Adaptation and Planning

 Death Machine: Acquired in 2013. BMC, Al, giant pie plate big ring for strength building and HTFU.

 Bitch: Acquired in 2000. She's an old Bitch. Have a solid HED3 disk for her that she rides with aplomb. B4C (ceramic) frame. Heavy-ish but eero as shit.

 La Gazza Ladra, aka LGL. Acquired in 2006. Pinarello Dogma, Mg frame stiff as shit, awesome climbing machine.

Skull Kingdom. Acquired in 2010, custom carbon/Al Elite. What a beauty! Time to lose the Elite stickers on the wheels and replace w/flames.

Since late July, I have been able to run more, have been swimming consistently at least 3x/week, and have been biking around 6 hours/week. The break from lots of running and swimming has been a good thing for my body and my mind. I experience far less sciatica than ever, and I am finally FEELING (kinesthetically) the catch/pull in swimming. The only formal workouts I am doing right now are in swimming and lifting (lifting has been a constant since 1991 with variations in movements/sets/reps/weight). For running and biking, I am just trying to hit some volume targets--when I go out for a run or bike, I am just going "how I feel." As evidenced by a few sprint races, my biking skillz are still pretty good, but running not so much.

I still have plenty o' endurance across SBR. If someone put a gun to my head right now, I could do an Ironman in < 16 hours (depending on the course, of course). I think I'm good for about a 6:15 or less 1/2 Ironman. But mama needs some speed. I am doing focused swim workouts, so that is coming along (plus the change in stroke mechanics plus getting some swim coaching MAGIC MIKE WHEN DO WE START???). I was going to start tempo runs, but I am sticking with my "I'm still sort of resting" program and not starting formal bike/run workouts until 12/1. So I'm not going to see a PR at the 1/2 marathon I'm doing on 11/8, in fact I might completely suck. But that race is to have fun with some friends and drink a bunch of beer afterwards.

I am in what triathlon books would call "base building" mode. It's where you put in some decent volume, practice good form (strides and running drills; vary gearing/cadence on the bike; drills and just mindfulness while swimming), contemplate where you need to improve, and not get too worked up about speed. I am "training to train."  I am also paying attention to how my body is doing with the load (as compared to past seasons), and how I'm feeling mentally about the whole deal. There's plenty of time to get back to the formal workouts, measurements (FTP, VDOT, T-pace) and assessments.

Right now, it's all good, except that I've been experiencing some sleep difficulties (living on about 7 hours which is not normal for me). The sleep thing is in part related to the shortening of the days, and will likely fix itself with the end of DST. Also, this is the very first time that I am training a decent amount of volume and my thyroid (TSH) levels are where they should be. So in a way, this is uncharted territory for me. In fact, I feel fantastic--well except that I need more sleep.

I ran 34 miles last week, and yesterday my legs were not sore at all. It may be because I'm not doing focused speed work yet, but still, I'm liking that I didn't feel trashed yesterday. And I managed a good swim workout and a :50 run yesterday. I struggled a bit on the run because I didn't sleep enough, but I got enough sleep last night and feel great today. I am gravitating to an "at any distance pace" right now, but that's OK. I am seeing glimpses of the speed inside, though, when I run downhill with flair and achieve that flow state, or when I am tired and can still run at a decent pace.

In the pool, I'm pretty sure I could knock out a 5k swim if I wanted to, but actually I don't want to. I am enjoying sometimes short workouts, sometimes 3,000-3500, and just really liking swimming again. And I am liking it more now that I can feel that I am doing it better than I ever have! I toyed with the idea of a 10k swim on NY day ("someone" said they would do it with me--like I need more encouragement!), but I am not making a commitment to that because it means I would need to actively begin swimming lots more at least once a week. And I would not do it except under those conditions because I would want to enjoy it and feel I had the fitness to do it well.

On the bike, I'm not exactly lollygagging, but I am doing the odd trainer workout where I look at my power readings. I don't think I've lost a lot there, but have some seriously hard work to do. And I'm ready to do it, heads down, no TV on just music, pound out those watts and watch them improve. But not before 12/1!

I had felt that my metabolism wasn't exactly stellar until just 2 weeks ago. It usually takes me a few weeks for my hunger to catch up to the training (I'd link to blog archives here but don't know how I'd find the old posts!), but boy has it caught up. I wouldn't say I'm eating with complete abandon, but it does feel to me like where I'm at training volume-wise that I am eating more than I ever did in past seasons. Maybe I just forgot how much I need, or maybe since I've laid low for so much of this year, but all of a sudden those 3 lbs. I was not liking are gone. I'm not keeping track of how much carbs I'm eating, but I'm sure that with the swap of rice plus veggies for salad that I'm getting plenty.

It feels like my body is functioning, metabolically, like I'm IN Ironman training. But I'm not. I'm not biking enough for that. I'm approaching that volume swimming, and I am at it running, though. Maybe I actually do have more muscle mass than ever, too--I've changed up my strength program in the last 2 years, and I do recall people telling me pretty regularly last year that I was "so" muscular. Maybe I was just fat ;) Maybe I am carrying more fat. I do have this belly fat that seems related to being post-menopausal. I hate it. Oh well, I will just have to see if it has become a fact of life that I must live with or whether it, too, will disappear when I'm in the thick of IM training.

Oh that--yes, I've signed up for Ironman Louisville (it's 10/11/2015). It's on the calendar. And so I can now begin planning my training and racing season! I get SO excited about this process, and I think that is also contributing to my waking up really early. I love, love, LOVE the season planning process. Looking across all the potential races and rides and big training events just gets me so amped. One of my rules for races this year and beyond is that if it's out of town, I'm not going by myself--I've done far too much of that in the past, and I'm done with it. I already have a 1/2 IM planned in Florida with Shelley (and will be availing myself of friends who live down there JULIE), an Olympic in Wisconsin (with a work mate, Steve), a 1/2 marathon in Colorado (Lori) and a sprint in Galena, IL (Kevin). I will go up to Madison for Ironman Wisconsin (William) and get some quality training in. Shit--that's already a bunch of stuff, isn't it?  One other thing I want to do is the Horribly Hilly ride in Wisconsin. That I am OK going by myself if I have to. I may do 1 or 2 more local sprints, and that's about it for the season, except for my usual complement of weekly century+ rides, including Bike Psychos 200k, maybe Dairyland Dare, and of course the annual 4th of July metric century, that I usually turn into a REAL century ride.

Gosh--I am so excited that I will be training for an Ironman where I can engage in all-you-can-eat biking during the summer! That is what I love more than anything, and Skull Kingdom will get out early next year. She's been relegated to the trainer since Ironman Cozumel 2013. I think that means I will need to find her some sort of doodad to make her look better--maybe it's time I get the Elite stickers off the wheels and put the flames on like I've been meaning to.

I am almost 100% confident that I will get in at least 5,000 miles of biking by the end of 2014. And right now, that is what matters the most, because you can't do jack shit in an Ironman if you aren't brutally strong on the bike. And while I won't have accumulated much speed work by year's end, at that volume I am going to be able to put some serious hurt to the pedals in 2015. All part of my evil plan to at least be in a position to train for Ultraman Hawaii 2016. All my bikes have been used this year. I still love them all! I am glad I got back on Bitch this year, and she got to race, too. She may be my official sprint/Oly bike now, and Skull Kingdom is my 1/2/full IM+ bike.

I hope to be through my planning phase soon, as I've only got 7 weeks to get it done. Hopefully, I've acquired some wisdom about training myself. I think I'm still quite capable of turning out some good race performances. I have no idea if there are PRs out there (I think maybe if my swim improves), but at least I'm looking forward to some SERIOUS WORK and even more SERIOUS FUN!

Amended List of How to Know I'm at Race Weight/VERY Fit

#6-#12 are additions.

1. Men nearly crash their cars trying to gape at me when I'm running.
2. I want to listen to NIN and nothing but NIN.
3. I feel confident rolling my running shorts down.
4. I feel light as a feather running up hills. 
5. I have no problem taking and posting nearly naked pics of myself.
6. I have no interest in the news, but luckily other people tell me what I need to know like Ben Affleck is going to be Batman. 
7. I contemplate buying a spray can of whipping cream to go on top of the Twinkies.
8. My size 3 pants are practically falling off me.
9. I have a sudden urge to buy actual fashion clothing.  Because I know I will look good in it now.
10. Candy for breakfast (supplement to my normal breakfast).
11. Sandwiches for snacks and in the middle of the night.
12. A day like today where "all" I have to do is a 3-hour ride, practically feels like a rest day.

It always comes down to TWELVE STEPS, doesn't it?

By the way, the reduced STH is already working its magic as the overdose leaves my system.  I am waking up feeling more rested, I am feeling "normally" wired, and I am talking at a speed a little less than supersonic (thanks to Susan for letting me run out the audio tape on her these last 6 weeks).

If you need compression tights, get the Zoot CompressRx.  They are the best!  I wore them this morning just getting ready for my day and then finishing up my lifting for the week.  I would model for Zoot if they asked me!

I am going to see if my brother, Mike, is riding tomorrow because I only need to ride 2 hours, so I'd like to get on Death Machine! 

Enjoy the weekend!

Running Going Well

I've been a little paranoid about building up my running, since it's the most likely thing to get me injured, and having already done 2 IM's this year, I have just been careful the last few weeks.

This past Monday, I was too tired from my IMWI spectating to swim in the morning, but I didn't really sleep in as my internal alarm clock is set for around 5:30 lately. Still, I was beat from riding and hanging out on the run course, but I didn't want the day to go to waste, and I started out by lifting (which I can almost always do when tired), and then I needed to decide whether to try and run.

I wasn't muscle tired--just sleepy tired--and I've run after lifting before, so I figured I'd go ahead and give it a shot. Well I had put some hurt to the legs lifting, but managed to run just fine and even further than I had scheduled. This made me reconsider how much running I could get done in the week, and I cautiously thought I could do more on the remaining running days.

Tuesday I swam in the morning and biked about 2 hours mid-day because it was so gorgeous (again), and is usually the case when I ride LGL, I rode pretty hard and felt sort of trashed afterward. No worries--I've been sleeping like a champion, which is the real secret to recovery!

Wednesday morning I swam again, and when it came time to run, I thought I could do more than I had scheduled. I ran slower than I thought I would, but it may have been that I reintroduced jump rope, am swimming harder and using the paddles again, and rode hard on Tuesday. Whatever, I still ran farther than originally planned, and hoped that another good night of sleep would work magic.

It did. On Thursday, I only rode for 1:30, even though I only wanted to go 1:15, but it was another gorgeous day, and one thing led to another and I ended up at 1:30. I finished up my lifting later on (about :30), and got another good night of sleep.

Friday morning I swam 3500 (I'll start bumping up the Friday swims next week), and thought that I really didn't need to run at all if I didn't feel up to it. I thought I'd been taking in enough carbs, but as soon as I started to run a bit after noon, I could tell my glycogen stores were low. So here I am bonking right at the get go, but I've run bonky before, so I just kept going on another gorgeous day, and despite my bonkiness, I was running at a pretty good clip! I thought that was a good sign that I am adapting to the higher running load and feeling pretty well recovered from ROTPM.

Based on how much I'd run during the week, this morning I thought I'd try for a 1:40 run with some walking/hiking afterwards. Well, wouldn't you know, it was another absolutely gorgeous day, but a little cooler than last weekend, which would be perfect for running. I headed to Greene Valley, with the intent to do the same first hour on the flats, then run up and down the hill twice, and then walk up and down it twice.

I ran the flats about the same pace as last week, but it felt better today, partly because it wasn't as hot, and partly because I'm just getting used to running more. I got up close and personal to a red tailed hawk that had just made a kill and was jumping up and down excitedly right next to the path! It was so absorbed in its prey that it didn't care that people were running, walking and biking right past him! I love hawks, especially the red tailed and rough legged, because they have such nice feather pants! Later on while running I was thinking what feather pants would feel like and I thought pretty neat!

I was excited to get to the hill running part, as I really don't like running pure flats, since I hardly do that in training since there are hills no matter which direction I go from my house. I ran the hill a little slower than last week, but I tried to go slower since I ran up it twice and then down. I have to say I really enjoyed it!

Then I did my walking repeats up and down the hill, and there was another red tailed hawk perched atop a light pole right off the path, and he was there for the first 3 times I went by! I figured he'd already had his lunch and was just hanging out surveying his territory.

While I was going up and down the hill, there were a few cyclists using it for training intervals, and one guy even towed his young son behind him! That impressed me!

I ended up getting in about 11.5 miles of running and 4.5 miles of walking/hiking, so a good outing. It will be key to see how I recover from this today, because tomorrow I want to run about 7 and walk/hike 3, same place.

It's become fun to do my long runs on the weekends now so that I can take advantage of Greene Valley, since the hill doesn't open until 11AM, so I get to sleep in, and it's completely sunny in the flat prairie area as well, of course, up and down the hill, so really great for early fall. I wish the hill were open during the week, because I'd sneak over there and do a few repeats, but I need to keep my weekday runs shorter since I'm swimming M/W/F and running the same days and like to have it all done plus work by 5:30PM.

I'm basically seeing how much running I can cram in before the 50-miler next month and not get hurt. I've been stretching a lot, but haven't had a massage in 2 weeks...that is key in my overall training, but I am working extra on my quads and lower back which are the things that will cause me grief in my knees and hips, and so far so good. Thankfully, I'm getting a massage next week!

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that I feel just fine tomorrow and can get in 7+ miles running and some walking/hiking, then I get to go to a wedding!

Oh, and it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! My favorite day of the year!

Arrrrrrrggggggggh! Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Testing out the System

...while wearing my Zoot compression tights...

My back has not been real happy today, but that's because I spent a lot of time sitting yesterday. It occurred to me that I have these tights, and as soon as I put them on, I realized that the big (literally) muscle that I've pulled is my glutes--all 3 of them, I think--medius, minimus and maximus. Since they act in concert with the low back, it's no wonder it feels more like my back. In going through my strength routine, I'm able to do rows, and after I finish the dumbbells, I'll get started on the core stuff. If I'm able to do hyperextensions without pain, well, then I'm pretty sure that what I've got is a pain in the ass!

Oh yeah--my office/strength room is still ghetto until I get the new shades, which are en route as we speak!!! Upstairs bathroom didn't get started yesterday, but I'm hoping it gets rolling this morning!

Man--I still love lifting. Especially this time of year. Makes me feel good and strong, although I've got a ways to go, but I am looking forward to some major league DOMS and suffering!

Another Good Long Run Today and a Cleansing Ceremony

First, you need to go look at the pics of my Tiki Hut and Assorted Other Important Things Cleansing Ceremony! As per the set description, I received the copper pyramid 2 days ago from my friend Susan who lives near Vegas. I knew right away what I needed to do with it, only I didn't have time until this morning (Tiki Hut pics are usually taken quite early in the day).

I had my alarm set for 4:30AM, but I woke up at 3AM and figured I'd just get up and get going, so I had time to cleanse the Tiki Hut and other stuff.

I actually started running around 5:45AM (at Waterfall Glen), and it was nice and cool--maybe 54. I was even a bit chilled as I started out, but this is ideal running weather, so it wasn't long before I was quite comfortable. I ended up doing 2 out-and-backs--the first was a little over 10 miles and the second 4+, for a total of almost 15 miles. My legs were toasted when I started, as I've been hitting it hard for many weeks now. But the coolness helped, and I didn't feel that badly on the first out-and-back. On my way back in on that one, I stopped to talk to a birder, and asked what she was seeing (I had already seen another 2 Indigo Buntings). She told me she's conducting a bird count based on hearing songs and sightings, and she listed off a bunch of birds that are in there. One she mentioned is cuckoo! So now I need to spot one myself.

I saw a couple of deer, about 6 packs of cross country boys and girls (and I was running well whenever they came by, THANK GOD), and a group of 3 runners where I know one of them. I guess I'm just in 100% HTFU mode, because I showed my fist with the HTFU bracelet and yelled at them, "HARDEN THE FUCK UP, PEOPLE!" I was smiling as I said it though, because I was already about 9 miles into my run.

I made today's run harder by running to the Mile 5 marker on my first out-and-back. Mile 5 is a lot of downhill, which means you climb out of this hole on the way back. Yes, it's still hard, no matter when I do it! After that, I noticed that my hamstrings felt pretty shot, but surprisingly, not my quads. Oh well!

Near the end of the run, I saw 2 girls with these fabric things that I thought were flags, but they were draping them over the foliage on the side of the trail. I stopped to ask what they were doing, and they said they were trying to capture ticks! I assumed deer ticks, and they said yes. Deer ticks that carry Lyme disease are quite small--I've seen many regulation dog ticks in there. Speaking of dogs, there were several totally well behaved ones in there that I stopped to pet. Katy, the Irish Setter, and Dupres, the border collie mix. I told the girls that I rather despise ticks, but I do realize the ecological niche they serve.

When I finished, there were two State Police parked right near my car, and I asked one of them to take the picture of me you see. Most people have no qualms about taking pics, but they seemed a little surprised. I told them it was for my blog. Maybe I should have said it was for evidence?

As usual, I drank Coke while I ran, and I guess I'm doing better than I thought I would be by this point in the day, because I've been able to not only stay awake at work, but also get in 55' of lifting! Tomorrow I am taking the day off from work and doing a 3800m TT swim and then a 1:30 ride. Looking at my training schedule, I'm riding Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday! Lots of riding--just the way I like it--also 2 brick runs on the weekend, so this is plenty intense training if you ask me!

But I'm feeling pretty good and I think some of the "cleansing" I did this morning is already working :)

Thanks, Susan!

A Day in the Life

Lest you think I have way too much time on my hands to be playing with streamers, here's how yesterday went down:

4:30AM Wake the fuck up. Take a shit (this is what wakes me up lately), get some coffee and a Power Bar. Visit the Internets.
5:30AM Take out the garbage, recycleables and some yard waste. Try and straighten up the mess of bottles and dishes
6:00AM Make Voodoo Mix, put defogger into goggles while taking yet another shit, put on swimsuit, put in contact lenses, look in mirror and shout, "IT'S SHOWTIME!"
6:15AM Drive to Y.
6:30AM Have some laughs with guys in the pool. Start 3,800 yard workout, and after finishing warmup, realize it's actually going to be 4,000 yards.
7:45AM Finish swim workout, get yelled at by Rasta Guard, head to shower, shave, change, drive home.
8:15AM Start working. First, assess crises by checking email and then start addressing them.
9:00AM First conference call of the day
9:45AM While on one phone line, another line rings, ask them if I can call back later, finish the conference call and doorbell rings. People are here to seal my driveway, so I move my car to my neighbor's driveway.
12:15PM Literally run out the door and go run about 7 miles, again, using Voodoo Mix, because, well, I need it now.
1:30PM Slam down Endurox R4 and heat something in the microwave for lunch and take a quick shower. Work, work, work
4:00PM All hell has broken loose at work, but I'm under control. Make a bunch of phone calls in order to triage the various situations. Doorbell rings around 4:15--it's my neighbor who needs to get into her driveway, so I move my car onto the street in front of my house.
5:30PM Done with work, lift weights for :45, since I've been putting it off since Monday. Think about whether I want to go run some errands. Decide not, I'm too fucking tired.
6:20PM Mow the lawn because we've been getting a lot of rain lately and figure I'll be too tired tomorrow to do it and besides I need to go to the bike shop right after work.
6:50PM Grab a beer and stretch for :25--this is a priority. Realize I should probably eat dinner. Put pot of water on stove to boil for some pasta. Check email.
7:45PM I am finally eating dinner. Think about watching some TV and maybe reading a little bit of the newspaper, decide I don't have time for it and try and relax while eating dinner ACTUALLY SITTING DOWN AT THE TABLE. Think that I should eat more because I have to run 2 hours in the morning, but my stomach can't handle it. Have some wine.
8:30PM Decide to enjoy spinning some records on my new turntable. The fidelity is unbelievable, and I'm very happy I didn't give away all my vinyl. Decide to assemble the streamers onto my race belt for Triple T, and in a flash, figure, OK take some pics, what the hell, upload them, do a quick blog post, go back downstairs and listen to a few more tunes.
9:15PM Decide I better get to sleep because I need to be up before 5AM to be running by 6AM.

Today...
4:30AM Wake the fuck up. I didn't need the alarm, which I had actually set, because, well, I needed to take a giant shit (AGAIN). Turn the coffee pot on. Don't bother putting actual clothes on, but apply Body Glide and suit up to run.
4:45AM Have some coffee and a Power Bar. Look at today's run workout. Fuck. 2 hours, but no worries I feel pretty good.
5:10AM Take another shit. My body is like a furnace lately.
5:15AM Put in contact lenses and get run bag ready to go, write this post (I type REALLY FAST).
5:30AM Go outside and look around the yard. It's only 41 degrees, so I'm running on the treadmill today.

Later!

Guns 'n Booty

Was messin' around after lifting this morning (only 20' no big deal) and before swimming. I don't have much biceps, but man my triceps are comin' up.

I guess all those pushups I've been doing and all that swimming are working.

Oh, and I swam 4,000 yards this morning, and I swam pretty well! Big Mike noticed I've been working on my rotation and gave me some stroke tips. Coke in the swim bottle also helped :)

I'm pretty much running on fumes, but gotta run today, and then tomorrow is a 2-hour run and NO SWIMMING!!! I'm taking the day off from work and after I run I'm getting a 1.5 hour massage, which I really, really need. My arms and upper back were sore this morning (before lifting), but after some lifting and swimming they feel fine.

Try This At Home!

At 5:05AM, I lifted weights for 45 minutes--some abs/core work and upper body stuff. Then I did this swim workout beginning at 6:30:

WU: 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull, 200 drill
MS: 2 x [4 x 100 (10"), 1 x 400 (30") at same pace as 100's]
100 easy swim.
15 x 75 (15") as 50 Hard, 25 Easy
25 easy (just to get back to where I started)
CD: 100 easy swim

In case you can't add (I couldn't while swimming which was a good thing), it's 3,750 yards.

I was laughing so hard while swimming because, well, my muscles weren't really able to perform well, but I wasn't sore. Mostly I was just hungry! I swam in the lane with Little Mike, who is the son of Big Mike, his Dad, who coaches him. Little Mike is maybe 14? I chat with them both regularly, since both Mikes (or as I call them, Mike & Ike) are there every day, and they are very nice people. Little Mike swam 7,000 yards today, and he also wrestles, so the three of us engage in many discussions about how much we are training and eating! I could have swam in a lane all by myself, but Little Mike asked why nobody swims with him and I told him it's because he's so stinking fast!

So I finish my 3,750 yards, and Little Mike asks me if I want to kick 400 with him. Yesterday, I finished 3,100 yards, and he wanted me to kick with him so I did 100. Today I said no. Even a Crackhead needs to stop sometimes. But maybe tomorrow when I repeat the same workout without having lifted beforehand, I might just stay for a few hundred yards of kicking..

Great workout, Opera, Day Off, More great workouts

I'm always surprised to see how fit I can get in a relatively short amount of time. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm there (OK swimming not so much but biking and running for sure).

After Sunday's little brick festival, I wondered if I could pull off a decent ride on Monday afternoon. I sure did--TSS of 107 in 1:15, so my FT is definitely on the rise.

Last night I went to see The Barber of Seville with one of my best friends, and we had a blast, mostly before and after, getting some quality time to spend talking and (gasp!) drinking. We had wine with dinner and then champagne before and at intermission of the opera, which was pretty good the first half and a bit slow the second half. But I got a kick out of the set design which was Rene Magritte-esque, featuring sky blue with puffy clouds, sometimes suspended red chairs. Since the performance went well beyond my normal bedtime, I drank a cup of coffee right after dinner, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep later. I'm not exactly sure how much "sleep" I got last night, but I didn't care because I took today off.

So now that I've written myself a training schedule, I see I'm supposed to do this track workout, which I've done before, but as has been commonplace the last few months, it scared me a bit:

WU: 10' Easy, 8 x Strides, 3 x 1' (30") @ 5k pace
MS: 3 x (6' @ 10k pace, 2' @ 5k pace, 2' walking recovery)
CD: 10' Easy

I've been doing some respectable tempo work for about 3 weeks now, but I had no clue whether I could pull this off, especially with a hangover. But hey, I ran the main set repeats faster than I ever did them a year ago, how about that? In trying to understand why this might be, I think it's a number of things--this is the first winter in 3 years that I haven't beaten myself up with fall and winter racing, and so I think my body has been able to really, REALLY absorb all the work I've been putting in. Oh, I guess that means I'm doing a "normal" training season? Perhaps...but my work ethic hasn't disappeared, and I kinda enjoyed the track workout--even when some dude who works at the Y was clearly watching me run around the track. I just didn't care. Afterwards, since I was in no rush, I spent some quality time stretching in the cardio studio (or whatever it's called) that is a big, fully mirrored room. I messed around with some of the Body Bars and checked out the spin bikes (you won't see me on them), and enjoyed the solitude of having such a big room (with mirrors!) all to myself.

When I got up this morning, I noticed my left glutes were sore. WTF??? Maybe, MAYBE at long last my left side is waking up. Lots of triathletes have difficulty getting all parts of their glutes to fire, and I'm no exception, especially with the biomechanical issues that I have. Anyway, it felt good for once to have a sore ass, and maybe all the biking I'm doing has contributed, too, and maybe because I've been literally hanging off a high bar a couple of times a week to let my spine stretch out, some former slacker muscles are activating.

So it was interesting to start the track workout with sore glutes, but the workout didn't make anything worse, and now I just finished my strength workout, yip-fucking-ee, because why? Because I'm done with my maximum strength phase, and I think that's been helping me be strong for my biking and running (and swimming--some of my "speed" is returning).

Everything could come crashing down on me at any moment, but for right now, things are pretty good. I enjoyed my day off and avoided loading it up with lots of crap. Now I just need a good night's sleep so I can hit it hard tomorrow.

The Full Meaning of Training

Commodore inspired this post.

I get comments from various people regularly when they see the amount of "training" that I put in on a weekly basis. Comments range from it's intimidating to how do I fit it all in and the ever popular do I have a real job?

I really formally began athletic "training" about 15 years ago. I started out just lifting weights, which transformed into bodybuilding, then I added cardio (for health reasons!), then I started running, and then finally I discovered triathlon.

For me, to say I'm "in training" means:

• I have set nutritional/body composition, fitness and or competitive goals (Note: a goal can be "to maintain current weight/fitness").
• I have planned workouts for a period of weeks to months designed to achieve those goals.
• I commit to the goals and planned workouts.
• I execute on my planned workouts daily.
• I measure myself periodically towards my goals, and adjust the goals and or process as necessary.
• I seek out credible knowledge sources to enhance my understanding of the sports, my body, and mental techniques to enhance sport and life performance.
• I tend to my physical health outside of the actual workouts by sleeping sufficiently, eating nutritionally, stretching, getting regular massage, getting my routine healthcare checkups and not engaging in physically dangerous or destructive behavior such as drug use, excessive alcohol usage or driving without my full attention (e.g., I avoid using my cell phone while driving).
• (new in the past 3 years) I tend to my mental health both during and outside of the actual workouts to ensure I am minimizing controllable stress, enhancing personal serenity and tending to my emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs in order to enhance my athletic pursuits and keep my life in balance.

To me, executing on the workouts on a daily basis is the easy part--it's all the other things listed above that can really take focus and mindfulness, for it's the sum of doing all of those things that will yield a peak performance. I think many people jump into "training" too quickly--they see a "plan" that calls for 10-12 hours of "training" a week, but really that's just the workout time, and it's really not much more than about 1 hour per day, so how hard can that be? No, it's the rest of the stuff that you do or don't do that is going to carry you through the "training." And then they start in on it, and find that perhaps they didn't consider that all that "training" would require more sleep, removing sources of stress, getting their mental houses in order, and it becomes overwhelming. Overtraining and poor performance are usually not the result of under- or overdoing the workouts--they are the result of underdoing the rest of the training process.

So let's see--how much time do I spend on those other things? 1.5 hours weekly on massage, about 2 hours weekly stretching, at least 7 hours weekly practicing mindfulness/meditation, at least 7 hours weekly nourishing my intellectual/spiritual needs, and probably that much working on my emotional needs. I guess it's a lot of time! I can't really count it all up, because to me it's a full time job!

It's taken me 15 years to work up to the level where I am today. FIFTEEN YEARS!!! This is why whenever someone asks me how long did it take to get my physique where it is, or my performance where it is, my answer is my current age.

My point here is not to discourage anyone from taking on "training" that has a hefty amount of "working out" included. My point is to remind myself and others that there's a lot more to it than the workouts, and that it's important to be honest about how much time you can devote to this stuff and still lead a reasonably balanced life. My observations lead me to believe that very few really nail it. There is nothing wrong with that. There are more important things in life than triathlon, that's for sure. For the time being though, I am attempting a very bold life experiment which is to be an athlete, even while holding down a conventional job. You might say that's thrown my life into a purposefully unbalanced state, and perhaps it has, but in going for it I am discovering all sorts of wonderful things about myself that I never knew and am experiencing life in a way I never dreamed possible. Where this will ultimately lead me, I am not sure, but the path feels right to me and so I will stay on it for awhile.

I can still remember back 10 years ago when all I did was lift weights, and I spent maybe 4 hours per week doing that, but I began working on all the other aspects of training, and it has proven to be quite a journey. They say that the way you do anything is the way you do everything--and I certainly have approached excellence in other areas of my life in the same way. They all require the same "fringe" activities to support your efforts. You don't need to train to be mediocre!