Metamorphosis

I thought I should write something quick about how my physique has changed through the years of doing all this nonsense.  I began triathlon (2000) in a sort of pudgy state--not fat by normal standards, but carrying a decent amount of weight that wouldn't do me any good biking or running.  I erroneously thought I could eat whatever I wanted, and we all know that just isn't true no matter how much training you do.

Fattie! Crackhead's first Ironman--Lake Placid, 2001.


I naturally began dropping some fat off as I continued to train, mostly due to becoming stronger and working at a higher intensity (note to people trying to lose weight by staying in their "fat burning" zone--that's a crock of shit--work hard!).  By 2004, I'd become fairly lean, and had gotten my eating habits back under control--mostly by monitoring quality of intake, but again, I was also upping the intensity.

Here I am at Ironman Canada 2004.  Who would have predicted I'd be swimming the full length of that lake 6 years later in Ultraman Canada?

Here I am finishing IMLP 2009, pretty much as lean as I've ever been, but there was some seriously muscle going on there, too. FYI, that is the time to beat at Ironman Canada this year, and hopefully by 20+ minutes!

I maintained through about 2008, perhaps leaning out just a tad more, but nothing too noticeable.  In 2009, I stepped up my training again, and as expected, it was reflected in my body comp.

Next, I began the Ultraman training cycle--lots more swimming, more strength work, and I decided no good would come from me obsessing about how much fat I was carrying--I might even need it for the race!   The one thing that did change, though, is my upper body became bigger from all the swimming.

My hips remained boyish, my ass remained huge, but I got me some shoulders, and put on a bit o' fat.  All good.

Since then, I've watched my diet more carefully to keep the fat off and improve my health, and it showed in recent blood work I had done.  Great cholesterol readings, fasting glucose, liver/kidney function.  All of it.  Doctor pronounced me pretty damn healthy for 55 years old.

During 2011, I only raced twice, and somewhere along the way, I decided I should up the weights.  It was time to revamp the strength training anyway.  The net result is interesting.  Yesterday, I dropped off Skull Kingdom for her annual tuneup and had my guy, Rich, look at me on her.  I haven't ridden Skull Kingdom since last September.  Between then and now, I kept up my heavier weights and did a boatload of swimming.  The result?  The only way I could describe it was that I felt "pinchy" in my chest/lat area.  Lo and behold, and I've known this for a few months, my pecs and lats are bigger than ever, and especially the lat development has necessitated a few changes in my bike fit!  I asked Rich what he did, and he moved my saddle back 5mm and my bars down maybe 2.  I told him that I am pretty sure that after I ride it for a few weeks that I will want the bars dropped some more.  I was really happy I had him check me out again, and I'll be back in probably a month for a re-check.  I don't have a picture to show for this, but will get one in a week when I pick up Skull Kingdom.

I also just got some more swimsuits (I know I don't NEED them!), and I've thought my existing ones were fitting me differently.  Well it's a fact.  I ordered up a size thinking it was my huge ass making them tighter, but it's not.  It's my upper body again!  The new suits are still pretty snug in my upper body, and I wish they were tighter in the ass area, but oh well.  I may still order my next ones down back to my normal size and just suffer with them being skin-tight. 

Aaaaaaaaaanyway...I find it fascinating how my body has metamorphosed throughout the years.  As of today, I can say with confidence that I will be shedding much fat--it is already difficult for me to shovel in enough calories, and I'm putting in some good intensity, too.  It will be interesting to see how I look just 8 weeks from now.  I've changed up my strength training again (as per coach), and I am still retaining solid pecs/lats work but now adding lots of lunges, so maybe my legs will look decent!  I know I shouldn't care what I look like but rather how I perform, but I can't help it--it makes me feel good to look good.  I've never thought I was particularly "face" attractive, so all I've got is this stinky old body to work with.  It has served me well, and I'm not forcing it into any particular shape--it will be whatever is the result of what I am doing now.  I promise to feed it well first for performance, but no worries I am getting plenty of flavor and enjoyment out of my food!

CrossFit Vs. Traditional Endurance Training for Triathlon Success

There's a discussion going on over in the Slowtwitch forum about this, and while I have opinions, I'm not going to voice them over there, but rather here.

So there's this spinoff of CrossFit called CrossFit Endurance. While I do like their pirate-based logo, I cannot say I agree with some of the claims being made here. I am in no way making a statement about the value of CrossFit as an enhancement to an endurance training program. I think I have enough years of fairly serious exercise in me (18 years of strength training and 11 years of endurance training) to make some observations and comments on my little N=1 study.

First, I'll assume anyone reading here has a basic understanding of Exercise Physiology. There are many good books on this covering things down at the cellular level all the way up to the musculoskeletal system. But to frame things, I'll state the "Basic Training Principles" that you'll find in any of those books:

1. Individuality: what works for you might not work for me. This is from a combination of genetics, prior experience, mental focus, etc.
2. Specificity: You won't get better at swimming by riding a bike. Seriously! While developing overall cardiovascular fitness is helpful at maintaining overall conditionining, there is no crossover, especially when you are talking about a skill/technique based sport like swimming or tennis.
3. Disuse: Use it or lose it!
4. Progressive Overload: You need to push yourself, sometimes to the edge and beyond, to create new gains in fitness.
5. Hard/Easy: Contrary to what you see on my blog, it is important to cycle workout intensity!
6. Periodization: Overall training loads need to be varied within the context of a training/competition cycle.

I always wondered why there wasn't a principle called Change. It is partly encompassed by Periodization and some of the other principles like Hard/Easy, but not fully. Periodization needs to occur within varying length cycles--we usually think of a training "season," but when you are first starting out at a sport like triathlon, you can't jump right in and begin training 750-800 hours a year, which is what I do. So over the course of a few years you'd build up to that level.

But I digress. If a person did the same training plan from one year to the next, where that plan included all the Basic Training Principles, would they get any better/faster? For a few years, yes, because that is what people are talking about when they say "base building" and also consistency (which is just another form of the Disuse principle). The fact that I've been at Ironman training for almost 9 years means that I have a huge base compared to someone who is in their first year. Which means I am able to do crazier shit than many people with smaller bases (or else I am just smarter about it!).

Eventually, though, your body adapts to anything you throw at it, and on a steady diet of same old same old, you will eventually plateau. You've heard the old adage "it doesn't get easier--you just get faster." Like my bike and run training is time-based, so I run for X minutes, bike for Y hours, and how ever much mileage I cover is what I get. This removes things like terrain and weather and fatigue levels from the equation. On a given day, I might run further in X minutes than the prior week.

When I look across my records, I can document that I am running and biking faster than I have in the past. Not by a whole lot, but it's there. At least in training! We will see how it translates to long course racing in a few weeks. It was interesting the other day that I realized the previous time I won the Indoor Triathlon Series was in 2004, but when I won it this year, I am now 5 years older and faster! Isn't that cool?

Anyway, I keep digressing...the biggest thing I've learned in all my years at this is that the body needs, in fact, CRAVES change. I MUST change up my stretching routine, my strength routine, my swim/bike/run routines, my challenge events every single year and sometimes more frequently, if I want to see improvement. Can I document every subtle change I've made? No...I'm not that anal-retentive ;) But I can look across years and know significant changes I've made, including perhaps resting more, sleeping more, stretching more, doing more strength work, doing various focused sport efforts, etc., and see how it has made a difference.

Is what I've done scientifically based? Hell no. It's been motivated by the fact that I like change, we live in a world of change, and I am always looking for new ways to gain an edge not only competitively, but in how strong I feel in my daily life activities, such as they are.

Whenever I am asked how I have come to be in the shape that I am in, I always point to it being a combination of endurance training, strength training, flexibility, diet, massage and mental training.

I know a few people who are serious into the CrossFit thing and others who are just beginning to dabble in it. I have complete respect for anyone's method of achieving overall fitness--whether it's playing basketball, rock climbing or whatever. As an aside, I think that a serious rock climber is probably in overall generally good condition...

I just happen to have chosen triathlon as one of my vehicles. But I have a longer strength background and I keep that up because I know what it does for me. It was just coincidental that I met some CrossFitters and some other friends started dabbling in it, and I thought, hey, it's time for me to change things up a bit, and so I am trying out a few things here and there.

But my core triathlon training is not changing...I will only get stronger on the bike by working hard on the bike. I will only develop the tendon/ligament strength in my legs for running by running. As to my swimming, well, I'd need a one-on-one coach and at least 15,000 yards per week in the pool to see any serious gains there, and the time investment is just not worth it to me, so I'll settle for my 10,000 yards a week that I enjoy doing and keeps me from slowing down too much and helps my recovery from biking and running.

What about the idea that if I significantly decreased my swim/bike/run training and did more CrossFit type stuff that I'd get faster? I think not. First of all, I have a pretty balanced triathlon training program that includes a big dose of intensity amongst all the LSD stuff. And seriously, I rarely do a 100% LSD workout--my long runs and rides have significant work periods in them, and unless I am 100% shelled, I am able to execute those with regularity. Riding a bike hard works my quads hard. Swimming with paddles works my lats, traps and shoulders hard the same as lifting weights. Running hills fast makes my legs stronger. Do my muscles care that the strength they've acquired is from being on a bike vs. doing squats? I think not. I've been playing around with doing a bunch of squats, and while I haven't tried to max out, let's just say I think my quads are fairly strong, and it isn't from doing a bunch of squats!

I do believe it's very important for triathlon specialists to mix it up, even though there's this notion that because we are training 3 sports that we are cross-training. Bunk! Like I said, your body adapts to anything, and there are many unused muscles and even muscle imbalances created if all you do is swim, bike and run.

There is, I believe, an overall strength component to reducing one's level of general fatigue, and the point at which during a long workout, say an Ironman, one reaches it. For example, it's well-known that it's important to maintain upper body strength to be successful at running, because when your upper body tires, your form can fall completely apart. Ultrarunners in particular need good overall strength since most of their events are quite challenging in terms of terrain, much more so than a silly Ironman!

You also need a helluva strong core to stay on a bike, especially in an aero position, for long periods of time. I want to take one of my CrossFit friends with me on a 120-mile bike ride! Now maybe I can't do 20 repetitions of climbing 100's of stairs with kettlebells, but I'm not training to do that. If I wanted to, though, I could. And yet, I don't feel lacking in my overall general strength, at least not for the life I lead. I think I'm plenty strong, thank you. Although I suppose that if I get trapped in a collapsing building I might be in some trouble...

I do believe that no matter what your chosen sport or physical application that you need to mix it up frequently during the course of a training cycle but also across years. Change is inevitable. If a person is responding in their target sport by changing up their routine to something that favors more CrossFit-type workouts, who can say it's because it's CrossFit and maybe they would get the same results by taking up rock climbing?

It's good to experiment with different exercise modalities for overall health and strength, and also to prevent mental burnout in a given sport. But if you want to be really good at a particular sport, you gotta do that sport. I mostly want to be good at riding a bike and have fun doing it. For some reason, I like triathlon because it introduces some variety by adding in swimming and running. I come from a strength training background, so I keep doing that, too. I've experimented with various types of circuit training, have taught classes in it, have trained for and competed well at stair climbs, volleyball and softball. I may have put some of those things aside for my current tenure at triathlon, but I have never forgotten that I need to keep changing things up. It may not always be evident from this blog, but it's there. So what if I'm a little heavy on the endurance stuff vs. pure strength/functional conditioning? To each their own. My current objective, though, is not to be good or competitive at CrossFit stuff. If that is what I wanted, that is what I'd be doing. I will not apologize to CrossFitters for the way I do things, and I will not belittle what they do. It's all good!

Get out there and exercise, and if you want to compete, good, if you want to just look good and feel good, also good, but don't forget to change things up!

And the Stream of Expected Changes Continues

One of the things I get a kick out of is being really in tune with my body as I gradually increase my training load. After a brief break in the fall (which is typically way brief for me), I am itching to prove to myself that I haven't lost my endurance, which is why a 1/2 NothingMan in November or December (2008's was delayed due to my back injury, although I suppose my November Cheaterman 60-mile bike/15 mile run was close) has become a regular event for me.

Next, I have to adjust to life on the fucking trainer, but I start out with short workouts so that I can up the intensity, and for no good reason at all, I cut back on my swimming. And then I start working on some running intensity.

Next, I feel like a complete and total blob, because I hate how I look when I am not tan, even though it is probably just a few pounds of fat because I'm not training like a maniac. I remember that I need to be watchful of my diet, especially treats like candy and chips, because I usually don't start in on them until I'm training at least 15 hours per week.

Then I get up to around 15 hours a week and it's always a bit of a shock to my system, just getting used to the frequency of the workouts and all the bottles and how I need to manage my time very efficiently. But then after a few weeks of it, big things start to happen, since I usually don't hang out at 15 for very long.

There's the Monday morning workout, "Oh SHIT am I tired." I slept well last night, and felt fine when I woke up, but as soon as I started doing pullups, I could tell I was tired. By the time I got into the pool, I could tell I wouldn't be swimming too fast. There will be Mondays where I can barely put my face in the water I am so tired, but that won't happen for a few months (I hope!). And when one of those days happen, I have a conversation with myself and my little friends that goes like this:

Me: Huh, I feel kinda tired. I wonder if I should take a rest day?
Inner Devil: Fuck no just go a little easier today
Inner Angel: Gee, it wouldn't hurt you to take one
Me: I wonder when was the last time I actually took a rest day? Probably before some race...
Inner Devil: Rest days are for losers or the day before a race ONLY.
Inner Angel: Maybe you need a rest day.
Me: Now that I am thinking about it, what do you know? I can work out harder right now.

Speaking of shit, there's more of that happening, too, as my body adjusts to more food going in and consequently more shit coming out (sorry about that it's true). It will take a few weeks for me to get all synchronized on that front, which is mostly a function of run volume and frequency. I'm up to 5 runs a week, and I'll add a 6th in 4 weeks.

The next thing that will happen, I'm guessing in 2 weeks, is that Mr. Tapeworm will return. Since I've been dieting, I've been used to some feelings of hunger, but that's from calorie restriction. Mr. Tapeworm will see to it that not only am I hungry all the time, even while actually eating, but that while eating one meal I will be thinking about the next one!

Finally, I'll experience regular bonking. Not necessarily during a workout, but yesterday, for instance, after I finished about 2:15 of stuff, ate lunch, had a beer, had a lay down, then got up and started doing yard work (which apparently I do rather vigorously, go figure), and about :40 in I started bonking. It made me laugh, because now I need to be aware of any extra physical activity that I'm doing because it will require more calories coming in every 2 hours at least.

Bonking during workouts will happen when my timing is off, i.e., I started a workout later than I should have and didn't keep fueling right up until. This will happen usually during the week when work takes precedence over when I get my second workout in, since I won't eat lunch until after that's finished. And even if I pound a Coke or Ultra Violence, it might not be enough calories to keep me going, only because I probably am not able to keep my glycogen topped off on a daily basis when I'm at 16+ hours in a week.

All this while, I will be feeling like I am strong and that nothing can get to me, but you know what? Predictably I get a little moody. I know many people think they only get that when in a taper, but I am already there--it's more a function of how much I'm training. I already did a mini-build while doing the indoor sprint races, and now I'm in the volume build for Triple T and I already notice some moodiness. But I've done this for years now, so I've learned when to paste on the smile and say "thank you" when I might not feel like it or to just smile or to just be quiet.

It doesn't help to not have raced in 2 weeks. You know, even though it wears you down, you get used to the high of it because there is nothing like it. I just completed a survey which was fun to take, since it confirmed what I thought to be my mental state while racing. And that high can last you for a few days, and I naturally have these aggro tendencies, so you put it together and it's quite heady.

But then there will be the first 100 mile ride of the year, the first 2 hour run, the first 4,000 yard swim, and they will be other joyous markers of things to come. It makes a training year like climbing a mountain, and then you need to come down off of it. But the way up is fun, fun, fun, and you know what? Even if you reverse the first letters, it's still fucking fun!

Edit: During my little :45 run, I realized I forgot a few other markers:

• Gagging when I brush my teeth. This seems to start happening once I am racing, and then continues as I build volume, because brushing my teeth means either I'm on my way to a race or a long workout!
• Hot legs. As the volume goes up, so does the metabolism, and there comes a point when my legs are always burning up while I sleep, which makes me wake up and move to another part of the bed which might be cooler, or throw all the blankets off and put a cool feather pillow on myself, go into the guest bed which will be nice and cool, or move to the edge of the bed so a fan can blow directly on me. Last night was the first time where I had to have a fan blowing on me all night because I was so hot, even though the air temperature in my bedroom was maybe 68. When I travel during the summer to races or training weekends, it's a big joke with whomever is my roommate about how cold we will keep the room. 58-60 is not too cold!
  
• The MESS. Since I had my house all nice and fixed up, I've reverted to being somewhat of a neat freak, but once I start running and riding outside exclusively (and longer), time available to clean will go down the drain, and there will be shoes, helmets, dirty clothes and bottles in plain sight pretty much daily.
• Practically puking after runs from home. Why? I think because on the way back, I am usually so excited that I will be done for the day, and I usually have something in reserve so I throw caution to the wind and just gun it for the last mile. And then spend 5 minutes dry heaving and coughing!
  

See this is the sort of stuff you never see in books about Ironman training, but to me it's one of the more charming aspects!

Four Week "Cleansing" Plan

So you know how sometimes you feel unsettled and it's a signal that you need to make some changes? I think that's a regular occurrence for me especially around this time of year, when I am so sick of winter and also knowing that I'm getting dangerously close to the point where I really will be getting serious about my training.

I've been kind of a slacker this winter as far as my diet goes--too much alcohol (not that it wasn't fun!), too many treats, probably not drinking enough water and eating a little too richly for my needs. Also, I tend to get confused when I'm training a lot and get my carb balance all out of whack, and so nutritionally I'm probably not doing the best I can.

Aaaaaaaaaanyway, I feel fat. I've weighed myself, and you can only go so long in saying "maybe it's muscle." Maybe some of it is. Net net is I'm 114 lbs. and that ain't good for me. I should be 110-112, max. So this morning I decided it was time to bite the bullet and make myself a plan to obliterate those 2-4 lbs.

Step 1: Find out where the hell are those pounds. So I took all my measurements yesterday morning. Apparently, the excess is in my ass. Let's just say from about 2" below my navel to the top of my thighs, which is generally the belly/ass area. My chest measured about 1" larger than a year ago, but honestly I am not seeing any fat up there, so I'm going to say that's my lats building up from the regular chinups and more swimming with paddles, so that's good. But 1" there is not 1 lb. of muscle...damn it. For the sake of accountability, here are some comparisons:



Step 2: Fess up to nutritional changes I need to make to get myself back on track. Among those changes are less alcohol, no more candy or hard cheese in the house, eat more fruit and watch my fat intake. Fact is I know that if I just grab some fruit when I want a snack that it will pretty much take care of the rest. But I am also going to try and cut out some processed foods at breakfast and lunch (Power bars and Lean Cuisine) that aren't impacting my caloric intake, but it seems like a good idea to get back to more whole, clean foods there as well.

Step 3: While I'm at it, I may as well add some other things to my daily routine just to mix things up. So daily pushups, chinups, crunches and jump rope are being added. Why? Why not.

Step 4: Start tracking stuff. I haven't kept a detailed food log in years, and I'm not going to do that now, but I am writing down calories taken in. I'll weigh myself once a week and record that, too. Also check off whether I followed through on the other little things.

I officially started my 4 weeks yesterday. So far so good! I did some crunch variations this morning that I haven't done in a long, long time, and I really felt it in my abs, so that tells me it was time to mix things up. I know my body gets used to anything I'm doing, be it an amount of training, intensity of training, stretching routine, eating pattern--ANYTHING! It's maddening at times, but the fact is my (and maybe your) body requires me to constantly keep it on its toes.

I'm not going to change around my training plan--just adding some things here and there. In 4 weeks, my training volume is going to begin the big jump-up to get ready for Triple T (only 12 weeks away) and IMLP (21 weeks away). So it will be good to head into this build period feeling lean, mean and solid.

Next week I transition to strength maintenance, too, so all good in terms of ch-ch-ch-changes. I ordered some seeds and plants this morning, so psychologically, I am preparing myself for spring and all the changes that brings, increased training volume, mixing things up and hopefully a good season ahead for me. But at the end of the day, all this is about to me is looking and feeling good. The race results will be what they will be. As long as I have fun doing it, what more is there to do?

Oh, and I can always use a little...

Today's the Big Day

This is the picture from the post I deleted on Sunday. These are things given to me that at the time, I thought I was going to toss them all out. I have a few hours to decide...

...where I throw out reminders of much of the last 25 years of my life. The dumpster will be dropped off today, and we'll fill it with all the remodeling debris as well as a bunch of other stuff that I've decided needs to go in the process.

Someone told me that it will be emotional. As I gather up the last vestiges of stuff that I should have tossed out years ago from the crawl space, yes, I am beginning to cry.

I'm crying because I did the dumpster thing a year ago at my Dad's house, emptying its contents and trying to find some shreds of things that I wanted to keep or my siblings would like to keep. Today will remind me of that.

I'm crying because in terms of possessions, I now have everything that I have ever wanted--all the decorative objects you could imagine, a practically brand-new redecorated (for the most part) house, I don't need to train that much right now, I'm getting some time off this weekend, my back is healing, lawyers in Illinois and Colorado are working diligently on my behalf to get my Dad's Estate closed, I'm apparently not sick, I'm going to Florida in 2 weeks on business (but happy to get into warmer weather regardless), I'm going to pay someone to rake up the rest of the leaves in my yard and cut down the perennials so I can enjoy this weekend, I'm having my new garage door installed next week. On the surface, an entirely new life is coming my way. I should be happy, right?

I'm crying because a relationship that I really wanted to make work, and where I felt for the first time in my life that I was truly in love, has ended. All I wanted was a shred of a sign that the supposed love would have a chance to grow, but all I got was nothing. It still hurts like hell. I'm not done here. I have decided not to throw out the glasses and necklace from NothingMan. They mean something to me.



I am not sure what I am going to do when all of this finishes. Who will I be? Will I still remember myself, the parts of me at least that aren't broken or hurt? Will I think this was all worth it? Do I even know why I decided to do all of this? Or rather, why all of this change was thrust upon me? Even though I generally consider myself fairly adept at handling change, am I going to handle it when it's no longer a work in progress, but it's finished?

The last year has changed me. The last 3 months have changed me even more. Am I going to be able to put a date on the calendar, today perhaps, and mark it as "Sheila V2.0?" What does that program look like?

Did I really need to go through 3 years of sadness, death and extreme change to get here? Is that the only way? Can I go back? Can I be happy again? I mean truly happy! Certainly I've had some bright spots in the last 3 years, but underneath it all has been this current of sadness and destruction. Will I come to life again? Will I recognize myself?

Step 1: Throw everything out that I no longer need.
Step 2: Wake up tomorrow. See how that goes.

That's as much of a plan as I have right now.