I woke up at 6am and started to work. That didn't feel right so I looked outside and decided to go for a run. I haven't been running much lately and in fact this is my first run in the new neighborhood. Lots of hills. I took it easy and ran for about a half an hour. Nice to get out. I've missed running.
Marc invited me out. I've been missing riding but haven't found any motivation to get back out there. Le Tour seemed to get me in the mood. Wheels down at 8am to beat the heat. Although Marc and Matt were still getting ready so I left about 15 minutes early.
Woody's - Clockwise from the Rockpile... Woody's first. It was an effort just to get all the gear from the hundreds of boxes still littering our house. Hooking the heart rate monitor and gps up was somewhat foreign. I started climbing. Didn't feel too bad. Tried to take it easy but the heart rate wanted to be at 150bpm+. Fine... there's not much you can do about that... you have to turn the pedals over. The Woody's climb was uneventful. I enjoyed being out there. I figured Marc would catch me before the top but I made it. Flew down the backside to the store, bought some gatorade. Marc bought some insulated water bottles so I copied him... they were working well.
Wolfpen - I hate the ride between Woody's and Wolfpen. Wolfpen climb was uneventful... did a little out-of-seat on the steeper parts. My descending skills are definitely tentative right now. I braked hard on the hairpins but took the softer turns hard.
Neel's - Surprised I hadn't been caught I continued up the backside of Neel's. By now the heat was starting to come out and my heart rate was sitting at 160bpm and there wasn't much I could do about it. Still, I was very surprised at how well my legs were handling everything. I mean, 7 months without a ride or run. After six years of big training. I figured something odd would happen. Made it to the top and had a dream... a dream to make it to Turner's Corner before Marc caught me. So I descended. And the heat continued to rise. On the little climb near the bottom I really started to feel the heat. I probably went a bit too hard down the mountain... should have coasted but I really love those descents. And I made it to Turner's Corner.
Neel's Part Deux - A couple minutes after turning around to climb Neel's again Marc and Matt caught me. The plan was to go back around the other way... Neel's, Wolfpen and Woody's back to the car. I was still in high spirits when Marc left me to climb at his own pace. But the heat was upon us and by the top of Neel's I was melted. Heat exhaustion. Power draining from my legs. I knew I would have to turn around and head back to the car the short way. Luckily Marc and Matt had waited for me so I could tell them and say goodbye.
The Worst .8 Miles - I hate that part between Turner's Corner and the Rockpile. Hate it on a good day. Melting in heat, 3.5 hours into my first ride in months... well, I really hated it. I kept watching my GPS. I swear the last 1.2 mile climb took me forever. The last .8 miles just stuck there. I've had my share of explosions and deathmarches back home. I no stranger to distance dilation. But this was something else.
Once I got back to the car I felt fine. As I write this, the next day, I have no soreness at all. I'm motivated to keep getting out there. Thanks to Marc for the invite. I'll have to get back into shape so he doesn't have to wait for me so much.
2 months 2 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Haven't ridden the bike since 2009. Holy batmans batman. I always tend to look for something epic to boost me back into things when I experience a lull. Last week I geared up on Tuesday planning a 23 mile run on zero running for 6 months. I'm an idiot. Luckily I was also very tired from a long work night and snoozed my way to long run self-destruction. Which rhymes.
Today was an uncharacteristically low key start back at it. I walked by the bike, now covered in dust, and noticed that it was 6/1. That seemed like a reasonably elegant day to start riding again (I loves the maths) so I threw on the bike shoes and spun up ye ole CompuTrainer (they should spell it Comp-u-trainer... and add an o-rama to the end of it.) Surprisingly, I held 220 watts for most of the ride. Yes, I calibrated.
I think back to many of my I'm-overtrained-no-I'm-not workouts where I struggled to do the same power output. Kinda funny. It took me a long time to shed the expectations and simply reset my fitness clock. Setting ironman PRs is a fun ass pastime and one I hope to get back to some day. But with the fog of ironWar filling the air it's hard to gain perspective... a week without a megaworkout seems like a life-threatening affair when, of course, it isn't. Plenty of room for logical vs. emotional self-analysis. But not today.
All those blog posts at the end of last season about just enjoying things? I was lying... mostly to myself... kind of to you. When I got sick after the most solid 13 weeks of training ever, just 7 weeks before the big race, I was disheartened and from then forward was phoning it in. I wanted to enjoy things. I even kind of thought I was. But I was deflated. Stacking season upon season, always improving, squeezing seconds and watts out of diet, core strength, sleep time, two-a-days, interval sets, protein powder, plyometrics... it's kinda hard, you know.
Would have probably pulled out of the funk by February but, as you may know, I got mono. And with it every germ that I came into contact with sent me on a one week symptom-fest. I'm still dealing with optimistic infections that my body doesn't kick very easily these days. I blamed colds/flus for a while but that was just a way to avoid what I really knew... that I needed a longer term break from training. As I came out of the mono phase I just went with the flow and didn't push cycling/running. I did some swimming in the mornings... just to get out of the house and burn some stress. Plus, women in bikinis... enough said... mmmmm, women in bikinis.
What was I talking about? Oh, well, lost it. Good bike ride. Did I mention that it felt amazing? It really did. Already looking forward to the next ride.
4 months 6 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Today I posted another workout. While still eons away from my ultra-obsessed old self, I'm thinking more about training again. One thing I've been focused on is body weight. I think I let myself get too skinny last season. And this may have ultimately contributed to my colds/flus.
When you weigh less you go faster. Basic physics. But there are limits. For me I get faster on the run down to about 158 lbs. But on the bike I can only go down to 165 lbs... below that and I lose quad size which affects bike power.
Over the offseason I was sitting around 162 lbs. Over most of last year (certainly near the end) I was at that point too. I think I was just too skinny.
I don't try to stay that skinny. I just don't eat much. I've never been a big eater. Add in morning coffee and I rarely think about food until 6pm. Combine that with an even moderate workout schedule and I lose weight.
While this is generally a good problem to have I think that prolonged periods of low weight aren't terribly good for me. The body struggles to find resources. The immune system suffers. I eat a ton of whey protein but that's obviously not enough.
So, coming out of the Great JoeSick Saga of Early 2010 I've focused on gaining weight. I've put on about 10 lbs of pure un-performance couch-potato fat! WoOT! I'm at 170 lbs. I think it's a good thing to go back into workouts with some extra weight. I'm going to try to keep my body weight around 170 lbs in training. I can always shed down to 165 lbs for triathlons/cycling and 162 lbs for running events. But then I need to remember to gain the weight back.
Being lighter weight and seeing the speed in workouts on a daily basis is definitely addictive and plays into this.
With work getting busier it takes a concerted effort to, you know, eat stuff. In the end I'm striving for greater overall health. While most of society says less weight is better, we awkwardly skinny people need to be careful about the limits of that equation.
7 months 7 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Today I was struck (again) by the power of ingrained thought patterns in training. A little review: in the beginning I went short and hard... after a season or so I learned the power of base training and did a lot of it... after three seasons or so I learned to base train early and then turn towards speed/intensity later in the season... by the fifth and sixth season I was trying to maintain certain speed targets year round.
Which brings us to today. After a couple (few?) good solid years I've had a major lull in training this winter. Thought patterns contributed to this lull and have made it tricky to get out. I'm not sweating it but it's worth noting.
As the season ends I find myself pretty fit with a bunch of speed. I always... always... say that I'm going to take it easy. And then I always... always... hit it hard... every single workout. Which burns me out, spends through my base training bank account and leaves me a heaping pile of not fit.
But why? I know better. I know base training is what I should be doing. Heck, it's what I want to do. The answer is thought patterns.
It's deeper than just "what should i do today?" It's a drive. It's in the reptilian brain. I'll start off-season workouts slowly but I can just feel myself getting pulled into the speed and intensity.
Fast forward through the burnout and bottoming out of fitness to today. I start to get back into it. I have no time goals. No urgency. Just out to enjoy a pre-dawn run. But there's the drive to go faster. It's what I remember. It's the last training memory my reptilian brain has so it pursues it.
I also experience the reverse. When I'm All Base, All the Time and try to switch into the speedwork I find that I have to change my thought patterns dramatically. I go for speed but suddenly find myself at a base exertion.
Being aware of it should help me counter it. But I've been aware of it for a long time. It's a skill. A skill that needs to be honed. Mixing up base with intensity is something I don't do well. I get into one mode or the other. I should try to be more balanced.
I suspect we all experience this patterning in many areas of our life. Food. Work. Relationships. But in triathlon the undercurrents come to the surface a little more obviously thanks to the magic of heart rate monitors and gps. Relationship-o-meter anybody?
7 months 15 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
I'm getting better about balancing my life. Haven't worked out in over a week. Busy with travel and a new office. New partners. Lots of stuff to do. In the past I might have tried to turn myself inside out to get the workouts in. Or I might have beaten myself up about not getting them in.
Not in 2010! It is what it is! I feel some pressure with the 50 miler on March 6th... and I haven't run over a couple miles at a time in the last month or so. Maybe I'll skip it. Other things are more important right now.
And I seem to do better when I find a solid bottom to the season anyway. A clear point where I say, well, I'm officially completely untrained. I think I'm pretty darn close. Now the rebuild. Which is kind of fun to think about!
8 months 15 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Good run this morning. Happy to have it on the books. Last year my first post-race Wednesday long run died at mile 10 and I never gained any winter traction.
8 months 26 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Great event. Kudos to the GUTS organizers and all of the volunteers. It was cold out but they were always there for the runners!
I carried my Flip camera with me during the race. Video was jumpy but it does tell a story. I think next time I'll use the GoPro HD Hero for a wider angle of view.
Alex's friend Tom was in from NY. Very nice guy. We hadn't planned on running together... we just found ourselves around each other the entire race and eventually just decided to run together. Nice when it works out like that.
Rough course. Certainly for me. These were my first trail miles all season. You had to be incredibly diligent with foot placement. I took numerous tumbles.
Great to reconnect with the GUTS folks... been too long for this triathlete. I'd like to get back into trail running more next season.
One thing that needs to change are my shoes. I ran the North Face Arnuva 50. Way too soft for a trail like this. I felt every single rock and root. Which means I felt them on every step of this course. Needed more rock shielding. Which doesn't mean I needed something heavier... there are plenty of light and minimalist shoes with good shielding.
My goal was to have fun. My legs weren't into it. I really hosed them late this season... not sure how. They were stiff going in and by ten miles I felt a death march. Eventually I salvaged my mood but I can honestly say that every step hurt.
Which is abnormal for me. I get fatigued. I get soreness. But it's never been as stiff or acute. I've always been able to keep some rhythm even if it's a little truncated. No rhythm on this run.
On the whole, great day. Glad to have 19th overall with a final time of 8:37ish. Glad to have spent time with Tom.
9 months 3 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
An Atlanta-area winter cycling tradition, the Tundra Time Trial marks the beginning of the competitive cycling season. Some people take it uber-seriously. Others don't. But everybody knows their name will be attached to those numbers all season. (I've never done the race, btw, but I've heard about it for years.)
This year it's taking over a new section of the Silver Comet Trail because the Great Floods of 2009 wiped out the traditional section of the trail. The new start is at the Rambo Nursery trailhead. The race heads five miles east before a turnaround and finish back at the start.
The goal today was to scout that portion of the trail. Marc got the full GPS track. He rode it twice. I dicked around with a camera and tried to keep up on marathon-sore legs.
Summary: Slight uphill for about 3 miles. Slight downhill to the turnaround. Slight uphill for 2 miles and then a slight downhill for the 3 miles to the finish. Not very dramatic terrain. But there could be some surprises. I've ridden that section of the trail hundreds of times and know that the rock cliffs in a few places can focus the wind a lot.
There's one quasi-technical area around the 20 mile rest stop. You could gain or lose a few seconds with good handling. Other than that it's just a matter of pedaling some smart consistent power. It's a trail. It goes more or less straight. This makes it great at testing what it should test: rider strength.
9 months 5 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
I did a 3:24. Not a great day. Found myself in 20th position at the halfway mark after a 39 min 10k and a 1:29 half marathon. Then my legs got incredibly sore and crampy. My pace dropped off and I limped to the finish line, hating myself violently in true Death March form. Writing this the next morning I'm still quite angry at myself for this season's results but I can see the silver lining... I'm learning things about myself.
Full Summary:
This was only my second open marathon. I've run more of them at the end of Ironmans (6) or at the start of ultramarathons (4) than I have just going out and running. The other one was 2 weeks after my first 50 mile run (I was still kinda sore) and I was sick. I had no doubts that I'd be able to set a PR.
I've always wanted to break 3 hours and I felt that I had some leg speed (I did.) I wasn't sure I had the endurance (prescient.) So I decided to set my early pace based on breaking 3 hours. I acknowledged the risks of this strategy, on video, before the race.
Caught up with Bob & Sue before the race. They rock. I wanna be like them, no kidding. They have the right balance of competitive desire and life enjoyment. You'll see later that I'm seeking this in a big way.
Also got to meet Nat Fisher for the first time! Yay! Finally... have read her blog for years and annoyed her on Facebook for about as long. Social media win: she posted a pic of her race outfit to Facebook and I was able to find her in the crowd because of it. Quick chat just before the race... at the porta potties. She's been battling an injury and I applaud her for giving it a go!
Gun goes off. I feel good. Actually, I feel scared. I don't know what my body can/will do. This is somewhat new to me. Normally I start races with a lot of confidence. Two reasons. First, normally I put in the training hours I need to. Not lately and even if I wouldn't admit it then, I do now. Second, normally I'm out to "have a good day" or "go as fast as I can on this day." These last two races I set out to achieve specific time goals. Which changes the race dramatically, creates new urgency and sets a hard bar on expectations.
The strategy for dealing with a specific goal is to break it up into specific sub-goals. What do I need to run the first mile in, first half in, etc. I then deployed technology to help out. GPS pacing.
First few miles I was surprised how good I felt. I felt really good. I was running near the front. Many of the folks around me were huffing and puffing. And I'm talking after five miles or so. By then things had stabilized and the people who had gone out way too fast had dropped off (well, I went out way too fast but you know what I mean... those other poor saps who went out waaaaay too fast.) The race was single file, groups of one and two with tennis courts inbetween. So you get to observe individuals a good bit.
My breathing was relaxed. I felt fine. My Adidas Cubato race slippers were rough on my feet but man did they let my legs turn over. Awesome.
Crossed 6.2 in 39 minutes. Then 13.1 in 1:29.
But the seeds of destruction had already been growing. Pain in my right quad had moved to my right calf and then to my left calf. Not abnormal injury pain. Just normal race pain. I've learned to deal with it. But this was kinda early for it. Normally I might expect to experience it around mile 17 or so.
It got worse. A lot worse. My legs basically seized. I couldn't turn them over. I couldn't keep my heart rate up. I started to slide.
I felt like I was running 12 minute miles but the gps this morning says I was running 7:50's or so. A big drop from the 6:30's.
So a little on the course. Hilly but not insane hilly. Nothing's too steep. Nothing's too long. But it is enough to hammer your legs. The hills aren't why my legs fell apart but they are a factor in this race.
By mile 16 I was in full Death March mode. Lots of negative self talk. I was just mad. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Why can't I achieve my goals this year?
More than anything I was mad that I kept fooling myself. On so many levels. Suddenly at mile 18 or so it becomes obvious. I'm fooling myself. I haven't done the training. I haven't even run a long training run in two months since getting the flu. What makes me think I can head out and run a good marathon?
Six seasons of endurance athletics had brought nothing but progress. I never took anything too seriously, despite many rants/whines. But I progressed. I ran long. I ran short. I did ultras. I did ironmans. I did 10k's. And I just progressed. Like magic. Last season I got close enough to a big goal to make myself think that I was Super Awesome. I thought I'd just walk out and progress some more. It didn't happen.
I didn't happen. I didn't put in the miles. I have some injury and some cold/flu stuff to blame. Not to mention a ton of life stress right now. But at the end of the day I look at the training log this morning and it's blatantly obvious that this year I didn't put in the hours to progress.
Not putting in the hours doesn't upset me. Life balance, gotta have it. What does upset me... infuriates me in fact... is that I allowed myself to be fooled... by myself. I consider myself an astute observer of reality. One who absorbs evidence and outputs insight. I did not do that well this season.
By mile 21 I didn't think I'd finish the race. Actually, I wanted to drop at mile 15 probably. But Dana Martin, after my IMFL DNF, told me that I can't make it a habit. She described a force inside of you once you DNF to repeat. It's easy once you don't achieve your race goal to walk off. Every now and then that's cool. But you can't make it a habit. Well, I didn't want to make it a habit. So I labored on.
But as I said, by mile 21 I didn't think I'd be able to finish the race. Which was quite the wakeup call given that a) I'm Super Awesome and b) for something like 12 weeks this year I turned a 23 miler each week and found myself the next day with no pain. My legs locked up. Cramps like I've never had. Amazing pain.
Well, the amazing pain had been there since the 16th mile. Every step was painful. This was the most pain I've ever felt running. No kidding.
I ambled to the end. Crossed the line. Slinked to my car. Drove home.
Then the lower intestinal problems began. They do that sometimes. I was doubled over for about two hours. In bed unable to stand for about six. Not cool.
This morning I'm more sore than I was after the 100 mile run, 50 mile run and any Ironman. Why? Lack of training.
This season I picked up a great consistency habit. So this morning, the day after the race, I'm heading to the gym. To stay positive.
The season wasn't a loss. My two races were. I've progressed my aerobic engine. And I've learned something about myself. I'll carry that forward. I'm not sure whether I'll carry forward a new respect for training for specific goals. Or whether I'll go back to less specific expectations. But I'll carry some wisdom forward.
Will I carry it to Pine Mountain 40 Mile Trail Run? I don't know yet. During the race, of course, I was 100% certain that I was quitting all endurance endeavors. After the race I decided I'd just end the season and get back to the fun stuff. But after inviting Bob & Sue to the Pine Mountain I'd feel kind of bad abandoning them. We'll see. It's too soon to actually gain any real distance fitness. I want to say that I'll simply do it for fun and end the season on a high note but I'm not even sure I can do that.
We'll see.
Congrats to everybody who did the race, including my wife Heather. Great job! At the end of the day all of this stuff is about making us happier and healthier.
11 months 24 days ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Out at Terp's office today Rusty told me about a recent running injury. Funniest thing, stepped on a branch, etc, etc. I say something like 'yeah, it's always the smallest things.' About 20 minutes later I leave the building and as I cross the threshold I realize there's a step down.
My knee was locked out and all of my weight fell about six inches onto it. No pain whatsoever. But, the sensation of a good bit of force landing on my knee, straight down. Didn't think much of it. Fast forward a few hours... slight pain when I extended my knee. Fast forward a couple more, hard to walk on... sharp, shooting pain, etc, etc.
Every year I seem to get one or two of these odd little injuries. Back, knee, shoulder, foot. Every year I freak out about it. And every year it's gone in a few days. So far I'm taking it easy, not sweating it. If I can't do my long run tomorrow I'll start freaking out.
The freak out is proportional to the time invested in the fitness build. So far I'm into my eighth week of consistent, solid workouts. On top of six years of working out. Don't want to lose that. I'm in that sensitive period where an injury or illness can derail my build. Critical weeks.
And it's all the training that makes me prone to such strange injuries, of course. Eight weeks of banging on the knees leaves them more susceptible to injury.
Logical me says 'nothing to worry about.' Emotional me says 'my season is ruined, get the dynamite... it's time to blow up a step at Terp's office.'
[Longtime joereger.com readers (whassup mom?) know that this post is code for: I'm going to whine incessantly for three days until the knee is better.]
Congrats to Angela for getting her Finish Line Framing product line into All3Sports. Here's the link. I bought one of their frames at the atlanta marathon last year. They're super high quality, great looking and easy to put together. We've all got a drawer full of race medals, race numbers, race pictures and hardware... this is how to actually make them look great and share your enthusiasm with others! You know, your own Personal Wall of Greatness! I hear they've got some kickass announcements coming soon so keep your eyes on them. On a personal note, yay for Angela and Paul... I love seeing friends succeed!
Big shoutout to Bill and Alex of All3Sports who took care of me today. I've been in to the shop a number of times since the management change but this was the first time I had one of those odd situations requiring help. Many shops would have shrugged and sent me packing. But Bill took the issue on as his own, made some calls and took care of me. Alex checked over everything and called me to give me the good news. I was very happy to see the high level of customer care. In fact, Bill's ownership of the issue reminded me more of a financial services situation than a tri shop situation. Great to see. Many thanks guys. I'm gonna make the ride this weekend in The Gaps thanks to you!
In parenting news, Alex and I continue to compare notes and see that we experience many of the same things. Alex and Jill have two boys, Terp and I have two girls. Swimming lessons. Authority challenging. Peer leadership. Many of the same concerns. Dating issues will probably be a little different as we enter the high school years. Always great to hear about The Poons. And shouts to Jill who's doing a tri this weekend. Only fathers know how much work being a mother is. Well, and other mothers. Doing triathlons is even more work. Good luck Jill!
1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Thanks to Matt Silva of Phidippides who solved my Adidas Supernova Control mystery. He's running the Vermont 100 in a few weeks, has known about my blog for a while and saw the Adidas mystery. Turns out Adidas renamed them to the Adidas Supernova Sequence. The second version of said shoe will be out in early July at Phidippides. I'll be grabbing a pair. Thanks for the sleuthing Matt!
In 2003 I went to Phidippides and chose the ugly shoes in a self-designed blind shoe test. I got the Adidas Supernova Control. What I really wanted were the cool looking Nikes.
But the Adidas Supernova Control served me well for a few years. Then, like Paul, I got a little crazy with some Saucony's. And then some North Faces. And then... and then...
Always coming back to the Adidas Supernova Control. They change the colors all the time and I usually hate them. Every now and then I like the color and spring for two pair at once. Sometimes they tweak the outsole but generally they're the same shoe. After six years with them I've seen the model number go from somewhere around 6 to 10.
So imagine my confusion when I searched Zappos (the best online shoe store in the known universe) and came up with very little. They do have some models but they're the GCS and the women's. What the?!?
I'm sure they're covering the control issue but I have no idea what the new model's called. I see the AdiStar control. And three or four others that seem to have control.
I like a heavy ass training shoe. That way when I race my feet feel fleet in the racing flats. Some of the new Adidas models advertise control plus low weight. Fail. And the AdiStar are expensive when you burn through these things. So maybe Response Control?
This Running Times article from 2007 mentions the New Balance 767 and Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7 as being similar.
What a pain. With 404 miles on the current pair and a nagging knee problem it's time for a new pair... of Adidas Supernova Controls! A little research and I'm sure I'll figure it out.
1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Paul just put up some great thoughts about training, life, etc. It seems what I do in the shower triggers certain emotions in Paul. Wait, not like that... kinda like this:
...but on blogs... about triathlon... and in spandex instead of expensive suits. (That's a clip from Entourage, one of my fave shows. It has some bad language so if you're at work turn the volume up, click loop and walk away from your computer. Yeah, I pretty much just wanted to get that clip onto the blog somehow.)
Paul and I both share a lot on the blog about our personal motivations, life, etc. I remember ten years ago when I started doing this... I did it because I thought that people would ding me when I didn't do something I said I'd do. What I didn't expect was how much the people who read this blog (yeah, you) would help me along. I get the dings when I miff workouts. And that's good. But I also get a lot of analysis. Other perspectives are always welcome and helpful. And I get a ton of heartfelt support.
From Paul's post: It's very hard for me to swallow "settling". Because I want to be good (a-hem, "GREAT") at a lot of things. And then we get sucked into the abyss as we straddle the fine line of proving things to others and proving things to ourselves all in the name of personal pride.
Doing this stuff publicly definitely adds a factor to the "proving things to others" side of the equation. And when you name your blog "A Ticket to Kona"... well, there's a certain expectation that might just get set. Luckily I modestly named mine joereger.com and left it at that. I'm free to mess up all areas of my life.
But almost all of us experience this pressure in some way. With Facebook and Twitter we're all sharing our plans for the year, target race times, etc. And if you aren't, your friends are via tweets like "omg, sam's coming into t2 in 1:48... go sam! i just farted, lol, kthxbye!"
The most exciting stuff happens when we don't achieve our goals... when we fail horrendously. And what better way to fail than to announce it up front and paint it gold? I tend to have blog explosions which mimic my real life whining. Paul goes into deep analysis mode. Some people stop blogging for a while. Others put lipstick on the pig and act like things are all perfectly normal.
When we're faced with failure we learn things that we can carry into other parts of our lives. And that's where the blog sharing is helpful. I can empathize with Paul, share some perspective and we can both benefit. Hopefully a reader or two will benefit as well.
So why not try? The failure will probably teach more than the success would. Sure, the ladies don't like it as much when you fail... and they laugh at you in spandex. But in the long run...
Ok, so training stuff. One paragraph that summarizes my thoughts well is:
Which brings me back to something that Eric Reid (a blog reader) wrote to me in an email when he said, “Just because we “can” do something, doesn’t mean we “should.” I'd like to think that we would be satisfied if we just "did the best we could." But what does that really mean, "Do the best we could."
Where's the line for each of us?
My father came up with an idea in the car yesterday (on the second of three unnecessary out-of-house excursions for a custom table he's having built, but more on that some other day.) The idea didn't resonate with me at the time. And maybe it doesn't resonate now. But it seems relevant.
The main interface, or currency, between the portions of our lives is time. Ironman training takes a lot of it and that throws the other things out of whack. Sure, the moodiness, lethargy and whey protein gas also have an effect on those around us... but time is the main resource that triathlon sucks up. A 20 hour training week can take 25 - 30 hours when you factor in driving to rides, packing gear, changing between disciplines on bricks, gear repairs, special food requirements, etc.
My father's idea was to draw a line in the sand. Decide to do up to X hours of training per week and see what sort of PR you can set on that investment. So maybe we call it an Ironman PR10 which means that it's a PR at an Ironman done on a max of 10 hours of training per week. In that way we'd maintain some type of balance but have a year-to-year yardstick to use to race against ourselves and others.
Honestly, that idea sucks a lot of the fun out of PRing. I mean, if throwing down epic mileage isn't on the table, what fun is it? Obviously I'm still seeking PR.
But I do realize that eventually I won't be seeking PR. It'll probably be after a couple really painful seasons without them and with a bunch of life drama. But once my emotional side doesn't want a PR this PR10 thing could have some legs.
You'd be forced to make every hour count. Suddenly smart training would be all the rage. And we'd have to set some ground rules. Do plyometrics count? Or just swim/bike/run? What if I glide downhill for 15 minutes, can I then go 10.25 on the week?
How do we set up and certify a race division that's limited by hours? Hour doping anybody? (I think such a race division will fail until people submit to 24/7/365 heart rate monitoring... "but I was just helping my buddy move... that's not Zone 2!! aw, c'mon ref! [throws zipp wheel to the ground]")
Many Ironman triathletes (really any triathlete) probably already have formal or informal hour caps in their training programs. Gordo talks a lot about his process to find a person's acceptable hour cap that retains life balance.
Finally, I thought this was a great observation:
Our memories tend to change and adapt to different realities as we age. I have a much fonder memory of my childhood now that I'm older and have more perspective on things. Waking up at 4:00am on Saturdays seemed to suck at times growing up. But the memories of fishing with my Dad are priceless.
Yep, we remember the good stuff. Like those rides Paul mentioned in his post. They were hot and miserable. But I remember them fondly.
1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Some quick training thoughts from a shower. There's a great blog post in here but I don't have the time to type it up right now. So some choppy phrases to remind me later.
Many people in the 30-something age bracket who've been training ironman stuff for 5-9 years see a perfect storm of logical vs. emotional self.
We've set PRs in our races. Each year making it harder and harder to set the next one. In the early season we look at the herculean mountainous investment required to PR and it's higher than the year before.
At that point the emotional desire to PR is greater than ever. And the logical desire to PR is lower than ever.
Add in budding families, increasing responsibilities at work, possible health implications of ironman training, new people getting into the sport, blog posts reminding us of past glory and a more mature understanding of what makes us personally happy... all of this fuel for the perfect storm.
On rational side we decide it's not worth it. We're just age groupers. The next PR will take even more unbalance than the year prior... and last year was f'd up. We don't define ourselves by a finishing time. Family is certainly more important. Etc. Etc.
But on the emotional side it's very hard to walk away from X years of training. PRs are addictive. Hard to put the emotional side into words, aside from saying that it's a strong force.
So we say we'll "just train and see what happens." Or we'll "be happy with any finishing time." Or whatever. And on the logical side this is what we want. To remove the massive investment in pain and life balance looming overhead.
We go out for a run. And it kinda works. For three days. Until the numbers are dismal.
And now the storm is raging. It's one thing to say that finish times don't matter. It's another to actually believe it and act on it. It's another thing to see it in action.
Every workout becomes a tumultuous pull between the logical and emotional. Emotional pushes you to run faster, to work harder, to unbalance your life further. Logical tells you to back off, that it doesn't matter.
All of this happening without you realizing, of course. You interpret the storm as an odd workout phenomenon. "It just wasn't happening today." Or "I tried to go slow but ended up burning 190bpm for 45 minutes... what's up with that?"
It's hard to let go of the challenge. Hard to really say that we won't PR again... this year... or next year.
I know I'm not ready to give it up. I tried. I wanted to. But as much as I logically want to not try to PR this year, I still find myself trying to PR.
What triggered this in the shower were thoughts about performance and just "going with the flow." I could hear somebody saying that they'll be in better shape if they just get out there and have fun every day. Fun. That's important to the motivational side of things.
And I think that just focusing on fun will work in your first 4 or so years of ironman training. But eventually once you set progressing PRs it's not enough. Just having fun you won't set the next PR. Setting a PR becomes, by necessity, not fun. You have to do things and make choices that are inherently uncomfortable.
(Yet, oddly, there's a lot of fun in that.)
So motivation plays into this in a big way too. I guess that's even more what this is all about. I do my workouts based on fun. If I went by the book I'd be doing more consistency at a lower exertion. But I don't find that fun. I enjoy the epic stuff. So I do it.
As I get closer to the race I find myself filling in the gaps between epics with the consistency.
We're all on this ironman training thing and as 5 years rolls by we realize that motivation is the real thing. The hardest part of it. We know how to train. We know where to train. We know what to eat. How to sleep. Where to get a massage. Etc. We know the mechanics. We just have to figure out how to motivate ourselves.
And this is the big challenge of 30 somethings in ironman training. So I see a lot of us (me too) decide it's not worth trying to crack the motivation riddle and just saying "well, i'll do whatever" in an attempt to remove the pressure. But it doesn't seem to remove that pressure at all. The emotional side still wants what it wants. And we end up with a perfect storm.
I'm sure it takes a couple seasons to really jump the shark into non-PR training and racing. I'm looking forward to experiencing that. I'm sure it has a whole host of issues that I haven't even begun to consider.
Not a well-formed articulation of this PR/Logical/Emotional stuff. Not edited. But I do see it in a lot of us 30 somethings doing triathlons. More later, possibly.
1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
I'm convinced that my success or lack of success this year at IMFL will be based on whether or not I can create and maintain a morning routine of swims and workouts. Life is just so hectic lately that if I don't carve that time out each morning my workout frequency will continue to be low. I need to improve on the swim and consistency is the name of the game there. Core strength, for me, is tied to swimming because I do my weights workouts after the swim and only rarely enter the gym for weights alone. I'm now on an early morning wake routine but I've faltered in the last four of five attempts to translate that to a gym trip. Need to up my game, change my behavior and hop into that p double oh!
1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Chris Lieto's Base Performance Nutrition is using dNeero to launch a campaign to collect feedback on its products and earn some money for charity:
Of course, they can only work with triathletes/runners/endurance peeps so we're using an Access Code. Send me a quick email/im/facebook msg and I'll make sure you have it... "yo, code plz" works for me! It'd be a huge help if you could join in and share your opinions about BPN.
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Normally when I talk about life balance and workouts I'm going off the deep end with 20 hr weeks and weekend megaworkouts. Not this time. I hadn't been to the pool in about six months. Not working out was having a pretty negative impact on my quality of life.
So I'm getting back into the swing of workouts. If cardiac scares are good for anything they're good for forcing an evaluation of life balance. Irrespective of the ultimate cause of the palpitations (probably caffeine + stress + melatonin + bad diet/low weight), they left me realizing that I was getting very unbalanced in life. My workouts had trickled away to nothingness.
So last week and over the weekend I started to forge the plan to kick things back into gear. A standby of my workout regimen, the weekly high level spreadsheet. I can't do day-by-day plans. But I always like weekly planning. General stuff like "get some run legs" or "think speedwork" or "do some bricks" or "bike strength" or "recovery." Add a column for Must-Dos and I've got the perfect amount of structure.
It's now taped next to my bedroom door as I exit. I see it many times each day. There's a pen next to it for the onslaught of changes as I progress through it. Every couple weeks I'll transfer the changes to the 'puter and reprint.
Amazed how soon Ironman Florida looks when the six months are set out by week. Gotta get going.
I'm coming from zero. This is the worst shape I've been in over the last five years. And the cool thing? I'm excited about that fact. I'm looking forward to the challenge of the rebuild. Two full seasons of intensity deserved a little non-workout. I feel recharged mentally. Well, workout mentally. Life mentally I'm just mental.
Consistency is the killer app for the first few weeks. On my last few runs I got the dreaded IT band pains. Scary as it took about a season to work through them in 04/05.
Josh Shields in the mix for IM Fla. Scary fast dude! Can't wait to get some training going with him.
So I'll be shifting the balance back to include some more workout time. A welcomed break from cardiac issues, life stress, financial stress and self-induced non-paying work overload.
1 year 8 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Put together a little spreadsheet. Enter your body weight in lbs and it'll tell you how many watts you need to output to be a cat5, cat4, cat3, cat2, cat1, domestic pro or international pro. All Marc's fault... he sent the chart of watt/kg out and I just wanted to see what I'd have to output to be an international pro (answer, between 516 and 579 watts average for 5 min.) And sorry ladies, had to convert a graphic to cell formulas which was tedious and it's 1am. Click the hard-to-find File icon below to download the Excel spreadsheet.
1 year 8 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Paul's posting some thoughts on ultrarunning on his blog:
Boy, this one got me thinking a lot. Will ultra running really make me happy or just open up a can of worms and down a rabbit hole that will take me off my real path/goals/desires?
Ah, ultrarunning is a big question mark. You have to follow your heart. Spending a few months over the winter and spring doing some trail runs and maybe a few 50ks or 50 milers won't hurt and will probably help. It can recharge your batteries and maintain/enhance your run base.
I've always loved running and got into ultras one run at a time. I honestly can't remember a trail run I didn't enjoy (although maybe there were one or two that got epic and miserable... but who doesn't enjoy that?) But my goal with them was always to improve ironman performance. I did my ultras in 2007, culminating in a 100 miler a couple months before IM Fla. Rtarded.
The problem I had was that to train up for the ultra I jettisoned my bike and swim. They really suffered.
My aerobic base was huge. But my run speed was dismal. Plus, recovery after the race took a while. It would have been a week but i lost two toenails and had an allergic reaction to foot tape that blistered my feet for weeks.
After the season I concluded that the ultras didn't help my ironman performance. And directly speaking, they didn't.
But through 08 I felt comfortable doing 21+ milers every wednesday. And I was able to train through im louisville, running the day after and putting in a 20+ miler the week before and after.
I think that the ultras gave my legs some more durability. That durability is a huge limiter in ultras. Being able to run through muscular fatigue is a skill that serves you well on heavy training weeks. In the end I think that my ultrarunning in 07 helped me in 08 by allowing me to absorb more work.
And going much longer than ironman time can't hurt the endocrine system. Fat burning is key.
With a little tweak to the schedule ultras could have helped me inside of one season too. Don't put your first 100 miler a couple months before your A ironman race. Run long early and then add speed in the mid part of the season. Every season I find that I have to move my speed-building portions earlier and earlier because it takes a while to build deep, solid, repeatable speed.
And I could be completely wrong. These are my thoughts right now.
Would I do it again? Absolutely! Because I truly love running. It's my therapy. If I didn't love it I'd have a harder time justifying it. Like ultraswimming... not in my future... at least not any time soon.
At the very least I'd recommend to Paul that he sign up for one 50k race in Jan/Feb/Mar. It'll help him carry his run base through the winter and will get him exploring the ultrarunning world. Plus, we'll be able to get some good trail runs in together. And Carriere may join in too!
1 year 8 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Interesting to see performance change in the vacuum of motivation. No events any time soon. Nothing to scare me. A lot less working out. Struggling to get just basic workouts done. Fitness evaporates and working out actually becomes somewhat demoralizing because the memory of fitness is so fresh. Slowly this will turn to a focus on improvement as fitness bottoms out and events appear in the reasonably near future. It's a cycle. Even though I'm experiencing this I'm not too bent out of shape about it. When it's time to push hard I'll be there only because I'm not pushing hard now.
1 year 8 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Five years ago I was all about the data. Any device I could get I would wear. Sometimes I had a GPS on one wrist, a heart rate monitor on the other and a power meter on the bike. I loved the charts and graphs.
But fairly quickly, maybe in my second season, I found that I didn't like having access to data in races because it held me back. Then I transferred that thinking to training and for a couple years continued to collect data aggressively (data OCD) but I generally didn't use it during the workouts. Near the end of 06, beginning of 07 I started to skip data collection on workouts and not sweat it too much. Big portions of last year are a data vacuum.
I still track basics of time and distance on the blog. That gives me some understanding of what I'm doing. And I plan on continuing to do that for the foreseeable future. And I still use heart rate in iron-distance events... I've just got to have that rational limiter.
Paul posted about his data collection changing lately. Got me thinking a bit. I've been all across the spectrum. I found that the value I was getting out of the data wasn't worth the trouble it took to collect it. Working out is hectic enough without all of the straps, charging and downloading. With two to three workouts a day I often found myself spending 30 minutes just getting all of the gear into the minivan. These days anything I can do to simplify the workout routine is welcome.
I could have gotten a lot more out of my data. I just didn't. Every time I went in and did crazy complex analysis I found that there were too many uncontrollable variables at play. Sure, I could compare heart rate for three climbs up Hogpen. But the temp and wind was different. And what was my body weight? And did I have that 12x27 yet? I could draw conclusions but the numbers were often close and the unknowns took away most authority of the conclusion.
Part of this is just the natural progression too. I would absolutely recommend that new triathletes/runners/cyclists use heart rate/power/cadence, etc. Early on in your career you don't know what various heart rates feel like. You don't know what your limits feel like. The data is a great feedback mechanism. It's like a hint to point you to the answer. But you have to see it as such. Otherwise you get overly dependent on it. Over time you learn many of the lessons that data can offer. You either have to up your data analysis game (which I didn't) or go more by feel. I'm opting to go more by feel as I was past the point of diminishing returns.
One thing that would have helped was a single piece of software to bring it all together. One Ring to Rule Them. WKO+ was supposed to do that but it couldn't talk to some of my Polars... or Garmins. I could use my Polar/Garmin software to download the workout but then I had to manually put it into WKO+. They have mass import but it created dupes. Overall, pita.
Sometimes I miss the data. I look back at the holes and wish that my charts were complete. But that's just nostalgia/OCD.
I think I'll use the data devices more on the benchmarking front from here forward. Controlled treadmill and CompuTrainer workouts that I can do over and over again to compare fitness.
Like my 8mph for 1hr on the treadmill. Been doing that for years. Lots of data points. But there are even problems with that. Each treadmill is calibrated differently. And as I get closer and closer to my personal best capability the margins of performance are tighter and tighter. Which opens the door to a bunch of calibration challenges. Like bringing a foot pod and creating a five minute treadmill calibration routine.
All to serve the data. At the end of the day I'm going by feel much more. I find that the data is/was a crutch. It was supposed to give me comfort that I was progressing. Oddly however, I rarely looked at data and thought "awesome, I'm rocking!" Normally I found I was behind where I expected to be. Or wanted to be.
As the years go by fun is more and more important to me and my fitness. The basics of completing races are no longer motivating. The basics of setting prs aren't either. I mean, I certainly want to set prs. But the force is getting weaker in me. More than anything I just enjoy getting out there and having fun on my bike or in my run shoes. It's a real lifestyle and I enjoy it.
GPS data is nice to have because it does show pace throughout the workout. I like that. And I like the little maps. And I like being able to download a ride to the GPS in case I get dropped. Or race myself on the same route later. There are definitely benefits to some data and I've found that GPS data is lately my favotire. In the past I was all about heart rate. Then power on the bike before I realized the Polar Power Meter was crap.
Data collecting, archival and analysis gets tedious. It's a wonderful tool but I found that I was constantly paying for it and only rarely using it. Like leasing a $4,000 hammer that just sat in my toolbox.
So those are my thoughts on data. And yes, this is pretty much a guarantee that I'll be getting a power meter and a license for SPSS or Mathematica in the coming weeks.
I had no idea I had that many thoughts on workout data when I started this blog post.
1 year 10 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Tim Luchinske stopped by the site and left this comment for me:
Joe- The low expectations you place on your runs are a mental game that you play with yourself to counter your fear. By having low expectations there is less risk of failure, so there's nothing to be afraid of and your brain doesn't release stress hormones. When your expectations are high then there is more risk of failure (and success) and you get stressed which releases hormones. This is the "fear of success" theory in sports psychology. Going in to workouts with zero expectations counters both of these thought processes. Zero expectations allow you more readily to listen to your body and get the most out of the session. You should also consider how you define success and failure of a workout. If you plan to run at 8:00 pace and are too tired to achieve this- the workout may still be very successful in terms of moving towards your goal. Just because the number on the watch isn't up to your expectations, the effort may be. Your muscles don't care what the number on the watch is- they only care about how hard they work. Fatigue can make 8:30 pace just as effective in building fitness as 8:00 pace can when you're more rested. The same thing with HR. What happens with athletes is that they condition and teach themselves how to perceive their objective data (watts, HR, pace), the brains perception and preconditioned response to the number THEN determines how they feel. If you are intimidated by 7:30 pace, when you see it on your watch it will trigger fear, THEN you will feel tired, even if you felt great up to that point. Hormone release triggered by brain response to seeing a stimulus that you have taught yourself to fear... Ie: A small child doesn't fear a tiger until he learns to. When he first sees the tiger he is calm and laughing and wants to pet the tiger... once he learns what it actually is, seeing the tiger will trigger adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol release causing elevated HR and the fight or flight mechanism (fear). Bad analogy- but it gets the point across. When you look at your watch or power meter and your expectations are not met- the number may as well be a tiger.. Figure out how to shift this thinking away from expectation and more towards allowing your body to do what it can. Sorry to pop in and give unsolicited advice... this subject is currently the only thing that I myself am focused on. I see this response in nearly every athlete out there! The athletes that you don't see this response in are the ones who won Kona yesterday. They're the ones who break world records. The brain is 100% in control of how your body functions on race day... every small movement and decision starts in the brain. Your brain tells you how your legs feel, not the other way around.
It's awesome that Tim's checking out the blog. I found him through Jeff Keil's blog and enjoyed his perspective. Then I learned that Kindzia had worked with him in the past. Tim's working on a sub-2:30 marathon and is turning out 120+ mile weeks. He used to compete in triathlons and is now focusing on running.
Aside from the huge and fast running that he does, his mindset's very centered. In the last month... the month when I started reading him... he went through a big change in his mental approach to running. It's been amazing seeing that unfold each day.
So, of course, I'm more than glad to get any sort of feedback/guidance from him, solicited or not.
In a nutshell, Lucho recommends going into workouts with zero expectations. I had been describing my attempts at setting low expectations in the hopes of not being disappointed with my efforts. Zero expectations is a different mindset. It'll be hard to do that because there are always many sources of sensory input telling you things about your fitness status going into a workout. Soreness in the legs. Lung fatigue. Core/back tightness.
But I've had great workouts through each of those. So adopting a zero expectations mindset is rationally correct.
I can see the "fear of failure" angle too. So amazing that the mind can do so much to the body.
This all goes back to my meeting with the doctor who played chess. He said that in competitive chess at the world class level it's often the young guys who win because their *bodies* are in better shape to endure the long matches (i.e. body pain doesn't distract their mental activity.) In endurance sports you always hear that the difference between good and great is *mental* (i.e. the brain doesn't limit the body's activity.)
I always find this juxtaposition rather ironic. Chess is about physical conditioning and running is mental.
Having somebody like Lucho out there sharing his thoughts is very helpful to the entire community because he's many steps ahead (certainly of me.) We can watch him shape his own mental fortitude. While he does so many of the lessons make sense logically but don't hit home emotionally until we progress to through the lessons and feel them for ourselves.
I mean, sure, zero expectations. I'm on board. But I know that tonight on the treadmill I'll have expectations. Actually achieving zero expectations will take training, attention and effort. And in the process I'll learn about myself, morph the lesson to make it my own and share it here so that others can take it and run with it.
Post-Ironman Melancholy
