The race where my head exploded

I truly did not think it was possible for me to get any more full of myself than I already was, but it happened. Here's the formula - 1 part success + 1 part insecurity/hyper competitiveness + 3 parts beer = Ginormous head. But let me back up.

As laid out in previous posts, my journey towards a sub-3 marathon on March 21 is a lot of training with a few race goals built in to remind myself that I am fast and to check off smaller milestones along the way. Working backwards from 3 hours, this means that I need to be able to run a 5k in 18:34, a 10k in 38:36 and a half marathon in 1:25:04. Yesterday was the Redondo Beach 5k and 10k, so my goal was to check 2 of those goals off my list at once. No small feat since my previous best was 19:19 in the 5k and 39:19 in the 10k.

Showed up early to register and decided not to pay for 2 races, just one. In my mind I was going to run the 5k as a "bandit" and the 10k legitimately. It did not occur to me until I was at the 5k start line that the second I crossed the start line, the chip on my shoe would beep and therefore I would have to finish the 5k and bandit the 10k. Not a big deal, just sort of changed my way of thinking. The 5k went off and I found myself in the lead pack for the first 1/2 mile. I was on pace for a 5:30 mile, way too fast, so I pulled up a smidge and let the first 15 elite runners go. I clicked off my first mile in 5:46 and felt decent, but my heart rate and breathing were through the roof. When you compete at the Ironman or even Half Ironman distance you spend none of your time in "Zone 5" - redlining - so this was an uncomfortable although not totally unfamiliar feeling. It was around mile 1.5 that the headgames began. I knew I was close to my goal but I couldn't ease up. I started negotiating. "Hit your goal in this race and you don't have to race the 10k" or "Just quit this race and save it for the next one". This always happens to me, U have these doubts. I knew I was redlining and had no idea how I could maintain that pace for another 1.6 miles. We hit the turn around and a girl was right ahead of me. I have always made it my goal to beat the women. If you can do that, you're in good stead. This sentence went through my head - "if you push hard you can finish inside her". Then I was repulsed and amused at how that sounded. And that kept me going. Mile 2. OK, fine, 1.1 miles to go. Ahead of pace. I knew that soon I could lower my average pace to 6:45 and still hit my goal. This mentally took some of the weight off and gave me a boost. I passed her and started my kick. With 1/2 mile to go she was right next to me. Now there were people lined up cheering - for her, mind you - and I was like, no way. Don't get chicked. I hammered. She hammered. Finish line in sight. Beat her. I gave it my all. Clock read 18:19. Beat her by 3 seconds. Crushed my goal time. Beat my PR by 1 minute. Then someone came up and asked my name and age. I won my age group. I was very surprised by that. I was also surprised I didn't die. I was so worn out. And I had to run a 10k? Good lord.

Grabbed some water, met some former co-workers, including Kirk, who is training for Boston. He is the CFO of my former comapny and a very very intense man. He was also running both races, so we cooled down and then re-warmed up together for the race. By now I had decided to drop my time goal for the 10k, I was so tired. We lined up together to start the next race and the gun went off. Then came the pigdog.

I have described the pigdog inside me before, but typically in the context of my ridiculous appetite. But it is not just food that the pigdog cannot get enough of. The pigdog wants more of everything. In this case, as I let 100's of people pass me, the pigdog bit the lining of my stomach and said get moving fatty. If you are going to show up to this event wearing arm warmers and a running shirt with a flaming skull, flourescent green shoes and a flourescent green John Deere hat, you damn well better start running. So I did. Left Kirk and clicked off a 6:20, then a 6:15, 6:10 and at mile 4 I was probably top 75. This is where I am proud of myself. I found another gear and passed 15 people in the last 2 miles. Unbelievably, though, one of the guys I passed re-passed me. I was very impressed and told him so after the race. I finished in 38:30, nailing my goal nearly on the dot and finishing 6th in my age group, 60th overall. This actually means much more to me than the 5k result. I am stoked that (A) i got off my ass and followed through, (b) that I had surrendered to not doing it and then did it anyway, (c) that I paced it perfectly and (d) that I can run 9.3 miles and an average pace of 6:10. I never had this kind of speed before. It is the first time in my marathon training that I can truly wrap my head around running 6:50's for an entire 26.2 miles.

The last goal is a 1:25 half marathon. I am thinking I will do this on February 21 up in Pasadena. Cortney is doing it, so it seems like a good time and venue to do it. After that, smooth sailing.

One last word on this whole thing. I realized something yesterday, or maybe I already knew it but the thought crystallized. I have known people with eating disorders or read books about them who say that one of the reasons that they purge or that they starve themselves is because when everything in their lives sucks or seems completely overwhelming or whatever, their weight, their appearance, their body image is the one thing they CAN control. Obviously their self-image is totally whacked which makes it so bad. But I also believe that compulsive exercise is its own eating disorder. And my life is a bit "hectic" right now, shall we say. I found out Friday that my mom is sick. And I don't know what to do about it. So as I was running the 10k and thinking about the 5k it hit me - I do this perfectly (almost). Exercise, running, triathlon - these are the things I CAN control, this creates a vacuum where I can be perfect. I run because it takes me away from my screwed reality. And I may be overthinking it, navel-gazing as my brother says, but I really don't care. It was such a prescient moment, so clear that it made the whole day meaningful. Look, I have an addictive personality. If a little is good, more is better. I know this. But you know what? If running a race or two makes me feel better for a while - well, 56 minutes and 50 seconds, but who is counting - then so be it. Because it does.

The How, The What and The Why

F^%$k. That's about all I can say today.

A cursory internet search told me that the following are the 5 most common stressors in life: moving, getting fired, death of a loved one, divorce and public speaking. I am not getting divorced but I am dealing with the other 4 either directly or peripherally, as are friends.

A lot of people I know didn't so much ring in the new year as flash double middle fingers at last year and expected 2010 to bring a whole new bright, shiny day. Not so much so far.

Plus it has rained a lot.

So we move on, but it is hard to watch. It is hard to watch a friend's dad cling to life and he (that friend) is moving and he (that friend) needs to work to eat and he (that friend) has a propensity for isolating and he has had to reach out to friends for help which presumably makes him more uncomfortable therein heightening his overall awareness of the whole odd predicament he finds himself in.

Another friend is watching his dad deny that he needs chemo and radiation to battle the cancer in his throat.

I have my own variety basket of issues going on.

Another friend dealing with an ugly, ugly divorce (not sure there is a beautiful divorce).

And I guess what is odd or what resonates most commonly is that I am 35 and at that age where none of this "stuff" - divorce, terrible economy, bankruptcy, death - is all that surprising, but I would be lying to say I knew how to handle it all at once.

And I am speaking Wednesday night at Triathlon Lab (3328 Pico Blvd, 7pm) on Planning Your Triathlon Season. So right now I am pouring my energy into that. I am finding that my coaching is based on 3 main factors - the how, the what and the why. What - what races will you race amd what are your goals (time, place, just finishing). How - what bite-sized goals and objectives will divide up your year to get you to that "what". And why. Why are you doing it? And this is where I spend the most time as a coach, on the why. If I can crack the why, the how and what take care of themselves. Take the client I met with earlier today, competing in her first Ironman this November. A former athlete, a hyper-competitive personality, the why's are simple. To prove that she can do it, to herself. The how and the what for her fall into place based on the sliver of a ligament left in her knees that are grossly overpowered by the giant heart that will carry her to the finish line if she has to crawl there. Time goals? No need for this one. As I told her, it ain't going to take 10 hours and it ain't going to take 17. It will be somewhere in between. We will plan walking into her marathon plan. We will need longer to build her up to massive training days, no matter how much she freaks out during the process.

But then you take another client who lives and dies by the numbers. The client whose goals include racing to a podium spot. I hate this goal, it drives me crazy. I am never one to set goals based on how other people are going to perform, merely based on how YOU will perform. I try to avoid that one and set ambitious training goals, milestone workouts and monster mileage goals for someone like that.

Me? Well, I am the worst patient of all. My goals are floating in the breeze. I tell myself one thing and do another. I respond to overtraining by overtraining. 6 weeks out from the LA Marathon, my "A" race at which I am attempting to break 3 hours (16 minutes faster than any marathon I have ever run), I am flirting with a groin injury, knee pain and a shoulder injury. So what do I do? I run 50 miles in 4 days. That hurts, so I rest a few days and then bang out 10 miles Wednesday at 6:20 pace. Good lord. I am like a textbook of what NOT to do. I will say this - I do learn a lot about how to deal with the clients just like me (of which there are many).

Tomorrow a small contingent of us are running the Super Bowl 5k and 10k down in Redondo Beach. This is the first race I ever "raced" back in 2001 when I ran a 54 minute 10k and thought I was going to die. I did, in fact, vomit at the finish line. But that day and the feel of racing set in motion a string of events that led to where I am today. The plan is to run the 5k at 7:30 and break 19, take a break, meet up with some old co-workers, then run the 10k and try to break 39. I have done both of these things seperately, it will just be a nice mental boost to do them both back to back.

The next 14 days represent my Peak training for the marathon. I have given myself the last week as a recovery/cross training week and mixed in swimming and biking. The next 2 weeks, however, look like this:

Sunday: Super Bowl 5k/10k
Monday: Core Performance w/ 45 Minute Interval Run
Tuesday: Swim AM/Interval Run PM
Wednesday: 12 Mile Pace Run w/ Intervals
Thursday: Swim AM/Core Performance PM
Friday: 1 Hour Trainer
Saturday: 18 mile run w/ 4 1 mile pick ups
Sunday: Easy mid-distance run
Monday: Easy Swim AM/Core Performance PM
Tuesday: Interval Run w/ Hills
Wednesday: 14 Mile Pace Run w/ Intervals
Thursday: Long Course Swim
Friday: Off
Saturday: TNS group ride to San Diego

From there begins a +/- taper to the Marathon on 3/21. This doesn't mean a drastic drop in volume and there will be NO drop in intensity, but it does mean a gradual reduction in volume and duration leading up to very little the week of the race. I am a big believer in an epic training period before a racem usually ending 3 weeks before a race, but in the case of a running event, 4 weeks of taper/recovery seems important to give the body a chance to get ready for race day.

The Week Where I Ran Too Much

Sometimes I think of clever titles. Sometimes I do not. The title of this blogpost is not clever. I ran too much last week. I ran 13 miles in Old Agoura last Wednesday, the land where I grew up. It was a very good run but one of those runs where you are running late and running against the clock and in this case running against the sunset and I pushed it too fast. 13 miles at 7:10 pace when it was supposed to be 16 miles at 8:00 pace. Just ran out of time. By the end I was broken and worse I was late so I didn't stretch or cool down or eat properly. Friday I was down in Hermosa Beach so I did 10 miles, most of it in .5 mile repeat intervals up and down the run course for this weekend's 10k. I am fast these days, banging out 5:20 pace reps for a half mile, but just because I CAN, doesn't mean I SHOULD. I swam 1200 afterwards and sat in the hot tub so that was a good cool down. Saturday was a weird 4:30am fog run, just due to schedule and logistics and admittedly it was the fastest 15 miles I have ever run. I managed sub-7 for each mile but again, logistics and timing had me not eating, not stretching and sitting in a car to San Diego for 2 hours. Sunday was a 13 mile run at easy easy pace with the TNS/Core Performance group. But...just because the pace is slow does not detract from the pounding and abuse that running, especially that many miles in that few days, does to your body. I have this lame groin pull which is new and it travels from the "bathing suit area" all the way to my knee. I foam rolled and iced the hell out of it, but it is just nagging. One of those things like the bully in school who never actually hits you but follows you around all day making your life miserable, jsut so you know he is there.

Yesterday I went to buy my usual running shoe, New Balance 904's and OF COURSE they are discontinued. Of course they are. So the shoe salesman, a fat girl, informed me that the 905's which look and feel nothing like the 904's are exactly the same. I wanted to ask her how she would know that but didn't. But I was pressed for time (see a theme) so I took them. Ran 45 on the treadmill this morning and felt decent, so hoping to get a 10 mile run in tonite to confirm. If not, they go back.

This weekend is all or nothing. If it doesn't rain, we are riding LA to San Diego and taking the train back. This is an exhausting but fairly amazing experience. SUnday is the Redondo 5 & 10k's. I love that race, it being the first real race I ever ran. Part of me hopes it rains so I don't have to have my lack of cycling fitness exposed but part of me needs 6 hours on the road to clear my head. And the race? Well, I haven't burned myself out in a race for some time, so bring it on.

Counter - Productive

I wrote 4 blog posts in my head over the course of the weekend, but I knew through all of them that the title "Counter-Productive" would be the one I stuck with. It has to do with how much I train and fret about weight compared with how many hamburgers I eat at The Counter.

An interesting few days. Spent the last week on a product called Lipo6Black. If you would like to know more about this experiment, a review is available here: http://www.slimmingpillsreview.com/lipo-6-black/. If you aren't interested in reading an entire review, here are the listed side effects: Restlessness, dry mouth, anxiousness, headache, mood swings, some have experienced acne and bloating. Yeah, like a lot. I am prone to mood swings, restlessness, headaches and dry mouth all by myself. The recommended usage calls for 3 pills in the morning, 3 in the afternoon. I started with 3 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon because I have a hard enough time sleeping as is. On these pills, I didn't sleep well at all, I had one friend tell me that if I ever got on cocaine he didn't think I would act much differently than I did last week and on the flip side I almost snapped someone else's head off. I basically spent a lot of time apologizing last week. Definitely not worth the headache. But I know 2 people - triathletes - who have been on it for a while and got great results, so I tried it but wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. My workouts were lousy while on it because my heart rate was always elevated, over 100 resting, up to 160 in training and I sort of always had this feeling that I could alternately paint a house in 32 minutes or crawl into a hole and stay there. It was like being at a constant 3.5 on a scale of 1 through 10.

Got off it Friday and slept in late Saturday. Had a long run on the books but just had 0 motivation. I packed my bike into my car and was headed to my favorite LAX loop for a 90 minute ride and 60 minute run when I got a text. A buddy invited me to a 2 hour spin class down in Manhattan Beach. The cost was $100 and all of the money benefitted Haiti. This meant it combined spending money with raising money for a cause I have absolutely no belief in. On the flip side, he offered to pay and I had been thinking all morning that I wanted to do something out of "the box", so I headed down there for a 2 hour spin class.

So here's the thing about spin classes. Spin classes make me vomit. Spin classes are like a cougar's lair for late 30's, early 40's women who have the most ridiculous bodies strategically located under the most hideous faces. I know, I know, that is a bit harsh and isn't entirely true, but I invite anyone to get into a spin class and tell me I am totally wrong. Here is the population of a typical person spin class:

14 women with fake boobs who let out a "whoop" and a "yeah" every once in a while for no reason
4 women who spin at 145 rpm to let you know that they "want it" a little more than you do
1 gnarly instructor with skinny legs and a headband who is full of caffeine and unflappable enthusiasm
2 dudes of dubious sexuality
2 dudes who vie for the sweatiest man in the world title (I fall into this one)
An older couple who do everything slower than everyone else

So there I am, spinning for 2 hours, pondering the notion that we spend hours and hundreds of dollars getting our bikes fit to perfection and that I am now spinning on for 2 hours on a bike that has exactly 3 clunky adjustments measured in "ish".

I also got seated behind and next to those ladies who felt the need to spin at 145 rpm, even when we were supposed to be climbing. In fact no matter what the instructor told us to do, they just did whatever they wanted. I didn't quite get it. But they sweated a lot, so it was clear that they just wanted it more than anyone else.

So the class went by this way and it was actually pretty cool. We went to the Counter and I ate this month's featured burger - a 1/3lb Angus Beef on an Onion roll with Pancetta and Mozzarella. Highly, highly recommended.

I was, however, kicking myself for not running, so when I got home I banged out 10 miles at race pace and almost threw the burger up but was glad I did it. What was gross, though, was that I was short on time and changed in my car out of my clothes and back into the clothes I wore for the spin class. They were completely soaked and rolled up into a gross little ball.

Sunday was the group run and 3 of us ran a bit over 10 miles. It was a solid run slower than race pace but it was nice to run with 2 people who I have run with many times before who are getting faster and stronger each time I run with them. We also made the run a bit more interesting with a mile repeat at 5k pace and a hill repeat up and down 7th St. from San Vicente. So it was a good run.

Last night was lifting at Core Performance. I was looking for something different so I asked Coach Nick for the hardest workout they had. He went to the computer screen and dialed up the "Dirrty Jersey Shore" workout. I don't know much about Jersey Shore and I never really like anything with the word "Dirrty" slapped in front of it but when he did it, the other coaches looked at me and laughed, so I figured it had to be good. And it was. I am pretty strong and my background is in lifting heavy weights, but I haven't done it in years because I tend to bulk up, therein throwing my whole "trying to get back to my birth weight" regimen to pieces, but last night was old school. Olympic lifts like jerk & press (love that phrase), dumbbell presses with 100 lb weights, RDL's, bent-over rows, etc. It really put me through my paces like I haven't felt in years. Very happy that my shoulder feels good, Max's bowling birthday party Sunday not withstanding. It is on the mend and I test by how fast I can throw a tennis ball across the Core Performance weight floor, which is the rough equivalent of testing the weight limit of a bridge by driivng heavier and heavier trucks over it until it collapses. But it feels good and the old-school Olympic lifting night felt really good. Wouldn't make a habit out of it for a variety of reasons, but it felt nice to break out of the rut.

So after an easier week of cross-training, time to get my eye back on the prize. I am at the point where I can bang out 22 milers with fair ease and where I can bang out 10 milers at 6:45/mi pace with fair ease, but I am mainly at the point of trying to figure out how to merge the two. I have been gradually working 1 mile at race pace, 2 then 4 miles at race pace into my long runs, but I am still not totally convinced of how I am going to get 26.2 miles at 6:45. But the race is over 7 weeks away. Simply put, here is a basic breakdown of where I (or anyone looking to break 3 hours in a marathon) need to be. To run a marathon in 3:00 (6:52/mi), your half marathon time needs to be around 1:25:04 (6:29/mi), 10 km around 38:36 (6:13/mi) and 5 km around 18:34 (5:59/mi).

To that end, I am running the Super Bowl10k on February 7 (www.redondo10k.com). Actually, I am running the 5k and the 10k since they are 45 minutes apart. My goal is to run the 5k in 19 and the 10k in 39. I have done both individually, but never back to back. The next goal is the Pasadena Half Marathon on February 21 where I will shoot for 1:26, but I may save the $60 and figure out a do it yourself half marathon in my neighborhood.

So that's that. Today is intervals, tomorrow long run, more to come.

Periodize Yourself

Periodization in sports refers to breaking things up into cycles to get the most of each workout, of your week, of your month and your year. We in the "coaching biz" break it up into 3 cycles, (a)microcycle (your week), (b) mesocycle (your month) and (c) macrocycle (your year, or season). I am simplifying; this is a blog. But simply put if you run too hard, too fast, for too long you will eventually get tired, burned out or injured. Except for Jim Lubinski. But for we humans, these are the side effects.

I am working closely with one particular client right now who is not necessarily exhibiting the "classic" overtraining sysmptoms (fatigue/insomnia, excessive appetite/no appetite, emotional ups and downs, poor performance) but who just isn't seeing the results he wants. He is a great athlete, former collegiate swimmer, is logical and methodical about his annual, monthly and daily training plans, but he just isn't seeing the results he wants. So we are starting over.

The first step is identify your goals. What do you want from 2010. I believe in setting an "A", "B" and "C" goal. I am NOT a believer in making those goals about podiuming at a race or achieving a certain position relative to other athletes. This is a recipe for disappointment, it is too fluid. I personally hit the same time at a race last year as I did in 2008. In 2008 I was 4th AG; in 2009 I was 26th. You just never know what others will do and it really doesn't matter. All you can do is control yourself. I don't always encourage setting time goals, but I play that one by ear depending on the client. Some clients need that, others crumble under the pressure of the clock. They get way too hung up on it in training and wind up frustrating themselves. Another way to approach the thing is to compare yourself against yourself. Set smaller, achievable goals throughout your training process that you can hit and feel good each step of the way. For some clients this means hitting a pre-determined number of miles swimming, biking or running. For others it is doing monthly time trials and comparing yourself against yourself. Be careful here, though, as virtually no 2 time trials are the same. One day it's windy, one day it isn't. One day you ate well, one day you didn't. While it is hard to ride a bike or run in a vacuum, do your best to replicate the tests exactly.

Whatever the best way to motivate yourself in training, find it, build your plan around it and for God's sake, take it easy on yourself. One of the harder things of coaching people is watching them get down on themselves for perceived failures. Going back to the previously mentioned client, there is a lot of negative self-talk. Sometime I wonder if being a coach is at all like being a parent, where you see so much more in people than they see in themselves. You just want to shake them and tell them to see what you see, but the shaking would be counter-productive (and illegal) and you have to find a way not to tell them what you see, but to get them to see the greatness in themselves.

So, the periodizing. Look, it's January. The triathlon season runs hot from April to September. There are races in March, October and November, but that is the meat of the season. Summer only really last from Memorial Day to Labor Day, late May to September. So periodize yourself. Ride your bike up a hill instead of just up and down PCH. Hike. Kayak. Take easy weeks. Instead of going 100% for 3 months before you burn out, go 80% in the offseason so you can get 100% out of yourself when it counts.

Things I don't quite fathom

Yesterday I started and erased at least 3 blogposts. They were all fairly lame. I am finding a trend in my blogposts - they are either whiny and introspective, "navelgazing" my brother calls it, or they are about splits and miles and all things triathlon-related. In point of fact, I was recently told that I should buy a small notebook and write down my feelings, something some people call "a journal" and save the feelings for that. Makes good sense. So after I got done writing and erasing yesterday I said f it I am just going to go for a run tomorrow and craft a blog in my head. And so I did.

Wednesdays are my medium distance runs and Saturdays are my long runs. Last Saturday I ran 20 at a fast clip, almost marathon pace. The run ended on the bike path in Santa Monica by one of those food stands. When the Garmin chirped 20.00 on the dot I stumbled up to the window and asked for a Vitamin Water. $4.12. $4.12 I said? That is ridiculous. But I was dying and I bought it and sat for a few minutes collecting myself. Maybe I sat for 5 minutes. I had to walk to the bridge that crosses PCH, up to Ocean, up California to my house. I am not exaggerating when I say that the 1 mile walk took me 30 minutes. I am also not exaggerating when I say I stopped several times to collect myself. I overdid it. I could barely walk and I definitely could not walk straight. WHen I got home there was a container of deli meat in the refrigerator and I swallowed the whole thing. Then I went to bed. I did for a second think about what they tell concussion victims - do NOT go to sleep as you may not wake up, like ever - but whatever. The second I lay down my muscles starting twitching. It was actually cool to watch, especially in the calves. It also was not so good medically, but I decided to sleep it off. When I woke up 2 hours later, I was in a dark place. Not my room, but my head. I was very dizzy. I met a friend for beer and pizza, which seemed the way to go. From there I had a dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which consisted of beer and enchiladas.

I write all this to let you know how it ends. Spolier Alert! Not well. It doesn't end well. Do not do this. It ends with intense soreness the next day and a generally cantankerous attitude. Here is what I should have done:

1. Ran slower during my run
2. Had that Vitamin Water
3. Hurried home and had at least 500-700 cal in a good mix of carbs and protein
4. Stretched and foam roller
5. Showered (oh yeah, i didn't shower)
6. Napped
7. Eaten again
8. Eschewed the beers
9. Had a healthy, sensible dinner
10. Gotten a good night's sleep

So I decided to back off this week. I haven't been on the bike much or in the pool at all, but I did both Monday. It was actually awesome to get back in the pool, even for only a 1000. My shoulder is healing nicely and I stopped at the first sign of discomfort, progress for me.

So today was a 10 miler on the books. I almost always go up San Vicente and down San Vicente, which at this point kind of makes me want to put a shotgun in my mouth, so I decided to run up Wilshire instead. Wilshire Blvd. Like the busiest street in Santa Monica/LA. On a rainy morning. At 5:30. Spoiler Alert! Bad idea. I had alreayd suspected something but today had my suspicions confirmed. Santa Monica "Big Blue Bus" drivers are total a-holes. I truly feel they are trying to kill as many people as possible. If you are on a bike, running, maybe even if you are a bus passenger, they are trying to kill you. I completely despise them. 4 busses tried to hit me, 2 stopped right in front of me, 3 honked at me. Open message to Bus Drivers: F You. Just because I am running in the street does not give you license to try to kill me. Trust me, I know you are there. Trust me, I am just a bit craftier than you and will not throw you off your precious schedule. Just leave me be.

I wish I could rant better. I miss Adam Carolla being on the radio at morning drive time because man can that guy rant. There are many things I wish I had the chops to rant about - bus drivers, Haitian relief efforts, the potholes in the street, angry cyclists, Bank of America, people that put pictures of their kids as their profile picture on Facebook (yes, even you MAD), people that keep blogs, health insurance, people that talk about the weather, people that come into an office with a cold, Crocs and Ugg boots, Jim Lubinski's superhuman abilities, my car Garmin's lame routes, people that use calculators, birthday celebrations for people over the age of 15, drivers on their cell phones, and many many more things. I wish I could rant about these things.

So there you go. My happy medium between whiny blogging and triathlon blogging.

Hitting the road

Day 42.

Food scarce.

Body frail.

Spirit high.

Must...Continue...


I have decided to start posting like a colonial prospector would.

Gold hard to come by.

Martha birthed 3 new younglings since last dispatch. Boy thin. Conditions harsh.

Or something like that.

Anyhow, training is good. Removed the bonk monkey from my back with a strong 14 mile run last Wednesday, 18 mile run Saturday. My long runs are no longer just long, slow distance, but have progressed to intervals and Fartleks. Saturday's 18 miler was:

3 mile warm up @ 8', 2 miles @ 7', 1 mile @ 8', 2 miles @ 6'30", 1 mile @ 8', 1 mile @ 6'15", 8 miles @ 7'30. Brekaing it up this way not only made it feel more effective, but also more interesting. 18 miles is 18 miles, no matter how you slice it, so maximizing your effort and efficiency is key. In the base period it is fine and recommended to just log miles on your feet, but as you advance through the stages closer to your race, it is important to inject intensity. This Saturday is a 20 miler broken up similar to the 18.

Notes: Pedialyte, Pedialyte, Pedialyte. I have never - and I mean never - bonked on any kind of workout after drinking a bottle of Pedialyte. I usually drink a bottle the night before and half the morning of. People tend to tell me that's gross and how do I drink it - I say it's not gross and how do they not. It works!

Other notes - find that balance in your weight management and performance. Carrying too much weight will slow you down, but dropping too much weight too fast will stop you flat, as I found out today. Had a salad for dinner last night, and nothing more. Weight is down but I couldn't finish an 8 mile run. On the flip side I ate 2 double doubles at noon before my 14 miler at 4. Perhaps the lesson there is find a happy medium.

bam