Not much in the mood for writing tonight. I'll elaborate another time, but I posted a DNF on Saturday after having bike mechanical issues. Darn! All that training and... ouch!
All is not lost. I had an incredible season of training, which, frankly, is more fun than racing. After experiencing some pesky new health issues I managed to reach a new level of physical fitness. Pretty cool...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
The Arena
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Teddy Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
One of my favorite passages. So a toast on the eve of Ironman... "Here's to living in the arena!"
When my diagnosis wasn't clear in the winter of '07 - '08 I had a couple of sleepless nights. I never would have guessed that I'd have the opportunity to do this again, let alone just a few months later. Through that time period I had two friends that understood my situation better than anyone else. They were instrumental in helping me remain positive. It was comforting to have friends that had complete empathy. One of those friends was recently hospitalized for his own heart disease. He won't have the opportunity to race Ironman, so I promised I'd race this one in his honor. Steve, when the going gets tough out there tomorrow I'll be thinking about you!
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Mental Game
Five days and counting. It's time for some serious introspection. Once thing I've learned the hard way - If I take myself too seriously, it'll be a very, very long day. I've named my fears... literally. You can go ahead a roll your eyes, but I'm telling you this works and will keep me focused.
The choppy waters of the Chesapeake are "Chuck."
The jellyfish are "Barbara and Margaret."
Inclement conditions are "Mother."
Involuntary adrenaline flow is "Andy."
Of my heart rhythm and asthma issues?
My heart is "Steady Eddie."
My lungs are "Larry and Daryl."
I have two allies on race day, named for my belief in my Endurance Nation training plan...
My extreme fitness is simply "the EN-gine." It won't let me down.
My personal race director is "EN-rique." He is the collective wisdom of the EN forum. He will accompany me on race day, interpreting all that unfolds, keeping me focused on my race plan, and smack me around when I deviate from plan.
I have several key phrases, many of them stolen from last year:
Steady is smooth. Smooth is fast.
One day.
Detach.
No highs - No lows.
Focus.
Smile.
And finally, my chosen mantra...
Hope is stronger than fear. Confidence trumps indecision.
The choppy waters of the Chesapeake are "Chuck."
The jellyfish are "Barbara and Margaret."
Inclement conditions are "Mother."
Involuntary adrenaline flow is "Andy."
Of my heart rhythm and asthma issues?
My heart is "Steady Eddie."
My lungs are "Larry and Daryl."
I have two allies on race day, named for my belief in my Endurance Nation training plan...
My extreme fitness is simply "the EN-gine." It won't let me down.
My personal race director is "EN-rique." He is the collective wisdom of the EN forum. He will accompany me on race day, interpreting all that unfolds, keeping me focused on my race plan, and smack me around when I deviate from plan.
I have several key phrases, many of them stolen from last year:
Steady is smooth. Smooth is fast.
One day.
Detach.
No highs - No lows.
Focus.
Smile.
And finally, my chosen mantra...
Hope is stronger than fear. Confidence trumps indecision.
Friday, September 19, 2008
8 Days Out
Tapering is never easy. Less exercise, less food, more time to obsess about the race. Battling the inevitable self-doubt is difficult although ultimately a healthy exercise in itself. I've developed a strategy to face my fears head on. I don't have time to write about that right now... Will hopefully get to it this weekend.
Just like last year, my body is going through some sort of pre-race metamorphosis. My weight has suddenly dropped by 4 pounds. As long as it doesn't make me weak or sick I invite the little bit of pre-race weight loss. I notice improvement in running when I carry a couple less pounds.
I get a lot of questions about my diet. I stopped counting calories because it's too much work with very little gain. I seem to instinctively know how much, how often and what to eat. Taper time brings on an added dimension of nutritional discipline. My focus over the last two weeks goes like this:
1. Only eat when hungry.
2. Eat as soon as I feel hungry to prevent binging.
3. Replace energy dense foods with nutritionally dense foods. IOW eat a lot of spinach salads, fruits, veggies. Don't eat a lot of breads, pastas, potatoes.
4. Stick to chicken, fish, eggs, and protein shakes as primary sources of protein.
5. Red wine a couple nights per week keeps me from feeling like I'm being deprived.
6. No desserts except for fruit.
7. No nighttime snacks.
8. More calories in AM than PM.
9. Water frequently.
10. Eliminate power/protein bars from diet (I eat a bar each day through peak training).
In the final two days before racing I'll salt my food lightly. The day before the race I'll eliminate fiber from my diet after breakfast and sip Gatorade all day.
There you have it!
Just like last year, my body is going through some sort of pre-race metamorphosis. My weight has suddenly dropped by 4 pounds. As long as it doesn't make me weak or sick I invite the little bit of pre-race weight loss. I notice improvement in running when I carry a couple less pounds.
I get a lot of questions about my diet. I stopped counting calories because it's too much work with very little gain. I seem to instinctively know how much, how often and what to eat. Taper time brings on an added dimension of nutritional discipline. My focus over the last two weeks goes like this:
1. Only eat when hungry.
2. Eat as soon as I feel hungry to prevent binging.
3. Replace energy dense foods with nutritionally dense foods. IOW eat a lot of spinach salads, fruits, veggies. Don't eat a lot of breads, pastas, potatoes.
4. Stick to chicken, fish, eggs, and protein shakes as primary sources of protein.
5. Red wine a couple nights per week keeps me from feeling like I'm being deprived.
6. No desserts except for fruit.
7. No nighttime snacks.
8. More calories in AM than PM.
9. Water frequently.
10. Eliminate power/protein bars from diet (I eat a bar each day through peak training).
In the final two days before racing I'll salt my food lightly. The day before the race I'll eliminate fiber from my diet after breakfast and sip Gatorade all day.
There you have it!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Surviving Part 2
A couple of follow-up thoughts on my last post regarding increased training volume...
1. No injuries or illnesses in '08. Last year I had to nurse a bruised foot and recover from a post half-ironman cold.
2. No "B" races in '08. Even lower priority races require an interruption to consistent training.
That said, my little experiment to find that perfect blend of training, sleeping, parenting, working, etc. has produced a data point... 14-weeks at an average 14-hours of training per week is too freakin' much! I'm whipped. Got no race day mojo. Luckily I have two weeks of taper to go!
Yesterday I completed my final race rehearsal - 112-miles of mind numbing, windy flatness followed by a 4-mile run. The wind was tough. Despite losing my feed bottle somewhere between miles 80 and 85... and then getting bit on the thigh by some vicious little black bug at mile 99, I had a strong, consistent ride.
Time: 5:25:20
TSS: 242.9
IF: 0.669
HRave: 139 BPM
1st Half Time = 2:45:00
2nd Half Time = 2:40:20
PNorm for ride and both halves = 174.
I'm looking forward to frequent aid stations on race day. I just can't carry enough water on these rides to prevent dehydration.
Note for race day: Use the inhaler before starting... Don't wait for problems.
1. No injuries or illnesses in '08. Last year I had to nurse a bruised foot and recover from a post half-ironman cold.
2. No "B" races in '08. Even lower priority races require an interruption to consistent training.
That said, my little experiment to find that perfect blend of training, sleeping, parenting, working, etc. has produced a data point... 14-weeks at an average 14-hours of training per week is too freakin' much! I'm whipped. Got no race day mojo. Luckily I have two weeks of taper to go!
Yesterday I completed my final race rehearsal - 112-miles of mind numbing, windy flatness followed by a 4-mile run. The wind was tough. Despite losing my feed bottle somewhere between miles 80 and 85... and then getting bit on the thigh by some vicious little black bug at mile 99, I had a strong, consistent ride.
Time: 5:25:20
TSS: 242.9
IF: 0.669
HRave: 139 BPM
1st Half Time = 2:45:00
2nd Half Time = 2:40:20
PNorm for ride and both halves = 174.
I'm looking forward to frequent aid stations on race day. I just can't carry enough water on these rides to prevent dehydration.
Note for race day: Use the inhaler before starting... Don't wait for problems.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Survived the Summer
So I finished my long run this morning and am officially tapering toward the big day (although a couple big workouts to go). I’m a subscriber to the Ironman training philosophy that the longest run shouldn’t exceed 2-1/2 hours. Any pure marathoners reading this are probably gasping right now thinking, “No 22 milers? Is this guy nuts?!” Well, yes, of course I’m nuts. I’m voluntarily doing an Ironman. Look - The Ironman marathon is mostly about raw guts. Sub-10 minute miles will have you passing masses of otherwise fit people during the final half of the marathon. There's no healthy way to train for that!
My running and riding paces are slightly faster this year than last. I’m swimming a bit slower. Overall I think I’m in a very good place.
To convince myself I’ve done the requisite training, I sat down and compared my three month lead-up training in ’08 to ’07. Going into that exercise, I would have guessed that my ’08 swimming volume is lower, cycling is significantly higher, and running is slightly higher. Actual results?
• ’08 swimming is more than 8% higher than ’07
• ’08 cycling is more than 9% higher than ‘07
• ’08 running is more than (drum roll please) 56% higher than ’07
• Net training volume is 19% higher than ‘07
How’d I manage that?
For one, I eliminated weight training and substituted swimming and running. I’m a fast twitch guy that doesn’t need supplemental weight training. Save that for the scrawny endurance types. :-)
It also seems I am sneaking in short runs all over the place. Do a swim …follow it with a run. Do a bike… follow it with a run. Make an omelette… follow it with a run. Etc, etc,…
Traditional training philosophy states that you shouldn’t increase training volume by more than 10% per year. All I have to say to that is, “doh!” It wasn’t exactly on purpose and I’ve managed to stay injury free this year (knocking on wood).
My running and riding paces are slightly faster this year than last. I’m swimming a bit slower. Overall I think I’m in a very good place.
To convince myself I’ve done the requisite training, I sat down and compared my three month lead-up training in ’08 to ’07. Going into that exercise, I would have guessed that my ’08 swimming volume is lower, cycling is significantly higher, and running is slightly higher. Actual results?
• ’08 swimming is more than 8% higher than ’07
• ’08 cycling is more than 9% higher than ‘07
• ’08 running is more than (drum roll please) 56% higher than ’07
• Net training volume is 19% higher than ‘07
How’d I manage that?
For one, I eliminated weight training and substituted swimming and running. I’m a fast twitch guy that doesn’t need supplemental weight training. Save that for the scrawny endurance types. :-)
It also seems I am sneaking in short runs all over the place. Do a swim …follow it with a run. Do a bike… follow it with a run. Make an omelette… follow it with a run. Etc, etc,…
Traditional training philosophy states that you shouldn’t increase training volume by more than 10% per year. All I have to say to that is, “doh!” It wasn’t exactly on purpose and I’ve managed to stay injury free this year (knocking on wood).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
