting on a PR today with the cold and all, but figured oh well, just run hard as best you can.
I bumped elbows a few times in the first mile or so, and then things started to spread out a bit. I really felt the lactic acid in my legs about 2 miles in. That was when I remembered that I had done my killer bike workout yesterday starting at 3:30PM—where I hit a new FT wattage value of 158—5 over my past test! I was pretty pumped about that, and here I was running at a good clip in Arctic temperatures, not bad for a Crackhead.
I seemed to think we kept running downhill a little bit, but I must have been delusional from the cold—eventually we got to turn onto Summit Street, and I hoped like hell they weren’t going to make us run all the way up! In August, they host a USCF Grand Prix here, and they go up the Summit hill each lap of the 100K race. Luckily, we turned back north just before the big climb by the firehouse.
My lungs felt like they were on fire the last mile, and I am just not a 5K runner, and as much as I wanted to slow down I just kept going. As soon as I stopped, I began coughing and dry heaving, which, of course, meant that I had run sufficiently hard. I was just glad it was over, as I was pretty warm. I ended up with a 5K PR for me by a little, but I don’t train for this short stuff, so no worries.
I went back by the massage tables and got my legs worked over nicely. Boy could I tell I had biked hard yesterday when she hit my quads! I think her name was Kyra, and she knew I knew Cindy, and she told me I should come to the massage school class and be a “body” for them. I told her that I’d already been invited and would see her in 2 weeks. THAT will be another great day—I’ll get an outstanding 1.5 hour massage followed by more work by the students.
I picked up my T-shirt, said my goodbyes, grabbed a butterscotch lollipop, and headed for home. After that brief cool-down, the cold and wind really hit me hard again, but my legs didn’t really feel bad at all, and I added a little extra distance and some hills on the way back home to almost get in a full hour of running.
When I got home, I had to put a ham in the oven to bake to take over to the feast I was attending, and I changed from my run clothes to other workout clothes, knocked out a 30-minute abs/core workout, still feeling pretty peppy, then I finally showered and dressed and got ready to leave again, only this time by car.
I just felt so good, and the running felt good today (except for the wind and cold), and my legs felt really strong, especially after having done a ½ Ironman last Saturday and some pretty good workouts before today. And my FT watts are up! And I’ve almost convinced myself that I need that carbon FSA compact crank/SRM combo. And I got to sit around and get fed a bounteous meal with family today. And I got leftovers!
I’m looking forward to my 3-hour brick workout tomorrow, and then I’ve got some big running for Saturday and Sunday (for the next 5 weeks, actually).
I really couldn’t ask for anything more right now. It’s been a perfect day. I’m very thankful.
I had 3 small mugs of coffee and the usual PowerBar Triple Threat for breakfast, finishing it by about 6:45. I was hedging on whether or not to run a local 5K today. The race start is only a little over 1 mile from my house. I needed to run 1 hour today, and it would have to be outside, as my gym is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. The temperature when I woke up was all of 12, and the winds were running 20-30MPH, with gusts to 40. Oh joy! I hadn’t run outdoors in weather like this in at least 3 years that I can remember.
I rationalized that if I was going to run outside in this crap that I might as well spend some of it with a bunch of other crazies, and the race fee goes to a good cause, so OK, I’ll pony up $25. I decided I’d run 10-15 minutes before the race (warmup, ha ha) and after it, and that would be enough. My workout main set was supposed to be 15’ steady, 20’ Mod-Hard, 10’ steady. Well the mod-hard is taken up by the 5K, so I’ll just run easy to steady on the front and back ends.
Next order of business—what to wear? I have a lot of cold weather technical running gear, so it was just a question of trying to choose the best for what I was going to do. I went with a lightweight Polartec turtleneck, sock liners under my usual Ironman running socks, Coolmax undies, fleece-lined biking tights, and my brand spanking new *pink* Nike run top thingie, which I hoped would keep me warm enough. I topped off my head with a fleece hat and wore fleece gloves. I brought my glove liners with me in case I thought I needed them, but as it turned out, I didn’t. I would run away from the start initially and go back past my house (about .5 mile) and check whether I thought I was dressed appropriately. I took a 12-oz. bottle (I save those baby Gatorade bottles just for this purpose) and filled it with Ultra Violence, to have some when I arrived at the race start, since I’d have at least 20 minutes to wait before the start.
I went outside and began to run, and whoa, it was fucking cold! My nose immediately started running, but I felt like I got the gear selection just right. Ran up the hill away from home, turned around, saw one of my triathlete neighbors outside, told him I was running the 5K, and he said, “Warming up, huh?” Al thinks I’m a little nuts, but in a good way, you know? So with gear check just fine, I kept going past home and ran towards the race registration area. Only 9’, so I just kept going around the area, circled back and went to registration. I had forgotten to bring my race belt, so I was forced to pin my number to my brand new jacket! Oh well, now I also had this T-shirt that I didn’t know what to do with. I figured I’d tie it around my waist. I drank ½ the bottle of Ultra Violence (everyone else seemed to be drinking coffee), made one potty stop, and was ready to go.
I asked someone where the race start was and was directed, so off I went for another couple minutes of easy jogging. I found 2 of my masseuses with tables at the ready (one of them was racing), and was able to leave my T-shirt there to pick up afterwards. I had told one of them, Cindy, that I “might” do the race, and she was happy to see me. I told her how I had rationalized that as long as I had to run outdoors, and there would be plenty of other crazies, I might as well show up. AND then I could get a short massage afterwards!
The other masseuse, Mike, who owns the massage school where Cindy was trained (and also my friend Harlan, who can’t yet work on me until his doctor gives him the all clear after his September triple bypass surgery), is doing his first Ironman next fall (Wisconsin). Mike and I ambled to the actual race start, where they had pace cards for people to line up. I thought, my, this must be a competitive race! Mike advised to stay close to the front (something I didn’t want to do—I’m not very fast) because of all the walkers/wrongly seeded people, but I opted to move back to the “8 mpm and under” group. I ran into someone I know and she asked why I was there. I said because I’ll run about 8 mpm, and she said, no this is everyone over that, and she was running maybe 10mpm, so I moved up after all.
Soon enough there was some sort of signal to start running—I really don’t remember what it was, but people started moving. And there were lots of people improperly seeded anyway, so I ended up going up on the sidewalk to try and get clear of the pack.
The course was nice—through my town—and within about .5 miles, I thought my nose was going to fall off, it was so cold from running into the fierce headwind. But then as my body warmed up, things were just fine. I wasn’t counting on a PR today with the cold and all, but figured oh well, just run hard as best you can.
I bumped elbows a few times in the first mile or so, and then things started to spread out a bit. I really felt the lactic acid in my legs about 2 miles in. That was when I remembered that I had done my killer bike workout yesterday starting at 3:30PM—where I hit a new FT wattage value of 158—5 over my past test! I was pretty pumped about that, and here I was running at a good clip in Arctic temperatures, not bad for a Crackhead.
I seemed to think we kept running downhill a little bit, but I must have been delusional from the cold—eventually we got to turn onto Summit Street, and I hoped like hell they weren’t going to make us run all the way up! In August, they host a USCF Grand Prix here, and they go up the Summit hill each lap of the 100K race. Luckily, we turned back north just before the big climb by the firehouse.
My lungs felt like they were on fire the last mile, and I am just not a 5K runner, and as much as I wanted to slow down I just kept going. As soon as I stopped, I began coughing and dry heaving, which, of course, meant that I had run sufficiently hard. I was just glad it was over, as I was pretty warm. I ended up with a 5K PR for me by a little, but I don’t train for this short stuff, so no worries.
I went back by the massage tables and got my legs worked over nicely. Boy could I tell I had biked hard yesterday when she hit my quads! I think her name was Kyra, and she knew I knew Cindy, and she told me I should come to the massage school class and be a “body” for them. I told her that I’d already been invited and would see her in 2 weeks. THAT will be another great day—I’ll get an outstanding 1.5 hour massage followed by more work by the students.
I picked up my T-shirt, said my goodbyes, grabbed a butterscotch lollipop, and headed for home. After that brief cool-down, the cold and wind really hit me hard again, but my legs didn’t really feel bad at all, and I added a little extra distance and some hills on the way back home to almost get in a full hour of running.
When I got home, I had to put a ham in the oven to bake to take over to the feast I was attending, and I changed from my run clothes to other workout clothes, knocked out a 30-minute abs/core workout, still feeling pretty peppy, then I finally showered and dressed and got ready to leave again, only this time by car.
I just felt so good, and the running felt good today (except for the wind and cold), and my legs felt really strong, especially after having done a ½ Ironman last Saturday and some pretty good workouts before today. And my FT watts are up! And I’ve almost convinced myself that I need that carbon FSA compact crank/SRM combo. And I got to sit around and get fed a bounteous meal with family today. And I got leftovers!
I’m looking forward to my 3-hour brick workout tomorrow, and then I’ve got some big running for Saturday and Sunday (for the next 5 weeks, actually).
I really couldn’t ask for anything more right now. It’s been a perfect day. I’m very thankful.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Today's Workouts
7:30AM Swim 2800. Included 10x100, descending every 3, last one 100% effort. The pool was fucking hot, and I just couldn't get any speed going. But I did my best, finished the workout, so all was good.
3:25PM Bike 1:15. I am on 2x20' (2') FT intervals again. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!! But, I average 157 watts each one today. I am going to try and hit those same watts next week. I am somewhat rested on the bike, but I'm hoping I can start pushing up my FT watts. These intervals are hard, HARD, HARD!!!! But I know how strong they make me. When I do these workouts, my eyeballs sweat!
I may do a 5K tomorrow, I may not. The weather is not supposed to be good. I don't want to be judging my 5K pace in sub-optimal weather conditions. On the other hand, I can get a free massage afterwards, so I just might go anyway. I can jog to and from the race, which would give me about 5.2 miles total. I'm supposed to run 1 hour tomorrow, so this is probably enough, given race intensity. I'll see!
3:25PM Bike 1:15. I am on 2x20' (2') FT intervals again. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!! But, I average 157 watts each one today. I am going to try and hit those same watts next week. I am somewhat rested on the bike, but I'm hoping I can start pushing up my FT watts. These intervals are hard, HARD, HARD!!!! But I know how strong they make me. When I do these workouts, my eyeballs sweat!
I may do a 5K tomorrow, I may not. The weather is not supposed to be good. I don't want to be judging my 5K pace in sub-optimal weather conditions. On the other hand, I can get a free massage afterwards, so I just might go anyway. I can jog to and from the race, which would give me about 5.2 miles total. I'm supposed to run 1 hour tomorrow, so this is probably enough, given race intensity. I'll see!
The Path
In my quest to increase self-awareness through various techniques, I have begun observing in others the potential to walk down that same path, and I think I've developed a sense of people who are not on that path. At this point in my life, I will be most happy with friends who are moving in the same direction.
Today I tried to describe to a friend that I believe is ready to walk down that path why she's suddenly experiencing this awakening, using sports as the vehicle, just as I do:
Sometimes it's simply a matter of being ready to hear a particular message. I could almost see the lights going on the day I wrote to you about your past Ironman performances and how I didn't think you were seeing clearly, and I think that set the wheels in motion for you to look at yourself in a different way.
To cite a personal example, I'm rereading a book that I supposedly read over 5 years ago. At that time, I was locked into a repeating cycle of self-doubt and occasional depression, and the book brought me some comfort in a time of need. This time, when I began reading it again, it was with the eyes of a beginner--a novice--who needed to be more open to the messages contained inside. It has been a completely different experience of the very same book! I SEE so much more in the book, I've LEARNED so much from it, and I can INTEGRATE its messages into my practice of self-observation and awareness.
We are like books--there can be very deep messages in there if we have tuned (OUT, some would say) our perspective to see them. When we're not ready for our book's (life's) messages/lessons, our experience of the book can be based on what our current or past experiences are when evaluated from an ingrained, external and easily influenced point of view. When we ARE ready for those messages/lessons, it feels as though we're reading a chapter for the first time, even if we've read it many times before. After all, it's the very same information! And suddenly, the subtler messages become clearer, meaningful and weightless without all our personal mental baggage to weigh them down.
Some of us read the book and "get it" sooner than others, but no matter when that mind opening occurs, it's deeply personal and precious, and you need to let it be coaxed gently into the forefront of your consciousness, let others who have been there help you in your own journey, understand that there will be rocks and obstacles on the way (mostly of your own doing!), and most of all, enjoy the process!
Today I tried to describe to a friend that I believe is ready to walk down that path why she's suddenly experiencing this awakening, using sports as the vehicle, just as I do:
Sometimes it's simply a matter of being ready to hear a particular message. I could almost see the lights going on the day I wrote to you about your past Ironman performances and how I didn't think you were seeing clearly, and I think that set the wheels in motion for you to look at yourself in a different way.
To cite a personal example, I'm rereading a book that I supposedly read over 5 years ago. At that time, I was locked into a repeating cycle of self-doubt and occasional depression, and the book brought me some comfort in a time of need. This time, when I began reading it again, it was with the eyes of a beginner--a novice--who needed to be more open to the messages contained inside. It has been a completely different experience of the very same book! I SEE so much more in the book, I've LEARNED so much from it, and I can INTEGRATE its messages into my practice of self-observation and awareness.
We are like books--there can be very deep messages in there if we have tuned (OUT, some would say) our perspective to see them. When we're not ready for our book's (life's) messages/lessons, our experience of the book can be based on what our current or past experiences are when evaluated from an ingrained, external and easily influenced point of view. When we ARE ready for those messages/lessons, it feels as though we're reading a chapter for the first time, even if we've read it many times before. After all, it's the very same information! And suddenly, the subtler messages become clearer, meaningful and weightless without all our personal mental baggage to weigh them down.
Some of us read the book and "get it" sooner than others, but no matter when that mind opening occurs, it's deeply personal and precious, and you need to let it be coaxed gently into the forefront of your consciousness, let others who have been there help you in your own journey, understand that there will be rocks and obstacles on the way (mostly of your own doing!), and most of all, enjoy the process!
Stuff I'm Thankful For
US Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and it's common to sit down and think about what we are thankful for. Below is my short list!
General:
General:
- Life situations and people that keep presenting me with valuable lessons that I try to learn from
- All my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad are alive and (relatively) healthy
- Family, friends and acquaintances that accept me as is, which is an ever-changing proposition, and their unconditional love
- Friends and family that challenge my way of thinking and being
- Excellent health and fitness
- The ability to still marvel at nature—I saw (after I first heard them) a large flock of migrating sandhill cranes 2 days ago, and yesterday a rough-legged hawk landed in a tree in my back yard.
- My tenacity and desire for continuous learning that was the example set for me as a small child
- A growing ability to be content; yet not complacent
- Humor
- Humility
- Pink things
- Leather things
- Double entendres
- Champagne
- A really good steak
- Sushi
- Mountain Dew Code Red
- The unbelievable variety of food we have access to
- Biodiversity
- Great sex
- My life to this point
Sports: - A job that enables me to live the Ironman lifestyle on my terms
- My gym is only .5 miles from home!
- I can find open lap lanes at my pool many hours of the day
- Safe, wide roads to run on and plenty of challenging hills close to home
- A kick-ass 9.5 mile trail to run on that’s a short drive from home
- A rather large lake to swim in with beautiful views of a vibrant city
- A convenient, safe loop of road close to home where I can do my bike intervals in season
- An Ironman course only 2.5 hours from home that provides outstanding training opportunities
- All the fun and outrageous training and racing I’ve done to date
- An awesome triathlon coach who helps me push myself further than I ever dreamed possible
- 2 knees that still work (my dad’s had both replaced)
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Today's Workouts
Well, they were very short and sweet. Still in recovery mode from ChickenMan:
9:50AM Lift 2x12, 13'. This was to finish up what I started yesterday. A few leg exercises and some abs.
12:19PM Run 45'. This was basically an easy run, done on the treadmill. I could tell I just didn't have my "oomph" back. But at least it was just 45'.
1:15PM Swim 1750 yards, 37'. Did another easy, drill workout, finishing with 400 pull done as 25 hard, 25 easy. Swimming felt good. The pool temperature was nice and cool. I could tell my legs aren't 100% back yet when I did my 200 kick during the warmup. I sure hope they are back tomorrow for the FT festival on the bike!
There is a nice, spiral-cut ham sitting in my refrigerator, waiting to be baked and eaten on Thanksgiving. It stares at me every time I open the refrigerator. It will be tasty. Also blueberry wine, homemade cranberry sauce, turkey, and probably a lot of other stuff over at my brother's.
Good thing I'll be working out 2+ hours tomorrow, so I can work up an appetite for Thursday!
9:50AM Lift 2x12, 13'. This was to finish up what I started yesterday. A few leg exercises and some abs.
12:19PM Run 45'. This was basically an easy run, done on the treadmill. I could tell I just didn't have my "oomph" back. But at least it was just 45'.
1:15PM Swim 1750 yards, 37'. Did another easy, drill workout, finishing with 400 pull done as 25 hard, 25 easy. Swimming felt good. The pool temperature was nice and cool. I could tell my legs aren't 100% back yet when I did my 200 kick during the warmup. I sure hope they are back tomorrow for the FT festival on the bike!
There is a nice, spiral-cut ham sitting in my refrigerator, waiting to be baked and eaten on Thanksgiving. It stares at me every time I open the refrigerator. It will be tasty. Also blueberry wine, homemade cranberry sauce, turkey, and probably a lot of other stuff over at my brother's.
Good thing I'll be working out 2+ hours tomorrow, so I can work up an appetite for Thursday!
The Mind of Iron Motto
Harder, longer, faster, tougher, repeat.
This is how I train. It encompasses the basic principles of training for any endurance sport:
This is how I train. It encompasses the basic principles of training for any endurance sport:
- Harder = Force/Power
- Longer = Endurance
- Faster = Speed
- Tougher = Muscular Endurance/Mental Toughness
- Repeat = Consistency
Monday, November 21, 2005
Today's workouts and other stuff
11:00AM Lift 2x12, 46'. ALMOST finished entire workout, then I just wasn't into it any more. Felt strong. Gee, a day off (yesterday) really does wonders!
3:58PM Swim 1800, 41'. Started the drill workout, and apparently I had read the wrong day on the schedule and I got kicked out. That's OK, I really didn't have to swim today--I may do a nice 1500-yd. workout tomorrow after that piddly little run. It will help my legs, anyway! When I first started, I couldn't get that bad dream out of my head. I'm sure it means there is something that I need to think about.
On the way into the pool, I saw a flock of maybe 75 sandhill cranes flying south! I can recognize them by their chuckle. Then you look in the air and see them flying really high! When I saw them, I said out loud, "I am so lucky." This is 3 times this year I have heard and seen them flying either north or south. Yet I have never seen a live one up close and personal. But I know they are a very special part of nature.
3:58PM Swim 1800, 41'. Started the drill workout, and apparently I had read the wrong day on the schedule and I got kicked out. That's OK, I really didn't have to swim today--I may do a nice 1500-yd. workout tomorrow after that piddly little run. It will help my legs, anyway! When I first started, I couldn't get that bad dream out of my head. I'm sure it means there is something that I need to think about.
On the way into the pool, I saw a flock of maybe 75 sandhill cranes flying south! I can recognize them by their chuckle. Then you look in the air and see them flying really high! When I saw them, I said out loud, "I am so lucky." This is 3 times this year I have heard and seen them flying either north or south. Yet I have never seen a live one up close and personal. But I know they are a very special part of nature.
Thoughts and Dreams
There were no workouts to do yesterday. I needed to recover from ChickenMan!
So what did I do? I read the Sunday newspaper, then went outside to clean out the remaining gutter so that my brother Tom would have an easier time of putting the gutter guards on. After that, I covered 6 rose bushes in the back yard, and then Tom arrived.
I wasn't planning on raking the back yard, but I thought I might as well start. See, my new neighbor hasn't raked his yet, and I don't want his leaves blowing over my way, but I think they are pretty much tamped down with moisture, so I figured, what the hell, may as well rake. But I kept looking up at the large tree limb which hasn't fallen down yet. I was hoping that at least I would hear a warning sound before the thing broke free and either started swinging to hit me or crashed to the ground. I am still hopeful the thing will fall on its own and not hit my power lines or my house, but you never know. So all the while I was raking under that tree, I kept looking up hoping to not get killed. The branch still hasn't fallen. Perhaps the next big wind will do it.
After I finished raking, and Tom finished putting gutter guards on my house and the garage (and he also trimmed this pine tree next to the garage which belongs to my other neighbor, but he never trims the thing), we went to Chicken Basket for some food. A 1-day delay, since I should have gone the day before after my "race," but no matter, it was still good. I was so hungry I couldn't talk or move, but as soon as the biscuits came, all was good!
Then Tom worked on the switches for some lights in my family room. It seemed like it should have taken him maybe 1 hour, but I guess the wiring is a Chinese puzzle (sorry for the stereotype), so he spent about 4 hours on it! What we ended up with is completely satisfactory to me; however, it doesn't work the way it used to. There was much turning off and on of the circuit breakers. During this time, I was reading the newspaper, and frankly, I wanted to go to sleep! I was so tired, just fatigue incorporated!
This morning I feel pretty good. I can tell there is some residual soreness in my legs, and I don't have to run or bike or swim today, but I'm going to lift weights and if I feel like it, go for a swim at lunchtime. Hopefully that will shake all the cobwebs out of my body so I can get back to normal training.
"Normal" training? My coach is killing me! No, not really, he's just training me for that stupid Goofy Challenge, which is just running, but fuck, I'm a triathlete, so I also get to keep swimming and biking. Some pretty tough training coming up. I think these are the hardest weeks I've ever had during the winter, but if I don't fall apart during this 7-week stretch (yes, kids, it's only 7 weeks until that Goofy shit), I will have one fucking amazing solid running base to carry me into Ironman Brazil, where I'm pretty confident I can go sub-5 in the marathon. Woo-hoo, wouldn't that just be the shits? Well, I am NOT counting my chickens (or other animals) before they hatch, I will just keep keeping on. My swimming hasn't been too peppy, but now I realize that it's because I'm putting so much into my running and biking, and swimming is my worst of the three sports (let me qualify that: I have FUCKING TONS of swim endurance and can go all day; but I'm so totally MOP, and would prefer to be TOP OF MOP), so when I'm tired, it's my swimming that suffers the most.
I need to get on my nutrition more than I have. While I'm not gaining weight--in fact, I believe I'm the leanest, yet most muscular, that I've been in years--I could be eating better. In the late fall/early winter, though, I typically have problems getting into a nutritional "groove." My training now is different than it's been this time of year in the past, but it's not balls-out 18+ hours a week, either. So I need to find that middle ground.
I remember 2 dreams I had last night. The first was I was recently hired by this company, and first thing they wanted me to made modifications to this FORTRAN (I know, I know, how OLD SCHOOL) program that spit out information about people. I can remember looking at a printout of the current program, and then going around and finding people who could give me brief instructions on how to log onto the mainframe or main server or whatever, and then I would need access to some disk drives and then the location of the compiler and how to run it. I remember in the dream feeling quite confident in my ability to put all of this together and make quick work of the required program modifications. I also remember that the new information being added to the output had to do with who in the population were triathletes! What a way to put a bunch of elements of my existence together! At least it was a very positive dream.
Now the second dream was a little disturbing. I was shaving my legs, and on the back side of one, on the calf, I found this new growth thing. It stuck out about 1.5", was all this skin bumpiness with feathered, really dark edges. So I just continued trying to shave off these really long hairs growing out of it and though, "gosh I need to get to a doctor and get this thing removed." It's hard to describe what the growth looked like, but it was totally gross, and when I woke up from the dream, I was like what the fuck was THAT?????? I have goosebumps just thinking about this dream again.
I almost finished reading The Runner and the Path last night before I went to sleep. Good book. It is ending with the guy knowing he's going to lose his current job, and how he then ends up writing this book. Very liminocentric! What I have gotten out of reading this book is that some of us can use our sports as a vehicle to learn and practice observing ourselves and to get our mind out of its usual activities, i.e., sort of like meditation. And that if we can watch ourselves in difficult or uncomfortable situations, we can perhaps make sense out of our true feelings and possibly change our reactions or the degree of reaction. This is where I am, and I can't say I'm successful 100% of the time, but I have noticed a new degree of calm about myself that I've never experienced before. Even though my job has been quite stressful in the past few weeks, I think I'm learning how to separate that which I can control (my own reaction to a situation) vs. that which I can't control (how others perceive things or me), and while things aren't perfect, they are tolerable.
I wouldn't call how I feel right now "happiness," because I'm learning that that is mostly a ephemeral emotion. I would call it openness, heightened awareness and I'm really feeling more receptive to a lot of things around me. Whether that translates into new/deepening relationships is neither here nor there right at the moment; first and foremost is my relationship to my SELF.
So what did I do? I read the Sunday newspaper, then went outside to clean out the remaining gutter so that my brother Tom would have an easier time of putting the gutter guards on. After that, I covered 6 rose bushes in the back yard, and then Tom arrived.
I wasn't planning on raking the back yard, but I thought I might as well start. See, my new neighbor hasn't raked his yet, and I don't want his leaves blowing over my way, but I think they are pretty much tamped down with moisture, so I figured, what the hell, may as well rake. But I kept looking up at the large tree limb which hasn't fallen down yet. I was hoping that at least I would hear a warning sound before the thing broke free and either started swinging to hit me or crashed to the ground. I am still hopeful the thing will fall on its own and not hit my power lines or my house, but you never know. So all the while I was raking under that tree, I kept looking up hoping to not get killed. The branch still hasn't fallen. Perhaps the next big wind will do it.
After I finished raking, and Tom finished putting gutter guards on my house and the garage (and he also trimmed this pine tree next to the garage which belongs to my other neighbor, but he never trims the thing), we went to Chicken Basket for some food. A 1-day delay, since I should have gone the day before after my "race," but no matter, it was still good. I was so hungry I couldn't talk or move, but as soon as the biscuits came, all was good!
Then Tom worked on the switches for some lights in my family room. It seemed like it should have taken him maybe 1 hour, but I guess the wiring is a Chinese puzzle (sorry for the stereotype), so he spent about 4 hours on it! What we ended up with is completely satisfactory to me; however, it doesn't work the way it used to. There was much turning off and on of the circuit breakers. During this time, I was reading the newspaper, and frankly, I wanted to go to sleep! I was so tired, just fatigue incorporated!
This morning I feel pretty good. I can tell there is some residual soreness in my legs, and I don't have to run or bike or swim today, but I'm going to lift weights and if I feel like it, go for a swim at lunchtime. Hopefully that will shake all the cobwebs out of my body so I can get back to normal training.
"Normal" training? My coach is killing me! No, not really, he's just training me for that stupid Goofy Challenge, which is just running, but fuck, I'm a triathlete, so I also get to keep swimming and biking. Some pretty tough training coming up. I think these are the hardest weeks I've ever had during the winter, but if I don't fall apart during this 7-week stretch (yes, kids, it's only 7 weeks until that Goofy shit), I will have one fucking amazing solid running base to carry me into Ironman Brazil, where I'm pretty confident I can go sub-5 in the marathon. Woo-hoo, wouldn't that just be the shits? Well, I am NOT counting my chickens (or other animals) before they hatch, I will just keep keeping on. My swimming hasn't been too peppy, but now I realize that it's because I'm putting so much into my running and biking, and swimming is my worst of the three sports (let me qualify that: I have FUCKING TONS of swim endurance and can go all day; but I'm so totally MOP, and would prefer to be TOP OF MOP), so when I'm tired, it's my swimming that suffers the most.
I need to get on my nutrition more than I have. While I'm not gaining weight--in fact, I believe I'm the leanest, yet most muscular, that I've been in years--I could be eating better. In the late fall/early winter, though, I typically have problems getting into a nutritional "groove." My training now is different than it's been this time of year in the past, but it's not balls-out 18+ hours a week, either. So I need to find that middle ground.
I remember 2 dreams I had last night. The first was I was recently hired by this company, and first thing they wanted me to made modifications to this FORTRAN (I know, I know, how OLD SCHOOL) program that spit out information about people. I can remember looking at a printout of the current program, and then going around and finding people who could give me brief instructions on how to log onto the mainframe or main server or whatever, and then I would need access to some disk drives and then the location of the compiler and how to run it. I remember in the dream feeling quite confident in my ability to put all of this together and make quick work of the required program modifications. I also remember that the new information being added to the output had to do with who in the population were triathletes! What a way to put a bunch of elements of my existence together! At least it was a very positive dream.
Now the second dream was a little disturbing. I was shaving my legs, and on the back side of one, on the calf, I found this new growth thing. It stuck out about 1.5", was all this skin bumpiness with feathered, really dark edges. So I just continued trying to shave off these really long hairs growing out of it and though, "gosh I need to get to a doctor and get this thing removed." It's hard to describe what the growth looked like, but it was totally gross, and when I woke up from the dream, I was like what the fuck was THAT?????? I have goosebumps just thinking about this dream again.
I almost finished reading The Runner and the Path last night before I went to sleep. Good book. It is ending with the guy knowing he's going to lose his current job, and how he then ends up writing this book. Very liminocentric! What I have gotten out of reading this book is that some of us can use our sports as a vehicle to learn and practice observing ourselves and to get our mind out of its usual activities, i.e., sort of like meditation. And that if we can watch ourselves in difficult or uncomfortable situations, we can perhaps make sense out of our true feelings and possibly change our reactions or the degree of reaction. This is where I am, and I can't say I'm successful 100% of the time, but I have noticed a new degree of calm about myself that I've never experienced before. Even though my job has been quite stressful in the past few weeks, I think I'm learning how to separate that which I can control (my own reaction to a situation) vs. that which I can't control (how others perceive things or me), and while things aren't perfect, they are tolerable.
I wouldn't call how I feel right now "happiness," because I'm learning that that is mostly a ephemeral emotion. I would call it openness, heightened awareness and I'm really feeling more receptive to a lot of things around me. Whether that translates into new/deepening relationships is neither here nor there right at the moment; first and foremost is my relationship to my SELF.
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