Crackhead V56.0

I got Dark Knight yesterday.  Isn't he awesome?

I got my thyroid test back yesterday.  My TSH is .676, which is considered within range, so no more being stabbed for SIX MONTHS!!!

I feel so good, so great, in fact I feel as good as I felt in my early 20's.  It's a little scary, since I had thought that I felt pretty good during some of my training cycles say for IMC and IMHI 2004, IMLP 2007 and 2009.  Perhaps then my thyroid was spiking to deliver normal amounts of hormone--who knows?  At any rate, now feels even better than any of that, and I feel like a Maserati or Ferrari is under my hood.  I am sleeping well when I'm asleep, but it seems I might need less sleep than I used to.  But I think I am still just so excited at feeling good right now that I am trying to get all these things done, and when I do that, I tend to wake up early really excited to get at it.

While I was in the dregs of depression and hypothyroidism and recovering from catastrophic house breakdown (all that is in order now fingers crossed!), I was afraid to commit to any races, and I was paranoid about spending money.  Well, clearly all that has changed.  I bought several new Splish swimsuits (I didn't really need them but they do motivate me to swim harder), I just got new tires put on my car (and it needed them and they feel GREAT), I treated myself to a bunch of new Zoot clothing (some of which I actually needed like new recovery compression tights), bought a couple of new superheros (Dark Knight and Tiny Spock--still can't decide on which Superman to get), ordered 6 pairs of running shoes (since I tend to go through them quickly), am getting a brand new MTB tomorrow, and last night I had my annual eye exam, and I was about to check out when I spotted a pair of glasses that I decided I just HAD to have!  They are by Prodesign Denmark and really cool, and I tried to find the pic on the website but it would take too long.  When I get them, I'll show you!  I actually put enough in my FSA to cover the cost of them.

I'm caught up on all my annual stuff--eye exam, breast exam, dentist (I go twice a year), have the HVAC annual maintenance scheduled (my units are all new since last year as part of my catastrophic house breakdown), Skull Kingdom is all tuned up (and my mechanic gave me a brand spanking new SRAM front derailleur which is DA BOMB--I asked how much I owed for it, and he said it was just an exchange I LOVE HIM), my PowerTap is working, I ordered a new laptop for work (it should be here next week YAY).

As soon as I registered for IMCOZ, I made a training plan, sent in my passport renewal, booked my air tickets to Cozumel, got an estimate (which I will spring for) for cleaning my yard up at the end of fall (cut down/discard all perennial stems and do final raking/bagging/disposal of leaves) since I won't have time, and one more secret thing that I can't say anything about until tomorrow (it's good, though!).

I still have a few home maintenance things to get done--get my oven fixed (I've been doing without since March no worries), clean some windows, other crap, but I know it will get done.

I finally feel like all the cylinders are firing, that I can manage day to day stuff, do my training, coach and mentor some people, spend time with friends and family, and continue to kick ass at my job.  How much better could things be?  Yes, there is that romance thing, and honestly, I had lost pretty much all desire for a few years there, but I think that is coming back, which doesn't mean I am going to become a raging sex addict, but hopefully I will demonstrate openness to the right person when they appear in my life.

I have registered for a marathon next March (unsure whether it would qualify me in time for Pike's Peak Marathon--those losers won't accept an IM marathon as a qualifier WTF I'm fast enough in IM to meet their standards), and I'm tentatively planning on racing Triple T, 24 Hours of Triathlon (with Brad) and Leadman (with Maz).  And I DO plan to rest appropriately (1-2 weeks completely on my ass or back) after IMCOZ.  I have learned FINALLY that I CAN rest, and I CAN get my fitness back in a hurry.  So there's that.

This is all pretty fucking good for the age of 56, I think (57 in 2 months mark your calendars!).  I was born in 1956, and now I am 56 years old, so there is something omen-ish about this.  I feel like all my triathlon knowledge has gelled to the point where I can and SHOULD be coaching people and right now is the trial period so perhaps I'll be ready to cut loose from "regular life" next year.  Or not.  I still really love my job.  My mortgage will be paid off next February, too, so no roots holding me anywhere, although I DO love my new bar!  And of course, I LOVE my flower gardens, so for now I'm quite happy continuing to live in Illinois, despite the fact that we have winter, because if it weren't for winter, I'd be training like a fucking Crackhead year round.

Not only is life good, but for right now it's FUCKING OUTSTANDING!!!

Chicago Marathon Travesty

In case you haven't already heard, the Chicago Marathon ran into problems yesterday. It was unseasonably warm. Depending on who you talk to or what you read (try Chicago Tribune), you may think the decision to reroute runners and not allow them to finish was a bad decision or a good one.

If you go and read Slowtwitch, you will observe some truly elitist perspectives on who should be "allowed" to run a marathon and such. To the people who say that anything over 4 hours is "easy to train for and anyone can do it," I have 2 words for you: FUCK OFF. While I do believe that almost anyone with reasonable health and enough determination can finish a marathon (or an Ironman, for that matter), not all of us are gifted enough to have the natural speed or mechanics or whatever it takes to go fast. Am I in favor of time cutoffs? Yes. 17 hours is good enough for me for Ironman. If there comes a time when I can't do that, then I am done. If they make the time cutoff less (some international races already do this), then I am bound by whatever constraints are placed, and I can choose not to enter any particular race. For an open marathon, I think 6 hours is a reasonable cutoff (that's a little faster than 15mpm). There is just so much planning and support necessary to put on these big events that some semblance of control needs to be exercised. It no longer matters to me why people choose to do these events--in the end, moving around for whatever reason seems to be reason enough!

But I disagree with some of the Slowtwitch posters that the bulk of the people entered in Chicago Marathon were not trained. There really aren't that many crazy people who would show up for a marathon never having run at least 15 miles in training. Do I think there are people entering marathons and Ironmans who do not train adequately for the distance? Yes. This is no different than the rest of life--there people who take jobs they are underqualified for, people who become parents who have no business doing so, and so on. We're human beings, and all of us do stupid things at one time or another.

It gets a bit complicated, though, when you have thousands of people in an event, most of whom are trusting the Race Director to have enough support on the course to get them through. It's one thing to do a self-supported event. I've run a marathon and done an Ironman that way. Would I want to do that with 30,000 of my closest friends? No. It's just very hard to manage. But if I show up for an event that I've paid for with the expectation that it will provide for my basic fluid and nutritional needs, then I expect that to happen, under whatever weather conditions exists. At IM Wisconsin 2005, I chose to pull myself out upon learning the bike aid stations were out of Gatorade. I could have continued, and I did my share of belly aching afterwards, because I felt the RD failed to meet my expectations. I wasn't undertrained--I just went in with the expectation that I could obtain enough nutrition for me to safely continue. I was bitter about it for some time, but it's in the past now, and I've lived to race another day.

Everyone, including the RD, knew how hot it was projected to be yesterday (and there was even a statement about it on the marathon website several days in advance). I have no idea how difficult it would be for an RD to order enough fluid and have it available on course to support 40,000 hot runners. Those of us who have done Ironman or even shorter triathlons know about running in the heat. We expect to have water to douse our heads, ice to put into our hats, and a buffet table laden with many choices to nourish ourselves. But there aren't 40,000 of us, or even the 30,000 (reports say 10,000 chose not to start at all yesterday). So the logistics are very different.

Could the RD have acquired and stocked enough water and Gatorade for all the runners given the heat conditions? I don't know. Was the decision to stop the race for some runners the right thing to do? If the RD knew they were out of supplies, then I suppose so. Sure there are some people who can (and did) make do by purchasing (or begging for) supplies so they could finish, but the longer you are out there, the more difficult it becomes to manage thousands of people.

I am very sorry for the man who died, and for all the runners who were hospitalized. I do not pass judgment on their fitness to complete a marathon.

I am sorry for runners who were denied their first or their 20th marathon finish.

I am sorry for the RD having to make tough decisions on a tough day.

There are going to be a lot of "what ifs" and finger pointing. It is, after all the City of Chicago. But sometimes things don't go the way we want, and we just need to move on.