Keeping it Going

I know it's only Friday, but I've had a great training week so far, as I get close to normal run volume for my Goofy prep and normal bike volume with an eye towards Ultraman (which means I will be doing a tad more biking that I normally would this time of year).

After my struggling through a long run on Sunday, I fixed a great dinner and got a good night's sleep and figured I'd start the week on a good note, which I did. Monday's swim was 2900 yards, and I felt pretty good in the water, after doing my now usual 20' of pushups, chinups, bridges, assorted abs and stuff. A short 45' run in the afternoon was good--I am still getting my hill legs back, so considering I have to run uphill right from home, I started off slow, but as I kept going I picked up speed and felt great.

On Tuesday I had to bike for 1:30, and got on the trainer and felt like I had my biking legs back! And this was great considering I'd lifted early in the morning.

Wednesday was a short but hard swim, and I'm sure my tongue was hanging out at the wall in between fast 100's and 50's, but it felt good. Later in the day I ran on the treadmill because it was raining, but I nailed a tempo run that felt pretty darn good. Oh yeah, I did my 20' of stuff before I swam, too.

Thursday was another 1:30 trainer ride and finish up my strength training for the week. I wasn't as strong on the bike as on Tuesday, but I am adjusting to 1:30 rides and also trying to put up the watts, so I am not concerned.

Today I swam 7,000 yards for the first time ever! I had 6500 on my plan, but I got in the pool by 6AM so figured I had time for 7,000 so why not? I am always working on my stroke mechanics, and today was no exception. 7,000 gives you a lot of time for that! I did it as 1000 free, 2500 pull, 500 kick (to rest my arms a bit), 5x500 fast with 30" rest, then 300 back and 200 kick. I have written workouts for these long swims, but I am also open to just going with the flow, and that's what my flow told me to do today. I only started to feel tired during the last 500 in the 5x500, and that was no big surprise. I did polish off all 20 oz. of Gatorade during the swim, and I need to be on that since I will need to take in calories during the Ultraman swim.

7,000 yards is not a lot for a lifetime swimmer, I know that. And technically, I don't have to be doing this much all at once this early in my Ultraman prep, but the way I'm doing the swim thing is 2 shorter swims on Monday and Wednesday (2500-3500 yards), Friday is the big, long swim, and then Sunday (through March) is 1000-1500 after my long run just for some extra time in the pool and to recover from the run. Ideally, I'd swim 4-5,000 three times a week and then a longer swim, but I just don't have time, and oh, hey, I also need to train for a 52.4 mile run and then there's like, what, 260 miles of biking in Ultraman? So I need to allocate my time carefully, and I think I am getting in enough swimming. As they say on the Ultraman website, there are many ways to train for this beast, and not everyone will need to train the same way. Since I am going in just to finish, I want to be confident in my ability to swim 10K strongly and still have energy left to bike 90 miles the same day. And then bike 170 miles the next day and run 52.4 miles the third day. Lucky for me, I was already swimming a good amount during the summer, and instead of dropping down to some paltry amount like 8,000 yards a week, which is what I would normally do this time of year, I just kept up my yardage and then some. I was already used to 3-mile swims, although I can say those are not that big a deal anymore. So my plan is to stay at about 7,000-7,500 for that long swim between now and March 1, and then, with that base, build up to the 11,000 yard swim. I have also needed to find out how much I can swim on Friday morning and still not be too tired to run later in the day and it looks like that number is 7,000 yards. Although odds are 7,500 won't be too bad, either.

Oh yeah, I keep changing around my training here and there because it's an iterative, learning process. I registered for the Midwest Indoor Triathlon Series again, only there are only 3 races this time. I thought (because I am date dyslexic at times) that the first one was only 2 weeks after Goofy so I wouldn't do it, but then after looking at my spreadsheet like 10 times, I realized that it's actually 3 weeks after Goofy, which means I can do all 3 races! I'm actually glad it's only 3 and not 4, which means I will only totally trash myself 3 times over 6 weeks. Although once I am done with those (and on race days I will do the warmups and race and then finish out a long run afterwards), my training just gets, well, scary, but I am not going to worry about it now!

Also today around 12:30 I went and ran for 50', and it was a beautiful, sunny day and 52! We are just having our best weather ever for November, and I am (as are all other area runners) capitalizing on it. I went out with a lightweight long sleeved shirt on, but took it off after about a mile. I ended up doing one of my fastest runs in a few months! Since I nailed my tempo run on Wednesday and today went so well, it appears I have recovered from my last bout of run focus, and maybe even picked up a teensy bit of speed from it! This is just as I hoped! I'm not expecting to set any PR's at Goofy--I just want to be able to come out of it and recover fast and keep up my training momentum.

And to me, this is the name of the game. Getting my body used to this so that as I go longer and longer, I am still able to recover pretty quickly and move on. I was pretty amazed at how well I performed during ROTPM considering it was just 5 weeks after my best ever IM performance. And then I did some massive run training for North Face, and even though I pulled out at 35 miles (and in retrospect, it was due to guess what? SHOE LACES TOO FUCKING TIGHT!! And putting extra pressure on the tibialis anterior tendon which is all fixed up now), hey, it was still 35 miles, and I've come back pretty well from that. So I will want to be able to do the same after Goofy Challenge. But heck, Goofy will be all about fun and I am not worried about it at all. After all, it's just a marathon!

If I'm able to execute on all my other planned training for the week, I'll end up at about 17 1/4 hours for the week, not bad at all. If you had asked me a year ago whether I'd be training this much now, I would have said NO WAY! Just goes to show you how things change.

As to my ability to eat enough calories to keep with all of this, well let's just say my training is a bit ahead of my appetite right now, since it's just so foreign for me to be putting in this much this time of year. And I have come to really like salads with dinner, big ones, and that leaves little room for the rice or other starchy carbs which it seems I need. But I am paying more careful attention to the amount and timing of food, and when all else fails, I just drink another beer--it is carbs, after all. Let's just say I do not have concerns about eating too much. In fact, I have been munching on leftover Halloween candy for what, 2 or 3 weeks now, and it has no impact on me. Actually, sometimes concentrated calories are just what I need because I can't fit any more bulk into my tummy at night. All good, all part of this unique experience that I am putting myself through.

I have ups and downs mentally, and this is almost worse than Ironman training. It is like most of the day I have food, training, stretching, sleeping or other life organization in the back of my mind even as I am doing my regular job. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, and then I do something like my longest swim ever and I am all stupid happy. I wish I was training with someone else doing the same thing, but I don't know anyone else locally who is as stupid as I am! Sometimes I think I am too old to be doing this, but then I feel so amazingly great I can't believe it and figure I should just continue on. It is a rollercoaster, and I feel like I really need to cut loose, only the big goal is always looming so mostly I don't. I do intend to cut loose next weekend--pretty sad that the only way I can make myself do so is to do a fucking 1/2 Ironman on Saturday so I don't have to do any training on Sunday! But, hey, it works for me, and as long as I keep seeing progress towards the goal, I am basically happy.

Sometimes I don't know why I keep writing all this stuff down, but I guess some people like to read it to know what goes on in the mind of a crazy person who chooses to do this stuff. It would be interesting if someone followed me around with a video camera--I bet they would get some really interesting facial expressions. Like when I lift myself out of the pool after my Friday workout, or when I wake up on Monday morning and think about what I have to get done this week. Ah well...on that note, I must go and stretch now so I can be ready for the weekend's festivities!

Recovery Seems to be Going Well

I got in 11,500 yards of swimming and 180 miles of biking (I went over 5,000 miles for the season) this past week. No running. Sadly, no strength, although that's OK.

Today I did an 84-mile ride at a decent pace considering the wind and all, and it felt pretty good. I sort of wanted to get to 200 miles for the week, but there was really no need for it, so I didn't extend the ride.

I feel ready to start running again. I will ease back in, though, so I don't do any damage.

While out riding today, I decided I had better modify my taper for Revenge of the PirateMan, and the training for the next several weeks, because it is going to be bigger and badder than just an Ironman, and so although I will still taper for 2 weeks, it will be less than I typically would do for an Ironman taper.

By the way, if anyone wants my training program (built by moi) for the last year, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send it to you. While riding today, I was thinking about the things that contributed to a pretty good Ironman race this time around:

• I cut my TV watching way back, eventually to nothing, resulting in sleeping more.
• I quit wearing underwear in May. Good luck? I don't know, but it must be relevant!
• I did all that extra stuff February through April--pushups, pullups, crunches and jump rope. It seems as if it gave me more overall stamina than ever before. I plan to start that back up after ROTPM, because I will need boatloads of stamina for all the crap that I am planning to do!
• I got my weight (and probably bodyfat) as far down as I think I can go, slowly, without losing power on the bike or speed on the run. Yes, it probably affected my swimming somewhat (I sink like a rock, literally), but oh well, I can deal with that. I think it also made me even more aerodynamic on Bitch. I swear I can cut through wind even better now just because I present so little for it to mess with.
• I started riding hills earlier in the season. Early May, to be specific.
• The power meter quit working on Bitch. So I had to go old school and just push myself on speed and cadence only. I can pretty much tell how much power I am putting out, as it worked out pretty well at IMLP.
• I had 2 unplanned "rest" periods--last November after I fucked up my back during remodeling, and end of May when I was sick for 2 weeks with sinus infection, virus, you name it.
• The worst 3 years of my life were over finally--Mom died, Dad died, and I got most of the Estate crap finished.
• I ended up running "a little extra" whenever I felt like I could. More is more!
• I swam a lot of yards with the paddles on. Which strengthens the traps and romulins (as I like to call the rhomboids), which helps with aero position and maintaining good form while running.
• I spent a lot of time biking with an iPod given to me last year for a birthday present by my friend, Susan. I am very much into "keeping up with the music," and since I tend to listen to fairly fast dance/house music, this helped me just always pedal faster.
• Once I was in the 12-week Ironman build period, I was sleeping like a champion and also eating properly, including lots of green salads and veggies, which are supposed to provide all sorts of antioxidants, and while I don't take vitamins (I rely on the huge does in Endurox R4 that I use for recovery drink), I think the natural foods are key.
• I kept up my stretching, trigger point work and weekly massage.

I went to a craft store yesterday and I think I cleaned them out of pirates!

I am starting to plan my training from ROTPM through Ultraman Canada (and even CheaterMan 2010!!!), and boy oh boy is this going to be a trip. Just writing down that I need to swim 8,000 meters all at once is kind of daunting. Double long runs and double long rides (at least I've been doing the double long rides for years). How am I going to fit this all in? I have no idea except that I will be up very early on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for a very long time.

I am looking forward to ROTPM and then my first 50-mile run ever and then Goofy Challenge. Alas, it's not like I am going to have any off season this fall/winter to speak of. I am moving from one thing to the next. Oh well, this is all going to be a helluva ride, right?

Into a Big Week

Monday was a much needed rest day. All I did was get a massage, and then it was early to bed.

Yesterday I awoke feeling still tired although I'd slept well. That is to be expected. Although I was going to technically just skip Monday's workouts, the little voice in my head said I could make it up throughout the week, so I thought I'd start the day with a short swim. The water was too warm for me, and I swam pretty damn slowly, but it still felt good, especially since I hadn't done any pushups or chinups right before!

The plan called for a 2-hour ride and :20 run, but I figured I'd run for :30 just to put a dent into the missed running from Monday. It wasn't even 60 when I started riding, so I used the helmet beanie, booties and wind gloves. I was a little chilled at first, but warmed up quickly. I rode straight into the east wind, and just kept going east in the big ring, standing on any hills. Somehow I managed to ride exactly 2 hours, and when I downloaded the data this morning, the entire ride was at 82.5% of FTP, which isn't bad considering I had a bit of a tailwind on the way back in and there was a lot of stop and go, as I was basically riding through residential neighborhoods. All good, though!

I made a quick change into running tights and headed back out into the wind. At first, I felt too warm and thought I should have left the long sleeved shirt at home, but once I went directly into the wind, I knew I was dressed just right. My hands never were warm. The run didn't suck too badly as I'd had caffeine on the bike, but I still felt it. I didn't run particularly fast, but my usual steady, and I was just glad to get it done.

Since I did such a long workout in the middle of the day, even though I had begun work pretty early, I still kept going until about 6:15, and I really wanted to make a dent in my strength training for the week, so I motivated and got about 1/2 hour of that done, then quickly walked to a friend's house down the street for my physical therapist duty.

This friend just had a hip replacement, and her husband is out of town, so she needs help putting on and taking off compression stockings on the affected leg, and I am happy to help out. Evening all I have to do is strip it off, and starting today in the morning, I will stop by and put it on for her. Her house is at the top of the hill from my house, and it's 1/4 mile there, so I figure I can get in a little extra running there and back, too!

After that, I came back home and stretched and finally ate dinner around 8PM, and I think I should have eaten more (but I did have my first Twinkie of the year!), but I was too tired to keep eating and wanted to read a little before going to sleep.

I woke up a little early today because I was hungry, but I should be able to do better on the whole scheduling thing as I should be done swimming by 7:30 and can start work then, and I only need to run for 1:15 in the middle of the day, so I can be finished working by 5:00, get my stretching done, go see my neighbor, eat at 7:15 or so, have time to read and get to sleep early. I may try and get some more strength training done today. Or not!

I am watching the weather (it continues to rain a lot here), and don't yet have firm weekend riding plans. I may drive to Galena to do a very hilly ride on Saturday, or if Sunday has better weather, then I'll head up to Dodgeville, WI and knock out maybe 100 miles which will be totally hilly. Funny thing is I'm not even sure I'm ready to ride 100 miles let alone 100 miles with 9,000 feet of climbing! But if I end up doing that, I will not do much on Saturday.

This is a hard week of training. I've done this before, but each time I do it, there is something different about it. I always wonder how I got it done before but then once I'm into it, I stop thinking. So all of this planning and scheduling and orchestrating and controlling is all designed to put me into a position where I can train and not think, and that is a most beautiful thing.

Happy Hump Day!

The week goes pretty well so far. It hasn't snowed much at all for several days, and it's not expected to snow again until next week. So getting a break from shoveling is good.

Monday was a nice day off--I did all three workouts (:30 swim, :45 run and 1:05 strength), took a short nap and got a haircut. Just before I left for my haircut, my new ottoman arrived. A friend had suggested that I needed one in the living room, and about a week ago, I sat quietly and thought if I could have anything I wanted, what would it be? And I thought silver leather. Lo and behold, the Internets have anything you want, and I found it and ordered it. I was happy when I opened up the box and discovered it doesn't weigh too much and I can carry it and move it around easily. So of course, the first thing I did was put it in the living room to see how it looks. Awesome! And next I tested out its strength--not so much for my feet, but it looked to be good for incorporating into my stretching routine. Actually, I can turn it on its side and lay on my back and get the best spine stretch you can imagine! Of course, I need to be careful not to slide off of it ;) Let's just say I also noticed the height of the thing might make it come in handy in "other" situations...sometimes a small platform can be useful, you know?

Yesterday, I executed my bike workout:

WU: 15' wup, 3' spinups
MS: 3 x 2' (1') @ 105%, 2' Easy,
4 x (6' @ FT then 1' @ 105-110%, 2' Easy), 1' Easy,
10 x 30/30'
CD: 3' Easy

pretty damn well. Funny how I have so much power when I haven't lifted right before riding and haven't shoveled snow in several days! But I can do better, and I get the opportunity again tomorrow to do the same workout, so I'll see if I can hit a higher TSS number.

I finished up the abs/core piece of my workout in the afternoon yesterday, and after work I got an awesome massage. I'd say my back/hips are at 99% now, as one of the things I was able to do yesterday is my twisting medicine ball/stability ball oblique exercise (that I made up and that is included in my abs/core routine on the sidebar) without feeling any restriction in my obliques! Yee-haw!

After my massage, I finished sewing a pair of tiger-striped flannel pants (I've got 3 more pairs almost finished--blue tiger-stripes, red, orange and yellow flaming skulls and tiny red lobsters on a white background), cleaned up a bit, ate some dinner and then spent some quality time with a friend to cap off 2 excellent days to begin my week.

Today, I've already swum 2500 yards, and I have a track workout to do in a few hours, and then I'm making dinner for a friend that I haven't seen in months...usually I go over to her house, but I'm having her here so she can see what's happened to my place, and we will talk and catch up and eat some good foods and drink some wine.

I am still working on shuffling workouts for the next 2 days because I want to be somewhat rested for the little indoor triathlon on Sunday. It should be interesting...I feel ready for a really hard effort, but I also dread it. Those short, hard things can be really rough, but it will also be fun and nice since this one is maybe 3 miles from home, and my wave goes off at 8:30AM. So I can get up, get it done, run for about 1:30 afterwards, and it will just be noon, and I can catch a nap and just lay around the rest of the day!

I love my new ottoman and decided to make a little art out of it today. Or is it art? Just some objects that I thought would look neat on it:

Spazzastic

Any of you who have done 3+ Ironman's notice that when you are in the last 4 weeks you get clumsy and spastic? I sure do. I've decided that what's happening is your body only knows how to swim, bike and run, and so anything else you attempt (like eating, for example) is no longer an "autopilot" activity, and your neuromuscular system spazzes out on you.

Let's see--last week I just dropped spaghetti and meatballs (but hey, my kitchen floor is clean so no worries), I've stubbed several toes in the last few days, last night I let some nachos slip off the plate onto the floor, yesterday I lifted something oddly and messed up some erector spinae muscles, and this morning, I decided to do this shoulder stretch that I haven't done in several months:




















Well, I've always had no problems doing it as shown above, but when I switch arms and I put my right arm behind my back, it's always a bit tight in the deltoids. I did it anyway (I can grab fingers together), it felt just fine, but then a few minutes later my deltoid starts to hurt. I'm like fuck, I wanted to swim like 3600 yards today. I worked on the trigger points, and it was raining early this morning, so I put the kibosh on riding CF to the outdoor pool (crap--I had wanted to get 6 days straight of biking), and headed to the Y. I swam very gingerly, and got psyched to swim 2,000 yards straight. Well, after 800 yards, my shoulder said nope, so I ended up only swimming 3,000 yards (still not bad).

I ran into my friend Jamie, and he swam for like 15 minutes, and then we both got out and talked for about an hour on deck! We always chat it up since we don't see one another very often. I then drove home and dumped my swim stuff and then drove to my mechanic to drop my car for some routine stuff, and then I ran home--it took about 25 minutes (got rained on a teensy bit). Work, work, work, work on the shoulder some more (it's getting better--should be fine for Friday's 5,000 yard workout), hope the rain stops, it does, my car is done, and I go run 20 minutes out and back from home and then run back to pick up my car.

And I'm thinking what else will I get spastic and klutzy with? I'm genuinely afraid of power tools at this point, and have no plans to cook anything requiring my big chef's knife! I know I need to be careful around this time before an Ironman, but somehow I always end up doing something to myself.

Other than that, I feel really good today--I know I finally replenished my glycogen stores, due to eating continuously yesterday, and I only worked out for a little over 2 hours today.

Tomorrow I only have to run 2 hours and maybe do some strength work. I'm already into my run taper, and I'm happy about it and also sad. Once you knock out some solid 2:15 and 2:30 runs, it makes you feel pretty invincible. I could run 2:15 tomorrow--it will depend on whether it's raining in the morning and I have to run on the dreadmill or not. 2:15 wouldn't hurt me a bit, and if the weather is good, I'll go to Waterfall Glen and do it.

In addition to the spasticity, now is when I almost get sad because the big training will be ending soon. I mean, I'm so fucking tired from it it seems like I should want to stop, but then I don't want to, and while I do enjoy the race, sometimes I'd just rather train. Does that make sense?

Oh well, it's all a pretty normal part of the process. I've done this so many times, I laugh at the fact that the same things happen over and over and over. Deja fucking vu.

Today's Ride

Yeah, so I did this ride today. 102 miles by myself in 5:33. Not bad for a day's work 1 week after Triple T. It was flat to rolling, with most of the rolling in the last 15 miles. GORGEOUS day! There were several times when I wanted to slack, but I wore my HTFU bracelet so that's what I did. The time includes several bottle fumbling events, since I was testing out my Hydro Tail on a big ride.

What's significant about this?

1. I know I can go faster.
2. I rode this tired.
3. My IF was .733 and TSS 299 (NP=136) which is PERFECT for an Ironman ride
4. I don't feel too trashed, other than the fact that I still trained GO HARD OR GO HOME style this week just following Triple T
5. It was my SECOND RIDE on Bitch this year!!!
   

I think my CdA is down. My new rear bottle position helps as does the fact that I'm a bit smaller and leaner. My next move is to get S-bend aerobars. Despite this being only my 2nd ride on Bitch, I was very comfortable in my aero position (except for my poor crotch, but it's coming around). I've noticed in just the last month that I can almost put my palms on the floor when I do a forward bend (i.e., touch your toes). I find it amazing that I've become more flexible in the past year. I'm not stretching any more than I used to--I'm just being consistent about it, now for 3 years, I think.

I LOVE my Bitch. The Nokon cables are just fucking cool. All's I need now is about 5 more 100+ mile rides (which I'll easily get in) before IMLP and I'm fucking all set to go.

I tell ya, riding a road bike makes you strong. And stretching is good for holding a fairly aggressive aero position, which I do. And new bike parts can never hurt.

I made up some new rules today:

1. Beers that you drink after riding but before you shower don't count.
2. Doing a supported ride in a skinsuit is more gay than wearing an aero helmet (I didn't wear mine today because I feared being ridiculed, but I wore it yesterday for a puny 2:40 ride to test it out and it FUCKING ROCKS)
3. Riding a $4,000+ tri bike at 15MPH is very wrong.
4. Tube socks aren't too stylish on a bike. Almost as bad as compression socks on the run! (except for Jamie, who can get away with tube socks any time)
5. If you can't control your appetite while on a supported ride, how the hell do you think you are going to lose weight training for an Ironman? My God, I saw people putting on the feed bag today, and many of them weren't riding 100 miles.

Edit: I just mowed my lawn and ended up hypoglycemic, so I ran...er...stumbled into the house and stuffed my face with some orange slices and am waiting for them to take effect. I LOVE when this happens!

Weekly Workout Totals 04/28/2008-05/04/2008

WARNING!!! Not for the faint of heart. While I have completed training weeks like this in the past, they always seem news to me. I think because I'm able to execute them better and better, and I'm having even more fun doing them than in years past.

Sometimes even I can't believe what I've done, and this week was no exception. There are a bunch of things that stand out, although not all are apparent in the numbers:

1. It doesn't matter whether I sleep or not. I'm not even pounding the caffeine yet. My body is just so used to performing under any conditions that it seems to go on autopilot.
2. Loss of a few pounds has been a godsend in terms of recovering well from intense stuff and getting (at least trying to) adequate nutrition. I can't imagine weighing more and the extra calories that would require, although things balance out--the lighter you get, the harder you're able to work. I like that.
   
3. My swimming is finally starting to come around. For sure I've got endurance; but speed (my version of it, anyway) is also returning.
4. Check out that TSS total! That is WAY FUCKING COOL. It means not just that I biked a lot, but that I BIKED A LOT HARD!
   
5. My regular commitment to stretching must be beneficial, as I'm not getting as much massage as I used to (although I'm starting to want it more now that I'm really hitting it hard), but I'm basically feeling muscularly sound.
6. I have returned to, maybe even surpassed, my "normal" amount of happiness!!!!!!! All is good with the world for me--it's hard to write down how joyful I feel and how full of life. Perhaps my training is the highest expression of that, but I am just loving everything that is good.
7. I like numbered lists.
8. I also like bulleted lists, but sometimes I like the numbers even better.
9. I like to count things.
10. I enjoy being timed.
11. Meters and kilometers are not very funny.
12. My vacuum cleaner really sucks.
    

Please note that I have provided Canadian translations of my workout information, and will continue to do so weekly.

Weekly Workout Totals	04/28/2008-05/04/2008
Swim:	11000 yards (6.24 miles) in 3.78 hours; 18% of weekly workout time; approx. 1325 calories burned Canadian: 10058.4 meters
Bike:	Approx. 191.63 miles in 10.95 hours; 53% of weekly workout time; approx. 5968 calories burned; Total TSS=715 Canadian: 308.4 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 27.56 miles in 4.22 hours; 20% of weekly workout time; approx. 1903 calories burned Canadian: 44.35 kilometers
Strength:	1.65 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 413 calories burned Canadian: same thing unless time is different?
All Sports:	Approx. 225.43 miles in 20.6 hours; approx. 9609 calories burned Canadian: 362.79 kilometers
Sleep:	6.86 hours avg./night Canadian: I dunno--slept with some bears?
Stretching:	1.97 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

Recovery is going well

When I woke up yesterday, my calves were still pretty fucked up from the elliptical and other stuff. They felt better than the day before, but when I first walked downstairs in the morning, I was saying "Ow, Ow, Ow" whenever I stepped on my left foot. I played with my walking gait to see how I could walk without it hurting.

I did a :35 abs/core workout early in the morning, but eventually, I had to decide if I was going to run. As soon as I put on my running shoes a little after noon, I guess the extra arch support (I use orthotics) was enough to correct whatever was making my calves hurt.

I still felt pretty fatigued, considering I did a really hard bike workout on Wednesday, and I knew I'd run a pretty good pace if I ran outside (it was a nice day), so in the spirit of continuing my recovery from NothingNess, I JFR'ed 7.5 miles. The nice thing about my run training over the winter is that longer runs are no big deal anymore.

My calves actually felt better for the run, which confirmed what I thought which was that they needed me to not be flat-footed, and with my new ultra lightweight running shoes, I spend more time on my toes, so it all worked out.

I got a massage last night--first one in 20 weeks! Yikes, that's a long time between. Yet, I've been doing fine, muscle-wise, until I a) started this NothingMan nonsense and b) started running on the roads. The massage was absolutely wonderful, and I'm going to get back on a schedule of every 2-3 weeks, just because it hurts so good. Turns out I had boatloads of trigger points from my left glutes all the way down (DUH, no wonder my calves felt fucked up), and in the vastus lateralis on both legs. My massage therapist did a new move on me which allowed him to really whale on my vastus lateralis, which I nicknamed the Vast-ectomy. If you saw how it was done, uh, let's just say if you were a guy you might think you were getting the other kind. My therapist also does some assisted stretches on me, and it was cool to see just how flexible my hamstrings are (or should we say overly flexible?). He did the stretch where I'm lying on my back and picks up one leg (straight knee), and gently pushes it towards my head. I achieved about a 120-degree angle with each leg! So I guess despite my crazy training lately, I've been improving my flexibility despite myself.

This morning when I woke up my calves felt pretty much back to normal. Surprisingly, I swam pretty well this morning, even though I felt worked over from the massage and the preceding training events. I'm about to repeat Wednesday's bike workout, and I hope I can nail it even better this time.

Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice, spring weather, and I'm going to treat myself to a long run on a trail I haven't been on since last August. I'm also looking forward to putzing around in the flower beds and getting really dirty!

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!