Weekend update:
Friday:
75 min ride - hill repeats - 5 min reps in ascending (or is that descending gears?) - progressively bigger ratios, then
75 min run, TM - new shoe test, part 2 - easy 8 miler
Saturday:
135 min ride outside again - mostly E2. 61.1 km, including one stop at train tracks waiting for a train to lumber on through. Good news - even with the train delay I did "negative split" the ride. Bad news - at just a shade under 30km/h, there's a long way to go to Peterborough and Muskoka. More hill repeats, my good man, more hills!
The wind today was deceptive. Not overly strong, but on the return trip I was trying to find a place to hide my fingers from the wind. To top it off, my toes were so cold when I got home I couldn't feel them. Once I got in the house and got my shoes off to look at them, the blood started to flow back it, and that's when it started. The sting, the bite, the pins and needles - call it what you want. Think back to the feeling when your leg or arm "falls asleep" and the needly feeling when the blood rushes back in. Now, multiply that feeling by five. I thought I had covered up well enough for the weather, but maybe not for the wind. Stingers, for about ten minutes. So much that I was hopping around the kitchen like my foot was on fire (it felt like it was) and my wife was looking at me like I had just taken a heavy blow to the head.
Sunday:
10 mile run. Nothing fancy, just a solid steady aerobic pace. I'm feeling a tweak in the R achilles right now. Fortunately, this upcoming week is a bike/swim-focused week. Next week we'll be in the House of Mouse, and since I don't figure to get much biking in even though it'll be in the high 20's to low 30's (that's Celsius), I'm going to over-weigh the bike and swim schedule this week, and trade off with a low (nearly none, unless there are good spinners) bike, low swim, high run week next week.
Remember the classic "Slowman" quote about making bicycle weight? Goes something like "if they look at you with raised eyebrows, you're within ten pounds. If they start to whisper about AIDS or eating disorders, you're within five pounds. If they organize an intervention, you're at race weight".
I think I'm at phase one. We were out at a charity dinner with a bunch of old friends on the weekend, and I caught a few behind-the-hand whispers, as well as a couple of direct, "where's the rest of you?" questions. The intervention hasn't been planned (yet), but it could be well on the way.
Very nice, and it's only March.
Cheers.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Rant warning - ARM
Today's training:
60 minutes in the pool, working on short, medium-to-"firm" paced intervals totalling 2800m.
45 minutes bike - one leg drills - very difficult after swimming and a hard run this morning.
60 minutes mid-length E2 run (or so I think - that was the plan going out the door), and here begins the rant.
Six and one-half minutes into this morning's run, my heart rate monitor (HRM) gave up the ghost. First, it spiked up to over 225 bpm. After stopping to briefly correct that, I started up again, at which point it signaled that the "watch" was receiving no data from the HRM because it was too far away. It was less than three feet away - strap around chest, watch around wrist.
I'm tired of my HRM. I won't mention it by brand name (unless someone asks). It's frustrating and misnamed - it should be an ARM - an ass-rate monitor because that's where it inevitably ends up, regardless of how tightly the strap is set beforehand. To add frustration today, the freakin' thing spiked to 240 bpm and then bounced around between there and 223 bpm. Now, I suspect this could be due to a dying battery (not dead yet) but this just adds to a long list of complaints I've had with this piece of equipment ever since it entered my work routine. There is an associated GPS function that in two years has managed to track me accurately twice. It can't track me on the run or on the bike, although it did give me (presumably) accurate pace data one time when I tried it for fun walking the dog. Useful info, that was.
10 more sleeps to the "House of Mouse".
Keep on.
60 minutes in the pool, working on short, medium-to-"firm" paced intervals totalling 2800m.
45 minutes bike - one leg drills - very difficult after swimming and a hard run this morning.
60 minutes mid-length E2 run (or so I think - that was the plan going out the door), and here begins the rant.
Six and one-half minutes into this morning's run, my heart rate monitor (HRM) gave up the ghost. First, it spiked up to over 225 bpm. After stopping to briefly correct that, I started up again, at which point it signaled that the "watch" was receiving no data from the HRM because it was too far away. It was less than three feet away - strap around chest, watch around wrist.
I'm tired of my HRM. I won't mention it by brand name (unless someone asks). It's frustrating and misnamed - it should be an ARM - an ass-rate monitor because that's where it inevitably ends up, regardless of how tightly the strap is set beforehand. To add frustration today, the freakin' thing spiked to 240 bpm and then bounced around between there and 223 bpm. Now, I suspect this could be due to a dying battery (not dead yet) but this just adds to a long list of complaints I've had with this piece of equipment ever since it entered my work routine. There is an associated GPS function that in two years has managed to track me accurately twice. It can't track me on the run or on the bike, although it did give me (presumably) accurate pace data one time when I tried it for fun walking the dog. Useful info, that was.
10 more sleeps to the "House of Mouse".
Keep on.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Today's blog brought to you by the number seven
Interesting... the number seven has always seemed to go 'round the big wheel, coming back up again and again:
Seven days in a week
Seven brides for seven brothers
Seventh son of a seventh son
Lucky number seven
Seven hard hill repeats yesterday (plus three, okay so it was actually ten)
and so on and so on. And so it is again. The number has come up twice in different conversations/readings, this week and last. First, via Cliff and Boomer - two otherwise innocent individuals tagged to list seven random facts about themselves. If the second is as interesting as the first, it should not disappoint. Having spent a little time with Cliff, I'm sure it'll be brilliant.
Secondly, how many continents are there on Earth? Seven? North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, Antarctica - woo-hoo! Didn't know if I'd be able to name them all. Now I don't think it's possible to triathlon on all seven continents (do you want to swim off Antarctica), but how about marathoning off all seven? And just to make it interesting, how about hitting all seven in the same year? What would that calendar look like?
Okay, wait a second. Let's just inject a smidgen of reality into that. Although it would be epic, and certainly cool it's not on any plan, short-term, long-term or otherwise, that I've ever seen of mine.
Instead of that, and in honour of my compatriots above, how about seven random things, interesting or not about me? Actually, never mind that. I'll save that for a future post, when I may actually have seven interesting things to list. I can't come up with them right now.
Peace.
Seven days in a week
Seven brides for seven brothers
Seventh son of a seventh son
Lucky number seven
Seven hard hill repeats yesterday (plus three, okay so it was actually ten)
and so on and so on. And so it is again. The number has come up twice in different conversations/readings, this week and last. First, via Cliff and Boomer - two otherwise innocent individuals tagged to list seven random facts about themselves. If the second is as interesting as the first, it should not disappoint. Having spent a little time with Cliff, I'm sure it'll be brilliant.
Secondly, how many continents are there on Earth? Seven? North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, Antarctica - woo-hoo! Didn't know if I'd be able to name them all. Now I don't think it's possible to triathlon on all seven continents (do you want to swim off Antarctica), but how about marathoning off all seven? And just to make it interesting, how about hitting all seven in the same year? What would that calendar look like?
Okay, wait a second. Let's just inject a smidgen of reality into that. Although it would be epic, and certainly cool it's not on any plan, short-term, long-term or otherwise, that I've ever seen of mine.
Instead of that, and in honour of my compatriots above, how about seven random things, interesting or not about me? Actually, never mind that. I'll save that for a future post, when I may actually have seven interesting things to list. I can't come up with them right now.
Peace.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
2:04.26
Maybe I've had my head under a rock, but it seems to me that this story just hasn't gotten any attention or discussion (highlighting is mine):
(CNN) -- World record holder Haile Gebrselassie has again ruled out competing in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics, telling a Spanish newspaper that he would be "committing suicide" by running in unfavorable conditions.
Gebrselassie is the highest profile athlete to voice fears about Beijing conditions.
Gebrselassie, who suffers from asthma, told El Pais that he would instead try to qualify for the Ethiopian team in the shorter 10,000 meters track event. He was Olympic champion over the distance in Atlanta and Sydney.
His decision comes a day after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would consider postponing events at the Games such as the marathon if they felt conditions were unsafe.
"I have no intention of committing suicide in Beijing," Gebrselassie was quoted.
"I know that several other athletes are starting to have doubts about this.
"It's purely a personal decision that I have taken to protect my health. I do not want to endanger my future. I do not want to kill myself in Beijing.
"The marathon will be impossible because of the pollution, heat and humidity."
Gebrselassie added that he would attempt to finish his career with victory in the marathon at the London Olympics in 2012 when he would be 39.
Concerns about pollution led the IOC medical commission to hire independent experts to conduct a study into air quality.
They concluded that heat and humidity would pose just as big a threat to long distance athletes.
"We find that the competitions, although not necessarily under ideal conditions at every moment ... will be good for athletes to compete during the Beijing Games."
However, the IOC's commission conceded there will be some risk to competitors in endurance events "that include minimum one hour continuous physical efforts at high level - urban road cycling, mountain bike, marathon, marathon swimming, triathlon and road walk."
And the risk is deemed high enough for the IOC to begin working on "procedures which will allow a 'plan B' to be activated for such events if necessary."
The 34-year-old Gebrselassie holds the world marathon record of two hours four minutes and 26 seconds.
***
Now, understandably, there are other, more significant events taking place in China at this moment, but this is rather significant, isn't it? What sort of black eye will this give the host country within the realm of athletics if the current world record holder, the man to beat, declines to compete in the headline event of the year out of fear for his own health and well-being?
Training this weekend:
Yesterday:
2 hr bike - long spin, back in basement (grrr)
1 hr TM hills - 888 - 8 reps on 8% grade at 8 mph
Today:
90 min cadence spin-ups - high-effort, high cadence work. Was actually supposed to go 2 hr, but wasn't fully recovered from 3 hours of work the day before.
Not so much an easy, relaxed weekend of work.
This week marks the beginning of the ramp-up. Time to bring up the volume, and to work in some regular (but relatively careful) speedwork and strength work.
Cheers.
(CNN) -- World record holder Haile Gebrselassie has again ruled out competing in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics, telling a Spanish newspaper that he would be "committing suicide" by running in unfavorable conditions.
Gebrselassie is the highest profile athlete to voice fears about Beijing conditions.
Gebrselassie, who suffers from asthma, told El Pais that he would instead try to qualify for the Ethiopian team in the shorter 10,000 meters track event. He was Olympic champion over the distance in Atlanta and Sydney.
His decision comes a day after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would consider postponing events at the Games such as the marathon if they felt conditions were unsafe.
"I have no intention of committing suicide in Beijing," Gebrselassie was quoted.
"I know that several other athletes are starting to have doubts about this.
"It's purely a personal decision that I have taken to protect my health. I do not want to endanger my future. I do not want to kill myself in Beijing.
"The marathon will be impossible because of the pollution, heat and humidity."
Gebrselassie added that he would attempt to finish his career with victory in the marathon at the London Olympics in 2012 when he would be 39.
Concerns about pollution led the IOC medical commission to hire independent experts to conduct a study into air quality.
They concluded that heat and humidity would pose just as big a threat to long distance athletes.
"We find that the competitions, although not necessarily under ideal conditions at every moment ... will be good for athletes to compete during the Beijing Games."
However, the IOC's commission conceded there will be some risk to competitors in endurance events "that include minimum one hour continuous physical efforts at high level - urban road cycling, mountain bike, marathon, marathon swimming, triathlon and road walk."
And the risk is deemed high enough for the IOC to begin working on "procedures which will allow a 'plan B' to be activated for such events if necessary."
The 34-year-old Gebrselassie holds the world marathon record of two hours four minutes and 26 seconds.
***
Now, understandably, there are other, more significant events taking place in China at this moment, but this is rather significant, isn't it? What sort of black eye will this give the host country within the realm of athletics if the current world record holder, the man to beat, declines to compete in the headline event of the year out of fear for his own health and well-being?
Training this weekend:
Yesterday:
2 hr bike - long spin, back in basement (grrr)
1 hr TM hills - 888 - 8 reps on 8% grade at 8 mph
Today:
90 min cadence spin-ups - high-effort, high cadence work. Was actually supposed to go 2 hr, but wasn't fully recovered from 3 hours of work the day before.
Not so much an easy, relaxed weekend of work.
This week marks the beginning of the ramp-up. Time to bring up the volume, and to work in some regular (but relatively careful) speedwork and strength work.
Cheers.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Paleo nutrition - zowie!, training
First to training. This week is a "consolidation" week - lower hours and mileage. I'm not calling it a rest week, because it's not really rest. It's a good week for establishing and re-checking zones and speeds, such as they are. Easy one-hour spin on Tuesday. Went out for a hard, 30 min TT run last night with the goal of confirming HR for training zones. It's not uncommon for people to go out too hard, so guess what? I went out too hard and blew up! With warm-up I got in about 45 hard minutes running, but it'll have to be repeated on the weekend. No swimming yet this week.
Now, on to nutrition. The simple summary of "The Paleo Diet" is : everything you've ever read is wrong. Black is white, up is down, in is out and red is blue. I could have called this "blow up your kitchen", but given the title of my last post, two blow-ups in two successive posts could have had me branded a terrorist.
The paleo diet, in its simplest form is the "NO GBP" diet - no Grain, no Beans (including peanuts and all legumes) and no Potatoes. Stop and give that some thought. Take a look through your kitchen/pantry and eliminate all the food that falls into these categories. Oh yeah, there's another missing letter in GBP - no milk or milk products - cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream.
At last count my kitchen and pantry have six boxes of various types of cereal, one loaf of bread, two bags of english muffins, a bag of bagels, two bags of flatbread, three boxes of pasta, two bags of rice, three bags of cookies, two boxes of crackers, green beans, a bag of potatoes, two bags of frozen potatoes - French fries and otherwise, a bag of milk, a tub of margarine, several containers of yogurt, one or two tubs of ice cream, one block and another pack of sliced cheese.
The diet boils down to this:
1. Eat all the lean meat you want (fish, turkey, wild game like venison, etc.) and lean cuts of the "traditional" meats - pork, chicken, beef. Avoid hotdogs, salami, bacon, and any other type of meat or food that is "processed" in any way.
2. Eat all the fresh fruits and vegetables that you like - no restrictions. Fresh is better than frozen is better than canned.
Now, The Paleo Diet for Endurance Athletes takes this one step further. In addition to the two allowances above it allows carbohydrate (pasta, rice) but only at specific times, i.e. carbs can be eaten right after training in order to replenish glycogen stores, in order to allow full energy availability for the next workout. Whew! I don't have to throw out all my groceries. Unfortunately, neither rendition of the diet makes allowances for beer - a serious shortcoming, in my opinion.
This diet would be a pretty dramatic change from what goes on in my, and probably in most other typical homes. With two kids I don't think I could survive for long if I suggested getting rid of the cereal and cookies. And don't even try to put your hands on my beer.
"Food" for thought, indeed.
Peace.
Now, on to nutrition. The simple summary of "The Paleo Diet" is : everything you've ever read is wrong. Black is white, up is down, in is out and red is blue. I could have called this "blow up your kitchen", but given the title of my last post, two blow-ups in two successive posts could have had me branded a terrorist.
The paleo diet, in its simplest form is the "NO GBP" diet - no Grain, no Beans (including peanuts and all legumes) and no Potatoes. Stop and give that some thought. Take a look through your kitchen/pantry and eliminate all the food that falls into these categories. Oh yeah, there's another missing letter in GBP - no milk or milk products - cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream.
At last count my kitchen and pantry have six boxes of various types of cereal, one loaf of bread, two bags of english muffins, a bag of bagels, two bags of flatbread, three boxes of pasta, two bags of rice, three bags of cookies, two boxes of crackers, green beans, a bag of potatoes, two bags of frozen potatoes - French fries and otherwise, a bag of milk, a tub of margarine, several containers of yogurt, one or two tubs of ice cream, one block and another pack of sliced cheese.
The diet boils down to this:
1. Eat all the lean meat you want (fish, turkey, wild game like venison, etc.) and lean cuts of the "traditional" meats - pork, chicken, beef. Avoid hotdogs, salami, bacon, and any other type of meat or food that is "processed" in any way.
2. Eat all the fresh fruits and vegetables that you like - no restrictions. Fresh is better than frozen is better than canned.
Now, The Paleo Diet for Endurance Athletes takes this one step further. In addition to the two allowances above it allows carbohydrate (pasta, rice) but only at specific times, i.e. carbs can be eaten right after training in order to replenish glycogen stores, in order to allow full energy availability for the next workout. Whew! I don't have to throw out all my groceries. Unfortunately, neither rendition of the diet makes allowances for beer - a serious shortcoming, in my opinion.
This diet would be a pretty dramatic change from what goes on in my, and probably in most other typical homes. With two kids I don't think I could survive for long if I suggested getting rid of the cereal and cookies. And don't even try to put your hands on my beer.
"Food" for thought, indeed.
Peace.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Blow up your basement!
Week's training review:
Swim - 180min -8000 m
Bike - 225 min
Run - 240 min - 26.2 miles (but not in one go!)
Weekly total - 645 min (10:45) - not bad for March Break with full-time Daddy Day Care. I love my kids unconditionally, more than anything. Right now, I'll love them even more when they're back at school.
You'll notice that the swim is slightly lower than recent averages. I gave up one swim yesterday to take the bike outside!!! Woo-hoo! Yes kids, it's time. And even if it's not the bike is now hanging in the garage stubbornly refusing to go back downstairs. That's it. The end of entrapment. The basement is done. Fill it with concrete, or shag carpet if that's your preference. Yesterday was 5 degrees C, windless and a beautiful day to hit the roads, which were dry in most locations. The weather forecast for the rest of this week is above freezing, with most days at or above 5 degrees again. There should be numerous opportunities to get out on the roads again.
As expected, I saw a lot of other cyclists on the road, busting out of the basements, throwing off the oppressive shackles of bike stands, trainers and rollers, putting away the treadmills, turning off the VCR/DVD players and getting out to watch naturally changing scenery. Always fun to pass through a patch of shade, feel the temperature drop ten degrees and look for black ice. And hey, if you've got problems with the temperature, console yourself with the fact that it's 100% naturally bug-free at this time of year.
Don't even know exactly how far I rode - something in the neighborhood of 50km in around 1h45min (with stoplights factored in - roads are drier in town than in the countryside). It did cost me two tire tubes. In my haste to get the outdoor tires on the bike I discovered one faulty air stem (strangely that tube was on the back roller all winter) and introduced myself to my own first genuine pinch flat. Changed out the first tube, rolled in the second and was in such a hurry to get out the door (remember the talk about lack of patience?) that I didn't bother to check that the tube was fully inside the tire. Pumped it up and KA-BOOM!!! Gunshots (okay, small gunshots) in the basement!!! On to tube #3 we went. After the day's ride it didn't even matter.
On the road again.....
Peace.
Swim - 180min -8000 m
Bike - 225 min
Run - 240 min - 26.2 miles (but not in one go!)
Weekly total - 645 min (10:45) - not bad for March Break with full-time Daddy Day Care. I love my kids unconditionally, more than anything. Right now, I'll love them even more when they're back at school.
You'll notice that the swim is slightly lower than recent averages. I gave up one swim yesterday to take the bike outside!!! Woo-hoo! Yes kids, it's time. And even if it's not the bike is now hanging in the garage stubbornly refusing to go back downstairs. That's it. The end of entrapment. The basement is done. Fill it with concrete, or shag carpet if that's your preference. Yesterday was 5 degrees C, windless and a beautiful day to hit the roads, which were dry in most locations. The weather forecast for the rest of this week is above freezing, with most days at or above 5 degrees again. There should be numerous opportunities to get out on the roads again.
As expected, I saw a lot of other cyclists on the road, busting out of the basements, throwing off the oppressive shackles of bike stands, trainers and rollers, putting away the treadmills, turning off the VCR/DVD players and getting out to watch naturally changing scenery. Always fun to pass through a patch of shade, feel the temperature drop ten degrees and look for black ice. And hey, if you've got problems with the temperature, console yourself with the fact that it's 100% naturally bug-free at this time of year.
Don't even know exactly how far I rode - something in the neighborhood of 50km in around 1h45min (with stoplights factored in - roads are drier in town than in the countryside). It did cost me two tire tubes. In my haste to get the outdoor tires on the bike I discovered one faulty air stem (strangely that tube was on the back roller all winter) and introduced myself to my own first genuine pinch flat. Changed out the first tube, rolled in the second and was in such a hurry to get out the door (remember the talk about lack of patience?) that I didn't bother to check that the tube was fully inside the tire. Pumped it up and KA-BOOM!!! Gunshots (okay, small gunshots) in the basement!!! On to tube #3 we went. After the day's ride it didn't even matter.
On the road again.....
Peace.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Procrastination, and then not so much
An interesting paradox: how can you be putting something off, when you have nothing really to do?
I really should be taking this time to prepare for an upcoming "conversation" this afternoon; however, here I am. My rationale? How can one prepare for something, with no prior knowledge of what will be discussed or asked? Bit of a cop-out, sounds like to me, something like, "I don't know what work will be required, so I'm just not going to do any". Hmm, not so good. Certainly not the attitude I'd want expressed by my kids.
I've never been much good at preparation - for tests, speeches, meetings, etc. Maybe it's more accurate to say I've never much enjoyed preparation - the practice, the pre-work, the stretching, the warmups (I can hear Darren tsk-tsking right now). I've always been more about the "moment of truth", getting to the actual race, or heart of the matter, or whatever.
Alright, enough already. I've talked myself into it. I'm off to do, er, something. Further bulletins as events warrant.
THE FOLLOW-UP
Okay, so it's done. Wave one is finished. Wasn't so bad after all. Let's hope wave 1 turns into wave 2 sometime down the road. No more details - I know some of you will ask - but definitely a worthwhile "conversation". I think it went as well as could be expected, and as usual the nerves that led to the procrastination were unnecessary.
And on we go.
I really should be taking this time to prepare for an upcoming "conversation" this afternoon; however, here I am. My rationale? How can one prepare for something, with no prior knowledge of what will be discussed or asked? Bit of a cop-out, sounds like to me, something like, "I don't know what work will be required, so I'm just not going to do any". Hmm, not so good. Certainly not the attitude I'd want expressed by my kids.
I've never been much good at preparation - for tests, speeches, meetings, etc. Maybe it's more accurate to say I've never much enjoyed preparation - the practice, the pre-work, the stretching, the warmups (I can hear Darren tsk-tsking right now). I've always been more about the "moment of truth", getting to the actual race, or heart of the matter, or whatever.
Alright, enough already. I've talked myself into it. I'm off to do, er, something. Further bulletins as events warrant.
THE FOLLOW-UP
Okay, so it's done. Wave one is finished. Wasn't so bad after all. Let's hope wave 1 turns into wave 2 sometime down the road. No more details - I know some of you will ask - but definitely a worthwhile "conversation". I think it went as well as could be expected, and as usual the nerves that led to the procrastination were unnecessary.
And on we go.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Carpe snow
I've fought it as long as I can. No longer can I rage against the pileup of the snow. If you can't beat nature, join 'em. This is how we spent the afternoon on Sunday. Mother Nature pounded us, and we pounded back. Pretty decent day, all told.
Week's workouts in review:
4 swim sessions - 240 min, 10 700m - given my recent mathematical shortcomings, I was taking no chances. The killer workout was Sunday - the last swim - 2 X 1000 TT. Absolutely fried for the rest of the day. The surprise is that I finished it, although if you follow the principle that states, "Never practice struggle" then I may have to confess to a little struggling at the end. To protect the innocent I'll avoid publishing the finish times. Let's just say that, early in the season I've established a baseline time that should be easily improved upon.
270 min bike - Coach Troy sure does love his standing mashes, doesn't he?
120 min run - light run week, partly recovery from the Chilly Half and partly because I blew off the last "long run" on Sunday after the swim.
This week is going to be a little tougher to get the hours in. March break is upon us. A little more creative planning will be required to get it all in. I'll let you know how it all works out.
Cheers.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Groundhogs lie
Yesterday I promised a bike show report. March break (yesterday) and a certain groundhog (today) have conspired to shelve that particular plan. Filthy, nasty little rodents. I'd go kill Wiarton Willie, but the little rodent actually died last year, maybe the year before. Funny thing was, he (it?) died sometime before Groundhog Day, and they rolled him out of the ground in February as usual, not mentioning the rather significant decrease in his/her/its usual metabolism. I can just imagine, "Hey mommy, I wonder if Willie will see his shadow? I wonder if spring is coming soon, or if it's going to be a long winter? Mommy, how can he see his shadow lying on his back, with his legs stuck up in the air? Why is his tongue sticking out of his mouth?"
Six weeks, whatever. Another 25 cm of snow today (that's 10 inches for you Americans) added to 10 cm last night. This is apparently the most severe winter to hit this area since 1939. There is no longer anywhere to put snow at the end of my driveway and the hump is enough to swallow small cars whole - just ask my wife.
Speaking of my wife, rainer on parades that she is, she kindly, gently reminded me today that I was frickin' nuts for identifying my new "dream job", fluorish of trumpets please - outside sales rep for a certain bike P2Company that shall remain nameless.
Never mind that I have no outside sales experience, or that I'd have to travel, either to US New England or alternatively the Canadian West. Never mind that I've never written a sales plan, nor executed one nor conducted one speck of market research in my life. I don't even have one minutes' worth of experience selling bikes or sporting goods of any kind. Well, that's not true. I did sell hockey sticks and equipment when I was in high school. Okay, okay, okay, so maybe I'm not exactly a slam-dunk natural. What about the diamond in the rough? What about grabbing for the brass ring? What about growing and cultivating enthusiasm? What about loving what you do, following your muse, doing what you love and loving what you do? What about joie de vivre, about working with complete strangers in unfamiliar cities, day after day, month after month? What about the employee discount? Eh? What about the employee discount?
Never mind. While she may not be exactly right, she's probably "slightly less wrong". Gonna have to start working on another dream, I guess.
Maybe tomorrow.
Six weeks, whatever. Another 25 cm of snow today (that's 10 inches for you Americans) added to 10 cm last night. This is apparently the most severe winter to hit this area since 1939. There is no longer anywhere to put snow at the end of my driveway and the hump is enough to swallow small cars whole - just ask my wife.
Speaking of my wife, rainer on parades that she is, she kindly, gently reminded me today that I was frickin' nuts for identifying my new "dream job", fluorish of trumpets please - outside sales rep for a certain bike P2Company that shall remain nameless.
Never mind that I have no outside sales experience, or that I'd have to travel, either to US New England or alternatively the Canadian West. Never mind that I've never written a sales plan, nor executed one nor conducted one speck of market research in my life. I don't even have one minutes' worth of experience selling bikes or sporting goods of any kind. Well, that's not true. I did sell hockey sticks and equipment when I was in high school. Okay, okay, okay, so maybe I'm not exactly a slam-dunk natural. What about the diamond in the rough? What about grabbing for the brass ring? What about growing and cultivating enthusiasm? What about loving what you do, following your muse, doing what you love and loving what you do? What about joie de vivre, about working with complete strangers in unfamiliar cities, day after day, month after month? What about the employee discount? Eh? What about the employee discount?
Never mind. While she may not be exactly right, she's probably "slightly less wrong". Gonna have to start working on another dream, I guess.
Maybe tomorrow.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Philosophical
There are a lot of similarities between endurance training and job searching. In fact, as I think about it, there are a lot of similarities between endurance training and life in general.
1. Consistency is key - establishing good habits, repeating what works and most importantly, repeating at regular intervals is critical to success. In training, success cannot be obtained if one is constantly jumping from training plan to training plan with no structured approach. Every workout must have a purpose. Every week must have an objective. Similarly every job search, every resume submitted and every phone call made should have an objective, and specifically a plan of attack established beforehand.
2. Impatience is punished - it's vital to "build the base" before attempting the monster day - see the "Alton Half and fried leg syndrome". Be patient. Put in the time. Gains are incremental, not monumental, but after a long sequence of steps forward, you've still gone forward, not back. Going for the long run, or the big interview before you've put in the work and preparation is a recipe for disaster - injury, the sidelines or lost opportunity.
3. Don't try to fake it - you'll get busted, and crash hard. See #2 above. Put in the time. Build your base. Every step of the way, you have limitations. As the base builds and the engine gets bigger, the limits just get pushed farther out. On the job search front, do your research. Know what you're getting into, have your answers prepared, and come with a few questions of your own.
4. Know your weakness and work to improve it. Everybody likes to "dance with the girl that brought them" (or guy, if that's your preference). It's easy to work on the bike, because it's close. It's easier to work on the run, because most of the time, you just have to jump out the door. The swim is the hardest. It takes the most preparation and absolutely the most concentration to see results. After all, in the pool the scenery never changes, and with water resistance being ten times as great as air, the punishment for bad form is severe. Form work in the pool, on the bike and on the run is the easiest way to reap dividends. It's "free speed", meaning that at the same aerobic output, better form means you'll be able to go farther, or the same distance faster. Likewise, low-grade skills in a certain job area will inevitably be exposed in an interview, if the interviewer is at all worth his/her salt. And isn't it easier to "keep doing what you've always done"? Pick the obvious weakness and dedicate some serious time to making it better. It's the only way.
5. Sometimes, you just have to go for it. Does this contradict #2 above? Only if you let it. There's a time and place. You can't do it too often and this is certainly not the kind of well that you want to keep going back to, but the fact is, the only way to find your limits is to endeavor to bust through them. Take a big swing. Reach for the sky. Go for it. So you blow up - happens to everyone. Hopefully, then, you've come out way ahead of where you were before, because now you know where the limit is, and how close to it you are. Knowledge is power - knowing where you are is a lot better than not knowing.
6. Nobody is an island - draw on the resources you have around you. There will always be someone faster, smarter, taller, more aero, thinner, more experienced, blah, blah, blah. Work your network. If you don't think you have one, you'll be surprised. Ask around. Most people appreciate sharing their knowledge and experience, and like to be considered an expert in something. So ask what you want to know. Find out what works, and what worked for others, in triathlon and in life. Almost everyone will share their stories/experiences with you. What's it going to cost you if they don't? Nothing. And screw the pigdogs if they don't want to. Cross 'em off your Christmas list.
Pretty philosophical today - must be starving for adult conversation :). March break starts tomorrow - yep, that adult conversation is going to skyrocket.
Going to the bike show tomorrow. Report to follow.
Chill.
1. Consistency is key - establishing good habits, repeating what works and most importantly, repeating at regular intervals is critical to success. In training, success cannot be obtained if one is constantly jumping from training plan to training plan with no structured approach. Every workout must have a purpose. Every week must have an objective. Similarly every job search, every resume submitted and every phone call made should have an objective, and specifically a plan of attack established beforehand.
2. Impatience is punished - it's vital to "build the base" before attempting the monster day - see the "Alton Half and fried leg syndrome". Be patient. Put in the time. Gains are incremental, not monumental, but after a long sequence of steps forward, you've still gone forward, not back. Going for the long run, or the big interview before you've put in the work and preparation is a recipe for disaster - injury, the sidelines or lost opportunity.
3. Don't try to fake it - you'll get busted, and crash hard. See #2 above. Put in the time. Build your base. Every step of the way, you have limitations. As the base builds and the engine gets bigger, the limits just get pushed farther out. On the job search front, do your research. Know what you're getting into, have your answers prepared, and come with a few questions of your own.
4. Know your weakness and work to improve it. Everybody likes to "dance with the girl that brought them" (or guy, if that's your preference). It's easy to work on the bike, because it's close. It's easier to work on the run, because most of the time, you just have to jump out the door. The swim is the hardest. It takes the most preparation and absolutely the most concentration to see results. After all, in the pool the scenery never changes, and with water resistance being ten times as great as air, the punishment for bad form is severe. Form work in the pool, on the bike and on the run is the easiest way to reap dividends. It's "free speed", meaning that at the same aerobic output, better form means you'll be able to go farther, or the same distance faster. Likewise, low-grade skills in a certain job area will inevitably be exposed in an interview, if the interviewer is at all worth his/her salt. And isn't it easier to "keep doing what you've always done"? Pick the obvious weakness and dedicate some serious time to making it better. It's the only way.
5. Sometimes, you just have to go for it. Does this contradict #2 above? Only if you let it. There's a time and place. You can't do it too often and this is certainly not the kind of well that you want to keep going back to, but the fact is, the only way to find your limits is to endeavor to bust through them. Take a big swing. Reach for the sky. Go for it. So you blow up - happens to everyone. Hopefully, then, you've come out way ahead of where you were before, because now you know where the limit is, and how close to it you are. Knowledge is power - knowing where you are is a lot better than not knowing.
6. Nobody is an island - draw on the resources you have around you. There will always be someone faster, smarter, taller, more aero, thinner, more experienced, blah, blah, blah. Work your network. If you don't think you have one, you'll be surprised. Ask around. Most people appreciate sharing their knowledge and experience, and like to be considered an expert in something. So ask what you want to know. Find out what works, and what worked for others, in triathlon and in life. Almost everyone will share their stories/experiences with you. What's it going to cost you if they don't? Nothing. And screw the pigdogs if they don't want to. Cross 'em off your Christmas list.
Pretty philosophical today - must be starving for adult conversation :). March break starts tomorrow - yep, that adult conversation is going to skyrocket.
Going to the bike show tomorrow. Report to follow.
Chill.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Redlining
Earlier on, I may have mentioned that I'm not a mathematical wizard. Allow me to demonstrate with yet another example. As mentioned before, my objective is to make significant improvements in my swim time. The method by which to accomplish this is simple - swim more. Simple, straightforward - any questions?
So, I chunked through four swim sessions this week, definitely at least one more than the in-training average. Before the fourth, after doing some mental math I figured 2700m would make for a nice even weekly total - 10 000m. Not awe-inspiring by any "serious" standard, but then again, nobody's ever accused me of being too serious, and it would be a big uptick on my "old" weekly average of ~6500 - 7000m or so.
Well, as you might imagine, as the week went on, the arms seemed to get heavier and heavier, and it took longer and longer to get warmed up through each workout. I slogged through them, battled through my 2700m on Friday, justifiably (I thought) proud of myself and went home to get the quiet satisfaction of totalling up the 10-spot in the log. One problem - the Tuesday swim was only 2200m. Add that to two 2500's, and a 2700 on Friday, and I came up with a decidely un-round 9900m. Off by 100m - less than the distance from my front door to the mailbox. Isn't that just a dead fly in the soup bowl?
The rest of the week's training:
Weights/core - 0 minutes!
Swim - 4 swims, 9900m (Doh!)
Bike - 2 rides, 255 minutes - took it a little easy this week (read on)
Run - 150min - one easy eight-miler, and....
The Chilly Half!
Today was the first "A" race of the season, the half-marry in Burlington. Weather was perfect (for March) - sunny, no hint of wind and a start time temperature of -5 deg. C. The goal going in was to hit 1:30:00, which would have been a PB by over 5 minutes. For that reason, I thought it was a little unrealistic - I had been putting in a good whack of base miles, but not enough speed or hillwork, and there were two separate times in the log where I had to back off for 3-4 days - once to avoid an achilles problem, and once for the flu strike, no doubt caused by overtraining early in December/January.
I lined up at the start with Darren, who told me to stick on his hip. Yeah, right. Dude can smoke my chicken on the run - there was no way I was going to keep up with him. I had mentally settled with myself that something more realistic for me would have been around 1:32 - 1:33.
We line up within "spitting distance" of the starting gate - misleading of course, because we're packed in like sardines and there wouldn't have been any room to let one fly.
The starting horn (gun? don't remember) goes off, and it's pandemonium. I managed to keep Darren in sight for about the first kilometre - then he was dust. The first pace marker I saw was at one mile. On my watch - 6:00. Oh crap, I'm thinking, I'm on pace for a 1:18:36. In other words, I'm going out too fast. I'm going to blow up, and it's going to be ugly. I backed off and started checking my times at 2K intervals. I needed to be hitting 8:30 intervals every 2K to make the (unrealistic) first goal time.
At about 8K, my heart rate monitor had slid down to become a belly-button rate monitor, basically useless. We had laughed about that before the start, how much of an inconvenience it was for men to constantly be adjusting the "bra strap". Reading from there, my belly button went up and down from a rate of 116 to 230 - for the belly button, I don't know if that's in beats per minute, or what the units are.
If you've read this far here are the 2K splits:
2K - 7.45
4K - 8.06 (15.51)
6K - 8.20 (24.11)
8K - 8.16 (32.27)
10K - 8.15 (40.42)
12K - 8.34 (49.16) - starting to fight it here
14K - 8.41 (57.58)
16K - 9.02 (1.07.00) - stopped to drink at the 15K water station
18K - 8.46 (1.15.46)
20K - 8.53 (1.24.39)
21.1K - 4.43 (1.29.16 chip time)
1.29:16! Way better than I expected. Definitely means I've been sand-bagging in the past :). I won't expect to be knocking five minutes off that time in the future. I don't know what that would translate into for a marathon time - probably something in the 3:20 - 3:25 range, which would have me miss my "Boston time" by ten minutes (3:15). It'd be tough to replicate that time in a full marry - I was definitely "redlining" this morning, after about 6K.
So the year's off to a decent start. One more big thanks to Sally, the Awesome Support Crew - babysat my backpack through the race, and put up with the smelly two of us in the car back to the shuttle parking lot - I know it stalled her "IKEA time". Time for more bike more bike more bike for the rest of the spring. Also time (after a celebratory BEvERage) to put on my flippers - I'm going to fill the bathtub up really deep and go paddle around for half an hour or so - gotta find that last 100m swim.
Peace.
So, I chunked through four swim sessions this week, definitely at least one more than the in-training average. Before the fourth, after doing some mental math I figured 2700m would make for a nice even weekly total - 10 000m. Not awe-inspiring by any "serious" standard, but then again, nobody's ever accused me of being too serious, and it would be a big uptick on my "old" weekly average of ~6500 - 7000m or so.
Well, as you might imagine, as the week went on, the arms seemed to get heavier and heavier, and it took longer and longer to get warmed up through each workout. I slogged through them, battled through my 2700m on Friday, justifiably (I thought) proud of myself and went home to get the quiet satisfaction of totalling up the 10-spot in the log. One problem - the Tuesday swim was only 2200m. Add that to two 2500's, and a 2700 on Friday, and I came up with a decidely un-round 9900m. Off by 100m - less than the distance from my front door to the mailbox. Isn't that just a dead fly in the soup bowl?
The rest of the week's training:
Weights/core - 0 minutes!
Swim - 4 swims, 9900m (Doh!)
Bike - 2 rides, 255 minutes - took it a little easy this week (read on)
Run - 150min - one easy eight-miler, and....
The Chilly Half!
Today was the first "A" race of the season, the half-marry in Burlington. Weather was perfect (for March) - sunny, no hint of wind and a start time temperature of -5 deg. C. The goal going in was to hit 1:30:00, which would have been a PB by over 5 minutes. For that reason, I thought it was a little unrealistic - I had been putting in a good whack of base miles, but not enough speed or hillwork, and there were two separate times in the log where I had to back off for 3-4 days - once to avoid an achilles problem, and once for the flu strike, no doubt caused by overtraining early in December/January.
I lined up at the start with Darren, who told me to stick on his hip. Yeah, right. Dude can smoke my chicken on the run - there was no way I was going to keep up with him. I had mentally settled with myself that something more realistic for me would have been around 1:32 - 1:33.
We line up within "spitting distance" of the starting gate - misleading of course, because we're packed in like sardines and there wouldn't have been any room to let one fly.
The starting horn (gun? don't remember) goes off, and it's pandemonium. I managed to keep Darren in sight for about the first kilometre - then he was dust. The first pace marker I saw was at one mile. On my watch - 6:00. Oh crap, I'm thinking, I'm on pace for a 1:18:36. In other words, I'm going out too fast. I'm going to blow up, and it's going to be ugly. I backed off and started checking my times at 2K intervals. I needed to be hitting 8:30 intervals every 2K to make the (unrealistic) first goal time.
At about 8K, my heart rate monitor had slid down to become a belly-button rate monitor, basically useless. We had laughed about that before the start, how much of an inconvenience it was for men to constantly be adjusting the "bra strap". Reading from there, my belly button went up and down from a rate of 116 to 230 - for the belly button, I don't know if that's in beats per minute, or what the units are.
If you've read this far here are the 2K splits:
2K - 7.45
4K - 8.06 (15.51)
6K - 8.20 (24.11)
8K - 8.16 (32.27)
10K - 8.15 (40.42)
12K - 8.34 (49.16) - starting to fight it here
14K - 8.41 (57.58)
16K - 9.02 (1.07.00) - stopped to drink at the 15K water station
18K - 8.46 (1.15.46)
20K - 8.53 (1.24.39)
21.1K - 4.43 (1.29.16 chip time)
1.29:16! Way better than I expected. Definitely means I've been sand-bagging in the past :). I won't expect to be knocking five minutes off that time in the future. I don't know what that would translate into for a marathon time - probably something in the 3:20 - 3:25 range, which would have me miss my "Boston time" by ten minutes (3:15). It'd be tough to replicate that time in a full marry - I was definitely "redlining" this morning, after about 6K.
So the year's off to a decent start. One more big thanks to Sally, the Awesome Support Crew - babysat my backpack through the race, and put up with the smelly two of us in the car back to the shuttle parking lot - I know it stalled her "IKEA time". Time for more bike more bike more bike for the rest of the spring. Also time (after a celebratory BEvERage) to put on my flippers - I'm going to fill the bathtub up really deep and go paddle around for half an hour or so - gotta find that last 100m swim.
Peace.
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