What is reality? Is what we perceive about ourselves real? Are we our perceptions? We are not supposed to be, but yet we must live in a world of perceptions. Perceptions can add valuable input to where we are on the spectrum of self-knowledge and nirvana.
Fuck, would I love to be able to feel not subject to perceptions, to not have to do but just to be. One of the reasons I train so much is that in a perverted way, the harder I push, the more pain I put myself in, the closer I think I am getting to that essence of myself--that place where I am not what I do, what I see, what I feel--I just am.
What does it mean to use something so inherently perception, feeling (physical and emotional) and physically based to try and move to that state? It is just my choice. Others might use drugs (which I wish I had right now!), an immersion in all things family, career or some other hobby, or meditation. Or nothing.
No matter how bad I may feel on any given day, I'd rather have something that I can hold onto that makes me feel alive, like there is something to me other than going through the motions of being a human member of society.
And so right at this moment, I can perceive that I went to sleep exhausted. I awoke after a good amount of sleep feeling exhausted. Some of my muscles may even be sore. I wonder how I made it through the last week with all the things I was asked to do for not myself that were eating me alive. I wonder if any of my close friends really know what's going on inside my head, and I wonder if they care. I'm not easy to know. I need to be pulled out of myself as my energy source is deep inside me. Every once in awhile I meet someone who takes that chance with me, who is unafraid to go into that core of me, and it's a real joy. It's well protected in there but also very fragile like a thing made out of glass. Glass protected by steel. I can feel when the steel is deforming--when it is developing vulnerabilities. I worry about the glass breaking and fixing the outer core.
I will train today because maybe, just maybe, it will reinforce me. I will either emerge from it stronger or weaker. I have to take that chance on stronger. Every day is taking a chance at stronger, even as I willfully weaken myself temporarily, or for what I hope is temporarily. Tomorrow I will know.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Friday, April 03, 2009
How Am I Doing?
My version of stress overload is that I am always asking myself questions, because my self-confidence is taking a hit:
- Am I doing OK at my job? I think so...at least one person tells me so.
- Am I doing OK at my training? Too much? I probably should take a rest day, but I'm not.
- Am I checking in with my friends? Do they know I care even though I'm stressed? I am trying, REALLY trying. How I feel is no excuse not to be caring towards them.
- Am I doing all the things I'm being asked to do all of a sudden as Executor? Man, it's been a rough few weeks on that front. But it's getting to be that time again--the 2-year anniversary of Mom's death is approaching, and I still feel like things aren't closed on that front. Mom's memory reminds me every day to try and stay healthy. She'd probably say I'm too skinny right now. I want to get Dad's estate closed, but this ending process is freaking me out. It's been a long time, and I've carried this with me, and maybe it shouldn't feel so stressful, but it does.
- Am I cultivating my family? I'm trying. I never feel like I"m doing good enough on that front. I get some quality time this weekend, which I'm really looking forward to.
- Am I maintaining my integrity? I'm trying. It's hard for me to manage knowing what I should be doing all the time when I feel like I'm juggling a million things.
- Am I lashing out at people because of my stress level? Somewhat. I try and remember to apologize when I can, but it would be better if I didn't need to in the first place. Boy, it would be so nice if JUST ONE THING went smoothly lately. Nothing has been like that!
Thursday, April 02, 2009
I am Failing at Push 10 Gs Criteria
I'm trying, I'm really trying!
Hip bones sticking out of my pants FAIL
Ruler standing on top of my hip bones FAIL
Hip bones sticking out of my pants FAIL
Ruler standing on top of my hip bones FAILGreat Run Today
Here I am half asleep before I even had any coffeeWoke up at 5AM on the dot before the coffee pot went off, and didn't even bother to put clothes on--instead I donned my running clothes while waiting for coffee to finish, fixed breakfast (hard boiled egg on English muffin with some jam), organized a little bit, visited the bathroom, loaded up my gym bag with a can of Coke and bottle of Gatorade, and headed to the Y.
I was on the treadmill running at 6:02AM, and for the first :30 of the run, I almost wasn't fully awake, but my legs felt fine, since I was running in Z1, although I had to fend off a strong desire to puke since I had eaten so close to starting. The workout for today was this:
1:50 as 30' z1, 20' z2, 10' z4, 5' z2, 10' z4, 5' z2, 15' z3, 15' z2
The Z1 and Z2 stuff felt, indeed easy, and even the Z3. I like doing the Z4 stuff on the track, but today I kept it all to the treadmill so I wouldn't run too hard. Since I only took about a 30 second break after the first 1:05, because I wanted to just slide through the Z4 stuff, I was finished about 7:53AM. I had some chatting company for my last :30 in the name of my pilot friend, Chris.
The can of Coke lasted me for about 1:10--usually I'm done with it in under an hour, but my breakfast kept trying to come up on me so I was taking smaller sips. I can only handle Coke (fully fizzed!) to start when I run this early, as it seems to keep my stomach settled. Once I transition to outdoor long runs, I'll need to carry defizzed Coke so it doesn't escape the bottle while I'm bouncing around. It sucks, because I really prefer it fizzy. Oh well!
When I got off the treadmill, I realized that if I had planned better, I could have jumped in the pool for :30, which would have been a nice cool down, but I didn't have swim gear, so I decided to stay and stretch for a little bit, and still felt good, so I headed downstairs and knocked out 20 chinups, 75 pushups and 150 crunches in about 10'. I was originally going to skip that stuff today, but what the hell, I had some time, so I got it done.
I will do one more workout today which is to finish up my strength stuff , which should take about :35. That will set me up for only 2 workouts tomorrow--a 3300-yard swim and a :50 easy run.
One of the things I did this morning between getting up and arriving at the Y was to look at my long run progression to see when my first 2 hour run would be. I had things configured so that it wouldn't be for another 5 weeks, and I thought, what the fucking hell, I'm ready for it NOW! So I retooled things and will hold at 1:50 next week but then start in on the 2 hour runs in 2 weeks! Yee-haw! Unfortunately, it will still be darkness when I need to start them in order to get them done before work for the next 3-4 weeks, which means still on the treadmill, but that's OK--it will make the transition to outdoor long runs at my favorite place, Waterfall Glen, that much sweeter!
I am still processing huge amounts of stress and sadness for myself and one of my close friends, and you put that together with some pretty heavy duty training, and you can bet I'm a bit of a psychological mess, but I'm mostly holding it together. I'm starting to let my house cleanliness slide, but it was only a matter of time before the MESS showed up. I am rotating 3 pairs of running shoes and doing indoor and outdoor runs, so that means sunglasses, hats, tights, everything is getting used, and soon enough there will be bike and helmet and bike shoe rotations (although Bitch doesn't need to come out for about a month), and OMG the amount of bottles I am going through now is getting to be pretty spectacular.
Well now that I've got all this out of my system and I'm at work digging on that version of stress, I think I may need a little nappie-poo later or at least a lay down.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Somebody Stop Me!
Yesterday, I lifted at 5:45AM because I had to go into the city to do a presentation (yes, I was spectacular as always and did wear naughty things under the biz clothes), come home, work some more and didn't get on the bike until 4:30. I was pretty wiped out and thought I'd cut the session short or slack on the intensity, but in the end, I did pretty well on the intensity and finished the full 1:35 workout. There was one point where I got to pedal easily where I was thinking I could fall asleep! After I finished, I showered, watched maybe 1/2 hour of TV and was too tired to eat properly, and didn't stretch because I was too tired.
Today I woke up at 4:15 (8 hours of sleep!), and started in on things early since I was supposed to get a massage at 4:00PM, which got cancelled. Fuck! But this is what I did today:
5:00AM Lift for 15': bis, tris, delts, chest
5:45AM (at Y) 20 chinups, 40 pushups, 70 crunches and 5' of jump rope
6:05AM Swim 2800 Anaerobic Endurance Workout:
Warmup: 300s, 300k, 300p, 200s, 200k, 200p, 200dr
Main Set: 4x50 build 1'SI
2x50 fast 1'SI
1x50 easy 1'SI
3x50 fast 1'SI
1x50 easy 1'SI
4x50 fast 1'SI
cd: 150k, 200p
12:40PM Run 1:00 on some hills I had forgotten about--the way out is 3.4 miles of mostly uphill and I ran into the wind, and then back where apparently the wind switched direction. I was thinking I should run some hills for Triple T preparation, and I totally forgot about this route and how it is basically Triple T only not as steep. Let's just say I was tired when I started, it sucked to run uphill into the wind, but I knew I'd get it done. Either I was smiling like a crazed person or I looked cute cuz I wore my pink Nike jacket and pink gloves and a sushi toque and black tights, and many drivers smiled and/or waved at me. I do like to represent well when I'm working out!
I am done working out for the day. Tomorrow I need to run 1:50 in the morning, so I need to be on the treadmill (pitch black out, you know) by 6AM. I'm sure my legs will be fine by then. Or not. Whatever, I'll get it done. And then finish up my strength training in the afternoon.
Tonight I will be stretching, eating and passing out. My weight is hanging out around 109, which is cool, I really feel cut and trim. I'm starting to see the veins pop out in my obliques and lower abs running all the way down to...well...the party area. I love it when I can see those veins!
Today I woke up at 4:15 (8 hours of sleep!), and started in on things early since I was supposed to get a massage at 4:00PM, which got cancelled. Fuck! But this is what I did today:
5:00AM Lift for 15': bis, tris, delts, chest
5:45AM (at Y) 20 chinups, 40 pushups, 70 crunches and 5' of jump rope
6:05AM Swim 2800 Anaerobic Endurance Workout:
Warmup: 300s, 300k, 300p, 200s, 200k, 200p, 200dr
Main Set: 4x50 build 1'SI
2x50 fast 1'SI
1x50 easy 1'SI
3x50 fast 1'SI
1x50 easy 1'SI
4x50 fast 1'SI
cd: 150k, 200p
12:40PM Run 1:00 on some hills I had forgotten about--the way out is 3.4 miles of mostly uphill and I ran into the wind, and then back where apparently the wind switched direction. I was thinking I should run some hills for Triple T preparation, and I totally forgot about this route and how it is basically Triple T only not as steep. Let's just say I was tired when I started, it sucked to run uphill into the wind, but I knew I'd get it done. Either I was smiling like a crazed person or I looked cute cuz I wore my pink Nike jacket and pink gloves and a sushi toque and black tights, and many drivers smiled and/or waved at me. I do like to represent well when I'm working out!
I am done working out for the day. Tomorrow I need to run 1:50 in the morning, so I need to be on the treadmill (pitch black out, you know) by 6AM. I'm sure my legs will be fine by then. Or not. Whatever, I'll get it done. And then finish up my strength training in the afternoon.
Tonight I will be stretching, eating and passing out. My weight is hanging out around 109, which is cool, I really feel cut and trim. I'm starting to see the veins pop out in my obliques and lower abs running all the way down to...well...the party area. I love it when I can see those veins!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Just Barfed my Breakfast
What did I learn? Do not jump rope within 2 minutes of finishing breakfast. Of course, I was able to hold off the actual barfing until I finished the jump rope. Had to get it done! And then I gagged while brushing my teeth. Ah, the joys of working out, feeling like shit mentally and getting ready to do a presentation in front of 300 people!
So what am I going to do now? I'm going to lift for about :30 and then try eating again, and then it's off for some (as John Lovitz used to say) "ACTING!"
Tanita, that whore, told me I'm below 110 lbs (before I barfed, just so you know). I guess that means I should start eating more. I haven't seen a number that low since...well since I went through my divorce 15 years ago. I don't understand people who say they have trouble losing weight--maybe they just forget how? I guess my body remembers...er...just add stress.
How do I feel?
So what am I going to do now? I'm going to lift for about :30 and then try eating again, and then it's off for some (as John Lovitz used to say) "ACTING!"
Tanita, that whore, told me I'm below 110 lbs (before I barfed, just so you know). I guess that means I should start eating more. I haven't seen a number that low since...well since I went through my divorce 15 years ago. I don't understand people who say they have trouble losing weight--maybe they just forget how? I guess my body remembers...er...just add stress.
How do I feel?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Easy Monday Run
:50, including 10' of strides. Actually a pretty nice day outside--a little cool for my liking, but bright sunshine, so I'll take it. I wore my bitchin' near-racing flats:
What is not to like about these shoes? They have black, pink, sparkliness and iridescence. I call them my Pink Floyd shoes because they remind me of the prism. The only thing they lack is magical powers to make me feel better.
What is not to like about these shoes? They have black, pink, sparkliness and iridescence. I call them my Pink Floyd shoes because they remind me of the prism. The only thing they lack is magical powers to make me feel better.
Swim Til You Puke
3100 yards of fun, especially with water about 84-85. Felt a little residual tiredness, but the warmth of the water seemed to affect me more than the Monday TIRED. Drank coffee during the workout instead of Gatorade, as I managed to sleep until 5:30 when the coffee pot went off, so I didn't have time to have my usual 3 cups before hitting the pool.
I did pretty well (for my sorry-ass swimming that is) on the 150's, but slowed down a little on the 100's. But then the 25's at the end felt pretty fun!
Warmup: 400s, 300p, 200k, 200dr
Main Set: 5x150 @T-pace+20"SI
1x200 n/s 20"RI
5x100 @T-pace+10"SI
2' bonus rest
18x25 fast/ea, ea/fast, ea, fast 40"SI
cd 100
I did pretty well (for my sorry-ass swimming that is) on the 150's, but slowed down a little on the 100's. But then the 25's at the end felt pretty fun!
Warmup: 400s, 300p, 200k, 200dr
Main Set: 5x150 @T-pace+20"SI
1x200 n/s 20"RI
5x100 @T-pace+10"SI
2' bonus rest
18x25 fast/ea, ea/fast, ea, fast 40"SI
cd 100
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Weekly Workout Totals 03/23/2009-03/29/2009
Good training week. Lots of hours, lots of TSS on the bike (haven't seen that number since 2008 NothingMan), decent amount of sleep, good running, plenty of swimming, all good. Next week brings :20 more running, and hold swim and bike pretty much the same as this week.
Wow, isn't this fucking interesting???
Note: the extra stuff I did this week amounted to 1.6 hours, so if I add that in, I did 18.4 hours. Hot damn!
Wow, isn't this fucking interesting???
| Weekly Workout Totals | 03/23/2009-03/29/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by pushing the envelope. I keep wondering when I will crack. We shall see! |
| Swim: | 10700 yards (6.07 miles) in 3.72 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 1301 calories burned Canadian: 9784.08 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 127.5 miles in 6.95 hours; 42% of weekly workout time; approx. 3865 calories burned; Total TSS=452 Canadian: 205.19 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 31.45 miles in 4.75 hours; 28% of weekly workout time; approx. 2153 calories burned Canadian: 50.61 kilometers |
| Strength: | 1.32 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 330 calories burned |
| All Sports: | Approx. 165.02 miles in 16.74 hours; approx. 7649 calories burned Canadian: 265.57 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 8 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 2.53 hours. Massage: 1 hours |
Note: the extra stuff I did this week amounted to 1.6 hours, so if I add that in, I did 18.4 hours. Hot damn!
I Just Did This
10 rounds of:
Not bad considering what I did yesterday:
Now I just have to do a 2:15 trainer ride, pretty intense, like this:
WU: 25' @ 65-70%
MS: 3 x (15' @ 85-90%,
5' @ FT,
2' @ 105%,
8' Easy) ,
10x30/30
CD: 10' @ 80-85%
- 10 chinups
- 10 air squats
- 10 military pushups
- 5 dead bugs each side of body, extended arm and leg about 1" from ground; hold 10 seconds
- 10 1-2-3-4's, which are standard crunches where you lift your torso progressively 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and all the way up slowly and then back down the same way
Not bad considering what I did yesterday:
- 3 hour trainer ride, IF=.8, TSS=195. Yee-haw, that was fucking great!
- 35' brick run, ending with 5' on the track at sub-5K pace, or maybe it is my 5K pace now!
- 2200 yard cool-down swim of 600 free, 600 pull, 600 swim and 400 pull with paddles
Now I just have to do a 2:15 trainer ride, pretty intense, like this:
WU: 25' @ 65-70%
MS: 3 x (15' @ 85-90%,
5' @ FT,
2' @ 105%,
8' Easy) ,
10x30/30
CD: 10' @ 80-85%
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Run, Run, Run!
Since I moved my long run to Thursdays this week, I thought I probably have put in a lot of running in the last week, so I went and added it up, and for the 7 day period beginning last Friday through today, I've put in 42 miles!
I had no trouble getting in my 1:40 run this morning, except for starting at 6:30AM which will get earlier and earlier as the runs move up towards 2:00, since I need to start working by 9AM. I still did my extra crap before I ran this morning, and wasn't sure I could pull off the run. Yesterday I didn't get enough sleep and felt generally run down from the combination of lack of sleep and training a lot, and thought I might be getting sick, too. But I felt pretty good this AM after a good night's sleep, albeit a bit dizzy which I think was leftover from 1/2 tablet of Advil PM that I took around 1:30AM because I wanted to make sure I kept sleeping.
I drank a can of Coke and a little bit of Gatorade during the run, and it was fine, and I had some company on the adjacent treadmill for about :30. Our conversation was extremely colorful--this guy has a lot of respect for my level of fitness, and at one time I thought I wanted to date him, but he was frank that he couldn't deal with someone like me! So today we were discussing some female stuff, since I guess his girlfriend is around my age, and then the conversation deteriorated (in a good way) from there.
I finished up the run with 15' on the track where I was able to run solidly at about my 10K pace, which is what I was supposed to do, and overall, the entire run felt great. I stretched about 10' and now I'm at work and will probably want a little lay-down at some point, but I still have about 30' of strength to knock out today. At the end of the day, I'm going to go pick up my award from the indoor tri series, and that should be a nice way to head into the weekend.
It always amazes me how a few pounds off makes such a difference running, but it does. In my case, it's not enough to make me necessarily overall faster; rather it just makes it feel less bad when I do run. But no worries, I have no desires to lose any more weight at this point. I still remember back to the first time I was this small and I was climbing on the bike and for the first time wasn't wishing I was any lighter! That is a good feeling.
On that note, back to work for me...
I had no trouble getting in my 1:40 run this morning, except for starting at 6:30AM which will get earlier and earlier as the runs move up towards 2:00, since I need to start working by 9AM. I still did my extra crap before I ran this morning, and wasn't sure I could pull off the run. Yesterday I didn't get enough sleep and felt generally run down from the combination of lack of sleep and training a lot, and thought I might be getting sick, too. But I felt pretty good this AM after a good night's sleep, albeit a bit dizzy which I think was leftover from 1/2 tablet of Advil PM that I took around 1:30AM because I wanted to make sure I kept sleeping.
I drank a can of Coke and a little bit of Gatorade during the run, and it was fine, and I had some company on the adjacent treadmill for about :30. Our conversation was extremely colorful--this guy has a lot of respect for my level of fitness, and at one time I thought I wanted to date him, but he was frank that he couldn't deal with someone like me! So today we were discussing some female stuff, since I guess his girlfriend is around my age, and then the conversation deteriorated (in a good way) from there.
I finished up the run with 15' on the track where I was able to run solidly at about my 10K pace, which is what I was supposed to do, and overall, the entire run felt great. I stretched about 10' and now I'm at work and will probably want a little lay-down at some point, but I still have about 30' of strength to knock out today. At the end of the day, I'm going to go pick up my award from the indoor tri series, and that should be a nice way to head into the weekend.
It always amazes me how a few pounds off makes such a difference running, but it does. In my case, it's not enough to make me necessarily overall faster; rather it just makes it feel less bad when I do run. But no worries, I have no desires to lose any more weight at this point. I still remember back to the first time I was this small and I was climbing on the bike and for the first time wasn't wishing I was any lighter! That is a good feeling.
On that note, back to work for me...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
It's SWIM LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!!
I got my custom Splish pirate suit yesterday, so I'm going to swim all pirate-like today. Plus this documents my 4-weeks of dieting, although I still think I have some fat to lose, but I'm training too much to diet any longer so it's lots of Pirate Booty for me!
As you can tell from the pic above, I am in no danger of losing my huge fat ass.
That's my girlfriend, Pirate Whore Barbie, next to me ;)
Boo-TAY!
Frontal version with strategically placed pirates
As you can tell from the pic above, I am in no danger of losing my huge fat ass.
That's my girlfriend, Pirate Whore Barbie, next to me ;)
Boo-TAY!
Frontal version with strategically placed piratesMonday, March 23, 2009
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:
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!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Weekly Workout Totals 03/16/2009-03/22/2009 and Miscellaneous Ramblings
I ended the week on a high note. Had a great run this morning (after my warmup of 50 pushups, 22 pullups, 130 crunches and 5.5' of jumping rope) of 1:40. 30' z1, 30' z2, 30' z3, 10' z4. Was supposed to end it with 10' z2, but I went onto the track and figured let's see what I can do since the rest of the run felt just great, and what the hell, I ran in z4 (this is all pace-based as I no longer use an HRM). After the run, I went and swam 1150 yds. with the paddles to cool down, and then I did a few hours of yard work to cap off the day.
While stretching I was thinking how is it that I feel so good right now? Maybe I expect to feel like crap--more tired, more sore muscularly, something. But it's not happening. I am not complaining--after all, it's only March! But it got me to thinking that this extra stuff I've been doing has been helping me in subtle ways. Like this morning, my right knee was a little gnarly from yesterday's ride (and probably the brick run), but I'm pretty sure jumping rope this morning fixed it right up. Why? Because it's tough to jump without putting equal force on both your knees, and my knees get out of whack because the left one has no ACL and so it fucks with my hip mechanics. And with the pushups and pullups, it has forced my back, from upper to lower, to equalize in strength, and I can tell when I roll on the foam roller that I am much more symmetrical in terms of which muscles feel "crunchy," which is a term I use when I can feel one muscle rolling over another one and the sensation to me is one of crunchiness, although maybe there's a technical term for it.
The other thing I notice is that just by dropping a few pounds I feel much better running, and since running is the big screwer upper of everyone's low back, it stands to reason I should not feel as beat up. Yep! I remember a few years ago when I first hit 112 lbs. how much I noticed how much better I felt.
I suppose watching my diet a little more has made a contribution, too. Although I have to say that 1/2 bag of jelly beans last night was necessary and must have contributed to me feeling so good running this morning!
It wasn't until this morning that I realized why my training plan had me doing the long run yesterday and the ride today--it's because I do another 1:40 run on Thursday morning, so if I'd done today's run yesterday I'd have one more day of recovery, but what the fuck, I've done a lot more crazy shit than that so no worries there. When I see what other people are up to on Facebook, I feel like a total slacker anyway.
Mentally I feel a bit edgy. Like I'm in an Ironman build. DOH!!! I feel strong and also like I could rip someone's face off at any minute. I know that sounds harsh, but it's just a state that my body gets in and it affects my psyche, too. But I'm aware of it, so I don't actually go around ripping people's faces off.
But this is just the beginning. I've got another 8 weeks of pretty serious training, and then it's Triple T, which by itself makes for a big week, and then 8 weeks of all out craziness followed by IMLP.
I should be happy I feel so good right now--the TIRED is going to be knocking at my door any day now, and I will welcome it with open arms, after all, whose idea was this shit anyway??? MINE!!!
Here's what I got done last week. Oh if you add in the extra crap, it's more like 17 hours...and why I didn't just ride another .5 miles to make 112, who knows? I didn't know I was off that number until today...
While stretching I was thinking how is it that I feel so good right now? Maybe I expect to feel like crap--more tired, more sore muscularly, something. But it's not happening. I am not complaining--after all, it's only March! But it got me to thinking that this extra stuff I've been doing has been helping me in subtle ways. Like this morning, my right knee was a little gnarly from yesterday's ride (and probably the brick run), but I'm pretty sure jumping rope this morning fixed it right up. Why? Because it's tough to jump without putting equal force on both your knees, and my knees get out of whack because the left one has no ACL and so it fucks with my hip mechanics. And with the pushups and pullups, it has forced my back, from upper to lower, to equalize in strength, and I can tell when I roll on the foam roller that I am much more symmetrical in terms of which muscles feel "crunchy," which is a term I use when I can feel one muscle rolling over another one and the sensation to me is one of crunchiness, although maybe there's a technical term for it.
The other thing I notice is that just by dropping a few pounds I feel much better running, and since running is the big screwer upper of everyone's low back, it stands to reason I should not feel as beat up. Yep! I remember a few years ago when I first hit 112 lbs. how much I noticed how much better I felt.
I suppose watching my diet a little more has made a contribution, too. Although I have to say that 1/2 bag of jelly beans last night was necessary and must have contributed to me feeling so good running this morning!
It wasn't until this morning that I realized why my training plan had me doing the long run yesterday and the ride today--it's because I do another 1:40 run on Thursday morning, so if I'd done today's run yesterday I'd have one more day of recovery, but what the fuck, I've done a lot more crazy shit than that so no worries there. When I see what other people are up to on Facebook, I feel like a total slacker anyway.
Mentally I feel a bit edgy. Like I'm in an Ironman build. DOH!!! I feel strong and also like I could rip someone's face off at any minute. I know that sounds harsh, but it's just a state that my body gets in and it affects my psyche, too. But I'm aware of it, so I don't actually go around ripping people's faces off.
But this is just the beginning. I've got another 8 weeks of pretty serious training, and then it's Triple T, which by itself makes for a big week, and then 8 weeks of all out craziness followed by IMLP.
I should be happy I feel so good right now--the TIRED is going to be knocking at my door any day now, and I will welcome it with open arms, after all, whose idea was this shit anyway??? MINE!!!
Here's what I got done last week. Oh if you add in the extra crap, it's more like 17 hours...and why I didn't just ride another .5 miles to make 112, who knows? I didn't know I was off that number until today...
| Weekly Workout Totals | 03/16/2009-03/22/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by yin/yang |
| Swim: | 10050 yards (5.7 miles) in 3.58 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1255 calories burned Canadian: 9189.72 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 111.54 miles in 6.15 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3325 calories burned; Total TSS=386 Canadian: 179.51 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 31.03 miles in 4.66 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 2100 calories burned Canadian: 49.94 kilometers |
| Strength: | 1.32 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 330 calories burned |
| All Sports: | Approx. 148.27 miles in 15.71 hours; approx. 7010 calories burned Canadian: 238.62 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 7.5 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 2.73 hours. Massage: 1 hours |
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Smells like a Breakthrough Workout to Me
I woke up this morning a little earlier than I would have liked, but still got 7.5 hours of sleep, which is about enough for me lately. Muscularly, I felt great, which is awesome considering I put in about 11 hours Monday-Friday, and 10 is the threshold where I start to feel generally tired. But I had a slight headache, and it didn't look like it would get warm enough for me to ride outside until later than I wanted to go (and need to wear a lot of clothes), so I decided to get on the trainer.
I just wasn't looking forward to 3 hours on the trainer, but knew I'd probably get it done anyway. All winter long, I've been watching Ironman races while on the trainer, but today I pulled out an old TDF. I hope that my memory would be correct in that it's better to watch people biking the entire time than the other color crap that is on most of the Ironman coverage.
My original workout called for a 1 hour warmup and then 1:30 of some intervals, which meant I'd need another 1/2 hour of something, and while doing the first hour, I thought about where I wanted to put that extra 1/2 hour. I decided up front, so I'd end the ride on the hard stuff.
Pretty much as soon as I started riding, Mr. Headache left me, and my legs felt pretty darn good. But of course, you can't judge how you feel when you are riding easy. I took a short break at 40' in to do 50 pushups, 50 crunches and 15 pullups so I wouldn't forget to do them later. I decided my extra 1/2 hour would be at 80-85% most of the time. Well, that felt pretty good, too, so then I got to thinking how the original main set would feel and could I do it? Turns out, oh yeah! Here's the full workout I did:
WU: 60' @ 65-70%, 2x(12'@80-85%,3' Easy)
MS: 3 x (18' @ 85-90%, 6' @ FT, 1' @ 105%, 5' Easy)
I ended up with a TSS of 187, which ain't bad considering the first hour was fucking easy.
Next, it was time to run. Last week, I was Ms. Bonk on the run, but it was my own fault. Today I made sure to take in sufficient calories while on the bike that I should be OK. I ran outside, and as soon as I took off (after about a 5' transition), I was like fuck, my legs feel awesome! I was running uphill into a headwind and feeling great! So of course I wondered how long that would last.
I kept running into the wind so I'd have it at my back on the way home, and I never did experience what I like to call "brick suck." You know what I mean--that point in a brick run where you just feel like shit. I thought it would happen today especially since I had ended the ride going pretty hard, but no! I also noticed that I felt very light on my feet which tells me I'm just about at perfect race weight (maybe 111 now which is just fine). I negative split the run by a good amount (which was what I was supposed to do).
I'm sitting here thinking that today showed me several things:
I'm optimistic that I will have a good long run tomorrow, too, and since I have no schedule constraints tomorrow, I might just wait until it's warm enough for me so I can avoid the treadmill.
I am always grateful for a workout like today, because much of the time I feel like I suck, and then something like this happens and I think maybe not.
And now I must try and nap before an appointment in a few hours. Happy Saturday!
I just wasn't looking forward to 3 hours on the trainer, but knew I'd probably get it done anyway. All winter long, I've been watching Ironman races while on the trainer, but today I pulled out an old TDF. I hope that my memory would be correct in that it's better to watch people biking the entire time than the other color crap that is on most of the Ironman coverage.
My original workout called for a 1 hour warmup and then 1:30 of some intervals, which meant I'd need another 1/2 hour of something, and while doing the first hour, I thought about where I wanted to put that extra 1/2 hour. I decided up front, so I'd end the ride on the hard stuff.
Pretty much as soon as I started riding, Mr. Headache left me, and my legs felt pretty darn good. But of course, you can't judge how you feel when you are riding easy. I took a short break at 40' in to do 50 pushups, 50 crunches and 15 pullups so I wouldn't forget to do them later. I decided my extra 1/2 hour would be at 80-85% most of the time. Well, that felt pretty good, too, so then I got to thinking how the original main set would feel and could I do it? Turns out, oh yeah! Here's the full workout I did:
WU: 60' @ 65-70%, 2x(12'@80-85%,3' Easy)
MS: 3 x (18' @ 85-90%, 6' @ FT, 1' @ 105%, 5' Easy)
I ended up with a TSS of 187, which ain't bad considering the first hour was fucking easy.
Next, it was time to run. Last week, I was Ms. Bonk on the run, but it was my own fault. Today I made sure to take in sufficient calories while on the bike that I should be OK. I ran outside, and as soon as I took off (after about a 5' transition), I was like fuck, my legs feel awesome! I was running uphill into a headwind and feeling great! So of course I wondered how long that would last.
I kept running into the wind so I'd have it at my back on the way home, and I never did experience what I like to call "brick suck." You know what I mean--that point in a brick run where you just feel like shit. I thought it would happen today especially since I had ended the ride going pretty hard, but no! I also noticed that I felt very light on my feet which tells me I'm just about at perfect race weight (maybe 111 now which is just fine). I negative split the run by a good amount (which was what I was supposed to do).
I'm sitting here thinking that today showed me several things:
- I have absorbed a lot of the intense stuff I was doing over the 8-week period where I was doing those 4 sprint races
- I have ramped up my volume (I'll hit almost 16 hours this week) safely
- It was a good idea to drop a few pounds
- I must be taking good care of myself to feel this good
I'm optimistic that I will have a good long run tomorrow, too, and since I have no schedule constraints tomorrow, I might just wait until it's warm enough for me so I can avoid the treadmill.
I am always grateful for a workout like today, because much of the time I feel like I suck, and then something like this happens and I think maybe not.
And now I must try and nap before an appointment in a few hours. Happy Saturday!
Friday, March 20, 2009
More Thoughts on Coaching
There are a few different types of coaches, and what they offer is typically driven by their pricing model. You want a cookie-cutter plan? That in and of itself doesn't constitute coaching. Writing training plans is not that difficult if you are good with Excel. Building training plans for a person like me who has a few actual key races but then wants to mix in all this other ridiculous (to some people) stuff is a little more complicated, but I've learned how to do it. Has the fact that I've chosen to add these other things to my schedule impacted my ability to race to my alleged potential? Probably, but it's also made me strong and able to keep pushing my own envelope. OK, that was an aside...
It's what goes along with the training plan, be it cookie-cutter or customized to you, that constitutes the actual coaching. What can that person teach you about how to manage yourself to go along with the training itself that will enhance not just your performance, but your progression in sport and life, assuming you've chosen to adopt triathlon/endurance training as a lifestyle? There are many aspects to that lifestyle, including but not limited to:
Now, there are many good sources of all that extra information--books, the Internet, triathlon clubs, your friends--but when you are first starting out, getting a handle on it all can be a daunting task, so it really helps to have someone who can act as a mirror to you so you can have an idea of how you are doing and know when to integrate the various facets of geekiness.
What it comes down to if you are going to work with a coach is understanding what beyond the basic season planning and training plan construction you can expect. Also, know that almost any change in your training stimulus is going to make differences in your performance. You only get faster and stronger by continuously changing things up, and then there comes a point at which you've achieved your, let's call it "allowable," maximum speed, and from there on out you mostly just want to remain uninjured. Like me, for example, I can't and don't expect to get much faster at this point, and my objective is to not slow down too much for another few years.
Now, to expect one person to teach you and give you guidance on all those other geeky things is probably unrealistic. It would require almost daily contact, at least in your initial stages. This is why all these forums and websites have sprung up to preach the gospel of equipment this and nutrition that. Which is a good thing! But it does pay to have someone help you synthesize all that information into something meaningful for you. There is no one-size-fits-all.
I guess what I'm saying is that you need to decide how geeked out you want to be and then how long you want to take to get there, and then through a combination of self-study, mentor identification and possibly coaching, ramp yourself up and see what happens. So to me this is really about studying your body and your mind and putting it all together in a way that supports a particular type of sports habit. So decide how much you want to invest in yourself and then have at it.
When you look around at other athletes, you will notice that those you would consider successful are, in fact, quite geeked out, at least about themselves. They understand that there's a lot to this and that the training part is just a small piece of the equation, and they see this as a holistic effort.
When a person says they are unhappy with their coach, what it means is that, like in any business, their expectations weren't met. You need to be very clear with someone who says they are going to coach you as to what they specifically will be able to deliver to you vs. what you are going to need to do on your own. Your ultimate success or failure (however you define it) is going to depend on the sum of those two parts. And then there's personality and your own style of learning. Some people are OK with "DO THIS." I needed (and got) "DO THIS BECAUSE..."
There are all kinds of coaches out there, and even if you use one, remember that you are going to need to do a lot of work on your own, that no single person can know or teach you everything, and that you should seek out your personal Zen masters to show you the way.
Enough for now. Not that I'm geeked out or anything like that...
It's what goes along with the training plan, be it cookie-cutter or customized to you, that constitutes the actual coaching. What can that person teach you about how to manage yourself to go along with the training itself that will enhance not just your performance, but your progression in sport and life, assuming you've chosen to adopt triathlon/endurance training as a lifestyle? There are many aspects to that lifestyle, including but not limited to:
- Nutrition
- Body composition management
- Technique (swimming, especially)
- Recovery management (stress management, stretching, massage, general rest)
- Season planning
- Cultivating resiliency (which to me would include things like supplemental strength or functional training)
- Mental focus
- Race execution
- Injury prevention and management
- Equipment choice and maintenance
- Measuring, monitoring and goal-setting
Now, there are many good sources of all that extra information--books, the Internet, triathlon clubs, your friends--but when you are first starting out, getting a handle on it all can be a daunting task, so it really helps to have someone who can act as a mirror to you so you can have an idea of how you are doing and know when to integrate the various facets of geekiness.
What it comes down to if you are going to work with a coach is understanding what beyond the basic season planning and training plan construction you can expect. Also, know that almost any change in your training stimulus is going to make differences in your performance. You only get faster and stronger by continuously changing things up, and then there comes a point at which you've achieved your, let's call it "allowable," maximum speed, and from there on out you mostly just want to remain uninjured. Like me, for example, I can't and don't expect to get much faster at this point, and my objective is to not slow down too much for another few years.
Now, to expect one person to teach you and give you guidance on all those other geeky things is probably unrealistic. It would require almost daily contact, at least in your initial stages. This is why all these forums and websites have sprung up to preach the gospel of equipment this and nutrition that. Which is a good thing! But it does pay to have someone help you synthesize all that information into something meaningful for you. There is no one-size-fits-all.
I guess what I'm saying is that you need to decide how geeked out you want to be and then how long you want to take to get there, and then through a combination of self-study, mentor identification and possibly coaching, ramp yourself up and see what happens. So to me this is really about studying your body and your mind and putting it all together in a way that supports a particular type of sports habit. So decide how much you want to invest in yourself and then have at it.
When you look around at other athletes, you will notice that those you would consider successful are, in fact, quite geeked out, at least about themselves. They understand that there's a lot to this and that the training part is just a small piece of the equation, and they see this as a holistic effort.
When a person says they are unhappy with their coach, what it means is that, like in any business, their expectations weren't met. You need to be very clear with someone who says they are going to coach you as to what they specifically will be able to deliver to you vs. what you are going to need to do on your own. Your ultimate success or failure (however you define it) is going to depend on the sum of those two parts. And then there's personality and your own style of learning. Some people are OK with "DO THIS." I needed (and got) "DO THIS BECAUSE..."
There are all kinds of coaches out there, and even if you use one, remember that you are going to need to do a lot of work on your own, that no single person can know or teach you everything, and that you should seek out your personal Zen masters to show you the way.
Enough for now. Not that I'm geeked out or anything like that...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Everyone's a Fuckin' Coach
Recently I've noticed a lot of people hanging out shingles and claiming they are triathlon coaches. Some of these individuals have only a few years' experience at the game, and yet feel eminently qualified to tell other people how and what to do. Some of this may be being driven by the poor economy (extra cash on the side!), or maybe it's just a reflection of just how narcissistic triathletes are in general that most of them think they are know-it-alls, and the best sport for a know-it-all is telling someone else what they know and how to apply it!
Fact is, it's pretty easy to set up a website and then mine the Internet for all sorts of amazing content, such as which stretches to do, beginner training plans, the latest gizmo that will make you faster, the latest non-tri exercise trend, etc. It's a good thing that we all have access to amazing amounts of information, and it is true that it can be helpful to have it summarized for you by someone else. But that doesn't make that person a coach.
It's also pretty easy to take a beginner triathlete who has no clue about much at all, and give them a very basic training plan and presto, they will improve at S/B/R because, well, they just went from fucking aimless to a modicum of discipline.
Another form of "coaching" consists of telling a person to actually write down what they are doing and keep track of things like heart rate, pace, feelings of fatigue, etc. And by virtue of writing down things and being able to look at one's history, certain truths pop out, which of course, can only be analyzed by said coach. I am going to write a book called Keeping Track of Shit for Dummies. Chapter 1 will begin with the line: It is important to write things down. Please grab a pen and paper and write down that you just bought this book.
To me, a true coach is a person whose goal is to enlighten you to enlightening yourself. You are only as good as what you know about yourself. You are the one who wakes up every day and decides whether it's going to be a good day or a bad day, and this should not be based on what someone (even you yourself!) wrote down in a plan. A true coach should only be a guide who nudges you in one direction or the other so that you learn how to bring out the best in yourself. In that regard, I have many, many coaches.
I enjoy surrounding myself with people who seek to perfect themselves through both sport and the burning desire to know themselves better, and I take bits and pieces of their learnings and decide whether I want to apply them to myself. Someone whose sole focus is to simply excel at a particular sport and quote their PR's is of no interest to me. Or a person who says "I just do this for fun." Not that there isn't a place in the world for these people--they just aren't my cup of tea. Or a person who is a complete follower and takes learning from others to such an extreme that they lose the ability to make decisions about their own course of action.
My first triathlon coach's purpose was to show me how little I knew about the sport and teach me that it's fucking hard to do well at Ironman while holding down a conventional job and maintaining some semblance of what is colloquially called "having a life." He did a great job of this, not so much by what he told me to do, but what I observed him doing. Did I think he had a life? Not really. Do I think I have one now? Yes--but the life I have chosen might appear to someone else as not having a life. I'm OK with that.
I could never have respect for a coach who isn't in it or doesn't look the part. I would not stand for some out of shape loser trying to tell me how I should modify my nutrition to achieve excellence because hey, obviously he/she isn't doing it so how could he/she possibly demonstrate to me how it works? I don't want to get into a discussion about how someone need not have experience in a sport in order to coach it. While I see that as possible for team sports, on an individual basis, I think not so much.
My next triathlon coach's purpose was to teach me some methodology that I could use to coach myself. Did he know this at the time? Not right away, but I think it became apparent pretty quickly that I was in this to add another facet to my life's journey, and that I was going to soak it up. I never studied sports or was even what I would call athletic until maybe 15 years ago, and while I needed to be told what to do for awhile, after a bit I was able to do it for myself.
Now, as far as making a plan to get me from Point A to Point B in terms of triathlon, I'm the coach. But I tweak and tweak and pay attention to people around me, and am very fortunate that I seem to attract very like-minded people who understand that while it's good to have a guide, even what appears to be an anal-retentively-developed-humongous-training-plan-in-a-spreadsheet guide, that at the end of the day it's about what did I learn about myself, what awesome ideas did I get from others and when might I be able to apply them to myself, and how much fun did I have in the process?
The down side of surrounding yourself with a bunch of driven, hyperactive Type A's (and you know who you are!) is that, well it's natural for us to all be the know-it-all at one time or another and say, "Why don't you do this?" or "Why won't you try that?" And it makes me smile to know that I know these people and while I often have to say "I don't have room for that right now in my life," that I am always banking these ideas for a time when I know it will be right to incorporate them.
In the business world, when I conduct an interview, what I'm expecting the interviewee to reveal to me is "This is what's so fucking great about me and why you should hire me." I suppose that I tend to apply this to real life as well but with a twist: "This is what's so fucking great about me and why you should want to associate with me," and because of it I can be accused of having impossibly high standards. Oh well.
Cuz you know, everyone's a fuckin' coach anyway.
Fact is, it's pretty easy to set up a website and then mine the Internet for all sorts of amazing content, such as which stretches to do, beginner training plans, the latest gizmo that will make you faster, the latest non-tri exercise trend, etc. It's a good thing that we all have access to amazing amounts of information, and it is true that it can be helpful to have it summarized for you by someone else. But that doesn't make that person a coach.
It's also pretty easy to take a beginner triathlete who has no clue about much at all, and give them a very basic training plan and presto, they will improve at S/B/R because, well, they just went from fucking aimless to a modicum of discipline.
Another form of "coaching" consists of telling a person to actually write down what they are doing and keep track of things like heart rate, pace, feelings of fatigue, etc. And by virtue of writing down things and being able to look at one's history, certain truths pop out, which of course, can only be analyzed by said coach. I am going to write a book called Keeping Track of Shit for Dummies. Chapter 1 will begin with the line: It is important to write things down. Please grab a pen and paper and write down that you just bought this book.
To me, a true coach is a person whose goal is to enlighten you to enlightening yourself. You are only as good as what you know about yourself. You are the one who wakes up every day and decides whether it's going to be a good day or a bad day, and this should not be based on what someone (even you yourself!) wrote down in a plan. A true coach should only be a guide who nudges you in one direction or the other so that you learn how to bring out the best in yourself. In that regard, I have many, many coaches.
I enjoy surrounding myself with people who seek to perfect themselves through both sport and the burning desire to know themselves better, and I take bits and pieces of their learnings and decide whether I want to apply them to myself. Someone whose sole focus is to simply excel at a particular sport and quote their PR's is of no interest to me. Or a person who says "I just do this for fun." Not that there isn't a place in the world for these people--they just aren't my cup of tea. Or a person who is a complete follower and takes learning from others to such an extreme that they lose the ability to make decisions about their own course of action.
My first triathlon coach's purpose was to show me how little I knew about the sport and teach me that it's fucking hard to do well at Ironman while holding down a conventional job and maintaining some semblance of what is colloquially called "having a life." He did a great job of this, not so much by what he told me to do, but what I observed him doing. Did I think he had a life? Not really. Do I think I have one now? Yes--but the life I have chosen might appear to someone else as not having a life. I'm OK with that.
I could never have respect for a coach who isn't in it or doesn't look the part. I would not stand for some out of shape loser trying to tell me how I should modify my nutrition to achieve excellence because hey, obviously he/she isn't doing it so how could he/she possibly demonstrate to me how it works? I don't want to get into a discussion about how someone need not have experience in a sport in order to coach it. While I see that as possible for team sports, on an individual basis, I think not so much.
My next triathlon coach's purpose was to teach me some methodology that I could use to coach myself. Did he know this at the time? Not right away, but I think it became apparent pretty quickly that I was in this to add another facet to my life's journey, and that I was going to soak it up. I never studied sports or was even what I would call athletic until maybe 15 years ago, and while I needed to be told what to do for awhile, after a bit I was able to do it for myself.
Now, as far as making a plan to get me from Point A to Point B in terms of triathlon, I'm the coach. But I tweak and tweak and pay attention to people around me, and am very fortunate that I seem to attract very like-minded people who understand that while it's good to have a guide, even what appears to be an anal-retentively-developed-humongous-training-plan-in-a-spreadsheet guide, that at the end of the day it's about what did I learn about myself, what awesome ideas did I get from others and when might I be able to apply them to myself, and how much fun did I have in the process?
The down side of surrounding yourself with a bunch of driven, hyperactive Type A's (and you know who you are!) is that, well it's natural for us to all be the know-it-all at one time or another and say, "Why don't you do this?" or "Why won't you try that?" And it makes me smile to know that I know these people and while I often have to say "I don't have room for that right now in my life," that I am always banking these ideas for a time when I know it will be right to incorporate them.
In the business world, when I conduct an interview, what I'm expecting the interviewee to reveal to me is "This is what's so fucking great about me and why you should hire me." I suppose that I tend to apply this to real life as well but with a twist: "This is what's so fucking great about me and why you should want to associate with me," and because of it I can be accused of having impossibly high standards. Oh well.
Cuz you know, everyone's a fuckin' coach anyway.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
First Outdoor Ride on LGL in 2009!
Aw, man...68 degrees sunny and windy...I was in HEAVEN! Rode for almost 1:45, and wanted to just keep going, but work calls...
I didn't ride with a plan other than to go as hard as I could up any hill in my path. The wind helped me keep my effort up, too. As you can see from the pic above, my legs are in no danger of becoming skinny, but they will brown up one of these days.
It's supposed to cool off again tomorrow, so I won't get outside on the bike again until maybe Saturday, which may prove to be too cool anyway. That's OK, it's only March, and I am happy to be getting outdoors more, even if it's just to run.
But boy, I still love LGL. Her stiffness is especially appreciated when riding through all the potholes created by our snow-filled winter. Stiff is good!
Progress to Date
OK, I guess I figured I may as well take some pics of myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm so vain, blah, blah, blah.
I have to say that my back feels really, really solid. There is almost zero hitch in it anymore from any angle, twisting, nothing. So 4 months after injuring the hell out of it, I'm healed! I think the extra core stuff helps, so I need to thank a few people for inspiring me to change things up a bit: Brett for the jump rope and Louis (no I'm not yet training for a Murph!) for the pushups and pullups. The extra abs work was my own idea because I needed to change things up there.
I still have a little over a pound of weight to lose, and hopefully it will be fat, just as I'm pretty sure the other 2.5 have been. And then once I've achieved that, I will reassess and figure out what's next. I tell ya, it doesn't get any easier to stay in shape as each year passes, although the cardiovascular stuff isn't that hard, and I haven't slowed down there yet. But maintaining lean mass is a little more challenging, and gosh, I'm just so used to having some muscle and do not want to lose any.
Well, here I am:
I have to say that my back feels really, really solid. There is almost zero hitch in it anymore from any angle, twisting, nothing. So 4 months after injuring the hell out of it, I'm healed! I think the extra core stuff helps, so I need to thank a few people for inspiring me to change things up a bit: Brett for the jump rope and Louis (no I'm not yet training for a Murph!) for the pushups and pullups. The extra abs work was my own idea because I needed to change things up there.
I still have a little over a pound of weight to lose, and hopefully it will be fat, just as I'm pretty sure the other 2.5 have been. And then once I've achieved that, I will reassess and figure out what's next. I tell ya, it doesn't get any easier to stay in shape as each year passes, although the cardiovascular stuff isn't that hard, and I haven't slowed down there yet. But maintaining lean mass is a little more challenging, and gosh, I'm just so used to having some muscle and do not want to lose any.
Well, here I am:
Monday, March 16, 2009
Pics!!!
Shelley has been bugging me to post some, so here you go.
First, proof of my little fat trimming exercise:
And yes I have a bruised toenail on my left big toe from something stupid.
Yesterday I held a baking and cooking orgy--here are pics of the roll of one batch of cookies I made and then the finished product of both cookies. There is a secret ingredient in them, and they turned out really well!
No pics of moi until I feel like it. Since it's warming up and I'm getting outside and starting to brown up, I'll wait until I no longer feel like I'm pasty white.
First, proof of my little fat trimming exercise:
And yes I have a bruised toenail on my left big toe from something stupid.Yesterday I held a baking and cooking orgy--here are pics of the roll of one batch of cookies I made and then the finished product of both cookies. There is a secret ingredient in them, and they turned out really well!
No pics of moi until I feel like it. Since it's warming up and I'm getting outside and starting to brown up, I'll wait until I no longer feel like I'm pasty white.
Weekly Workout Totals 03/09/2009-03/15/2009 and Miscellaneous Stuff
I had a good week of training last week. In looking at the hours below, it doesn't include all my extra stuff, so in reality I put in about 16 hours, which is cool! I'm feeling strong--I am doing 50+ pushups a day now, and yesterday for the first time I did 7/6/5 chinups, so I may be closing in on the elusive 10 chinups straight, which will be a real marker for me.
On the weight loss front, I am at about 111.5 lbs. now, down from 114 just 2.5 weeks ago, so all is well there. In terms of where the weight is coming off of, it's a little around my belly and then it must be pretty equally everywhere else, because the only measurement on me that has gotten smaller is 2" below my waist and maybe 1/2" off my butt and hips. But that's exactly what I wanted. Another 1.5 lbs. and I'll be at my fighting weight of 110, and I don't feel skinny at all. I may even go splurge and get a precise bodyfat measurement done just so I know what's going on.
My diet is still far from clean...I like beer (1 a day most days) and some days I just have to reload all the calories I've burned off lest I feel like crap. Even though I've been eating below my needs at least 5 out of 7 days in the week, I don't usually feel especially hungry, but I am becoming aware of the need for more carbs as my training load is increasing steadily. The one thing I have done without for 2 weeks is any sort of candy (I have a special bag of jelly beans with my name on it for 2 weeks from now) and chips most of the time, although on Saturday after 3.5 hours of training, I had to have some Pringles, but just one serving, so not like I'm binging on them. I baked some cookies yesterday and had 2 of them, and the rest of them are being given away otherwise I'd eat them all!
As my training load increases, I am beginning to have cravings for things that I typically want during heavy training--rice pudding, massive amounts of sushi, Pringles, Cheetos, gummi bears, spaghetti carbonara (made with prosciutto) and big hunks of meat. In other words, I am about to make a 6 month guest appearance on the Food Channel!
But I am going to try and keep it fairly clean except for 1 or 2 days each week through next week, which was the promise I made to myself and want to keep. Once I am officially at 16+ hours per week (TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!!), though, all bets are off, and you'll hear me periodically chanting, "SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR" or "MEAT, MEAT, MEAT" or "FAT, FAT, FAT" depending on what my body is craving.
Did I say I love food? And exercise?
Spring is in the air now here. There are fat robins everywhere, birds singing early in the morning, I saw the migrating Sandhill cranes overhead yesterday, and the mallards are starting to get sexually aggressive. Tis the season!
On the weight loss front, I am at about 111.5 lbs. now, down from 114 just 2.5 weeks ago, so all is well there. In terms of where the weight is coming off of, it's a little around my belly and then it must be pretty equally everywhere else, because the only measurement on me that has gotten smaller is 2" below my waist and maybe 1/2" off my butt and hips. But that's exactly what I wanted. Another 1.5 lbs. and I'll be at my fighting weight of 110, and I don't feel skinny at all. I may even go splurge and get a precise bodyfat measurement done just so I know what's going on.
My diet is still far from clean...I like beer (1 a day most days) and some days I just have to reload all the calories I've burned off lest I feel like crap. Even though I've been eating below my needs at least 5 out of 7 days in the week, I don't usually feel especially hungry, but I am becoming aware of the need for more carbs as my training load is increasing steadily. The one thing I have done without for 2 weeks is any sort of candy (I have a special bag of jelly beans with my name on it for 2 weeks from now) and chips most of the time, although on Saturday after 3.5 hours of training, I had to have some Pringles, but just one serving, so not like I'm binging on them. I baked some cookies yesterday and had 2 of them, and the rest of them are being given away otherwise I'd eat them all!
As my training load increases, I am beginning to have cravings for things that I typically want during heavy training--rice pudding, massive amounts of sushi, Pringles, Cheetos, gummi bears, spaghetti carbonara (made with prosciutto) and big hunks of meat. In other words, I am about to make a 6 month guest appearance on the Food Channel!
But I am going to try and keep it fairly clean except for 1 or 2 days each week through next week, which was the promise I made to myself and want to keep. Once I am officially at 16+ hours per week (TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!!), though, all bets are off, and you'll hear me periodically chanting, "SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR" or "MEAT, MEAT, MEAT" or "FAT, FAT, FAT" depending on what my body is craving.
Did I say I love food? And exercise?
Spring is in the air now here. There are fat robins everywhere, birds singing early in the morning, I saw the migrating Sandhill cranes overhead yesterday, and the mallards are starting to get sexually aggressive. Tis the season!
| Weekly Workout Totals | 03/09/2009-03/15/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by the coming of spring! |
| Swim: | 9800 yards (5.56 miles) in 3.43 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1202 calories burned Canadian: 8961.12 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 99.96 miles in 5.68 hours; 38% of weekly workout time; approx. 2870 calories burned; Total TSS=325 Canadian: 160.87 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 30.33 miles in 4.6 hours; 31% of weekly workout time; approx. 2085 calories burned Canadian: 48.81 kilometers |
| Strength: | 1.33 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 333 calories burned |
| All Sports: | Approx. 135.85 miles in 15.04 hours; approx. 6490 calories burned Canadian: 8.07 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 8.07 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 2.37 hours. Massage: 1 hours |
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Sure Sign of Serious Training
So I decided this morning to sign up for the Twin Lakes Triathlon in June. Even though registration isn't open until Monday (and it's just a form you download and mail in, so sadly, there will be no SUBMIT button), just thinking about signing up is exciting. You can draft on the bike in this race, so if you plan your swim accordingly with your biking buds, you can have a great time on the bike and do well on the run.
I'm getting ready to go swim, and I'm brushing my teeth and I barely get the toothbrush in my mouth and I'm gagging. Nice! Usually this doesn't start happening until about mid-May or something (not like I keep track of it in my training spreadsheet but maybe I will now ;) so it was making me laugh, and gagging and laughing at the same time is not a good thing. I know of only one other person who has admitted to having this "issue," and you know me--I have zero qualms about discussing bodily functions, but in this case it was kind of good to know I'm not alone in this.
My belief is that it's the sweetness in the toothpaste coupled with the increase in training which means I am taking in sugars fairly regularly, and well, my usual toothpaste (Crest) is quite sweet. Huh--maybe I should try an experiment with just baking soda? Like that wouldn't make me gag! Or maybe some unflavored toothpaste. I should have known yesterday when I went downstairs to my Gatorade tower to select enough 32-oz. bottles to get me through today through Sunday, and my arms were overflowing, that I am "in it" now. It feels good, and this is what I was preparing for, and while there are no races until Triple T, I've already put in some good intensity work and now it's time for the big volume jump.
So in a weird, perverted way, I *HEART* gagging. All part of going harder, faster and longer!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Indulging my Inner Pirate (some links NSFW)
For some reason, since sometime last fall, I have been lusting after all things pirate. I made my girls, Shelley and Cindy, some pink shirts with pirates (Shelley needs to post pics of it!), made myself a black shirt with a pirate on it, made the duvet cover with pirates and zebras, got some unmentionables with pirates (and trust me--the supply of that stuff is limitless--I've located some additional sources here and here that spark my interest), and most recently, enhanced my swim gear to include some new pirate stuff.
I got this cap (which I wore to race in on Sunday):
these goggles (broke the first pair changing the nose bridge; got a replacement last night; will try them out tomorrow):
and I designed this suit at Splish.com, which should arrive in another week or so:
I receive a surprise in the mail last week, a gift from my friend, Susan, who had hinted that she had found something "with my name all over it." Yep, she was dead on, I mean pirates and zebra stripes? It's this purse/carry thingie:
How cool is that? Susan found it at some craft fair, and told me that when she spotted it, her first thought was that it was screaming my name! Thanks, Susan--I love it!
You'd think I'd be all over the Avia stuff, but sadly, no pirates on the shoes that I can see. I'm going to start tracking down some sort of pirate shoes, and no, it won't be knee-high "pirate" boots or these. Although, wouldn't it be funny to show up in transition wearing those? Who knows---maybe the Jolly Roger will be flying at TTT and IMLP!
I got this cap (which I wore to race in on Sunday):
these goggles (broke the first pair changing the nose bridge; got a replacement last night; will try them out tomorrow):
and I designed this suit at Splish.com, which should arrive in another week or so:
I receive a surprise in the mail last week, a gift from my friend, Susan, who had hinted that she had found something "with my name all over it." Yep, she was dead on, I mean pirates and zebra stripes? It's this purse/carry thingie:
How cool is that? Susan found it at some craft fair, and told me that when she spotted it, her first thought was that it was screaming my name! Thanks, Susan--I love it!
You'd think I'd be all over the Avia stuff, but sadly, no pirates on the shoes that I can see. I'm going to start tracking down some sort of pirate shoes, and no, it won't be knee-high "pirate" boots or these. Although, wouldn't it be funny to show up in transition wearing those? Who knows---maybe the Jolly Roger will be flying at TTT and IMLP!
Monday, March 09, 2009
Weekly Workout Totals 03/02/2009-03/08/2009 and Thinking About 2010
So it was a good week of training. REALLY good. Actually, from last Saturday through last Friday, I put in like 19 hours, and then I raced pretty well on Sunday, so this tells me I'm right where I need to be to get ready for the big volume coming up, and I'm excited about it!
Also, just serendipitously (see previous post), I was chatting with one of my BFF's, Shelley, and talked about Goofy Challenge, and then I thought, OMG what if it's already sold out for 2010, and I found out it wasn't, and we are IN IN IN and we're getting other friends to sign up, too!
Goofy Challenge (my 3rd time there) will be the start of the year of no more conventional Ironman races. So far, what I'm thinking about for 2010 is:
Shelley is asking me when I'm going to post pics of myself. I'm thinking at the end of this week when I'm officially 2 weeks into my little fat trimming/buffing out exercise. I can tell you my upper body is looking good from all the extra pushups and pullups, and my abs are starting to return to normal by changing things up. But I've still got a few more pounds of fat to shave off, I guess I'm just picky that way.
Anyway, here's what I did last week and this week promises to be even better!
Also, just serendipitously (see previous post), I was chatting with one of my BFF's, Shelley, and talked about Goofy Challenge, and then I thought, OMG what if it's already sold out for 2010, and I found out it wasn't, and we are IN IN IN and we're getting other friends to sign up, too!
Goofy Challenge (my 3rd time there) will be the start of the year of no more conventional Ironman races. So far, what I'm thinking about for 2010 is:
- Goofy Challenge in January
- Triple T in May
- Total Man (Day 1: swim as much as possible, Day 2: bike as much as possible, Day 3: run as much as possible) in June
- RAINSTORM in July (100+ miles of biking every day for 7 days)
- Something else pretty extreme in August; need to find something
- SOS (Survival of the Shawangunks) in September
Shelley is asking me when I'm going to post pics of myself. I'm thinking at the end of this week when I'm officially 2 weeks into my little fat trimming/buffing out exercise. I can tell you my upper body is looking good from all the extra pushups and pullups, and my abs are starting to return to normal by changing things up. But I've still got a few more pounds of fat to shave off, I guess I'm just picky that way.
Anyway, here's what I did last week and this week promises to be even better!
| Weekly Workout Totals | 03/02/2009-03/08/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by torrential rain |
| Swim: | 7800 yards (4.43 miles) in 2.7 hours; 19% of weekly workout time; approx. 946 calories burned Canadian: 7132.32 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 109.79 miles in 6.23 hours; 43% of weekly workout time; approx. 3123 calories burned; Total TSS=365 Canadian: 176.69 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 27.17 miles in 4.14 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 1873 calories burned Canadian: 43.73 kilometers |
| Strength: | 1.27 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 318 calories burned |
| All Sports: | Approx. 141.39 miles in 14.34 hours; approx. 6260 calories burned Canadian: 7.43 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 7.43 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 2.22 hours. Massage: 1 hours |
And the Planning for 2010 Begins....
| Confirmation #: | 197098-030909085711 |
| Date & Time: | 01/09/10 - 01/10/10 |
| Location: | Walt Disney World?? Resort (Map) |
| Purchased at: | 03/09/09 |
| Category: | 2010 Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge |
| : |
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Midwest Indoor Triathlon Series--Series Winner, and Won all 4 Races
Today was the last of the 4 indoor triathlons in the series. Every time I've done these, there is squirrelly weather--either torrential rains, ice storms or heavy snow. Today we are getting the torrential rains. My downstairs was dry until about 4:30AM this morning, and I knew it was just a matter of time before I got seepage. It's not as bad as it could be, but still I hate when that happens, but if it rains 4+" it's going to happen.
Even last night when I went to bed, my stomach did just not feel good. I think it's stress because I started up the tax process for my Dad's 2008 estate filing yesterday, and there are, as usual, glitches, and well, it's been awhile since I've had to process anything like this and it just brings up sad feelings, and couple that with an impending race and water in my house, and let's just say I had some moments of feeling really sorry for myself this morning.
My stomach continued to feel lousy when I woke up this morning, and so given I wasn't racing until 3:05PM, I didn't want to eat any "real" food, so I had a Powerbar for breakfast, a banana (which I thought would help but it didn't), then a can of Coke, some Endurox R4 and finally some Red Bomb (half Ultra Violence and half Gatorade ice) to race with.
I did absolutely nothing yesterday except for a few pushups, pullups and abs. I skipped the jump rope yesterday because I wanted a completely cardio-less day. On Friday, I worked out about 4:45 (1 hour swim, 2:20 bike, 1 hour run plus my extra crap including jump rope) so that I wouldn't need to do anything after today's race, and that meant I could do nothing yesterday. So I did!
This morning, I was on flood duty, did some dinner prep, and had planned on watching a friend race who was starting about an hour before me, and it finally dawned on me that if I wanted to get in a race warmup that I needed to be there earlier than I had planned. Thank God it turned to DST today, because I've been in that time zone for like 6 months now, which means I will wake up at a respectable 4:30-4:45AM instead of my usual 3:30AM! So I was all on schedule except for not doing the math to realize how early I needed to be at the club in order to warm up.
I got there with enough time to do 5' of jump rope and 5' of running, and I didn't get my bike warmup in until I was actually racing. I watched my friend kick ass in his wave, and then it was my turn. Considering how my stomach felt, I didn't have any high aspirations, and since I had already won the 3 previous races, I was guaranteed to win the series title (best 3 out of 4) no matter what, and I didn't think I was too motivated.
But when I got into the pool, it was pretty damn cold, and it felt great, and I just swam strong and easy and met my goal of 550 yards (yeah I'm slow but I can swim that pace FOREVER), and then it was onto the bike. It looked like there might be some contenders in my wave, but when I hit the first mile first, I knew it was game on! One of the volunteers kept asking who would be first to hit the next mile and every time she said that I said to my volunteer, "ME!" I had my second best bike of the 4 races, and when I got off there, I wasn't too thrilled about running (I easily won my wave on the bike).
It looked to me like there were a few women in my wave who would wax me on the run, but we took off and I was in the lead the entire time, how messed up is that? I mean, I am NOT a runner, and here I was lapping everyone and generally not pushing myself too hard because I had nobody to pace off of, and yet I kept thinking SOMEBODY must be a player, but it never happened. I just cruised until there was a minute to go, and then I tried to actually deploy a kick, which I don't usually have, but I must have had one today because I gunned it a little extra, and when it was over I puked in one of the Home Depot buckets! It's been awhile since I've puked after a race, and it made me laugh. The other cool thing is that after maybe 2 laps, I couldn't feel my legs at all! I mean I could tell my feet were making impact with the track, but other than that I had zero feeling in my quads and calves, and that was a really, really great feeling.
We went to check the final results, as I was in the last wave, and my friend won his age group, and when they posted my results, they miscalculated the distances for sure, and I got a little upset about it and went into the office where they were calculating and showed them the mistake. Cuz the next best woman to me in my age group was slower on all three legs, yet how could her total distance be more than mine??? I was like fuck, please fix this, although I didn't swear at the volunteers, but they could tell I was a little excited. So they fixed me up and then I put my results back up on the board and felt pretty good about the whole thing since I felt like crap.
I am now home and have a good deal of water downstairs, but I can take care of it--it's just rain water--and hopefully the rains have stopped, and hey, I didn't have to run for 1:30 after the race so I don't even feel beat up! And I should be able to knock out a regular swim tomorrow morning, and life is pretty fucking good!
I know these are just stinky little indoor triathlons, but the cool thing is I have not gotten any slower, and I obliterated everyone in my age group and maybe even one or two lower, so that's cool, and I'm almost at my fighting weight (I was at 112.4 this morning, fuckin' A!), and now I'm getting pumped about starting the big volume buildup for Triple T.
Since I barely had any calories so far, I am drinking several painkillers (beers) to make some of them up. It was a great day of racing, and maybe I don't actually suck as bad as I sometimes think I do. Hey, a win is a win, right?
Even last night when I went to bed, my stomach did just not feel good. I think it's stress because I started up the tax process for my Dad's 2008 estate filing yesterday, and there are, as usual, glitches, and well, it's been awhile since I've had to process anything like this and it just brings up sad feelings, and couple that with an impending race and water in my house, and let's just say I had some moments of feeling really sorry for myself this morning.
My stomach continued to feel lousy when I woke up this morning, and so given I wasn't racing until 3:05PM, I didn't want to eat any "real" food, so I had a Powerbar for breakfast, a banana (which I thought would help but it didn't), then a can of Coke, some Endurox R4 and finally some Red Bomb (half Ultra Violence and half Gatorade ice) to race with.
I did absolutely nothing yesterday except for a few pushups, pullups and abs. I skipped the jump rope yesterday because I wanted a completely cardio-less day. On Friday, I worked out about 4:45 (1 hour swim, 2:20 bike, 1 hour run plus my extra crap including jump rope) so that I wouldn't need to do anything after today's race, and that meant I could do nothing yesterday. So I did!
This morning, I was on flood duty, did some dinner prep, and had planned on watching a friend race who was starting about an hour before me, and it finally dawned on me that if I wanted to get in a race warmup that I needed to be there earlier than I had planned. Thank God it turned to DST today, because I've been in that time zone for like 6 months now, which means I will wake up at a respectable 4:30-4:45AM instead of my usual 3:30AM! So I was all on schedule except for not doing the math to realize how early I needed to be at the club in order to warm up.
I got there with enough time to do 5' of jump rope and 5' of running, and I didn't get my bike warmup in until I was actually racing. I watched my friend kick ass in his wave, and then it was my turn. Considering how my stomach felt, I didn't have any high aspirations, and since I had already won the 3 previous races, I was guaranteed to win the series title (best 3 out of 4) no matter what, and I didn't think I was too motivated.
But when I got into the pool, it was pretty damn cold, and it felt great, and I just swam strong and easy and met my goal of 550 yards (yeah I'm slow but I can swim that pace FOREVER), and then it was onto the bike. It looked like there might be some contenders in my wave, but when I hit the first mile first, I knew it was game on! One of the volunteers kept asking who would be first to hit the next mile and every time she said that I said to my volunteer, "ME!" I had my second best bike of the 4 races, and when I got off there, I wasn't too thrilled about running (I easily won my wave on the bike).
It looked to me like there were a few women in my wave who would wax me on the run, but we took off and I was in the lead the entire time, how messed up is that? I mean, I am NOT a runner, and here I was lapping everyone and generally not pushing myself too hard because I had nobody to pace off of, and yet I kept thinking SOMEBODY must be a player, but it never happened. I just cruised until there was a minute to go, and then I tried to actually deploy a kick, which I don't usually have, but I must have had one today because I gunned it a little extra, and when it was over I puked in one of the Home Depot buckets! It's been awhile since I've puked after a race, and it made me laugh. The other cool thing is that after maybe 2 laps, I couldn't feel my legs at all! I mean I could tell my feet were making impact with the track, but other than that I had zero feeling in my quads and calves, and that was a really, really great feeling.
We went to check the final results, as I was in the last wave, and my friend won his age group, and when they posted my results, they miscalculated the distances for sure, and I got a little upset about it and went into the office where they were calculating and showed them the mistake. Cuz the next best woman to me in my age group was slower on all three legs, yet how could her total distance be more than mine??? I was like fuck, please fix this, although I didn't swear at the volunteers, but they could tell I was a little excited. So they fixed me up and then I put my results back up on the board and felt pretty good about the whole thing since I felt like crap.
I am now home and have a good deal of water downstairs, but I can take care of it--it's just rain water--and hopefully the rains have stopped, and hey, I didn't have to run for 1:30 after the race so I don't even feel beat up! And I should be able to knock out a regular swim tomorrow morning, and life is pretty fucking good!
I know these are just stinky little indoor triathlons, but the cool thing is I have not gotten any slower, and I obliterated everyone in my age group and maybe even one or two lower, so that's cool, and I'm almost at my fighting weight (I was at 112.4 this morning, fuckin' A!), and now I'm getting pumped about starting the big volume buildup for Triple T.
Since I barely had any calories so far, I am drinking several painkillers (beers) to make some of them up. It was a great day of racing, and maybe I don't actually suck as bad as I sometimes think I do. Hey, a win is a win, right?
Thursday, March 05, 2009
113--The Plan is Working
I'm down about 1.5 lbs. in 6 days and pretty sure it was fat. I've been tracking my calorie intake and calculating daily and cumulative deficit in 2 ways (cuz I'm anal): first, based on what I was told about a year ago the last time I had my BMR/RMR measured, which was to just plug in 500 calories per hour for any type of exercise I do (swim, bike, run, lift) and second, based on what I have estimated my actual burn rates to be for different types of exercise taking average pace into consideration.
I'm pretty sure I don't generally burn 500 calories per hour swimming, although the last time I used an HRM in an Ironman, I think my swim came out to about 750, so under the stress and excitement of a race, that may be true. For biking, the Ergomo tells me exactly what I am burning based on my power output, and on an average basis, it comes out to about 550. For running, I definitely don't meet the 100 calories/mile estimate because I am so small, but if I remember from when I used an HRM, it was around 525-550/hour. Strength I have no clue!
So my 6-day deficit as measured with what I believe to be my burn rates is about 3800 calories, which should be a little over a pound. I've been adding about 10 minutes of extra stuff per day that is not included in my calories burned total, and if you figure on 500 calories per hour for that, it comes out to another 500 calories, so maybe 4300 (although I'm not including that extra stuff in my calories burned for purposes of dropping weight), and 4300/3500 is 1.3. Nice!
It is good to see that the old calories in/calories out equation is working the way it should. I frequently hear people bitching and moaning about how they can't lose weight even though they believe they are technically creating a significant calorie deficit. I always tell them that the only way to prove their statements is by having their RMR/BMR measured, their exercise burn rates approximated based on that (which requires a bodyfat % calculation, too), and then keep meticulous records of intake and output. But then one needs to recognize that as you drop weight, your RMR for sure is going to change, and unless you keep adding more exercise, your BMR would drop, too. So it is true that there's a delicate balance between how much you eat, how much exercise you do (on average), how lean you are and to an extent, age. Which is why I have had rules of thumb about what I will and won't eat based on the average number of training hours per week that I do, and I knew full well that I was not paying close attention to that this winter, and presto, extra fat. DUH.
Why should RMR/BMR be affected by age, all other things being equal? Technically, it may not be. That is, if you maintain the same bodyfat %, then as you age, all other things being equal, your RMR/BMR should stay pretty much level. Many RMR/BMR estimates will use your age but not your bodyfat %. So the assumption is that as you age that you get fatter, which is true for most sedentary to moderately active people. Is it more difficult to maintain lean mass as you age? I think that may be true to an extent, but is it biochemically based? I doubt it. I think that as we age we adjust our standards to be "OK" with a little more fat than we had when we were younger. I mean, face it, it's hard work to stay lean and muscular. Like I always say, if it were easy, then everyone would be ripped and gorgeous!
I can tell you from my pre-endurance days that I was able to maintain a weight of around 118 lbs. on very few calories--maybe 1800 per day. I think there is an individual daily quantity of food that makes you feel "not deprived." I remember when I was watching my intake like a hawk and that 1800 did not seem like a whole lot of food. Since I've been tracking things again for almost a week, it "feels" like around 2000-2200 is satiating to me. But if I wasn't doing all the CV stuff, that would be enough for me to get fat pretty fast.
A nice by product of the extra stuff that I'm doing is that I'm using/developing muscles that don't normally come with the "triathlon" package. It feels really good! Jumping rope is an excellent warmup for anything else and is awesome for your calves, core and arms, the pushups and pullups may be helping me in the water, and changing up/supplementing my abs work was something I needed to do anyway.
Where this will all lead, who knows. In case you're asking the question, am I vain? Of course. I'd like to stop/slow down the aging process as much as the next person, but I also want to feel strong in my daily activities aside from triathlon. It's nice, for example, to be able to shovel my driveway when I feel like it and not be sore, or to rake leaves for 4 hours or be bent over for a few hours gardening. And it was really nice to be able to weather a stupid back injury--I'm not saying I did it with aplomb, but it could have been much, much worse.
I'm sure some of you are wondering when I will post pics of my work. Give me another week and we'll see what I think after dropping another pound.
I'm pretty sure I don't generally burn 500 calories per hour swimming, although the last time I used an HRM in an Ironman, I think my swim came out to about 750, so under the stress and excitement of a race, that may be true. For biking, the Ergomo tells me exactly what I am burning based on my power output, and on an average basis, it comes out to about 550. For running, I definitely don't meet the 100 calories/mile estimate because I am so small, but if I remember from when I used an HRM, it was around 525-550/hour. Strength I have no clue!
So my 6-day deficit as measured with what I believe to be my burn rates is about 3800 calories, which should be a little over a pound. I've been adding about 10 minutes of extra stuff per day that is not included in my calories burned total, and if you figure on 500 calories per hour for that, it comes out to another 500 calories, so maybe 4300 (although I'm not including that extra stuff in my calories burned for purposes of dropping weight), and 4300/3500 is 1.3. Nice!
It is good to see that the old calories in/calories out equation is working the way it should. I frequently hear people bitching and moaning about how they can't lose weight even though they believe they are technically creating a significant calorie deficit. I always tell them that the only way to prove their statements is by having their RMR/BMR measured, their exercise burn rates approximated based on that (which requires a bodyfat % calculation, too), and then keep meticulous records of intake and output. But then one needs to recognize that as you drop weight, your RMR for sure is going to change, and unless you keep adding more exercise, your BMR would drop, too. So it is true that there's a delicate balance between how much you eat, how much exercise you do (on average), how lean you are and to an extent, age. Which is why I have had rules of thumb about what I will and won't eat based on the average number of training hours per week that I do, and I knew full well that I was not paying close attention to that this winter, and presto, extra fat. DUH.
Why should RMR/BMR be affected by age, all other things being equal? Technically, it may not be. That is, if you maintain the same bodyfat %, then as you age, all other things being equal, your RMR/BMR should stay pretty much level. Many RMR/BMR estimates will use your age but not your bodyfat %. So the assumption is that as you age that you get fatter, which is true for most sedentary to moderately active people. Is it more difficult to maintain lean mass as you age? I think that may be true to an extent, but is it biochemically based? I doubt it. I think that as we age we adjust our standards to be "OK" with a little more fat than we had when we were younger. I mean, face it, it's hard work to stay lean and muscular. Like I always say, if it were easy, then everyone would be ripped and gorgeous!
I can tell you from my pre-endurance days that I was able to maintain a weight of around 118 lbs. on very few calories--maybe 1800 per day. I think there is an individual daily quantity of food that makes you feel "not deprived." I remember when I was watching my intake like a hawk and that 1800 did not seem like a whole lot of food. Since I've been tracking things again for almost a week, it "feels" like around 2000-2200 is satiating to me. But if I wasn't doing all the CV stuff, that would be enough for me to get fat pretty fast.
A nice by product of the extra stuff that I'm doing is that I'm using/developing muscles that don't normally come with the "triathlon" package. It feels really good! Jumping rope is an excellent warmup for anything else and is awesome for your calves, core and arms, the pushups and pullups may be helping me in the water, and changing up/supplementing my abs work was something I needed to do anyway.
Where this will all lead, who knows. In case you're asking the question, am I vain? Of course. I'd like to stop/slow down the aging process as much as the next person, but I also want to feel strong in my daily activities aside from triathlon. It's nice, for example, to be able to shovel my driveway when I feel like it and not be sore, or to rake leaves for 4 hours or be bent over for a few hours gardening. And it was really nice to be able to weather a stupid back injury--I'm not saying I did it with aplomb, but it could have been much, much worse.
I'm sure some of you are wondering when I will post pics of my work. Give me another week and we'll see what I think after dropping another pound.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Writing for Another Blog
My friend, Brett, has asked me to begin contributing to his excellent blog, Triathlon Jones, which is geared towards beginners. So I wrote my first piece here. I was pretty amazed that I could write something so short yet true. I get asked or I hear people asking quite frequently how to become a better biker. It's not rocket science! Sure I have a power meter, but even without one, it boils down to a few simple concepts.
I enjoyed writing this article and hope to write more. If you are or know of beginner triathletes, please send them over Brett's way. He knows a few things and more importantly, is 100% into the mental aspects of training and racing, which is one of the things that led us to become friends.
I enjoyed writing this article and hope to write more. If you are or know of beginner triathletes, please send them over Brett's way. He knows a few things and more importantly, is 100% into the mental aspects of training and racing, which is one of the things that led us to become friends.
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