In & Out Like a Lion

What a month! I've had a lot of thoughts about priorities, time management, and perception versus reality but have simply been too busy & lazy to write about it. Maybe I'll find the energy this weekend, maybe not...

Baseball season started this week. I'm coaching again. This photo is of Kyle on the mound last fall. A picture is worth a thousand words. Some thoughts as I look at it - His delivery would have had my knees quaking at his age. He obviously modeled his approach from a certain major leaguer who doesn't take Human Growth Hormone, but his wife does.

No Substitute

Do you like my new toy? I sold my old road bike a few weeks ago and finally pulled the trigger on this one yesterday. I shopped for a solid six months before deciding exactly what I wanted.

My cycling ability just isn’t where I want it to be. The only way I’ll achieve my goals is to spend some serious, consistent, painful time in the saddle. As Thomas Edison said, “There’s no substitute for hard work.” It was a chore to get on a bike I didn’t really like. This one’s calling out, “Ride me!”

Five weeks into my off-season training program and a couple things have become clear:

· My days of pure anaerobic training are over. I attempted a 10k run test last weekend and managed to induce atrial fibrillation less than one mile into the race. I’ll have to establish pacing goals based on sub-threshold testing - and I might as well forget about my target sprint race in late May.
· I can govern heart rate and still lay down some serious work sessions on the bike. My 1:40 Saturday interval session left me completely shelled.

Though behind schedule, I have to believe I’ll attain my cycling fitness goal - 4.0 watts/kg functional threshold - by September. I’ve been able to add cycling training load pretty quickly, from a 144 total TSS* in week one to a 241 total TSS in week five. I’ve accumulated these points through a series of three trainer rides per week, which vary in time from 40-minutes to 1:40.

With daylight savings time in effect, I’m looking forward to grabbing some early evening training doses as the weather warms up.

*TSS = Training Stress Score. A single number used by power junkies to help quantify overall training load, taking into account intensity and duration of each training session.

Swim Clinic E-book

The folks at Endurance Nation are graciously offering their swim clinic e-book to the public at no cost. Download it from here http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/2008/free-endurance-nation-swim-clinic-ebook/. Excellent stuff!

So far, so good

I managed to cram 11-workouts into 7-1/2 hours of training this week. This schedule is very manageable and will prevent me from overtraining. Assuming my cardiac response remains strong, I’ll definitely be heading into this season under-trained and over-motivated.

My training philosophy comes courtesy of the folks at Endurance Nation (see links on right). Right now I’m using frequent short runs to build some aerobic foundation. My cycling consists of targeted interval sessions - all on the trainer. I got in the water twice this week, with one 3x300 fitness test and one drill session.

Two months off of the bike has cost me about 10% power output. I’m hoping to reach intermediate power plateaus pretty quickly. It won’t be easy but my motivation is high.

I’m enjoying myself these days and look forward to every session. I’m committed to remaining well rested and hydrated. Those are my two primary goals. I’ve made an oath not to let the training happen if those two essential components aren’t already in place. So far, so good! Thanks for checking in…

February Update

I had a good visit with Dr. McKernan on Wednesday the 6th. I think I finally have a comprehensive understanding of my condition. In summary:

· My condition is atrial fibrillation associated with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH), otherwise known as “athlete’s heart.”
· The do nothing option – as opposed to drug therapy or having an ablation procedure – is acceptable to the doctor. The decision for further treatment is up to me and will be based upon my tolerance for the symptoms. For now my only treatment is a daily aspirin.
· My training regimen is also up to me. There aren’t any restrictions, per se, but the doctor encouraged me to avoid ultra distance training for a while. She clearly believes that detraining can have a reversing effect on the arrhythmia, as detraining will allow my heart wall to get thinner.

This is, indeed, very good news. My imagination was getting the best of me and I started to believe many other more precarious scenarios in my head. A firm diagnosis with a clear understanding has allowed me, once again, to start looking ahead – although a little more cautiously than with my “All Systems Go!” fever…

I’m now two weeks into a low volume training plan that will take me to a goal of completing a sprint distance race in late May. My hope is that I will be able to put together a quality program targeting a Half IM in early September. It will take all of that time to regain the cycling fitness lost from two months of zero riding. For now, though, I’m trying to take exercise one day at a time.

Looking over the last several months I can see how I ended up “cooking” myself. After Ironman I lost my nutritional discipline. That was probably OK for my recovery period, but in early October I started training in earnest again. I was training HARD on the bike – at intensity levels far surpassing anything I had done over the past two years. I convinced myself that a low volume/high intensity training regimen didn’t demand the same nutritional discipline as heavy long course training. I was wrong! My body was starved of electrolytes among other essentials. It rebelled and forced me into a December detraining program of walking & yoga.

With the stress of uncertainty lifted and a return to the discipline of healthy eating and daily intake of vitamins, electrolytes, and protein shakes I’ve been remarkably free of arrhythmia. It’s like I’ve found a newborn state of equilibrium. This is all very reassuring. Stay tuned for more… and thanks for the many words of encouragement!

The Pendulum Swings Hard!

At work, my colleagues and I sometimes refer to the cyclical nature of the business climate in terms of a swinging pendulum. A pendulum swings with perfect regularity. It swings from one extreme to the other – passing the averaged midpoint at its peak velocity, only to slow down again, stop at the other extreme, and begin the journey in the other direction. Go through enough of these various cycles in the business world and you learn to handle the extremes in stride, realizing that over the long haul the cyclical nature results in a predictable average.

Unfortunately my health outlook – and subsequent mental state - has been going through a vicious swinging cycle of its own. Consider this…

High point: July 22, 2007. Cashing in my life’s peak fitness at Ironman USA
Low point: December 10, 2007. Inducing ventricular tachycardia during a doctor-ordered hospital stress test.
High point: January 14, 2008. After a series of tests, getting cleared by a cardiologist to resume training as normal.
Low point: January 21, 2008. Receiving news from an electro-physiologist that my triathlon training “career” might be over unless I consider an ablation procedure (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4682). She prescribes daily aspirin to prevent stroke.

So much for “All Systems Go!” Potentially compromising my family’s welfare through surgical complications (i.e. death), however low they might be, is serious business. With a family to feed, is surgical risk worth taking for the sake of personal satisfaction through triathlon training? It actually sounds silly to read it out loud.

My outlook has had its own highs and lows…

High thoughts: This is an opportunity. Good thing we caught this before it became more dangerous. I’m being called to do something new. I can still lead a healthy life. More time on my hands to coach sports, develop musical abilities, etc.
Low thoughts: Lots of whining, jealousy, and envy at the loss of my unique lifestyle. A lost sense of purpose.

Powerful lessons can be learned through painful or extreme circumstances. The most thankful folks I know – those with the best perspective on life – have generally lived and learned through personally traumatic events. In my case, could there be a better way for me to overcome my desire to control than to completely lose it over my chosen lifestyle? I try to tell myself – the pain, the anxiety – they’re necessary variables in the growth equation.

I’ll be meeting with the E-P again this coming week. I have a lot of questions. I hope she has some answers.

All Systems Go!

Great news this week – The cardiologist cleared me to resume training and referred me to an electro-physiologist for treatment of atrial fibrillation. I slept hard this week with my mind now free of worry.

So looks like it’s “game on” for 2008. Don’t feel much like writing complete sentences tonight. Here’s a sketch plan of my 2008 athletic goals:

Goal Race: Chesapeakeman Ultra Triathlon http://www.tricolumbia.org/ChesapeakeMan/
September 27, 2008

Race Goals: Show up to race with 4W/kg functional threshold power.
Cycle closer to my “ceiling” than last year.
Follow ride with a sub 4-hour marathon.

Training Calendar Overview:

January: Re-establish consistent foundation
Feb & Mar: boost VO2 max & threshold strength. Focus on cycling and running.
Apr thru Jun: Base training
Early July: Transition & Recovery – Family vacation time!
Jul & Aug: Big block of training.
September: Taper toward race.

Other events: Got the Nerve? Sprint triathlon on May 24.
Nightmare Ride around Lancaster County on August 16.

Keys to season:
· Cardiac response to training.
· Staying consistent through base training, which will be very difficult in a busy spring. Higher priorities in April through June include coaching baseball (Colin this time), a couple of camping excursions with the boys, and helping to organize the Tri For Kids’ Sake on April 22.
· Quality cycling sessions.
· Quality race simulations.